The tussle over the 927 Fifth Ave. nest of red-tail hawks Pale Male and Lola is looking tame next to the talon-baring of another famous couple in the building.

Friends of Paula Zahn claim that just as her husband, Richard Cohen, pushed to evict the feathered duo, he pressured the anchorwoman to take flight.

"She tried to stay there for their kids," says one Zahn pal. "But he made it too uncomfortable. Her staying was hinged on her giving up rights to an accounting of the investments he made for her."

Zahn ended up moving into a full-floor apartment on E. 76th St. that is said to rent for $40,000 a month.

A friend of Cohen argues, though, that "she could have stayed - with no conditions. Richard offered to move out."

Meanwhile, Zahn wants to know more about the Sept. 15 sale of their jointly owned Aspen spread. Zahn charged in a lawsuit filed last week that Cohen has "refused" to provide "the most basic information" about the deal - offering only "halfhearted" promises.

Zahn's lawyer, Stanley Arkin, alleged in the same suit that Cohen admitted to her that "in an effort to avoid creditors' claims when his real estate development business was experiencing financial difficulties in the late '80s and early '90s, he transferred title to all of his assets to Ms. Zahn."

Seeking an explanation for his "commingling of assets," Zahn points to records that show she had a 9.8% interest in a Cohen real estate partnership on June 6, 2000. But in 2005, she says, her interest had grown to 41.16% - meaning she was responsible for a debt of over $4.7 million.

A friend of Cohen's says he'll give a "complete answer" to her complaint and that he has already provided "hundreds if not thousands of documents to her lawyers reflecting her interest in everything."

Zahn also has accused Cohen of "diverting" her money to an account "for his own use and benefit." Cohen's friend argues she authorized those transfers to pay for her expenses.

The Cohen friend says Zahn spent way more than she brought in. "Her bills for fashion and jewelry almost equaled her annual CNN salary," which her lawsuit puts at $2 million, according to the friend.

A Zahn friend argues, "Her spending wasn't lavish. It was in line with what you'd expect for a network anchor on the air every day. And it was deductible!"



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Remind us to run if John Travolta wants to get friendly.

Growing up in Englewood, N.J., he told us this week, "There was a bully on my block who teased me for 8 years. When I was 13, I found the strength to lift him over my head and throw him on the ground. I felt so vindicated. After that, we were good friends. So maybe that's how you know you're my friend - if I lift you over my head and body-slam you."

The husky superstar got onto the subject of bully-disposal at the premiere of "Death Sentence," in which Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, plays the wife of a man (played by Kevin Bacon ) who seeks his own form of vengeance.

What was Preston's personal recipe for revenge?

"Short-sheet the bed!" she said diabolically.

Her hubby suggested: "We'd have to start our own gang because I like to start trends. We could call it the T-Birds." Kelly knows who'd be the T-Birds' first target: the makers of "those Crocs sandals. I cannot deal with those. They're comfy but … no thank you! I'm happy to see that trend on its way out."

What would someone have to steal to send Travolta around the bend?

"I don't think there's anything," he said. "Not even one of my planes. I love material stuff, but not so much as to act out at that level."

We suggested he may need to get some nicer things.

"You're right. I should look into that!"


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An angry Larry Birkhead has vowed to sue author Rita Cosby, days before an explosive tell-all is set to hit bookstores. In "Blonde Ambition," Cosby charts the convoluted custody battle between Birkhead and lawyer Howard K. Stern, who both claimed paternity of Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl, Dannielynn. And while Cosby has not released details of the book before its Sept. 4 publication, it is believed she will allege Birkhead and Stern were secretly in collusion over the child. Dannielynn, who turns 1 on Sept. 7, could inherit hundreds of millions from the estate of Smith's late husband, J. Howard Marshall. "None of it is true," Birkhead told The News' Jo Piazza yesterday. "I'm gonna sue Rita Cosby for it." In March, Birkhead acrimoniously split with his attorney Debra Opri. She later sued for allegedly unpaid fees, though Birkhead insists it is she who owes him money. Birkhead said he believes Opri was the source of documents Cosby obtained, "so I am going to be suing both Debra and Rita Cosby. The bottom line is Rita Cosby needed something to do. She got fired [from MSNBC in 2006], and nobody wanted her." Meanwhile, OK! magazine severed ties with Birkhead over the Cosby allegations. The weekly was to have featured coverage of Dannielynn's first birthday as the final part of a $1.7 million access deal. Editor Sarah Ivens said: "It breaks my heart that OK! has to pull out of [the] shoot ... but first and foremost, we care dearly about the well-being of the young one, and my moral obligation lies with her.... My biggest fear is that Larry and Howard may have tricked us all."


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BRITISH actor Steve Coogan is back in the United States and trying desperately to salvage his career after being blamed for Owen Wilson's drug problems and attempted suicide earlier this week.

Coogan was put in the spotlight for Wilson's heroin and cocaine problems after his ex-girlfriend, Courtney Love, told Us Weekly, "I went through it with Steve . . . I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs . . . I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy."

Our source reports, "Coogan was in Hawaii when the news [of Wilson's suicide try] hit, but he came back Wednesday night and is trying to get in touch with Owen, Luke [Wilson] and Ben [Stiller]. He's trying to make sure that the movie ['Tropic Thunder'] doesn't fall through now."

Wilson had a small role in "Tropic Thunder," an ensemble comedy Stiller is directing that stars Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as well as Coogan, who had hung out regularly with the Wilson brothers and Stiller, forming what some in Hollywood called the "Frat Pack."

The spy added, "He used his relationships and his contacts with seedy people to get bit parts in movies and to get famous."

Coogan fired back on "Access Hollywood," saying, "I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations . . . are completely and utterly false."

He also told BlackBook magazine editor Steve Garbarino that after he and Love broke up, she stalked him - an allegation that made Love's friends furious.

"He has stalked Courtney over the years," a Love pal fumed. "He has gone to her house on several occasions. He e-mailed her nanny. He asked her to marry him and told her, 'You're the most intriguing woman alive.' You name it. His saying Courtney ever stalked him is the biggest lie ever! He has done nothing but go out of his way to hurt her. He's obsessed with her."

Love hasn't had contact with Coogan in months, except for an e-mail she sent him after Wilson's suicide attempt. It read, "You must feel really great right now. Does this feel life-affirming?" Love has said on her Web site she'll have no further comment.



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HEATHER Mills has been hell on wheels in East Hampton. Paul McCartney's estranged wife, who's renting Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi's mansion in the Georgica Pond area, has been racking up parking tickets in her rented Bentley convertible. "She's parking in front of fire hydrants and in handicapped zones without a handicapped tag," a source tells The Post's Braden Keil. The peg-legged "Dancing With the Stars" hoofer recently showed an unimpressed town cop her prosthesis while he was writing up her white gas-guzzler. She was then photographed sticking her tongue out at him as soon as he turned his back.

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TWO top tattoo artists are getting under each other's skin. A source close to "Miami Ink" star Ami James tells us he's "going crazy" over the fact his ex-employee, hottie Kat Von D., now has her own tattoo show, "LA Ink," which airs before his on TLC. He's also fuming about a huge billboard on the West Side Highway that once featured Ami, but was taken down and replaced with a huge photo of Kat. "He's now berating his staff, the cameramen, everyone in his path," said the source. "He is so jealous of Kat and her success it's making him insane. He's moody, you can't predict how bad he'll act on any given day. Kat's better-liked, better-looking, and nobody cares about Ami anymore." A TLC staffer confirmed the falling-out and that Kat's spinoff had been in the works for some time while she was still working at Ami's shop. "In any working environment, people don't get along," the insider said. "It didn't work out between the two of them, but both are extremely talented. They agreed they couldn't work together anymore."