CITYWIDE

NYPD INTRODUCES PUBLIC-PRIVATE INITIATIVE

The New York Police Department is launching an initiative that would allow police to disseminate terrorism-related information to the private sector in an industry-specific manner. Mayor Bloomberg and the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, were expected to announce the plan today. Mr. Kelly called the public-private partnership “a one-stop shopping initiative,” in an informational meeting with reporters yesterday.

The police will tailor information to individual industries, divided into “sectors.” Participation by private companies is voluntary.

The deputy commissioner of intelligence, David Cohen, said, “the primary thrust is for us to inform the various business sectors of New York City and to keep them aware of issues in a timely manner.” Information shared would include safety tips about cameras, lights, guards, and alarms, said the deputy commissioner of counterterrorism, Michael Sheehan. Mr. Kelly called the program “a two-way street,” in reference to the information sharing he expects between the public and private worlds. The program was a long time in the works, Mr. Kelly said, and was not prompted by the bombings in London.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SUBWAY CRIME DROPS 22% IN JULY

Crime in the city’s subways dropped 22% in July due to the doubling of the number of uniformed officers subway since suicide bombers attacked London’s subway system July 7, police said. Prior to the increased police presence, subway crime had been on the rise this year, increasing 5.1% through June compared to 2004, according to police statistics. The bombings July 7 in London, followed by an attempted bombing there two weeks later, have nearly doubled the number of reports of suspicious packages. Between July 7 and yesterday, police received 1,453, reports of suspicious suitcases, backpacks, and packages, compared with 759 reports during the same period in 2004, police said. Subway robberies of music devices such as iPods, have been particularly problematic and have accounted for the largest increase in overall frequency. Through June police reported 616 robberies in the subway compared to 532 last year, a 15.8% increase. Police have since started a public advertisement campaign to warn people to protect their music players.

– Special to the Sun

MILLER CRITICIZES MTA ON SECURITY ISSUES

The speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, criticized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday for moving at a “snail’s pace” when it comes to securing subways and buses and said that if elected mayor he would install cameras in every city subway station within 18 months. Mr. Miller, one of four Democrats running for mayor, called the current security plan “reactive” and said both the MTA and Mayor Bloomberg are to blame. “In New York’s 468 stations, which include thousands of entrances and turnstiles, just 276 stations have cameras installed in them,” Mr. Miller said, during a news conference yesterday morning at Grand Central Station.

The speaker said Mr. Bloomberg should be lobbying to win control of security on the city’s mass transit system from the MTA, which has come under fire recently for spending only a fraction of the $600 million it earmarked for security upgrades. Mr. Bloomberg has also criticized the MTA for moving too slowly. Officials at the state-run agency have said they did not want to spend the money loosely on faulty equipment and that they will spend between $350 million and $400 million in the coming year on surveillance. Mr. Miller said the recent bombings in London “have cast a shameful spotlight on the MTA’s failure” to improve security.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CANDIDATE FOR PUBLIC ADVOCATE ACCUSED OF ‘EXPLOITING 9/11’

A civil rights lawyer and candidate for public advocate, Norman Siegel, was criticized yesterday by one of his political rivals for “exploiting 9/11″in a new television advertisement. In a statement sent out to reporters, Andrew Rasiej, who, like Mr. Siegel, is one of seven candidates hoping to unseat the public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, said: “It’s a shame that Norm had to resort to running such a cheap, exploitative, Bush-league ad to make that point, I found it particularly appalling that Norm went so far as to suggest with this ad that his re-election would be a memorial to the victims of 9/11.That’s not even something our ultra-arrogant President would say.” The commercial, which aired last night on New York 1, featured testimonials from the families of firefight ers and emergency responders killed in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. As ominous music plays in the background, one woman in the advertisement said she reached out to the current public advocate and to other elected officials, but nobody helped. Ms. Gotbaum was quoted yesterday saying the ad was upsetting.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEN ISLAND

FERRY TO RUN MORE FREQUENTLY

Transportation officials announced yesterday that the Staten Island ferry would run more frequently during the week starting Thursday, with plans to increase weekend service in the next 18 months. The city’s Department of Transportation will offer early morning commuters the 25-minute, 5.2 mile crossing every half hour, beginning Thursday at 5:00 a.m. instead of 6 a.m., from St. George terminal on Staten Island. Between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. a fourth boat will be added to provide service every 15 minutes during rush hour. Late night ferry service will continue to run every half hour until 1:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, with a boat that will leave Whitehall terminal in Manhattan at 1 a.m. Officials plan to increase weekend service in the next 18 months by beginning half-hour service on Saturdays at 6 a.m. and on Sundays at 9 a.m.

– Special to the Sun

MANHATTAN

OPPONENTS FILE SUIT TO BLOCK PARK RENOVATION

Greenwich Village residents opposed to the city’s plans for a $16 million makeover of Washington Square Park have filed a lawsuit to block the renovation. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan state Supreme Court, charges that the planned redesign, which includes moving the fountain about 20 feet to the east to align it with the Washington Arch, is arbitrary and capricious. A spokeswoman for the city Law Department, Shira Strassman, said the city has received the legal papers for the case and is evaluating them.

– Associated Press

PHONY DOCTOR INDICTED ON A MURDER CHARGE

A man who fled to Central America after pleading guilty to practicing medicine without a license was indicted on a second-degree murder charge yesterday in the death of a patient found buried at his former New Jersey home, the Manhattan district attorney said. The indictment charges Dean Faiello with depraved indifference to human life in the death of Maria Cruz, 35, the district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, said in a statement. Cruz, a financial analyst at Barclay’s Capital, had gone to Faiello for laser treatments of a growth on her tongue. Her body was found February 18, 2004, under a concrete slab at Faiello’s former home in Newark, N.J., 10 months after she vanished. Faiello had been arrested in October 2002 for practicing medicine without a license, but he continued to see patients after that arrest, prosecutors said.

– Associated Press