STATEWIDE

NYRA EXPENSES CALLED ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ AND ‘EXCESSIVE’

As it continued to lose millions of dollars a year, the New York Racing Association spent more than $1 million on employees and vendors for “inappropriate, unsupported, and excessive” expenses, the state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, said yesterday. The expenses – including country club memberships and golf outings for the wives of the association’s executives – were improperly deducted from NYRA’s tax returns, Mr. Hevesi said. NYRA operates New York’s three premier tracks: Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga. The travel and entertainment practices cut by more than half a million dollars the amount NYRA should have paid the state to operate the race tracks from 2002-04. NYRA also understated its tax liabilities, Mr. Hevesi said.

– Associated Press

SUNY CHANCELLOR REQUESTS LEAVE OF ABSENCE

The chancellor of the State University of New York, Robert King, has requested a leave for personal and professional reasons, according to a letter he wrote to the SUNY Board of Trustees.

“The time seems right – to get reacquainted with my family, to recharge my inner batteries, and to reflect on the future of this great university,” Mr. King wrote in the letter obtained by the Associated Press. “I expect to return to the university re-energized, and better prepared to meet the great future that awaits this marvelous institution.”

A SUNY spokesman, David Henahan, said the leave is for six months at full pay beginning January 13 and ending July 13. After that, Mr. King is expected to return as chancellor, Mr. Henahan said. No announcement was made as to who will serve in Mr. King’s place. The sabbatical is permitted under SUNY policies, which allow sabbaticals for chancellors and campus presidents after five years of employment. Mr. King has been chancellor for five years as of December. The board is scheduled to vote on Mr. King’s leave and a replacement on Thursday. A source told The New York Sun that John W. Ryan, who served as chancellor from 1996 to 1999, is expected to be named as interim chancellor.

Mr. King and his wife were mentioned last year in a critical report relating to a state Canal Corp. probe by the state attorney general and inspector general. The couple were friends of principals in the canal scandal when King was Governor Pataki’s budget director. The couple was repeatedly contacted by one of those friends, a lobbyist, who was pursuing an award of a Canal Corp. contract. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s report didn’t fault the Kings for those contacts.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS OF RAPE AT MASSAGE PARLOR

Investigators are looking for two men who raped and robbed two women at knifepoint at a Flushing massage parlor Monday night, police said. The men robbed the women and a 50-year-old male employee of cash and personal property. The suspected rapists, described as Hispanic men in their 20s, remain at large, police said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SHOOTER IS AT LARGE

A man remains at large after shooting two men at an Inwood supermarket yesterday, police said. One of the victims died. The suspect shot Edward Meran, 32, in the neck, jaw and abdomen, and shot Christian Santos, 27, in the jaw, police said. Meran was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Santos was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. Both victims have served time for criminal convictions, according to police. Police described the suspect as a Hispanic man who fled the scene in a dark-colored vehicle.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE ARREST SUSPECTED SHOOTER OF SOLDIER ON LEAVE

Investigators arrested a man suspected of gunning down a veteran of the Iraq war at a Brooklyn club and wounding a second man, police said. Joseph Carrington, 24, of Brooklyn, is accused of shooting two men at the Ambiance Club at Canarsie on Sunday, killing Terrance Balkisoon, 25, a soldier on furlough who returned from Iraq two weeks before, police said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun