MANHATTAN

LINCOLN CENTER CHAIRMAN TO RESIGN The chairman of Lincoln Center Inc., Bruce Crawford, plans to step down in June, according to an article published on the New York Times’s Web site yesterday. Mr. Crawford, 75, the chairman of the advertising company Omnicom Group, took over the position in 2002 from Beverly Sills, who subsequently became chairwoman of the Metropolitan Opera.

His three-year tenure in the unpaid post came during a tumultuous time in the organization’s history.

It began shortly after the controversial ousting of Kurt Masur as musical director of the New York Philharmonic and ended just after the announcement of the Metropolitan Opera’s president, Joseph Volpe, that he would step down, to be replaced by Peter Gelb.

One of its anchor tenants, the New York Philharmonic, last year seemed about to decamp to Carnegie Hall. Another, City Opera, made public what had long been known privately – it has every intention of leaving.

All the while, Lincoln Center’s board and its president, Reynold Levy, strove to come up with a plan to renovate the 40-year-old campus that all the constituent organizations could agree on. Norman Foster and Partners were chosen to redesign Avery Fisher Hall, and then the plan was canceled. A Frank Gehry-designed dome was proposed to cover the entire plaza then rejected.

The redevelopment plan, originally announced in 1999 with a $1.5 billion budget, was scaled back to $475 million, and the final plan was designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

According to the Times article, when Mr. Crawford took the job in June 2002, he said he would stay on board for three to five years. Yet in the June 18, 2002, Times article reporting his hiring, he told the paper he “expected to hold it for seven to eight years.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

FORMER KERRY ADVISER TO TEACH AT NYU

Bob Shrum, the veteran political guru who guided Senator Kerry’s unsuccessful presidential campaign, is leaving his consulting firm to teach at New York University.

Mr. Shrum will become a senior fellow, Michael Donilon, Mr. Shrum’s partner at Shrum, Devine, Donilon, said.

Mr. Shrum will join NYU on February 1 and start teaching next fall, Josh Taylor, director of public affairs at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, said.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

MAYOR ANNOUNCES INITIATIVE TO DISTRIBUTE TAX CREDIT

Mayor Bloomberg, the 1199 SEIU Health and Human Service Union, and a handful of tax preparers announced an initiative yesterday aimed at getting union members who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit to get their due. New Yorkers earning less than $35,000 can claim the credit when they file their taxes, and in some cases families earning less than that threshold amount can receive nearly $6,000 in a refund from the federal, state, and city governments. An estimated 200,000 New York residents are eligible for the EITC, but they never file for the credit.

Under the new plan, members of participating unions who are eligible for the credit will be offered special discount vouchers to use at H & R Block and other tax preparers, allowing them to have their taxes prepared and get the EITC for about $75.The average combined EITC for New York City last year was more than $2,300. Mr. Bloomberg said that if everyone in New York who was eligible for EITC actually filed for it, it would inject nearly half a billion dollars into the local economy.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE SEMI-FINALISTS IN SCIENCE CONTEST

Thirty New York City high school students were named semifinalists yesterday in the Intel Science Talent Search yesterday, winning $1,000 and becoming eligible for a $100,000 scholarship.

“I commend our semifinalists for their hard work and commitment – and for making New York City proud,” Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said yesterday morning. Two of the six students from the Bronx High School of Science who won were twins. The 18-year-olds,Abba Leffler and Shoshana Leffler, both of the Bronx, have both been working at a neuroscience lab at Mount Sinai for two years.

The twins said their parents, who are both high school teachers in the South Bronx, are proud, but they said they wouldn’t have time for a family celebration last night because they’re both studying for an advanced calculus exam.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

LONG ISLAND

TWO ARE ARRESTED FOR TELLING LAWYER JOKES

HEMPSTEAD – Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes?

But seriously folks, it happened earlier this week to the founders of a group called “Americans for Legal Reform,” who were waiting in line to get into the First District Courthouse.

“How do you tell when a lawyer is lying?” Harvey Kash reportedly asked Carl Lanzisera. “His lips are moving,” they said in unison.

While some waiting to get into the courthouse giggled Monday at the old chestnut, an attorney further up the queue was not laughing. He told them to pipe down and when they didn’t, the attorney reported the pair to court personnel, who charged them with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. “A court officer accused us of disturbing the peace,” Mr. Lanzisera said in a telephone interview yesterday.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

CONSERVATIVE PARTY CHAIRMAN MAKES PRIORITIES LIST

Looking to fix Albany’s problems in the coming year, the chairman of the New York State Conservative Party, Michael Long, distributed the organization’s 2005 Legislative Priorities to members of the state Legislature yesterday.

The reforms consist of 30 suggestions meant to “enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers,” according to the party’s press release. The Legislative Priorities are designed to improve how business is conducted in New York and reform how political business is conducted in Albany.

Among the list’s suggestions are calls for tax relief, term limits, tort reform, and state-level bans on human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, and partial-birth abortion.

“This legislative session has to address very serious problems: a potential $6 billion deficit on the state level…and no indication that spending will be brought under control. The members will be able to effect real reform if they follow the Conservative blueprint and enact our legislative priorities,” Mr. Long said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NYRA CLERK, ASSISTANT SUSPENDED AMID INVESTIGATION

The New York Racing Association’s clerk of scales and his assistant, former Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza, were suspended yesterday amid an investigation of jockey weighins at Saratoga, Belmont, and Aqueduct.

Chief of Scales Mario Sclafani and Mr. Baeza were suspended with pay indefinitely, “pending further developments in an ongoing investigation between NYRA and law enforcement agencies,” the association said in a statement.

“Our policy remains to cooperate fully with all government and law enforcement agencies to protect our customers and the integrity of thoroughbred racing,” said the NYRA president and chief executive, Charles Hayward.

Documents were taken from the three thoroughbred tracks last month under search warrants executed by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s investigators and local authorities.

– Associated Press

ASSEMBLYMAN DEMANDS SCRUTINY OF SUNY CHIEF’S LEAVE REQUEST

The head of the Assembly Higher Education Committee threatened an inquiry if the State University of New York Board of Trustees grants a full-pay sabbatical to its chancellor today.

Assemblyman Ronald Canestrari, D-Albany County, said yesterday the public “must have an explanation of why this request is being granted and if it has the governor’s approval.” He said he might hold a public hearing if the trustees act at the special meeting, which he called a “rush to judgment” and a questionable use of tax dollars.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE ARRIVES AT OFFICE OF SENATOR CLINTON

A suspicious package containing white powder was mailed to the Manhattan office of Senator Clinton yesterday, and investigators identified the powder as baking soda, police said.

A box containing the harmless powder was received by the office, located at 780 Third Ave., at 11:41 a.m. via the Postal Service, police said. No one was evacuated from the building, police said, and there have been no arrests.

A spokesman for the Secret Service, Jonathan Cheery, confirmed that police “subsequently cleared” the package.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun