MANHATTAN

SCALIA NAMED GRAND MARSHAL OF COLUMBUS DAY PARADE

Supreme Court Justice Scalia is going to be the grand marshal of the 2005 Columbus Day Parade, the president of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, Lawrence Auriana, said yesterday.

“We are honored that Justice Scalia has accepted our invitation to be grand marshal of the 2005 Columbus Day Parade, the themes of which are justice and human rights,” Mr. Auriana said. “Justice Scalia is the first American of Italian ancestry to serve on the Supreme Court. His majority and dissenting opinions command admiration and respect for their intellectual rigor among people from all spectrums of the political landscape.” Justice Scalia said the invitation “is a matter of great pride, especially for an Italian-American who grew up in New York. This is the top of the hill, to be grand marshal in your hometown.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CASE DISMISSED AGAINST ARTIST IN NUDE ANTI-WAR PROTEST

A Manhattan judge yesterday dismissed the public nudity summons issued to an artist who was arrested after she protested the Iraq war by disrobing to display the words “STOP THE WAR” written on her naked body. Hala Faisal, 47, was arrested, led away in handcuffs, and given the summons for “public exposure of a person” because of her Lady Godiva-type protest near the arch in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park around 12:30 p.m. on August 9. Ms. Faisal’s lawyer, Ronald Kuby, said Judge Stanley Katz granted his motion to dismiss the summons on grounds that the paperwork was not done correctly.

– Associated Press

CITYWIDE

RETAIL, WHOLESALE UNION ENDORSES FERRER

The Democratic nominee for mayor, Fernando Ferrer, picked up an endorsement yesterday from the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. The union, which represents 45,000 members in the city, endorsed one of Mr. Ferrer’s rivals, Rep. Anthony Weiner, in the Democratic primary because of the congressman’s strong anti Wal-Mart stance. Mayor Bloomberg has said that it is not the city’s role to decide which stores should and should not do business in the city. The endorsement is one of many that Mr. Ferrer is trying to lock up now that he is the official Democratic nominee.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

TASK FORCE TO MONITOR MTA SECURITY SPENDING

The cost of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan to provide security in the subway has risen to $721 million, a $130 million increase, the state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, said in announcing an oversight task force created to monitor how the money is spent. The MTA had been allocated $591 million to secure the transit system against potential terrorist attacks in 2003 and has earmarked an additional $495 million in its current 2005-2009 capital plan. The 22% rise in costs comes after the MTA announced its first major allocation to defense contractor Lockheed Martin to install cameras that can monitor suspicious activity on the platforms.

– Special to the Sun

DOE SPENT $500M MORE THAN PLANNED ON CONSTRUCTING SCHOOLS

The Department of Education spent almost $500 million more on construction of new schools than originally planned in its five-year, $6.9 billion capital plan, according to an Independent Budget Office report released yesterday. The department spent a total of $2.1 billion on the construction of new schools. At the same time, the department spent $790 million less on repairing school exteriors. The report covered the capital plan spanning from fiscal years 2000 to 2004. The report also called on the city to create a more transparent tracking system for school construction costs. “The capital plan was done prior to this administration,” a Department of Education spokeswoman said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

QUEENS

REPUTED CAPO CHARGED IN MURDERS ALLEGEDLY DISCUSSED BY GOTTI

According to local lore, Thomas and Rosemary Uva were bandits so brazen that the gangsters they dared to rob at gunpoint honored the couple by dubbing them “Bonnie and Clyde” – before putting bullets in their heads. The slayings of the Uvas on Christmas Eve in Queens in 1992 remained unsolved until yesterday, when authorities picked up a reputed captain in the Gambino organized-crime family, Dominick “Skinny Dom” Pizzonia, and charged him with murder. The arrest – coming two days after a headline-grabbing mistrial in the racketeering case of John A. “Junior” Gotti – renewed questions about whether the son of the late Gambino boss was involved in the mob hit on the couple just six months after he allegedly plotted the botched kidnapping of radio show host Curtis Sliwa.

– Associated Press