CITYWIDE

MAYOR TOUTS TAX BREAKS FOR FILM, TV PRODUCERS

Mayor Bloomberg lauded new tax incentives for the film and television industry aimed at bringing production to New York City, which has lured five new television pilots to Silvercup Studios in the Long Island City section of Queens.

There are two Warner Bros. pilots, The Bedford Diaries and The Prince; two from Disney/ABC Touchstone Television, Lennie Rose and Pros & Cons, and NY-70 for NBC. Together, the shows are expected to add more than $15 million to the city’s economy, the mayor told reporters at Silver cup Studios yesterday.

“Television contributes the lion’s share of the revenue to New York City’s production industry, so we are thrilled that the [tax incentive program] has been so immediately successful in attracting this sector to the city,” New York City’s film commissioner, Katherine Oliver, said.

The Empire State Film Production Credit Program, which the Bloomberg administration has credited with kick starting new movie and television production in the city and state, offers a 10% tax break to film and television companies that do most of their filming on soundstages or on location in New York. Additionally, the city has its “Made in New York Incentive Program,” unveiled last fall, which offers an additional 5% tax credit on productions shot in the City.

Feature films coming to the city include Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, starring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Night Listener, starring Robin Williams, according to the mayor’s office.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

RECORD NUMBER OF RIDERS TAKE SUBWAYS

A record number of 1.4 billion passengers rode the subway last year, according to figures released yesterday by transit officials. In 2004, the subway’s centennial year, the number of riders increased by 3% from 2003, which translates to 42 million additional trips for 1.4 billion riders, according to the New York City Transit figures. The transit authority attributes the increase to an improving local economy, a leap year that provided an extra day and increased usage of unlimited MetroCards. More than half of all trips were made with unlimited MetroCards. The lines with the greatest increase were those lines – the B, D, N, and Q – that benefited from the restoration of service over the Manhattan Bridge.

– Special to the Sun

MORE POLICE TO GET UNLIMITED METROCARDS

The police department will distribute more unlimited-ride MetroCards to police officers after police officers responding to a subway shooting had difficulty gaining access to the victim. There are currently 15,000 officers out of 37,000 in the police department who use the specially-assigned unlimited MetroCards. NYPD Chief of Transportation Michael Scagnelli said yesterday that precinct officers, not only transit police, will receive training on how to use the communication buttons that allow toll both clerks to buzz officers through a special access gate. Critics of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to move clerks from toll booths to the platform said the incident highlighted the need for clerks to remain in their booths. Mr. Scagnelli said yesterday he supported moving the clerks to the platform since that is where most subway crimes take place. Major felonies in the subway rose slightly in January compared to a year prior, but those numbers decreased in February, according to New York City Transit crime statistics.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

COURT RULES ON WORKERS COMPENSATION LIABILITY

Businesses that don’t provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees are not protected from third-party lawsuits, the state’s top court ruled yesterday.

“Employers that do not secure workers’ compensation for their employees are not holding up their end of the bargain between business and labor,” the state Court of Appeals determined.

The ruling stems from an April 2001 incident in which a laborer working on Long Island for Personal Touch Home Improvements fell and suffered multiple fractures to his foot while installing vinyl siding on a two-story home in Baldwin.

The worker filed a personal injury suit against general contractor Dormer Giant, which hired Personal Touch as a subcontractor.

– Associated Press

PATAKI, LAWMAKERS MAY TAP HEVESI TO SOLVE BUDGET IMPASSE

State Comptroller Alan Hevesi conditionally agreed yesterday to set the revenues forecast in a new state budget process if Governor Pataki and legislative leaders are at impasse on how much is available to spend.

Mr. Hevesi, however, said he will only take on the task if the legislative leaders and Mr. Pataki agree in writing to make his finding binding and provide him with the data, staff, and resources needed for the job.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said yesterday they will agree in writing to make the comptroller’s revenue figure binding, their aides said.

A Pataki spokesman, Michael Marr, said the Republican governor wants the comptroller’s decision to be binding.

“We will immediately begin working with his office to provide information he needs to make a determination,” Mr. Marr said.

In a public budget negotiating session last week, legislative leaders and Mr. Pataki supported a new timetable that would have them all agreeing by March 1 on exactly how much money they had to work with for the coming fiscal year.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

FIGHT BETWEEN TEENAGE BOYS ENDS WITH FATAL STABBING

A teenager’s late-night party ended yesterday when a fight between two boys escalated into a fatal stabbing, police said.

While at a friend’s party at 2334 Batchelder St. in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, 18-year-old William Rothman and Daniel Brodksy, 17, got into a shouting match in the courtyard of the apartment complex, police said. They were arguing over a girl, police said, and tempers may have flared under the influence of alcohol. During the argument however, Mr. Brodksy pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed Rothman twice in the chest, detectives said. Mr. Brodsky has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

– Special to the Sun

SHOOTING ENDS WITH FOUR INJURED

A shooting at a popular eatery near Prospect Park early yesterday morning left four people injured and sent the person who harmed them on the run, police said.

The shooter pulled up to Papas Fried Chicken and Ice Cream at 561 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn just after midnight yesterday and fired several shots though the store’s window, police said. Four friends seated inside were injured with gunshot wounds to the right eye, chest, shoulder, and groin, before the perpetrator jumped back into his car and sped away, according to police. Yesterday, police were unclear about a possible motive for the shooting but said the investigation is ongoing. All four victims were taken to Kings County Hospital where they are said to be in stable condition.

– Special to the Sun

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