QUEENS

BLOOMBERG DROPS IN ON MAYORAL RACE DEBATE

Mayor Bloomberg and the six candidates looking to replace him in November’s election all attended a forum yesterday morning hosted by the Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council at Little Neck.

While many thought the event would be the first real debate of the campaign season and were anticipating sparks, there was no such luck. Mr. Bloomberg spoke to the crowd of about 60 people for 15 or 20 minutes and left before fielding questions from the audience.

His aides said he had never planned to participate in a debate and needed to be at the Greek Independence Day Parade. As soon as the mayor departed, the other candidates hammered him on his plans to build a stadium for the Jets on the West Side of Manhattan. They also took aim at what one opponent, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, characterized as a “top-down” management style that is disconnected from residents needs’ and concerns.

The other Democrats trying to win the party’s nomination are the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller; the borough president of Manhattan, C.Virginia Fields; and the former borough president of the Bronx, Fernando Ferrer. Mr. Bloomberg’s two Republican challengers – former City Council minority leader, Thomas Ognibene, and investment banker, Steven Shaw – also attended.

Queens resident Bruce Hahn said he liked what a few of the candidates had to say, but still had some thinking to do before deciding for whom he should vote this November.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BROOKLYN

BROTHER AND SISTER STABBED, SHOT OUTSIDE BAR

An older sister and her younger brother were seriously injured with gunshot and stab wounds in a melee that erupted outside a Prospect Heights sports bar late last night, the police said.

At about 4:45 a.m. yesterday, the police said an argument broke out inside the bar, Pork-Knockers, between a group of men and the sister and brother pair, Ebony King, 22, and Leonard King, 20, both of Brooklyn.

As the argument spilled onto the street, Leonard King was stabbed in his shoulder and buttocks, the police said. Authorities said Mr. King’s older sister, Ebony, attempted to break up the fight and was chased down Atlantic Avenue.

She was later found by her brother in the street in front of 77 Lefferts Place with a bullet wound to her temple. Her condition is listed as critical, while her brother was in stable condition, according to police.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

THE BRONX

MAN SOUGHT FOR BRONX MURDER CAUGHT IN FLORIDA

A man on the city’s list of most wanted fugitives was expedited to New York from Florida on Saturday to stand charges in the November 2003 killing of his former girlfriend.

Authorities say Gary Jackson, 22, beat Joneese Davis to death in the stairwell of a Bronx apartment building while she was there visiting her relatives. The two had been involved and had broken up right before the murder.

She had obtained an order of protection against Mr. Jackson after being stalked by him. A woman Mr. Jackson had been seeing in northern Florida who suspected him of cheating on her searched his personal items for phone numbers of other women. In them, she saw a clipping from a newspaper indicating that he was a wanted fugitive.

She notified the Jacksonville Police Department, which in turn told the United States Marshals Service, which then called the New York Police Department. He was arrested last Monday and was returned to the Bronx on Saturday to stand charges.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

PUBLIC LIBRARY TO SELL ARTWORKS The New York Public Library is planning to sell 19 works of art in order to finance acquisitions of books, manuscripts, and other works on paper, the New York Times reported last night on its Web site.

The works, including two portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, will sell for $50 million to $75 million, according to an estimate by Sotheby’s, which has been retained by the library, the newspaper reported.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MLB.COM, MEMORABILIA DEALER SETTLE WITH CITY The company behind Major League Baseball’s Web site and a sports memorabilia firm reached a $232,000 settlement with the city Saturday over an allegedly deceptive e-mail promotion, agreeing to cover the cost of refurbishing a Washington Heights Little League field.

The settlement also provides that the city receive $33,000 worth of autographed baseballs and other memorabilia to sell, said officials from the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. The agreement capped an investigation that began two years ago and settles a lawsuit filed last year by the city against MLB Advanced Media and Steiner Sports Memorabilia, Inc., officials said. The city’s new baseball memorabilia items will go on sale today at the Municipal Building at lower Manhattan.

– Associated Press