CITYWIDE

HANSOM CAB HORSE COLLIDES WITH VEHICLE IN MIDTOWN

A horse pulling one of Central Park’s graceful carriages to a stable on the far West Side became spooked in traffic Monday night and galloped down a busy street until it collided with a car. The seriously injured horse was euthanized. The carriage driver, Carmelo Vargas, of the Bronx, was hospitalized in critical condition yesterday.

– Associated Press

TWO BLOOMBERG DEPUTIES LEAVE FOR PRIVATE SECTOR

Two top Bloomberg aides announced yesterday that they are leaving City Hall and moving to the private sector. The mayor’s chief of staff, Peter Madonia, is leaving the administration to become the chief operating officer of the Rockefeller Foundation, while the mayor’s senior adviser, William Cunningham, will be an executive vice president at Dan Klores Communications, whose corporate clients include Delta and Sprint.

“As someone with an interest in philanthropy, I applaud Peter for joining the Rockefeller Foundation, a charity with an endowment of over $3 billion. Our loss is their gain and I know that Peter’s problem-solving skills, strong work ethic and sound judgment will serve that organization well in its quest to make the world a better place,” the mayor said in his statement released yesterday. Replacements for the departing deputies have yet to be announced.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR PENN STATION BOMB SCARE IS SENTENCED

A man responsible for a bomb scare in Penn Station this summer was sentenced yesterday to one and a half to three years in prison. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman also recommended drug treatment for the defendant, Raul Claudio, 44, should he be eligible.

On July 24, Claudio was in Penn Station with his common law wife, on his way to a drug rehabilitation program in Albany, his attorney, Robert Race, said. He told an Amtrak ticket agent he had a bomb inside his suitcase, which emptied Penn Station and halted transportation service, the criminal complaint says. Mr. Race said Claudio’s drug problem gave rise to the incident.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

TOMMY HILFIGER TO HOST FUND-RAISER FOR CHARLIE KING

A Democratic candidate for state attorney general, Charlie King, is hoping to benefit from the backing of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who will hold a gala fund-raiser for the Rockland Country attorney at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday. Mr. King, a former candidate for lieutenant governor, is facing a crowded field in the race for attorney general. On the Democratic side, a former mayoral hopeful, Mark Green, is running, as is a former candidate for governor, Andrew Cuomo. A former district attorney of Westchester, Jeanine Pirro, is seeking the GOP nomination after dropping her bid for the Senate.

– Special to the Sun

FORMER HEAD OF OLIN FOUNDATION TO LEAD SIMON FOUNDATION

The head of the now-defunct John M. Olin Foundation will become the president of the William E. Simon Foundation, officials said yesterday. James Piereson had served for 20 years as executive director of the Olin Foundation, which shuttered as planned at the end of the year, having allocated all of its assets. Mr. Piereson, a frequent conservative commentator, was a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to the Olin Foundation in 1981. The Simon Foundation, established by a former treasury secretary to Presidents Nixon and Ford, awarded $8.5 million in education, religious, and social welfare grants last year.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

PATAKI ANNOUNCES $435 MILLION HIGH-TECH CENTER, TAX-FREE ZONES

ALBANY, N.Y. – Governor Pataki and legislative leaders yesterday announced a $435 million high-tech center will be built in Albany and one of three tax-free business zones will be created in Lower Manhattan to spur recovery from the 2001 terrorist attacks. Both economic development projects are agreements with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

– Associated Press