ALBANY

CLINTON RAISES ALMOST $4 MILLION IN FIRST QUARTER

Senator Clinton said yesterday she had raised almost $4 million during the first three months of this year as she stepped up fund-raising for her re-election race next year.

“So just as the right-wing attack machines have started gearing up to defeat me in 2006, we’re sending a strong signal that we will be ready to fight back,” the former first lady said in an e-mail to supporters.

The first-quarter take put Mrs. Clinton on a pace to match the success of the record-setting fund raising for her successful 2000 Senate campaign when she and her Republican opponent, Rick Lazio, spent about $80 million on the race.

Patti Solis Doyle, executive director of the Friends of Hillary campaign committee, said yesterday the committee finished the first quarter of this year with more than $8.7 million on hand. Since she won the Senate race in 2000, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign committee has raised almost $15.8 million, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

While New York Republicans, arguing that Mrs. Clinton wants to use her re-election race as a stepping-stone to the White House in 2008, have begun a national “Stop Hillary Now” fund-raising effort, they have yet to come up with a well-known challenger. Rudolph Giuliani’s top political adviser has said the former New York City mayor is too busy with business interests to run next year and Governor Pataki has said he doesn’t want to be a senator.

“It’s not news that Mrs. Clinton has raised money for herself, and for us,” said state GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik when asked yesterday about Mrs. Clinton’s fund raising. “What would really be incredible news is if she was able to deliver the 200,000 jobs she promised for New York state. We deserve a Senator who can deliver on their promises, not a Senator who can only deliver campaign cash.”

During the 2000 Senate campaign, Mrs. Clinton offered an economic stimulus package she said could produce 200,000 new jobs over the six-year Senate term.

– Associated Press

PATAKI LOOKS TO RENEGOTIATE LAND DEAL WITH INDIAN TRIBES

The abrupt reversal of a land-claim settlement between Governor Pataki and four Indian tribes has interested groups jockeying for a place at the real estate table as Mr. Pataki looks to renegotiate the deal.

Mr. Pataki announced a settlement in February whereby the Cayuga Indian Nation of New York, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans would drop a dispute over land in exchange for the right to land on which casinos could be built. That settlement was withdrawn Friday after Mr. Pataki’s staff saw that it conflicted with a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last month that Indian tribes could not expand their sovereign territory by acquiring former reservation property. The reversal prompted an anti-smoking group to press for greater smoking restrictions at the proposed casinos under a new settlement, and an Indian tribe to claim any settlement brokered without their consent will face future claims.

The director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, Russell Sciandra, said a new settlement should prohibit smoking at casinos and require non-Indians to pay taxes on cigarettes purchased at the sites.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

KERREY ‘UNLIKELY’ TO ENTER MAYOR’S RACE

Robert Kerrey, the former Nebraska Senator, said yesterday it is “unlikely” that he will enter the race for New York City mayor, citing a commitment to his current job as president of New School University.

“It is unlikely I will enter this race as a candidate,” the Democrat said in a statement. “I intend to make a final decision and announcement later this week.”

Mr. Kerrey surprised political observers by saying over the weekend he was considering entering the race, telling the New York Times that “I am just crazy enough to do this.”

He cited a failure of the Republican administration of Mayor Bloomberg to stand up to Washington policies that he said were hurting the city, including unfair allotment of homeland-security money.

“I am angry about the way New York City is being treated by Washington D.C.,” Mr. Kerrey told the newspaper. “Who is fighting these guys?”

Mr. Kerrey is under contract at New School University until 2011, but said over the weekend he could break the contract if necessary.

– Associated Press

FOUR NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS TO OPEN THIS FALL

The New York State Board of Regents has approved four new charter schools that will open in New York City in the fall, the city schools chancellor, Joel Klein, announced yesterday.

The new schools include the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy II, City Collegiate at Williamsburg, New Heights Academy at Harlem, and the New York Center for Autism Charter School at Manhattan.

“These new charter schools demonstrate our commitment to creating exceptional education options for children and families in our city,” Mr. Klein said. “Charter schools embody strong leadership, empowerment at the school level, and accountability for performance – all elements essential to providing children with a high quality education.”

There will be 14 new charter schools in the city in the fall, including the four announced yesterday. There are currently 32 charter schools in operation, including nine that opened in September 2004.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BROOKLYN

BRONX WOMAN RAPED BY LIVERY CAB DRIVER

After a night out on the town, a young woman who expected to be driven home was instead raped by a cab driver in Brooklyn last week, police said.

By all appearances, the light-colored livery cab, which bore an official Taxi and Limousine Commission license plate, was a safe mode of transportation back to the Bronx. It was nearly 5 a.m. on April 11 when the 18-year-old girl, who spent the evening with friends at Brooklyn, hailed the innocuous-looking car at a Sunset Park intersection,

Only a few minutes later, however, the driver climbed into the back seat and forced himself upon the young woman, police said. The victim managed to escape and staggered to a nearby train station, where she made her way home to the Bronx via subway, police said.

Yesterday, police released a sketch of the man they described as approximately 5-foot-6 inches tall and 200 pounds.

– Special to the Sun

MANHATTAN

LIGHT-RAIL ADVOCATES PRESENT PLAN FOR 42ND STREET

Advocates for a light rail system to replace motor-vehicle traffic on 42nd Street met last night to present their plan, which would cost as much as half a billion dollars but would generate gains of $3.5 billion in property values.

The plan’s author, George Haikalis, argued at a forum sponsored by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields that while there are as many as five times more pedestrians than motorists, 60% of the street space is allocated to motorists who often find themselves sitting in clogged traffic.

Mr. Haikalis, who faced critics who insisted that turning 42nd Street into a pedestrian mall would be bad for businesses there, said that 42nd Street handles only 5% of the traffic in between the 10-block area bordered by 37th and 47th streets.

– Special to the Sun