FLAKY STORM BLOWS IN EARLY By JOE McGURK, PERRY CHIARAMONTE and CYNTHIA R. FAGEN It's a blizzard - and it's not even winter yet! The first snowstorm of the season socked the Big Apple with 6 to 9 inches yesterday and will keep piling on the snow today - for a total that could reach 15 inches. ON THE ROAD TO SNOWHERE By LORENA MONGELLI and ADAM MILLER When it comes to getting around today, it'll be snow going. A more powerful punch of snow and sleet is expected to batter the Big Apple. That's sure to wreak havoc on the roads, rails and bridges and fray the nerves of travelers trying to get around the city. FLU TAKING FEVERISH TOLL IN CITY AND STATE By SAM SMITH and ADAM MILLER The flu is running rampant in New York - with the federal Centers for Disease Control saying the number of cases in the city and state are just below what it calls a "widespread" level. MAYOR TO FERRY VICTIMS: SETTLE By DAVID SEIFMAN and CLEMENTE LISI Mayor Bloomberg repeated his call yesterday for victims of the Staten Island Ferry crash to drop their lawsuits and settle with the city because they will "be as generous as we possibly can." MIKE GIVES LANDLORD-TAX BILL THE BOOT By DAVID SEIFMAN The fight over the absentee-landlord tax took another strange twist yesterday when Mayor Bloomberg vetoed a City Council bill that would have given the city more time to collect the tax. MIKE: ELEX-$$ BOARD GETS FISHY FOR GIFFIE By FRANKIE EDOZIEN Mayor Bloomberg stepped up his attacks yesterday on the head of the city's Campaign Finance Board, accusing him of cutting a "backroom deal" to help City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. DOWNTOWN-JOB TAX BREAK BACK By LOIS WEISS EXCLUSIVE A deal has been struck to renew a major corporate incentive program that will help lure jobs to lower Manhattan from outside the city, The Post has learned. ROYAL BLUE: NYPD TO HOST JORDANIAN KING By MURRAY WEISS EXCLUSIVE For the first time in NYPD history, a foreign head of state will visit Police Headquarters and address the department's brain trust about terrorism and international affairs, The Post has learned. 'DIRTY COP' TWIST By LARRY CELONA and MURRAY WEISS EXCLUSIVE Investigators probing two suspected rogue detectives believe one of them may have been involved in a recent drug-related murder, law-enforcement sources said yesterday. 'WHERE'S MY BABY?' By ALISHA BERGER, PHILIP MESSING and RITA DELFINER A grieving family of Ecuadoran immigrants plans today to bury Christian Plaza, 5, who was crushed to death in a sidewalk car accident outside his school, leaving behind only memories and dreams. DROWNED BY MOM By PATRICK GALLAHUE and PHILIP MESSING A Brooklyn woman drowned her 20-year-old autistic daughter in the bathtub of their Fort Greene home early yesterday and then tried to kill herself, police said. TRAIN RIDER SNOOZED, GOT BRUISED, NOW SUES By LAURA ITALIANO It happens to almost every rail commuter - take a little nap, miss your stop. KIN SUE CITY FOR 'POTTER'S' BURIAL By JOHN LEHMANN The family of a man who died in Manhattan and was buried in a potter's field without their knowledge is suing the city Medical Examiner's Office for failing to contact them. FOUNDATION BOOSTS LIBRARIES BY $6M Associated Press The Wallace Foundation is donating $6 million to the city's three public library systems to support and expand after-school programs, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. YIKES, HIKES: GOV AIDE SEES TAXES SOARING FOR SCHOOLS By CARL CAMPANILE EXCLUSIVE State lawmakers might have to hike taxes to comply with a court order to improve education in city public schools, the head of Gov. Pataki's school financing panel said yesterday. SHELL OUT, STAFF TELLS OYSTER BAR By BRADEN KEIL Striking workers at Grand Central Terminal's Oyster Bar braved miserable conditions yesterday to picket outside the station, where the infamous union inflatable rat looked more like an angry Frosty the Snowman. JUDGE SLAPS TINSELTOWN TITAN By JOHN LEHMANN A Manhattan federal judge dealt a blow to Hollywood supremo Jack Valenti yesterday, ruling that his controversial ban on sending advance copies of films to movie-award voters was unlawful. GWYNETH SET TO TIE THE KNOT By PAULA FROELICH and DAVID K. LI Gwyneth Paltrow is gearing up for her upcoming role as a bride. The 31-year-old Oscar-winning actress and her rocker boyfriend Chris Martin may soon be taking a trip down the aisle after the two showed up yesterday at a Santa Barbara courthouse and applied for a marriage license, said Pam Smith, a supervisor at the Santa Barbara county clerk/recorder's office. MARTHA NOT ALLOWED TO QUIZ BROKER By JOHN LEHMANN Martha Stewart yesterday lost the chance to grill the government's key witness against her, rookie broker Douglas Faneuil, before her ImClone securities trial kicks off next month. NEWARK FLIERS HAVE MINOR 'WAIT' LOSS Associated Press Newark Liberty International Airport is no longer the worst in the nation when it comes to on-time landings. B'KLYN MAN ACQUITTED OF SLAYING PAL'S RIVAL By DENISE BUFFA A jury found a man not guilty of the murder of a friend's love rival yesterday after a trial that was marred by reluctant witnesses - and a juror who said he was pressured to acquit. EX-LIRR BOSS DERAILED OVER SUSPECT GIFTS By CLEMENTE LISI The former president of the Long Island Rail Road received opera tickets and free meals from a train-parts company that was negotiating contracts with the agency, officials said yesterday. CLASSROOM AIDE BEATS UP KID: COPS By JAMIE SCHRAM and ERIN CALABRESE A classroom aide allegedly went berserk inside a Brooklyn school this week, punching a 7-year-old special-education student and slamming his head into a microwave oven - because the child didn't know the date. GANG STABS STRAPHANGER By JENNIFER FERMINO A Manhattan man returning home from work on the subway was beaten and stabbed by a gang of thugs in a brazen rush-hour attack. RAPE FIENDS' SICK FISTFIGHT By ERIC LENKOWITZ The five Mexican immigrants charged with savagely assaulting a woman in Queens were so anxious to rape the mom they got into a heated physical argument over who would "have relations" with her first, one of the attackers said yesterday. LAST RESPECTS FOR FIRST BLACK COUNCILWOMAN By FRANKIE EDOZIEN The late council member Mary Pinkett will lie in state Monday at Brooklyn's Medgar Evers College, from 5 to 7 p.m., council officials said yesterday. An all-day wake will follow the next day, Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. NYPD DAILY BLOTTER By JAMIE SCHRAM and ZACH HABERMAN BROOKLYN Cops yesterday said they were seeking to identify and question a man in an August shooting in Brownsville.