New York Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

BROOKLYN
POLICE ARREST FIVE SUSPECTS IN POSSIBLE BIAS BEATING
Police have arrested five suspects who were allegedly involved in a beating of a black man in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn last Sunday that the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said at a press conference yesterday “fits all parameters of a hate crime.” Police arrested 18-year-olds Robert Lombardi and Stephen Cucarese of the Bergen Beach section of Brooklyn and 17-year-old Anthony David of Mill Island, Brooklyn, on Monday. Yesterday afternoon, they apprehended 18-year-old Nicolas Morse of Bergen Beach, and last night, they arrested 17-year-old Anthony Capone of Mill Island. Police have charged Messrs. Lombardi and Cucarese with aggravated harassment and rioting, Mr. David with aggravated harassment, rioting, and reckless endangerment, and Messrs. Morse and Capone with aggravated harassment, rioting, and assault. On August 7, a group of 10 white males in two cars allegedly attacked Alex Moore, a 29-year-old black male, using bats and pipes, and stole $50 from him in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, according to Mr. Kelly. Mr. Moore’s five companions fled, he said. The attack, which Mr. Moore told police was accompanied by racial slurs, ended when passers-by stopped to help Mr. Moore, police said.
– Special to the Sun
EXIT ON BROOKLYN-QUEENS EXPRESSWAY CLOSED
The eastbound Cadman Plaza exit on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway will be closed between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Friday because of loose bricks in a retaining wall, the Department of Transportation said yesterday. The loose bricks were observed earlier this week, and the announcement followed what was thought to be the ramp’s temporary closure Monday. Transportation officials said motorists should use the Atlantic Avenue exit or Tillary Street exit as an alternative. The thousands of motorists who use the westbound Cadman Plaza exit daily will not be affected, officials said.
– Special to the Sun
STATEWIDE
NEW LAW GIVES SCHOOL BOARDS POWER TO CHOOSE STUDENT VOICE
A new law gives New York’s school boards the power to decide who represents the student body on the policy-making boards, instead of having to accept the pupil selected by other students. The law signed this month by Governor Pataki repeals a provision that required the elected student body president to represent student interests in the nonvoting roles created in at least two-dozen school districts statewide. “It gives the board another perspective of what is going on in their schools and it encourages these students at a young age to give back to their community,” a representative of the state School Boards Association, Barbara Bradley, said.
She said school boards lobbied the Legislature to change the law to give school boards more flexibility in picking a strong representative. It still allows the student body president to serve. The law also eliminates the need for the representative to be at least 18 years old and provides a way to pick a candidate in districts with more than one high school.
– Associated Press
SUNY CHANCELLOR’S SON PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY ASSAULT
The son of former SUNY Chancellor Robert King pleaded guilty Monday to felony assault, and could be ordered to serve jail time when he is sentenced later this year. James King pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Albany County Court after being assured he would not be sent to state prison. His attorney, Steve Coffey, told the Times Union of Albany that King will likely be sentenced in October to six months in the Albany County Jail. He is now free on $20,000 bail. The Albany county judge, Stephen Herrick, said that while King will not be sentenced to state prison, “other than that, there are no promises.” King, who in the past has been ordered to undergo anger-management counseling, was charged in February with using steel-toed boots to break a man’s eye socket during a barroom brawl. He had faced up to seven years in state prison. Police said King fought the victim because he was dating King’s former girlfriend. Authorities also said King used a cell phone to send text messages to the victim before and after the December 30 attack.
– Associated Press
MAN GETS JAIL TIME FOR THEFT OF GUM
Dion Stevenson was sentenced to 45 days in jail yesterday for stealing a quantity of Dentyne chewing gum valued at $67, authorities said. On Monday at 11:05 a.m. Mr. Stevenson was in the Duane Reade at 2760 Broadway between 40th and 41st streets when he took gum from a shelf and put it in his bag, police officials said. At his criminal court arraignment yesterday, he pleaded guilty to the charge of petty larceny and was then sentenced, the district attorney’s office said.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
DRUNK MAN BECOMES VICTIM OF LARCENY
A man had his wallet stolen by a stranger who he had believed was acting as a Good Samaritan, police officials said. The victim, 26, admitted to police that he was quite inebriated at the time of the crime. On Saturday at about 12:30 a.m., the victim was on Manhattan Avenue and 110th Street when he fell on the ground in a drunken stupor, officials said. He felt someone grab his arm from behind and thought the stranger was helping him get up. The phony helper then allegedly stole the man’s wallet – which contained a debit card, driver’s license, and employee identification card – and ran off. The man told police he did not report the crime until Monday because he had felt too ill.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
PASSENGER ACCOSTS CAB DRIVER OVER FARE
A taxicab passenger became violent when it came time to pay his fare, authorities said. On August 13 at 11 p.m., the cab driver and his passenger, Moussa Camara, 29, were on the southwest corner of 100th Street and Broadway when Mr. Camara refused to pay the fare, law enforcement officials said. The driver shoved the passenger who responded by allegedly punching the driver in the face, causing serious physical injury. Police arrested Mr. Camara, and the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, charged Mr. Camara with assault. His next court date is Thursday.
-Staff Reporter of the Sun
CITYWIDE
PLANS TO FINALIZE LEASE BETWEEN GOLDMAN, STATE BREAK DOWN
Plans to finalize a lease between Goldman Sachs and the state for a new downtown headquarters broke down yesterday when the Battery Park City Authority did not conclude their private deliberations over the authorization of the lease for the site.
A spokeswoman for the BPCA, the state agency that oversees the downtown Manhattan site adjacent to ground zero, Leticia Remauro, said that board members could not resolve an issue concerning the lease before a public meeting set for yesterday morning, so the meeting was canceled. Ms. Remauro said that the BPCA does not publicly disclose the details of negotiations. Because the proposed site for the 40-story, $2 billion office tower belongs to the state, it requires the approval of a lease that stipulates the amount of rent and the payments in lieu of taxes the investment bank must pay. On Monday, the state approved $1.6 billion in Liberty Bonds and part of at least $150 million in tax incentives that Goldman will receive to build their $2 billion headquarters. Critics have charged that the terms of the deal are too generous to the investment bank, and that the state and city forfeited better terms by not concluding an earlier, less costly deal that fell through in April.
– Special to the Sun
FIREFIGHTERS UNION DROPS SUPPORT FOR WTC MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
The union representing 22,000 active and retired firefighters announced yesterday it is withdrawing support for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, citing objections to a planned International Freedom Center and a Drawing Center at the ground zero site. The president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, Steve Cassidy, said in a statement that his “membership and our 9/11 families believe that the memorial design will take away from the memory and sacrifice of the firefighters who bravely gave their lives during the most horrific terrorist attacks our country has had to face.”
– Associated Press