POLICE BLOTTER

MOTORCYCLE THIEVES STOLE $1M WORTH OF BIKES

A ring of motorcycle thieves alleged to have stolen more than $1 million in luxury bikes, dismantled them, and hawked hundreds of parts on an Internet auction site, were to be arrested and charged today with a variety of crimes, sources in law enforcement told The New York Sun.

The sources, who spoke on condition that they would not be identified, said the alleged ring, which had 15 or 16 members working from various sites at Queens, stole at least 80 motorcycles, ranging from vintage to late-model bikes. Using a large truck, the group scouted locations for valuable motorcycles. Once a bike was spotted, the thieves would pull the large truck near it and three or four burly men would lift the bike and drop it inside.

The bikes would then be transported to different “chopshops” around Queens, where mechanics would proceed to strip them of every part, from gas light to kick stand, law enforcement sources said.

All the parts except the engines were then sold on the Internet auction site eBay, where the alleged thieves netted more than $1 million. A spokeswoman for eBay, where anything from space satellites to New York judges to burnt grilled cheese sandwiches resembling the Virgin Mary has been auctioned off in recent months, declined to comment yesterday.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

MAYOR SCHEDULES STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

Mayor Bloomberg will lay out his agenda for the year next Tuesday during his annual State of the City address. His press aides declined to provide details aside from releasing the date and the venue – Hostos Community College in the Bronx. The speech is scheduled for 1 p.m. Last year, Mr. Bloomberg promised to give homeowners a $400 tax rebate. He is expected to focus on education and crime, both of which will be planks in his re-election campaign.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

PRESIDENT OF CITY HOSPITALS STEPS DOWN

The president of the city’s public hospital system is stepping down, the mayor’s office announced yesterday. Benjamin Chu, who has served as president of the Health and Hospitals Corporation since 2000, will leave his post on February 15.

Dr. Chu has overseen massive capital projects such as the modernization of Harlem Hospital and the $178 million Bellevue Hospital renovation currently under way. He will leave to head the Kaiser-Permanente health system and health plan in the Southern California region. As the top executive of the city’s 11 acute hospitals, Dr. Chu is credited with upgrading antiquated facilities and launching aggressive public health campaigns, such as cancer-screening programs. He has had a close relationship with Mayor Bloomberg, who gave the financially ailing corporation a $200 million bailout last year and has increased its operating budget by $700 million.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NEW HEAD NAMED AT HORACE MANN SCHOOL

Thomas Kelly, superintendent of Westchester County’s Valhalla Union Free School District, has been appointed as head of the private Horace Mann School, the school announced yesterday.

Mr. Kelly, 39, replaces Eileen Mullady, who told the school’s board she would step down as of June 30, the school said in a statement. Mr. Kelly will assume the full responsibilities of his new position on July 1, he said by telephone. He said the opportunity “to be able to lead a school the caliber of Horace Mann brings an infinite number of possibilities.”

Mr. Kelly, who was previously the principal of Hendrick Hudson High School in Montrose, N.Y., became one of the youngest superintendents in the state when he was named head of the Valhalla district in 1999 at age 33, Horace Mann said.

A native of Westchester County, Mr. Kelly earned degrees at Columbia University, Columbia’s Teachers College and Fairfield University. About 1,750 students attend Horace Mann, which has facilities in Manhattan, the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and at the John Dorr Nature Laboratory in Washington, Conn.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

EDUCATION REPORT RANKS N.Y. NO. 1 IN STANDARDS

Even as New York State prepares to spend billions more on schools, a new report shows it already spends more per pupil than every state other than New Jersey and Washington D.C.

The Education Week report compares state education policy in terms of academic performance, school climate, and whether the states are making efforts to assess the “adequacy” of the educations they offer. It found that New York State has the highest standards and accountability nationally. But the “A” for accountability didn’t mirror its other grades.

In efforts to improve teacher quality, New York received a B- and ranked 13th, below states such as Louisiana, South Carolina, Connecticut, Arkansas, and Kentucky. On “school climate,” New York ranked 31st and earned a grade of C.

“We’re gratified that New York is once again ranked number one in standards and accountability,” a spokesman for the State Department of Education, Jonathan Burman, said. “Our efforts to improve teacher quality are paying off. We have better qualified teachers than ever. We’re eliminating uncertified teachers. We’ve raised passing scores on the certification exams, and our teachers are being prepared through more rigorous courses in college.”

The report also found that 16 states are involved in litigation challenging school finances. Over the past five years, 20 states, including New York, have reached decisions or settlements about education financing.

Amid all this litigation, 30 states, New York included, have conducted adequacy studies, to determine what it would cost to provide a quality education. The price tag, according to the studies, ranged from a low of $5,009 a student in Illinois to a high of $15,639 a student in New York.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN

WTC MEMORIAL FOUNDATION HOLDS FIRST MEETING

Heavy hitters including Robert De Niro, Barbara Walters, and David Rockefeller held their first meeting yesterday as members of the foundation charged with raising money for a World Trade Center memorial and heard brief presentations from the project’s architects. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, whose membership was announced last month, is still without a permanent chairman. But the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. chairman, John Whitehead, was confirmed as interim chairman at the meeting, which was closed to the press.

– Associated Press

LAWYER SAYS PROSECUTION INSULTS ALL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS

Attorney Michael Tigar suggested yesterday in a closing argument that the prosecution of a “courageous, brash and feisty” Manhattan defense lawyer on terrorism charges was an insult to the nation’s other defense lawyers. “The government of the United States has the arrogance to tell the defense bar how to practice law,” Mr. Tigar told a federal jury as he underscored a threat felt by defense lawyers that had received little mention in the 6-month-old trial. Mr. Tigar, speaking for attorney Lynne Stewart, blamed the government for carelessly lacing the words “terrorist” and “terrorism” throughout its case against Ms. Stewart, Arabic interpreter Mohamed Yousry, and postal employee Ahmed Abdel Sattar.

– Associated Press