CITYWIDE

BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES VH1 CONCERT WILL RETURN TO CITY

Mayor Bloomberg announced that a VH1 concert held to raise money for music programs in public schools will return to New York City for the first time in four years and the parent company of the music channel, Time Warner, has pledged $1 million to pay for new musical instruments in 41 city schools. “Save the Music Week” begins on April 4 and will feature special music classes at a handful of schools around the five boroughs. The week will be capped with a benefit concern at the Beacon Theater on April 11. Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas, Queen Latifah, Bon Jovi, and Joss Stone are among those who will perform at the concert.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

LEADERS AFFIRM DECLARATIONS OF SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

With Pope John Paul II more frail than ever, Roman Catholic cardinals and bishops from around the world told a conference of Jewish leaders yesterday that the Vatican’s unprecedented outreach to Jews over the last several decades will continue.

Opening their meeting with a prayer for the pope’s recovery, church leaders affirmed declarations of the Second Vatican Council that transformed Catholic thinking about Jews, including the rejection of any collective Jewish responsibility for the death of Christ. This year marks the 40th anniversary of that document, Nostra Aetate, or “In Our Age,” which laid out the church’s teaching on Judaism.

“That which happened during the passion of Christ cannot be blamed on the Jews of the time and certainly not on the Jews of today,” said Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, addressing about 100 people at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan. “We must be very careful in our catechism and our teaching not to teach in any way an interpretation of the Gospel that can stimulate anti-Semitism.”

– Associated Press

IOC MEMBERS DON’T WANT ANY WHITE ELEPHANTS, MAYOR SAYS

International Olympic Committee members talked at length last week about not leaving New York, or any host city, with useless facilities that would be used only for the Olympics and be left unused once the international athletes left town, Mayor Bloomberg told reporters yesterday.

“They talked to us at length about they want to make sure there are no white elephants after the event,” the mayor said. “After they leave town, they want to make sure that what we build is useful, so, for example, somebody said, ‘Well, let’s go build the stadium for an Olympic event and then rip it down.’ That is a nonstarter with them. That’s not the kind of legacy they want.”

The mountain bike track in Fresh Kills, for example, will be open to the public afterward. That is an example of something the committee would consider in making its decision, the mayor said. “With that, I think that we have a decent chance” to win the Olympics, Mr. Bloomberg added.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BLOOMBERG HONORED FOR SMOKING BAN

While he may still have some detractors among New York’s smokers, Mayor Bloomberg’s smoking ban was lauded as a significant boost to the nationwide campaign against smoking during the American Legacy Foundation’s awards ceremony last night at Cipriani.

Mr. Bloomberg was among four honorees honored for their work in promoting tobacco-use prevention and cessation. The Mayor’s smoking ban has been credited with an 11% drop in smoking rates from 2002 to 2003.

Mr. Bloomberg said that confronting angry smokers outside a bar during a parade shortly after passing his smoking ban was “a character-building experience,” but then recalled meeting a waitress in a restaurant who came up and gave him a big kiss and thanked him for saving her life.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

CLINTON ADVISER SAYS PATAKI AMBITIONS ARE ‘LAUGHABLE’

A top adviser to Senator Clinton said yesterday that Governor Pataki is increasingly becoming an object of ridicule and that his possible presidential ambitions are “laughable.”

“When a conservative magazine pictures you as a monkey on the cover, you’ve become an object of ridicule – and that’s from his own base,” said Howard Wolfson, who in addition to being a top Clinton adviser is also a strategist for the state Democratic Party in New York.

A Pataki spokesman said the comments suggested the Democrats were worried the governor might run for a fourth term next year. Meanwhile, a top Pataki political adviser said the Clinton camp was probably concerned about the former first lady having to face the governor, either in her re-election race in 2006 or in a possible run for the White House by her two years after that.

– Associated Press

PATAKI LOBBIES AGAINST CLOSING OF MILITARY BASES

Governor Pataki met with a top Pentagon official yesterday, urging him not to close any military bases in New York under a new cost-cutting process already causing concerns for communities around the country. Mr. Pataki, a three-term Republican governor, was one of a handful of governors who lobbied Phil Grone, undersecretary of defense who is overseeing BRAC, the Base Realignment and Closure process.

– Associated Press

ASSEMBLY, SENATE PROJECT HIGHER REVENUES

The Democrat-led Assembly projected yesterday that the state will receive $904 million more in revenues from all funds that could be spent in the coming fiscal year. The Republican-led Senate projected a $531 million increase in revenues over Governor Pataki’s proposed budget. Mr. Pataki and legislative leaders are scheduled to try to agree on a revenue figure today that will be used in negotiating a state budget due April 1. A week ago, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi agreed to set the revenues forecast if Mr. Pataki and legislative leaders cannot by the end of today.

Mr. Pataki is proposing a $105.2 billion budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

LIBERTARIAN PARTY SUES CITY OVER CAMPAIGN FINANCE

The Manhattan Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit against the city yesterday, arguing that the public campaign finance program that pitted Mayor Bloomberg against the City Council just a few months ago violates the Constitution. The suit argues that taxpayers should not have to “subsidize” political speech against their will.

In December, the City Council overrode a mayoral veto to increase the cap on public matching funds to $6 for every $1 that is privately raised. The cap before that was $4. Mr. Bloomberg blasted the law saying it was designed to benefit the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, who is hoping to challenge him in November’s election.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

QUEENS

CITY AT FAULT FOR WATER-MAIN BREAK, MAYOR SAYS

Mayor Bloomberg said the city was at fault when a 20-inch water main at 70th Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, burst on February 16, sending thousands of gallons of rushing water into nearby houses. Mr. Bloomberg said the investigation indicated that the Department of Environmental Protection had apparently incorrectly installed a sleeve on the pipe years ago. The mayor said the city would expedite settlements to people who suffered damage from the flooding.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

ANOTHER SUSPECT ARRESTED IN DUFRESNE CASE

Another suspect in the shooting death of actress Nicole DuFresne was arrested and charged with murder and robbery, the police said.

The suspect, Servisio Simmon, 21, turned himself in to detectives at the 7th Precinct house after witnesses testifying before a grand jury in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday alleged he was part of the highly publicized Lower East Side murder and robbery last month, police said. A warrant was issued for his arrest, police said, but it was unclear yesterday what specific role Mr. Simmon played in the crime.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

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