BROOKLYN

FEDERAL JUDGE SIGNS OFF ON $21.9 MILLION HOLOCAUST AWARD

A federal judge yesterday approved a $21.9 million award to heirs of two wealthy families victimized by the Holocaust – by far the largest single claim paid thus far in a case against Swiss banks accused of selling out to the Nazis.

U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn approved the payment based on the recommendation of a court-appointed tribunal that disburses funds set aside under a settlement between Holocaust survivors and the banks. Lawyers said the previous high for an award was about $4 million.

In a report dated yesterday, the tribunal called the award “unique in its size” and “a striking example of the widespread betrayal of Jewish clients by the Swiss banks.”

Holocaust survivors and their families sued Credit Suisse, UBS AG, and other Swiss banks, accusing them of stealing, concealing, or sending to the Nazis hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Jewish holdings and destroying bank records to cover the paper trail. In 1998, Mr. Korman approved a $1.25 billion settlement and appointed the tribunal to process thousands of claims.

The $21.9 million award stems from a claim by Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann, 89, of Los Angeles, and about two dozen unnamed heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and Otto Pick, both major shareholders in a large sugar refinery in Austria before World War II.

– Associated Press

WOMAN KILLED IN MULTI VEHICLE ACCIDENT AT KENSINGTON

Ursula Rivera, 43, said she will never forget Olga Pilay’s scream just before a minibus pinned her against a building on Ocean Avenue in the Kensington section of Brooklyn yesterday, instantly killing the 20-year-old Pilay.

Moments before, the two women dove out of the way of a black Chevrolet Suburban which was careening towards them on the sidewalk at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Avenue N, only to put themselves directly in the path of the yellow minibus which had swerved to miss the Suburban.

The minibus hopped the curb and both women were knocked down. When the commotion had settled, Ms. Rivera saw Pilay’s body beneath one of the bus wheels, the bumper up against a building, and the sidewalk covered with blood.

“I grabbed the back of her jacket,” Ms. Rivera said as she choked back tears. “I tried to hold on, but I just couldn’t.”

The fatality occurred in the aftermath of another accident nearby. Police said a minivan struck an elderly woman as she tried to cross Ocean Avenue just before 9 a.m. yesterday, and Ms. Rivera and other pedestrians rushed to help her.

With traffic halted and drivers straining to see what had happened, the traffic jam set off a chain reaction of accidents at the intersection, leading to the Suburban swerving and the minibus jumping the curb and striking Pilay, who was among a group of people waiting at a bus stop along the avenue. In addition to the elderly pedestrian, drivers of three of the cars involved in the accidents, as well as the minibus driver, were hospitalized and listed in stable condition, reports said.

– Special to the Sun

CITYWIDE

PAIR OF GUARDSMEN ARRESTED ON DRUG SMUGGLING CHARGES

Two members of the Air National Guard were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly attempting to smuggle 290,000 tablets of ecstasy into the country aboard an Air Force aircraft, police said.

According to the indictment unsealed in federal court yesterday in Manhattan, on April 8, Captain Franklin Rodriguez, a pilot, and Master Sergeant John Fong. a load master, flew a C-5 “Galaxy” cargo airplane from Stewart National Airbase at Newburgh, N.Y., to Frankfurt, Germany, on a mission to deliver training supplies to the Republic of Georgia. While they were in Germany however, the two men rented a hotel room where they allegedly packed their personal luggage with 28 large bags brimming with ecstasy pills, law enforcement sources said.

Christopher Giovina, an associate special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Strike Force, told the Associated Press the arrests occurred as part of a probe that had been going on for some time and that the suspects were part of a drug distribution network that is not believed to be connected to any other members of the military.

Police estimated that the 140 pounds of drugs have a street value of over $7 million. If convicted, the two guardsmen could each face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.

– Special to the Sun

BLOOMBERG, NYC2012 BOUND FOR SPORTS CONFERENCE AT BERLIN

Mayor Bloomberg is joining a contingent of NYC2012 officials traveling to Berlin to tell members of the International Olympic Committee why the city should host the 2012 Olympics. He will arrive on Sunday to attend the annual Sport Accord conference, which includes a major gathering of Olympic officials.

Mr. Bloomberg will be able to report that his favored West Side Stadium, a cornerstone of the city’s Olympic bid, has made some progress. This week, the state’s economic development corporation approved the New York Jets’ plan to build the stadium. The state Public Authorities Control Board must approve the plan before it can go forward. The other Olympic cities vying for the 2012 bid are Paris, London, Madrid, and Moscow. Representatives from each of those cities are also expected to attend SportAccord.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

HOMELAND SECURITY GRANTS $42.1 MILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION

The New York City region’s transportation agencies will receive $42.1 million to bolster its security efforts, the Department of Homeland Security announced. The grants for 2005 total nearly 30% of the $141 million earmarked for transit security across the nation. The largest chunk comes in the form of a $37.6 million grant for area railroads run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, New Jersey Transit, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

About $4.5 million will go for security on MTA and New Jersey Transit buses. Homeland Security also awarded $6.4 million to Amtrak through the Intercity Passenger Rail Security Program for security on the Northeast corridor line and at Amtrak’s hub at Chicago. The money is to be used to prevent and detect explosives as well as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents. The grants came on the same day that the new secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, met with Mayor Bloomberg. The chairman of the City Council’s transportation committee lauded the grants, but criticized the MTA for not yet spending $400 million previously earmarked for transit security.

– Special to the Sun

SMOKE, AMTRAK TRAIN FAILURE SHUT DOWN LIRR AT RUSH HOUR

A smoke condition on the tracks and a mechanical failure of an Amtrak train shut down three of the four tunnels leading across the East River at the height of the rush hour commute yesterday, stopping Long Island Rail Road service for about 45 minutes, a LIRR spokesman said. The cause of the smoke was undetermined, but immediately led to the suspension of service beginning around 5 p.m. yesterday, creating havoc for the evening commute out of the city. Once service was restored, eastbound trains were running 30 minutes behind schedule, the spokesman said.

– Special to the Sun

KERIK TELLS ABC NEWS THAT NANNY WAS REASON HE WITHDREW NAME

In an interview with ABC News “Primetime Live” scheduled to air tonight at 10 p.m., Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner of New York and brief nominee for the top job at the Department of Homeland Security, says his failure to pay required taxes for his family’s nanny was “absolutely the only reason” he withdrew his name from consideration to lead the new federal department.

After his initial discovery about the nanny tax discrepancy, several other allegations surfaced, including a previous claim that he misused police personnel to research a book, and had an extramarital affair that took place in an apartment overlooking Ground Zero. Mr. Kerik, according to a statement from ABC News, also denied past allegations that he had ties to organized crime. He calls the day he withdrew his name from the nomination process “the worst” of his life.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

QUEENS

SCHOOL SAFETY AGENT ARRESTED AFTER HAIR FIRE INCIDENT

A school safety agent was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly lit a Queens student’s hair on fire during school hours, police said.

At approximately 11 a.m., as 16-year-old Michael Price walked to his next class at Springfield Gardens High School at Jamaica, Queens, school safety agent Albert Blacks approached him from behind. Mr. Price was unaware of the man behind him until Mr. Blacks allegedly drew a disposable cigarette lighter from his pocket and put it to the back of the boy’s head, burning off a patch of his hair, according to police.

Though Mr. Price was uninjured, he became enraged and shouted at the agent. “It’s not right. If I had done that they would have me locked up,” Mr. Price told police. Later that day, Mr. Blacks, who has been a school safety agent since 1998, was suspended from his job and arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. Phone calls to Mr. Blacks’s lawyer were not returned yesterday.

– Special to the Sun