CITYWIDE

KELLY CLASHES WITH CIVILIAN BOARD OVER RNC PROTEST ARRESTS

A city agency’s criticism of the police response to protests at the 2004 Republican National Convention received a sharp rebuke yesterday from the city’s top law enforcement officer. New York City’s police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, in a letter to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, said he was “surprised and dismayed” by the board’s finding earlier this week that two commanders gave confusing orders to demonstrators, resulting in needless arrests. The board recommended that the New York Police Department review how it handles protests and provide better training.

– Associated Press

SIRIUS TO LAUNCH CATHOLIC RADIO CHANNEL

Sirius Satellite Radio Incorporated said yesterday it would create a new channel of Catholic-themed programming with the Archdiocese of New York. The channel, which will launch in the fall, will carry live daily Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York as well as talk and music programming. Financial terms of the arrangement weren’t disclosed. Sirius already carries other religious-themed programming, including Catholic themed syndicated talk shows, news and teachings from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network, as well as programs from FamilyNet, the broadcast arm of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

– Associated Press

FORECASTERS: NEW YORK OVERDUE FOR HURRICANE

Government forecasters predicting a severe weather storm will hit the East Coast sooner rather than later, said New York City is especially susceptible to a long-overdue hurricane. Even a moderate-intensity storm could be disastrous, meteorologists from the National Weather Service said in a Reuters report. Winds increase with height and could hit tall buildings especially hard, forecasters said. The last major storm to hit the East Coast, Hurricane Gloria, caused $900 million in economic losses in 1995, Reuters reported. Forecasters said hurricane season typically starts June 1.

– Special to the Sun

STUDY: EAST ASIAN IMMIGRANTS HAVE HIGH CHANCE OF CARRYING HEPATITS B

Members of New York’s east Asian immigrant community have a one in seven risk of carrying the hepatitis B virus, exposing them to elevated risks of liver cancer and other deadly diseases, according to a new study to be published this week in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s journal, “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.” The study, led by researchers at the New York University’s School of Medicine, found that 15% of the east Asians in the city, nearly 100,000 people, are chronic hepatitis carriers, according to a report in today’s New York Times. Most carriers are unaware they carry the virus, despite the efforts of programs such as NYU’s Center for the Study of Asian American Health, which has made hepatitis awareness a priority.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MANHATTAN

TWO RESCUED FROM SCAFFOLDING ON BUILDING

Firefighters rescued two maintenance workers who were stuck on a narrow scaffolding platform on the side of an office tower hundreds of feet above ground yesterday. Both workers, stuck at around the 10th floor, were taken inside through a window of the building, 335 Madison Ave., a Fire Department spokesman, Matt Getz, said.

– Associated Press

GEORGE PACKER WINS LIBRARY’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM

A staff writer for the New Yorker, George Packer, yesterday received the New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for his “The Assassins’ Gate: America In Iraq” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), the early chapters of which were written in the main reading room at the library’s Humanities and Social Sciences branch at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. “Now that the book is finished, all I have left is Iraq, and it has been unexpectedly difficult to continue to follow the war without a book to write about it,” Mr. Packer said in accepting the award, which carries a $15,000 cash prize. Past winners include Nina Bernstein, Philip Gourevitch, Alex Kotlowitz, and James Reston, who was honored for his 50-year contribution to journalism.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

PETA NAMES COLUMBIA AMONG TOP 10 ‘WORST’ LABS

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has named Columbia University among the 10 most inhumane labs for animals. Citing lethal experiments on puppies, as well as undercover footage of researchers injecting pregnant monkeys with nicotine and cocaine, among other offenses, the group said Columbia is no. 10 on a list of schools that also includes Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities. The Columbia University Medical Center provides a statement on its Web site regarding its treatment of animals: “We understand the responsibility associated with animal-based research and aim to provide the highest level of ethical and humane care.”

– Special to the Sun

ALBANY

LAWMAKERS AGREE TO CAP STATE SALES TAX ON GASOLINE

Lawmakers agreed yesterday to cap the state sales tax on gasoline, a move that would save consumers with a 20-gallon gas tank about 80 cents a fill-up. The bill, which would take effect June 1, caps the sales tax at 8 cents per gallon, freezing the tax at the rate paid when gas costs $2 a gallon. Lawmakers said that would save consumers $450 million a year. The agreement comes nearly eight months after the Republican-led state Senate first proposed a cap on the tax amid soaring gasoline prices following refinery shutdowns caused by Hurricane Katrina.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

LACKAWANNA SIX MEMBER MAY HAVE FUNDED ALLEGED QAEDA OPERATIVE

BUFFALO – A member of the Lackawanna Six may testify that he used a money transfer business to send money to an alleged Al Qaeda operative believed killed by a CIA missile strike in 2002 in Yemen, Kamal Derwish, according to a court filing. Yahya Goba, serving a 10-year prison sentence after attending an Al Qaeda training camp in 2001, appears on the government’s list of potential witnesses for the trial of three Lackawanna men accused of transferring $3.5 million from the Buffalo area to Yemen through an unlicensed business.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE INFILTRATE DRUG-RIDDLED HOUSING PROJECT; 153 ARRESTED SO FAR

Undercover officers infiltrated a Brooklyn housing project marked by rampant drug activity in what police said yesterday is the largest narcotics takedown in memory. During an 18-month investigation, officers infiltrated the Red Hook Houses, where “drugs were sold in every corner of the development day and night,” New York City’s police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said at a press conference yesterday. Starting with a narcotics sting operation on April 28, when 450 officers executed simultaneous search warrants, police to date have arrested 153 individuals; confiscated 11 guns, one half pound of cocaine, two stun guns, two bullet-resistant vests, a police scanner, and nearly $30,000 cash, Mr. Kelly said. During the investigation, called Operation “Off the Hook,” Mr. Kelly said officers were also able to infiltrate a closely guarded drug “bazaar,” where drug lords previously eluded police by carving 19 parcels – with nicknames like “Poor Block,” “Slytown,” and “Paradise” – out of the 33-building complex.

– Special to the Sun

ATTEMPTED ROBBERY RESULTS IN TWO SHOOTINGS

A man who tried to rob an elderly payroll deliveryman in Brooklyn was shot yesterday by an off-duty police officer responding to the incident, police said. The man and an accomplice – both in their 20s – attacked and shot the 71-year-old on Carroll Street, drawing the attention of the off-duty detective. After an exchange of shots, the suspects both fled, police said. The elderly man – whose name was not immediately released – was brought to Kings County Hospital; one of the suspects went there for treatment as well and was identified by the officer. Both patients are in stable condition, police said.

– Special to the Sun

TRISTATE

NEWARK MAYOR-ELECT PUSHES FOR CITY COUNCIL SLATE

NEWARK, N.J. – A day after Cory Booker crushed his next opponent in the race for mayor of Newark, he touted his mandate to implement change in New Jersey’s largest city. Mr. Booker, a 37-year-old former Rhodes Scholar, toured the city yesterday, thanking voters and urging them to elect the rest of his slate for Municipal Council in a runoff next month.

– Associated Press

BLACK BEAR SHOT TO DEATH IN URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD

IRVINGTON, N.J. – Moments before an animal control officer could subdue it with a tranquilizer gun yesterday, a 300-pound black bear that had been wandering urban areas of north Jersey reared up on its hind legs and appeared ready to charge police officers, who then killed it with repeated shotgun blasts.

– Associated Press