CITYWIDE

CITY PLANS INCREASED SECURITY DURING PASSOVER

The mayor and police commissioner told Jewish leaders yesterday that the city will step up security for the holiday of Passover, which begins next week. The police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said authorities have not picked up any new information that requires heightened alert, but said the increased vigilance is now customary. “As in the past, we intend to ensure that a climate of peace and security prevails,” Mr. Kelly said during a meeting at police headquarters. The measures include increased patrols in Jewish communities and around places of worship. Heavily armed units known as “Hercules” also will be deployed near major temples and synagogues, and other large gatherings.

– Associated Press

NAVY SHIP BEING BUILT WITH WTC STEEL – AND IT SURVIVED KATRINA

With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history – twice. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center, and it survived Hurricane Katrina. That combination of disasters gives the ship a unique standing among the 500 or so Avondale, La., shipyard workers building it, a crane superintendent who postponed retirement to have a hand in the New York’s construction, Tony Quaglino, said. “I think Katrina made us more aware of the tragedy in New York,” the 66-year-old Mr. Quaglino, said. “One was manmade, one was natural, but they’re both a common bond.” USS New York is about 45% complete and should be ready for launch in mid-2007.

– Associated Press

CROSS COUNTRY BIKE RIDE TO HONOR 9/11 FLIGHT CREWS

A group of airline pilots has embarked on a cross-country bicycle ride to raise money for memorials paying tribute to 33 flight crew members and thousands of others killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The five riders gathered Sunday with family, friends, and colleagues at the end of a Los Angeles International Airport runway before setting out on a 33-day journey that ends May 9 at the Pentagon. Along the way, the group will stop in Shanksville, Pa., and New York City. Each day will honor the memory of a crew member killed aboard one of four hijacked United Airlines and American Airlines flights. Thomas Heidenberger, whose wife was a flight attendant on Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, came up with the idea to remember the sacrifices of colleagues and loved ones.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

PROSECUTOR: DETECTIVES BETRAYED BADGES BY MOONLIGHTING FOR MOB

Two former police detectives betrayed their badges by becoming hired guns for the Mafia and helping unleash a wave of violence that left eight people dead, a prosecutor said yesterday at closing arguments at a racketeering trial. Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa “led double lives,” an assistant U.S. attorney, Daniel Wenner, told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn. “They gathered and sold information to the mob,” Mr. Wenner said. “They kidnapped for the mob. They murdered for the mob.” Mr. Caracappa’s lawyer, Edward Hayes, countered by accusing the government of using the testimony of a convicted drug dealer, a gangster, and an embezzler to frame an honest crimefighter. The witnesses, he said, “have conned people their whole lives.”

– Associated Press

MAN CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH BEATING OFFICER

Edwin Rivera was charged with gang assault, assault, and attempted gang assault for beating an off duty police officer, Eric Hernandez, immediately before his death at the hands of a fellow officer, the Bronx district attorney’s office said. Mr. Rivera, who was arraigned on the indictment yesterday, was allegedly one of six people who kicked and punched Hernandez on January 28 at a Bronx White Castle restaurant at 1831 Webster Ave. Hernandez, 24, left the restaurant and pointed his gun at a man he mistakenly thought was one of the alleged assailants. Responding police officers ordered Hernandez to drop his weapon, and when he did not comply, police fatally shot him. Mr. Rivera, 25, was being held on $50,000 bail and is scheduled to be in court May 5. The district attorney’s office expects to arraign the other five defendants – Jonathan Ayala, Daryl Massey, Nelson Rodriguez, Victor Mercado, and Alexander Fontanez – within the next few weeks.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

JUDGE DISMISSES SUIT SEEKING TO ALLOW SOCIAL DANCING IN CLUBS

Shall we dance? In New York it depends on where we hear the music. A state judge yesterday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force the city to allow private, social dancing in restaurants, clubs, and bars. A state Supreme Court justice, Michael Stallman, found that the city’s license requirements for cabarets – places that have food and drink and allow personal recreational dancing – are constitutional. A group calling itself the Gotham West Coast Swing Club and several people said that because the city’s cabaret law barred them from dancing with other people, it unconstitutionally infringed on their right of free expression.

– Associated Press

JUDGE APPROVES SETTLEMENT TO LIMIT USE OF FORCE IN JAILS

A judge yesterday approved a settlement requiring the installation of hundreds of video cameras in jails and better training of guards, saying it shows the city wants to reduce the use of force against inmates. A U.S. district judge, Denny Chin, said the deal between lawyers for 22 present and former jail inmates and the city, settling a class action lawsuit, was “fair, reasonable, and adequate” and would cost the city millions of dollars to upgrade its video monitoring system.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

KRISHNA COUPLE GETS SUPPORT IN FIGHT TO KEEP COWS

BUFFALO – A couple who practice the Krishna Consciousness branch of Hinduism have received support from two national Hindu organizations in their fight to keep cows in the village of Angelica. The Appellate Division of a state Supreme Court in Rochester is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday on whether an injunction that forced Linda and Stephen Voith to move their animals is valid. The Voiths say the cows are integral to the practice of their religion, which protects and celebrates cows. The Allegany County village says they violate local law governing the keeping of farm animals.

– Associated Press

FEDERAL REVIEW CLEARS SPITZER’S MEDICAID FRAUD UNIT

A federal review has found little wrong with the Medicaid fraud prevention unit that the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, is in charge of, though officials did recommend improvements to training, procedures, and equipment rules. The findings were detailed in a March 31 letter from the Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General to Mr. Spitzer’s office.

– Associated Press

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING FATHER IN LONG ISLAND APARTMENT

MINEOLA – A young man accused of killing his surgeon father pleaded guilty to manslaughter yesterday in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence. Mulumba Kazigo, 26, broke into Dr. Zirabamuzaale Kazigo’s Westbury apartment on August 24, 2005, beat him with a baseball bat, and slit his throat, prosecutors said. He then wrapped the body with plastic bags and duct tape and dumped it in a wooded area in Westchester County, they said.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

BROTHER OF ‘MILKSHAKE MURDER’ VICTIM FOUND DEAD IN CONNECTICUT

The brother of an investment banker killed in Hong Kong in what became known as the “milkshake murder” was found dead yesterday in his Connecticut home, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said. Bridget Kelly said “we can confirm” that Andrew Kissel, 46, a real estate developer who lived in Greenwich, was dead. Police in Greenwich said they found a dead man in Kissel’s residence at 10 Dairy Rd. A spokesman for the Greenwich police, Lieutenant Daniel Allen, said officers were called to Kissel’s house by a man known to them. He said the cause of death had not been determined.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

TWO ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF PREGNANT BRONX WOMAN

Police arrested a Bronx couple who turned themselves in to police after allegedly murdering a pregnant woman March 30, police said. Robert Coakley, 46, and his wife, Maria, 46, were charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, police said. The couple stabbed and killed 37-year-old Marilyn Ginelf inside her Beach Street apartment last week, police said. Police said Ginelf was nine months pregnant with Mr. Coakley’s child, and was killed over a dispute the two had when Ginelf cut off Mr. Coakley’s access to a shared bank account. The Coakleys took Ginelf’s ATM card and withdrew $400 from the account before turning themselves in, police said.

– Special to the Sun

CITY EMPLOYEE ARRESTED IN DOMESTIC DISPUTE

A civilian employee of the New York City Police Department was arrested last weekend on charges of domestic assault, police said. Michael Henley, who worked as an evidence and property control specialist, was arrested Saturday shortly before 5 a.m. inside his residence in the Bronx. Police were called to the scene after he assaulted his wife, police said.

– Special to the Sun