CITYWIDE

MAYOR SAYS HE INTERVENED IN 9/11-RELATED WORKER’S COMPENSATION CASE

Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged yesterday that he intervened in the worker’s compensation case of a former deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration, Rudy Washington, who has fallen ill with respiratory ailments after assisting at ground zero after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Mr. Bloomberg said that Mr. Washington “never asked for any special treatment,” but that when the mayor learned this week that the Law Department planned to challenge Mr. Washington’s claim on what he said was a “technicality,” he stepped in and ordered city lawyers to settle the case.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The city is launching a three-month public awareness campaign to urge victims of domestic violence to come forward and seek help, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. At a cost of nearly $200,000, the effort will feature graphic ads on the city’s subways, buses, and telephone kiosks that read, “If you or someone you know is being abused, call 311.” Mr.Bloomberg also announced that the city will play host next month to “Until the Violence Stops: NYC,” a two-week performance festival spearheaded by playwright Eve Ensler, who penned “The Vagina Monologues.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE WARN OFFICERS ABOUT CELL PHONE GUNS

The New York Police Department has warned officers to watch out for a type of rare custom-made pistol, disguised as a cell phone. Federal authorities have been issuing warnings about the specially made .22 caliber handgun since at least 2000, when several were recovered by law enforcement authorities in Europe.

– Associated Press

TEACHERS, PARENTS PICKET FOR SMALL CLASS SIZES IN CITY SCHOOLS

Teachers and parents picketed yesterday as part of a high-profile campaign to promote smaller classes in the city’s public schools. The informational picketing occurred outside several schools, including Public Schools 1 and 126 in Lower Manhattan, where the teachers union president, Randi Weingarten, made appearances, the union said in a statement. – Associated Press

MANHATTAN

GUESTS AND DRINKS APLENTY AT LE CIRQUE OPENING PARTY

The much hyped opening party for the new Le Cirque last night was a mob scene. “It’s dangerous in there,” the restaurateur, Drew Nieporent, said standing outside near the owner of Elaine’s, Elaine Kaufman, and the owner of the Four Seasons, Julian Niccolini. “It’s a nightmare,” the interior decorator Joanne de Guardiola said after she made it down the stairs from the second floor. “They invited everyone!” Among the nearly 2,000 guests were Vartan Gregorian, Patricia Arquette, Bill Cosby, Jay McInerny, and Joan Rivers. In scope, the event recalled the opening party for the Time Warner Center, which had more than 4,000 attendees – and four floors of a mall to put them in. Even with an additional tent set up next to the restaurant, it was shoulder-to-shoulder throughout Le Cirque’s two floors. And where was the food? “I haven’t seen any,” Beth Rudin DeWoody said before heading to a gala for Gina Gibney Dance. There were more bartenders serving drinks than waiters passing hors d’oeuvres, although a few – octopus on toast, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, tuna tartare – were spotted. The restaurant opens to the public May 31.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

BLOOMBERG, PATAKI CUT RIBBON ON SEARS OFFICES DOWNTOWN Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki yesterday cut the ribbon on new design offices in Lower Manhattan for Sears Holding, which will bring 120 new jobs to its expanded, 45,000 square-foot space at Hudson Square, just north of Canal Street. Messrs. Bloomberg and Pataki hailed the company’s decision to consolidate downtown as another victory for Lower Manhattan, which has seen a drop in the office vacancy rate since last year, to 11.4%, from 12.5%.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

HANDCUFFS OF OFFICER KILLED ON SEPTEMBER 11 USED TO ARREST AL QAEDA

The handcuffs began as standard issue gear for a Port Authority police officer, Donald McIntyre, killed in the line of duty during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. When the cuffs were discovered in the rubble of the World Trade Center, they became a keepsake for his widow. By the time McIntyre’s co-worker began slapping the same handcuffs on terrorist suspects four years ago, the gear that once hung from McIntyre’s belt took on an almost mystical caste. “It became a spiritual thing,” the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Detective Thomas McHale, who took the handcuffs to Afghanistan while chasing terrorism suspects with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, said. “I thought, ‘You’re helping us down here, Donnie.'”

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

MOTORCYCLIST DIES AFTER LOSING CONTROL OF VEHICLE

A Long Island man died early yesterday morning after police said he lost control of his motorcycle in Queens. Eric Arsenault, 24, of Port Washington, was ejected from his 1999 Kawasaki bike during the accident, which occurred as he was traveling northbound on the Cross Island Parkway near the Whitestone Bridge in Flushing. Police found him lying on the shoulder of the road and pronounced him dead shortly after midnight.

– Special to the Sun

TEENAGERS STABBED IN UPPER WEST SIDE DISPUTE

Two teenagers were stabbed in broad daylight yesterday when a fight broke out between longstanding rivals on the Upper West Side, police said. Three teenagers – who were later arrested – assaulted the 18-year-old and 16-year-old victims around 12:30 p.m. near the intersection of West 85th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The 18-year-old was stabbed multiple times, while the 16-year-old was cut in the face. Both were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in stable condition. Police arrested a 15-year-old at the scene, and said two others surrendered at a Bronx police precinct. In addition to the 15-year-old, who was not named because he may be charged as a minor, police arrested Jonathan Cornielle, 17, and Ramfi Pimentel, 18, both of the Bronx, and charged them with second-degree assault.

– Special to the Sun

CHINATOWN CAR ACCIDENT INJURES FOUR

Four people were injured yesterday evening – one seriously – in a car accident in Chinatown, police said. The driver of a Ford van struck four people on Forsyth Street between Canal and Division streets, when police say he may have been trying to park his car. Police said a 70-year-old man was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition. Another man, in his 60s, was taken to Downtown Beekman Hospital with chest pains. Two others who received minor injuries declined medical treatment, police said. There were no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing, police said.

– Special to the Sun

LONG ISLAND

MAN ARRAIGNED ON CHARGES HE HIT GROUP WITH SUV

NORTH BELLMORE – A man was arraigned yesterday on six counts of second-degree assault after police said he ran down a group of people with his sport utility vehicle following a dispute on a suburban street. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. Joseph Cassidy, 21, of Garden City, was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond at his arraignment in First District Court in Hempstead.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

ACTRESS SUSAN SARANDON ENDORSES CLINTON OPPONENT IN SENATE RACE

Actress Susan Sarandon, a longtime liberal political activist and outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, endorsed an anti-war Democrat challenging Senator Clinton’s re-election bid Tuesday. Ms. Sarandon is backing a labor advocate and former president of the National Writers’ Union, Jonathan Tasini, who has based his long shot campaign on Mrs. Clinton’s vote in 2002 authorizing military intervention in Iraq.

– Associated Press

STATE WORKER ACCUSED OF SEX HARASSMENT, MISUSING STAFF IS FIRED

A state human rights regional director has been fired after he was accused of sexual harassment and misusing state equipment and employees for his state Senate campaign. Eugene Daniels III was terminated May 12 from his $65,049-a-year job as regional director of the Division of Human Rights, according to the state Inspector General’s Office.

– Associated Press

TWO-TERM DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLYMAN RESIGNS FROM OFFICE

A two-term Assemblyman resigned from office yesterday, citing family and professional reasons. Ryan Karben, 31, a Rockland County Democrat, said in a statement that he wanted to spend more time with his wife Lauren and his three daughters.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

MUSLIMS, FBI SEEK TO BUILD TRUST STRAINED BY SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS

NEWARK, N.J. – In September, a group of Muslim men praying near the main air intake duct at Giants Stadium was detained by suspicious FBI agents. On Saturday, the federal agency and an Egyptian-American group plan to meet in the latest FBI push to recruit Arab-Americans and repair relations strained in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

– Associated Press