CITYWIDE

TWO DEATHS IN SUBWAYS CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DELAYS

Two men died in the subway system in separate incidents yesterday disrupting service on the Q line and the A, C, and E lines, police and transit officials said.

At about 7:15 a.m., Eugene Reilly, 64, of Brooklyn, was found unconscious on a northbound Q train, police said. Responding emergency workers pronounced him dead at the scene. Police said there were no signs of trauma or criminality suspected in the case. The cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner’s office. For about 40 minutes, all the trains on the line went local, slowing down morning commuters.

Then, at about 1:40 p.m., an unidentified man jumped in front of a train at the 42nd Street station for the Eighth Avenue line, police said. For several hours after the accident transit officials moved C trains onto the Sixth Avenue line from the West 4th Street station to the Columbus Circle station, and E trains on the F line from the West 4th Street station to the Fifth Avenue station, a spokesman for the transit authority, Charles Seaton, said.

Service returned to normal by the afternoon commuter rush, he said.

– Special to the Sun

WOMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY STOLE MILLIONS FROM BUSINESSMAN REVOKES PLEA

The former assistant to Howard Gittis, a business associate of billionaire Ronald Perelman, made a motion to revoke a guilty plea in a criminal lawsuit alleging she funneled $2.5 million from Mr. Gittis by writing herself personal checks in his name yesterday.

Catesby Kilmer, 46, also changed lawyers, hiring criminal defense lawyer Irwin Rochman of Rochman, Platzman, Fallick, Sternheim, Luca & Pearl.

A Manhattan judge will determine the validity of the withdrawal January 26. If the motion is accepted, the case will go to trial, Mr. Rochman said.

The Manhattan District Attorney charged Ms. Kilmer with first degree grand larceny in the fall of 2003, allegedly after Mr. Gittis confronted her with evidence of her paying personal credit card bills with his money. An investigation revealed that she had taken $2.5 million from his personal accounts by forging his name on personal checks, according to the district attorney’s office.

– Special to the Sun

U.S., ITALY REACH ART AGREEMENT; THE MET MAY SEE LONGER LOANS

America and Italy have agreed to a five-year extension of a pact signed in 2001 that imposed restrictions on the importing of ancient artifacts from Italy in exchange for greater access to Italy’s vast antiquity collections, the State Department said yesterday. The memorandum of understanding between the countries targets the trafficking of looted art by prohibiting certain artifacts – dating from the 9th century B.C.E. to the 4th century C.E. – from entering America without proper documentation. In exchange for stricter American importing controls, Italy has relaxed its international loan restrictions, allowing objects to be borrowed for up to four years.

The renewal of the pact comes as the Italian government is pressuring the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other American museums to return pieces it says were stolen from Italy. Long-term loans are at the center of an Italian proposal now under consideration by the Met for the return of several disputed pieces in its collection.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

LOBBYISTS TO FACE STRICTER RESTRICTIONS ON GIFT-GIVING ALBANY – Lobbyists would face greater restrictions on the gifts they can give to lawmakers and other public officials under new recommendations by state Lobbying Commission staffers.

The proposed guidelines, slated for a vote by commissioners at their February 8 meeting, would allow a lobbyist or single lobbying firm to only give up to $75 worth of gifts to an official during an entire year. Previously, lobbyist gifts had been restricted to less than $75 per item or event.

“This is a major change from what the commission has done in the past,” Executive Director David Grandeau said yesterday at a public hearing attended by dozens of Albany lobbyists.

Lobbying to influence legislation is already a $140 million-a-year business in Albany and involves top-dollar, professional lobbyists and law firms.

– Associated Press