CITYWIDE

TENANTS IN RENT-REGULATED APARTMENTS MAY FACE 6.5% RENT HIKE

Rent in the city’s 1 million rent-regulated apartments could rise as much as 6.5% this year following a raucous public meeting last night of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board. The board, appointed by Mayor Bloomberg, approved a preliminary range of rent increases between 3% and 6.5% for a one-year lease and between 5% and 8.5% for a two-year lease. The board is scheduled to hold two public hearings before a final vote on rent increases in June. Both tenants and owners are unhappy with the range. Owners said that costs, like oil and water, have risen steeply. Tenants said the availability of affordable housing is decreasing with gentrification. The proposed rent increase would begin in October of this year.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CAMPAIGN TO BAN CARS FROM PARKS HITS SPEED BUMP

The campaign to ban cars from Central and Prospect parks hit a speed bump yesterday. Mayor Bloomberg rejected the proposal and announced his own plan to scale back the hours that cars can enter parts of both parks. The new restrictions, which will be in effect for a trial period between June and November, will affect portions of traffic loops in the parks during off-peak traffic hours. “I would much prefer to have all cars banned from Central Park, I think everybody would, but the fact of the matter is, if you’re going to force so many cars on streets that we have gridlock, that’s not acceptable,” Mr. Bloomberg said. Council Member Gale Brewer, who joined Mr. Bloomberg for the announcement at Prospect Park yesterday, said the mayor’s plan was a “step in the right direction,” but that she is still committed to considering a full car ban. She is holding a hearing today at City Hall.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

COUNCIL MEMBERS PUSH FOR ‘GREEN’ OR WHEELCHAIR-FRIENDLY CABS

The city’s next batch of taxicabs will be split between “green” and wheelchair-accessible vehicles if a group of City Council members have their way. With the backing of the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, council members John Liu and James Gennaro are proposing a bill that would require that half of the medallions set to be sold at auction next month are reserved for hybrid cabs. The other half would have to go to wheelchair-accessible taxis. Next month’s auction of 308 medallions is the last in a set of 900 designated by the city for sale over a three-year period. Currently, the Taxi and Limousine Commission is setting aside 9% of the medallions for “green” cabs, and 9% for wheelchair-accessible cabs. Its chairman, Matthew Daus, said he had not seen the council bill, but that he was committed to alternative fuel and accessible taxis. Of the 13,000 cabs now on the road, a few dozen fit those requirements.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NEW YORK CHEFS TAKE TOP HONORS AT BEARD FOUNDATION’S AWARDS

New York toques took top honors at the James Beard Foundation’s awards ceremony last night at the Marriott Marquis. The chef of Gotham Bar & Grill, Alfred Portale, was named Outstanding Chef while Daniel Boulud was recognized as Outstanding Restaurateur. The Modern won awards for Best New Restaurant and Outstanding Restaurant Design. Barney Greengrass received recognition as one of America’s Classics.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN

ZUCKERMAN TO ANNOUNCE MAJOR GIFT TO MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING

A billionaire real estate developer, Mortimer Zuckerman, who is publisher of the New York Daily News and editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World report, is expected tomorrow to announce a major gift to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center that “will enable a near-doubling of the center’s cancer research enterprise,” a press release stated.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BROOKLYN

LAWYER SAYS STUDENTS WILL SUE CITY OVER CLOSED BROOKLYN EXHIBIT

Tensions over a Brooklyn College art show that parks officials deemed too racy for a public war memorial escalated yesterday as the school dismantled the exhibit and a lawyer for the artists said they planned to sue the city on First Amendment grounds.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

BRUNO WON’T ENDORSE GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE – FOR NOW

The state senate’s Republican majority leader, Joseph Bruno, indicated yesterday that he wouldn’t be endorsing either gubernatorial candidates, William Weld or John Faso, until at least after the convention in late May. If there’s a primary, he said he would wait until after the election to choose a candidate. He also said he would use his political influence to help Mr. Faso get support from enough delegates at the convention to force a primary. Another Republican, Senator D’Amato, all but endorsed Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer at a private fund-raiser on Sunday for Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn assemblyman, Mr. Hikind said. “It wasn’t in the words, ‘I endorse Eliot Spitzer,’ but it was very clear that Al D’Amato likes Eliot,” Mr. Hikind told The New York Sun.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

PATAKI ANNOUNCES NEW ETHANOL PLANT UPSTATE

SHELBY – Construction of New York’s first dry mill ethanol plant is scheduled to begin this summer, with the state contributing nearly $6 million as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on foreign energy, Governor Pataki said yesterday. Western New York Energy’s $87.4 million Orleans County facility is expected to produce about 50 million gallons of the fuel each year.

– Associated Press

HEVESI PROPOSES GAS TAX TO FUND STUDY OF EXXONMOBIL SPILL

The state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, is proposing a gas tax to pay for an independent environmental study of one of the largest spills in history at Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Mr. Hevesi said yesterday that ExxonMobil, which owns the contaminated site, should not be allowed to negotiate a clean-up agreement with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation until the full extent of the damage is determined. The comptroller said that the Oil Spill Fund, built from a surcharge to consumers of less than one-cent per gallon, would be paid back by the proceeds of future lawsuits against the oil companies responsible for the spill.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

O’DONNELL WANTS NO LESSER CHARGE PLEAS FOR GUN TRAFFICKERS

Gun traffickers would no longer be able to plead to a lesser charge under a plan to reduce gun violence announced yesterday by a Democratic attorney general candidate, Denise O’Donnell, a former federal prosecutor from Buffalo. The plan also requires all gun-related incidents in schools to be reported to the attorney general’s office, better training for police officers, and that the state purchase guns for the police force only from gun distributors who adhere to a “voluntary code of conduct.” Joining Ms. O’Donnell in Midtown for the announcement was President Clinton’s attorney general who has endorsed Ms. O’Donnell, Janet Reno.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

BROOKLYN SHOOTER MAY GET BEDSIDE ARRAIGNMENT

The Brooklyn man who opened fire on four people inside an apartment in an East New York housing project is likely to be arraigned today from his bed at Kings County Hospital, police said. General Lee Waiters, 30, is recovering from a head injury he received when he was tackled after he opened fire on four people, including a 3-year-old girl who died, police said. Police said Mr. Waiters expressed some remorse for the shootings, which began after his girlfriend admonished him for drinking. Intending to shoot her, Mr. Waiters opened fire using an antique German gun, police said. In addition to hitting the child, police said Mr. Waiters struck and injured Mary Lee Clark, 53, Shatashia Lewis, 14, and Lorenzo Warren, 23.

– Special to the Sun

IN THE COURTS

FORMER BROKER SUES MERRILL LYNCH OVER OVERTIME

A former broker has sued a Merrill Lynch subsidiary for not paying him overtime as he made cold calls and built up a book of clients. The suit was filed last Friday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. It is the latest in a series of lawsuits on both coasts that challenge the pay practices of security brokers, who generally make much of their money on commission, and typically work long hours. The suit, filed on behalf of a former Merrill Lynch broker, Anthony Palumbo, seeks compensation for the hours that Mr. Palumbo put in beyond a 40-hour workweek. A spokesman for the company declined to comment on the lawsuit.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

WASHINGTON STATE SETTLES WITH NEW YORK MAN IN SPYWARE LAWSUIT

Washington state has reached another settlement with a defendant named in its first “spyware” lawsuit. Gary Preston will pay $7,200 in legal costs to settle charges that he allowed his name to be used as an alias in business dealings by Secure Computer LLC, the first company charged with violating Washington’s 2005 Computer Spyware Act.

– Associated Press

JUDGE WARNS GOVERNMENT TO STAY AWAY FROM GOTTI BROTHER

A judge yesterday warned the government to steer clear of John “Junior” Gotti’s brother, Peter Gotti, and a close friend, Steven Dobies, in a grand jury mob probe until after Gotti’s third trial on racketeering charges in July.

– Associated Press