CITYWIDE

MAYOR: WORLD ‘BETTER OFF’ WITHOUT AL-ZARQAWI

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that “the world is probably better off” now that Abu Masab al-Zarqawi has been killed. The top Qaeda terrorist was killed by the U.S. military Wednesday during an air strike. Mr. Bloomberg said al-Zarqawi’s death “sends a message to others that we will not allow ourselves to be cowed by terrorists.” The city’s police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said there was no specific information about new threats to New York since al-Zarqawi was assassinated.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SUN TO RECEIVE AWARD FOR ARTICLE ON STATE OF FLAGS IN CITY

The New York Sun will receive an award on Friday from the Boy Scouts of America for an article detailing the number of flags that are in disrepair around the city. Two weeks after the Sun ran a story about flags in violation of the United States Code in February, the shabby flags featured in the story had been repaired or replaced. The coordinator of the city’s main flag disposal ceremony, Gil Schweiger, said that after the story ran the number of old and tattered flags he received for proper disposal increased. The Community Awareness Award will be presented at the annual flag disposal ceremony on Friday evening at Staten Island’s Pouch Camp for Boy Scouts, where Mr. Schweiger is also a ranger.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

IN THE COURTS

FIREFIGHTER SENTENCED FOR SENDING OBSCENE E-MAILS

A former Brooklyn firefighter who e-mailed obscene images to a Long Island teenager was sentenced yesterday to five years probation. Ryan Hogan must also undergo psychological treatment, take random polygraph tests, and submit to random inspections of his computer, as ordered by Judge Frederic Block in Brooklyn Federal Court. Mr. Hogan pleaded guilty in May 2005 of knowingly e-mailing a 14-year-old Long Island girl pictures of himself wearing an FDNY shirt and nothing else from a computer in his stationhouse, Engine Company 237.The fire commissioner, Nicholas Scoppetta, terminated his employment on Wednesday.

– Special to the Sun

RAPE DEFENDANT SCOLDS JUDGE AFTER BOTH SIDES REST

Both sides rested yesterday in the rape trial of an ex-convict who said he would pray for the judge after complaining she had already helped convict him and saying there was no point in his testifying to defend himself. Leroy Johnson, widely reported to be the man who raped actress Kelly McGillis in 1982, is on trial in Manhattan on charges of forcing his way into two women’s Greenwich Village apartment on November 18, 1996, and raping and robbing them at knifepoint. Johnson, 39, had indicated earlier in the day that he might testify in his own defense. But after an assistant district attorney, Martha Bashford, said the prosecution was resting, Johnson declined to take the witness stand and dressed down the judge.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

TEENAGER CHARGED IN ABDUCTION OF 3-YEAR-OLD

The 13-year-old Bronx teen who allegedly abducted a 3-year-old boy last week was charged yesterday with kidnapping and other criminal charges. Tatiana M., referred to by first name only because she is a minor, appeared with her mother in Bronx Family Court, where she was charged with second-degree kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and related charges. Prosecutors allege that she removed a 3-year-old boy, Brandon Aponte, on June 3 from a Bronx tattoo parlor where his father worked. Following yesterday’s charges, Tatiana was remanded to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, according to a statement by the New York City Law Department. She will next appear in court June 15.

– Special to the Sun

FIREFIGHTER ARRESTED FOR DRUG POSSESSION

An off-duty Brooklyn firefighter has been arrested on drug charges, police said. Patrick Condello, 27, of Engine 202 in Brooklyn was arrested around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in Bay Ridge, police said. He was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said. A Fire Department spokesman said the incident is under investigation.

– Special to the Sun

LONG ISLAND

MTA TO RECEIVE GRANT TO PURCHASE BUSES

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is to receive a grant of $1,942,653 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to purchase six buses and associated capital maintenance items, Senators Schumer and Clinton announced yesterday. The funding will allow the MTA to acquire six compressed natural gas buses. Nassau County-owned bus depots in Rockville Center and Garden City in Long Island will be the recipients of the buses. “This funding will help Nassau County upgrade its bus fleet with more compressed natural gas buses which is good for passengers, pedestrians, and the environment,” Mrs. Clinton said. – Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

LAWMAKERS CONSIDER RACE TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL TERROR SUSPECTS

State legislation proposed yesterday would allow law enforcers to consider race and ethnicity in identifying potential terrorism suspects – a move decried by a civil rights advocate. The bill, which hasn’t yet come up for a vote in either the state Assembly or Senate, would allow “the use of race as one of many criteria in the war on terror,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat of Brooklyn, said.

– Associated Press

PATAKI ATTENDS SON’S GRADUATION FROM MARINE CORP SCHOOL

ALBANY – Governor Pataki and his wife were in Virginia yesterday to attend the graduation of their son from the Marine Corps’ basic school in Quantico. “Libby and I are proud of Ted and all the young men and women who choose to put their lives on the line to defend our freedom,” Mr. Pataki said in a statement. “There are no finer people.” Theodore Pataki, 24, is a recent graduate of Yale University, his father’s alma mater. A second lieutenant, the younger Pataki will be heading to Fort Sill in Oklahoma for six months of artillery training, Mr. Pataki’s spokesman, David Catalfamo, said.

– Associated Press

COUNTY EXECUTIVE ORDERS RECOGNITION OF GAY MARRIAGES

WHITE PLAINS – A county executive, Andrew Spano, has issued an executive order that makes Westchester the first county in the state to recognize gay marriages. Mr. Spano read the order Wednesday night at a meeting of gay groups and received a standing ovation. The effect of the order is to give married gay couples the same county privileges as heterosexual couples, such as the right to buy family passes to county parks and the right to seek emergency housing as a family.

– Associated Press

STUDY FAULTS PATAKI FOR LACK OF HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES

ALBANY – A state agency that is supposed to finance the construction of affordable housing in New York has instead provided most of its money to developers building luxury homes over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday. Between 2000 and 2005,only 5,959 out of 12,715 total units built with funding from the state Housing Finance Agency, mostly in Manhattan, were deemed affordable in a Pratt Center for Community Development study critical of Governor Pataki’s performance on housing issues.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

NEGLIGENCE ALLEGED IN BOY SCOUT’S LIGHTNING DEATH

PATERSON, N.J. – Boy Scout leaders knew a lightning storm was near a Pennsylvania camp when they dismissed 350 Scouts from a dining hall to their tents, then lied about it after lightning killed a 16-year-old Scout, a lawyer for the victim’s family said yesterday. In a trial that will challenge the Boy Scouts of America’s policy on lightning safety at camps across the country, the family of Matthew Tresca claims he would still be alive had the leaders of the camp heeded repeated warnings that a dangerous storm was approaching. The lawsuit involves the August 2, 2002 death of Tresca, a Boy Scout from Clifton who was at a one-week summer camp in the Pocono Mountains along with about 300 other Scouts.

– Associated Press

ASSEMBLYWOMEN CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF COULTER BOOK

TRENTON, N.J. – Commentator Ann Coulter’s incendiary words about outspoken widows from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, have led two state lawmakers to calls for a boycott of her book in the widows’ home state of New Jersey. Assemblywomen Joan Quigley, a Democrat, and Linda Stender, a Democrat, yesterday called on New Jerseyans to stop buying the book, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism,” and for retailers in the state to stop selling it.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

PRESIDENT CLINTON TOUTS IMPORTANCE PUBLIC HEALTH

President Clinton urged audience members at Columbia University to work to ensure that public health is at the forefront for activists and politicians alike. “One of the principal security issues in the next 30 years [will be] public health,” he said at the close of a four-hour symposium held in honor of the dean of the school of public health, Allan Rosenfeld. Panelists spoke about the failure to recognize the importance of gender equity in promoting health, and the need for more universal AIDS testing, low-cost drugs, and safe abortions among a slew of issues that affect both America and developing countries throughout the world.

– Special to the Sun