MANHATTAN

BASES TO BE SET UP FOR ART INSTALLMENT IN CENTRAL PARK

Forklifts are expected to begin moving 15,000 steel bases into place today for a public work of art that will allow visitors to Central Park to walk through 7,500 gates hung with panels of saffron-colored fabric.

The temporary work, “The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005” by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, will consist of 16-foot-high gates placed along 23 miles of footpaths, usually at 12-foot intervals. Fabric will be suspended from each gate, falling to 7 feet above the ground.

The gates will be held in place by the steel bases, which were brought to the park beginning in December and will be moved gradually to designated spots along the park’s footpaths beginning this afternoon, weather permitting.

Workers on two shifts will use 31 fork lifts to move the bases into place from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. each day, Jeanne-Claude said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

In the next stage of installation, set to begin on February 7, weather permitting, vinyl poles will be attached to the bases to form frame-like gates from which the fabric will be suspended. The fabric will be unfurled on February 12, 2005, and the work will remain in place until February 27.

The artists are paying for the project without sponsorship or donations. Jeanne-Claude said they were hopeful it would cost less than $21 million, but said they would not know the final amount until the piece is completed.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are known for their large-scale public art pieces. They surrounded 11 islands in Miami with pink woven fabric in 1982, wrapped silver fabric around the German Reichstag in 1995 and opened 3,100 umbrellas in Japan and California in 1991.

The artists conceived of the Central Park piece in the late 1970s, and an initial proposal was rejected by the city in 1981. Mayor Bloomberg and the parks department approved the project last January after it was backed by the Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

RENDERINGS OF WTC MEMORIAL ON DISPLAY

Models and renderings of the World Trade Center memorial will go on display this week at the state Capitol as architects present a newly completed schematic design to lawmakers.

“Reflecting Absence” will cover more than four acres and honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993.

“Architects Michael Arad, Peter Walker, and Max Bond have created a design that captures our sense of loss, as well as the courage that prevailed in the face of tragedy,” Governor Pataki said.

The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has been created to construct, own, operate, and maintain the memorial. A 13-member jury considered 5,201 proposals. The exhibit will be open to the public in the War Room on the second floor of the Capitol starting noon today and the rest of the week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It features a large-scale model and site plan for a landscaped civic plaza where the twin towers once stood. It has reflecting pools, a contemplation room with a tomb for unidentified remains, and a gallery with the names of the dead.

– Associated Press

PATAKI, SILVER, AND BRUNO TO EMBARK ON YEAR 11 TOGETHER

The officials who make up the much-maligned three-men-in-a-room system of governance for New York State haven’t changed in a decade and are about to embark on Year 11, a record of longevity unmatched in the state’s 227-year history.

It was in early 1994 that Sheldon Silver became speaker of the state Assembly after his fellow Democrat, Saul Weprin, had a stroke and died.

In early November of that year, Republican George Pataki defeated Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo in the governor’s race. With the governor-elect’s help, Joseph Bruno staged a coup later that month against fellow Republican Ralph Marino to become the state Senate’s majority leader.

Over the next 10 years, the trio survived disloyal lieutenants, serious health problems, and ambitious underlings. The three, usually meeting behind closed doors, negotiated agreements on most major issues facing the state. They got credit for successes and blame for the state’s increasingly systemic gridlock, which has, among other things, produced 20 years of late budgets.

“In some ways, it is like a bad marriage,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a frequent critic of the system. “They have accumulated a long history together and they know what to do to drive the other one crazy.”

– Associated Press

UPSTATE

SOLDIERS WELCOMED HOME AFTER TOUR OF DUTY IN IRAQ

FORT DRUM – With family members cheering and waving hundreds of miniature American flags, more than 700 National Guard soldiers were welcomed home last night in an emotional ceremony after a 15-month tour of duty, including more than nine months on the ground in Iraq.

Dressed in desert fatigues, the 760 members of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry of the New York Army National Guard marched slowly into MaGrath Gymnasium at Fort Drum, came to a halt, and reported to Major General Thomas P. Maguire.

“Thank you for your sacrifices. They are significant,” said General Maguire, head of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

The unit was the first New York Guard infantry organization ordered to federal active duty for wartime service since World War II. Three soldiers were killed in the line of duty, including 21-year-old Specialist Nathan Brown of Glens Falls. Brown’s parents fought back tears in the front row as General Maguire turned and spoke to them.

“Thank you for giving the ultimate sacrifice,” General Maguire said.

The unit was activated in October 2003 and deployed with soldiers from 27 armories from across New York State. They began returning to Fort Drum on Thursday. After completing their out processing, the troops will be transported back to their home armories and released from duty.

Children, many of whom had not seen their fathers until they marched into the gym, sobbed for joy during the ceremony. General Maguire spotted 3-year-old Camden Russell holding a sign that read “I missed you, love Camden” and picked him up while summoning his father, Alan, who made his way forward from the back row and gave his son a big hug. “He’s been crying all morning for daddy,” Camden’s grandmother said as General Maguire beamed.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

QUEENS MAN SHOT DEAD AFTER DISPUTE

Mohammed Yussef was shot dead in his Queens driveway in a late-night shooting yesterday. Police said the murder in the normally quiet residential area was “puzzling.”

Yussef, 55, was found shot once in the head in his Ozone Park, Queens, driveway at 107-45 105th St. Neighbors said that just moments before the fatal shot was fired, the usually mild-mannered Mr. Yussef was heard arguing in the street with another man, according to police. Investigators have not yet pinned down a motive for the killing, but said that none of Mr. Yussef’s personal items, including his trademark gold jewelry, seemed to be missing. Police also ruled self-defense to be highly unlikely.

– Special to the Sun