CAMPAIGN CORNER

FASO TO ANNOUNCE HE IS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR

A former minority leader of the state Assembly, John Faso, is moving closer to officially announcing a run for governor in 2006. Mr. Faso said yesterday he has filed papers with the state Board of Election establishing a “Friends of John Faso” gubernatorial fund-raising committee. He has also launched a Web site,www.johnfaso2006.com, and begun sending out fund-raising mailings. After serving as the Assembly’s Republican leader from 1998 to 2002, Mr. Faso ran unsuccessfully for state comptroller, losing to Alan Hevesi. He joins a former Massachusetts governor, William Weld; a former New York state secretary, Randy Daniels, and a billionaire, Thomas Golisano, as possible GOP contenders next year to succeed Governor Pataki. The state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, is the Democratic frontrunner. Mr. Faso said he would run on a platform of cutting taxes, creating jobs, and controlling government spending.

– Special to the Sun

BLOOMBERG, FERRER ANNOUNCE ENDORSEMENTS

Mayor Bloomberg and his Democratic challenger, Fernando Ferrer, each announced endorsements yesterday. The mayor won the support of the city’s sanitation workers, and Mr. Ferrer won the support of a tenants’ advocacy group. For Mr. Bloomberg, the endorsement of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association comes after the city and the union reached an agreement on a new contract earlier this month. Mr. Ferrer hailed the backing of Tenants PAC, a group formed in 1997 to push for rent regulation. He used the announcement to criticize Mr. Bloomberg for changing his position on whether to repeal the Urstadt Law, a 1971 statute that gave the state control over the city’s rent and eviction laws. “Any tenant voting for Mike Bloomberg is like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders,” Mr. Ferrer said.

– Special to the Sun

TRANSPORTATION

MTA BOARD ATTACKS PLAN TO LINK LONG ISLAND TO LOWER MANHATTAN

Governor Pataki’s proposal to use $250 million of the transit surplus to build a Long Island rail link to Lower Manhattan, came under sharp attack from board members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday. The board plans to vote on part of the plan at its meeting today. The governor said he would only support a $50 million proposal to reduce MetroCard fares during the holiday season if the board commits money to transit projects in Lower Manhattan, including the rail link, as well as money toward transit security. Budget experts have said the best use of the money would be to pay off pension liabilities. The MTA has said putting $400 million of the projected surplus toward paying pensions would save the MTA $40 million annually. An MTA board member, Mitchell Pally, who said he plans to vote against the plan, hopes the surplus can be used to stave off fare hikes planned for 2007.

– Special to the Sun

LONG ISLAND

STUDENT FROM LONG ISLAND DIES AFTER APPARENT ALLERGIC REACTION

A Johns Hopkins University sophomore from Long Island died yesterday after suffering what he believed to be an allergic reaction, a university spokesman said. The unidentified student suffered the reaction early yesterday and was taken by ambulance to Union Memorial Hospital, where his condition quickly deteriorated and he was pronounced dead, university spokesman Dennis O’Shea, said.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

LAWMAKERS FIND FAULT WITH 9/11 BUILDING SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS

Lawmakers who waited three years for recommendations on how to make high-rises safer were unhappy to learn yesterday that they will have to keep waiting months, if not years, to see if key changes are adopted. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of New York, said the results of the three-year investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology did not offer immediate, practical help to builders. NIST concluded, in recommendations released publicly in June, that high-rises should have sturdier stairwells and elevators capable of moving large numbers of people quickly. Also included in the 30 main recommendations were calls for buildings designed to better resist complete collapse and development of more fire-resistant structures and building materials.

– Associated Press

RAIDS NET 24 DRUG SUSPECTS, 10 WEAPONS

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Law enforcement officers raided more than a dozen houses early yesterday and arrested 24 people allegedly involved in a violent drug ring. The suspected ringleader, 33-year-old Claude Russell Jr., faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted of drug and racketeering charges. The cocaine-distribution organization was “one of the most violent and well-organized” known to local authorities, a special agent in charge of the FBI in Buffalo, Peter Ahearn, said. Officers seized 10 guns, including two assault rifles, which were to be examined by forensics experts.

– Associated Press