CITYWIDE

MAYOR PRAISES LIEBERMAN

Mayor Bloomberg praised Senator Lieberman yesterday and said, “If the senator were running as an Independent, personally I would support him.” Mr. Bloomberg said he doesn’t agree with the Connecticut Democrat on everything, but that the country needs people who speak their mind regardless of partisan politics. “We need more people like Joe Lieberman to be out there, even if they’re people that we don’t necessarily happen to agree with,” the mayor said. “I think the people who are trying to push him out for partisan reasons are making a very bad mistake.” Mr. Lieberman is being challenged by a Democrat who is against the Iraq war. The senator is said to be considering a run as an Independent. Mr. Bloomberg said Mr. Lieberman has not officially asked for his endorsement, but he would “take a look and see” if he did.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

IN THE COURTS

CITY, LEGAL GROUP SETTLE LAWSUIT OVER GAY-THEMED SCHOOL

The city and a legal group have a settled a lawsuit in which the city was accused of violating laws against segregation by establishing a public high school for gay, bisexual, and transgender students. The city and a group calling itself the Liberty Counsel reached the settlement a week ago, agreeing that the Harvey Milk High School was open to students of any sexual orientation, Kate O’Brien Ahlers of the city’s Law Department said. “The city is pleased that the litigation involving Harvey Milk High School has been resolved,” a city lawyer, Emily Sweet, said in a statement released by Ms. Ahlers.

– Associated Press

STATEWIDE

SMALL PLANE BOUND FOR WHITE PLAINS CRASHES, KILLING THREE

A small private plane headed for White Plains, N.Y., crashed yesterday on Block Island, killing all three people aboard. A civilian search and rescue controller with the U.S. Coast Guard in Woods Hole, Mass., Scott Backholm, said the airplane was cleared for takeoff from the airport on Block Island just after noon. The four-seat Piper Cherokee PA-28 aircraft was registered to William Peden Homan of White Plains, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, Jim Peters, said. Two women and a man were aboard the plane when it crashed, but their identities were not released. Peters said he believed the bodies had been recovered. The fuselage was discovered by an island resident around 4 p.m., according to the Coast Guard. Mr. Backholm said it appeared the plane never got off Block Island since the fuselage was found so close to the airport. The wreckage was discovered in a wooded area near a home. Block Island, located about 12 miles south of Rhode Island’s shoreline, is home to roughly 800 people and is a summer tourist haven. Mr. Peters said the pilot was cleared to depart to the Westchester County Airport in White Plains at 12:07 p.m. But the pilot never made additional contact with air controllers to say that the plane was in the air, Mr. Peters said.

– Associated Press

IMAGING TECHNOLOGY CATCHES TWO AT BORDER

BUFFALO – Two stowaways were caught trying to enter America illegally near Buffalo, federal officers said yesterday. Gamma-ray imaging technology helped officials with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection see the two men on separate freight trains at the Black Rock International Rail Bridge on Tuesday. One man was Solomon Giday, 46, a native of Ethiopia and citizen of Israel. The other was a 16-year-old Canadian citizen who said he was going to New York City to become an actor.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

WTC MEMORIAL FOUNDATION KICKS OFF AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Today the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is kicking off an advertising campaign aimed to foster awareness and involvement in the Ground Zero Memorial and Memorial Museum and raise the remaining $170 million needed to build them. The kick-off event is at the TriBeCa Cinemas Gallery, where advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day will present different facets of the campaign that the agency created. The memorial and museum will honor the memory of those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993.

– Special to the Sun

LAWMAKERS WANT OVERSIGHT AT GROUND ZERO

City and state officials are seeking a system of oversight at ground zero. Senator Schumer asked the superintendent of the State Insurance Department, Howard Mills, to launch an investigation into the six insurance companies that have not yet paid insurance for damages on September 11, 2001. The insurance companies have argued that the compromises broached with developer Larry Silverstein excuse them from paying the full amount. Mr. Silverstein has since filed suit. “We will take all steps necessary to ensure that the insurers uphold their legal obligations in this matter,” the director of public affairs at the State Insurance Department, Michael Barry, said. New York City’s public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, sent a letter yesterday to the executive director of Port Authority requesting that all construction plans be reviewed by a panel of representatives from New York City’s fire, police, and buildings departments and members of the Real Estate Board in order to ensure that the plans and construction are in compliance with safety and building codes.

– Special to the Sun

PATAKI, BLOOMBERG CUT RIBBON FOR WALKWAY IN LOWER MANHATTAN

Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg completed the first phase of a revitalization of Lower Manhattan, cutting the ribbon for the West Street Promenade South, a pedestrian walkway ranging between Thames Street and Battery Place along West Street. The promenade is part of an effort to rebuild the area after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Other rebuilding projects include the Freedom Tower, the South Ferry subway terminal, the Ground Zero Memorial and Memorial Museum, the World Trade Center transportation hub, and the Fulton Street transit center, all of which are slated to be completed by 2010 at the latest.

– Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

14-YEAR-OLD STABBED IN BRONX

A 14-year-old was stabbed late Tuesday night after a verbal dispute with a group of men in the Bronx, police said. The teenager was riding his bicycle on Belmont Avenue in the Fordham section around 11 p.m. when he got into a fight with the men, prompting a member of the group to throw a glass bottle at him. When the teenager attempted to confront his assailant, another individual stabbed him once in the chest and once in the stomach, police said. The teenager was taken to St. Barnabas hospital, where he was listed in serious condition yesterday.

– Special to the Sun

POLICE RESCUE WOMAN FROM HARLEM RIVER

Rescuers from the Police Department’s aviation unit lifted a Manhattan woman to safety in a dramatic water rescue yesterday, police said. Boaters in the Harlem River near the Alexander Hamilton Bridge first noticed the 57-year-old woman – who may have been attempting suicide – thrashing in the water around 3 p.m. yesterday. They called 911 when they could not save her themselves, police said. A helicopter rescue team hovered over the woman, lifted her out, and deposited her in shallow water. She was brought to Lincoln Hospital, police said.

– Special to the Sun

WOMAN HIT, CRITICALLY INJURED BY TRUCK

A 70-year-old Boro Park woman was critically injured yesterday after being hit by a truck while crossing the street. Police said the woman was crossing 46th Street at the intersection of Hamilton Parkway around 10:45 a.m. when the truck clipped her, causing her to fall. She was taken to Lutheran Medical Center after sustaining a severe head trauma likely caused by the fall, police said. Police yesterday called the collision accidental, and said no summonses were issued to the driver.

– Special to the Sun

WOMAN SUFFERS HEART ATTACK, DIES IN POLICE CUSTODY

A 49-year-old woman had a heart attack and died yesterday while awaiting arraignment on burglary charges, police said. Collen Manza went into cardiac arrest inside her holding cell at Queens Central Booking, where she was detained after police said she robbed a Queens home early Tuesday morning. Police said EMTs yesterday administered CPR, but the woman was pronounced dead at Queens General Hospital shortly after 5 p.m. The woman had a history of theft, including arrests dating back to 1985 for grand larceny auto and other charges.

– Special to the Sun

TWO DEAD, ONE INJURED IN QUEENS CRASH

Two people died and one was injured yesterday after a livery cab smashed into a tractor-trailer and burst into flames, police said. The taxi driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and a female passenger later died at Elmhurst Hospital. Another passenger was taken to Elmhurst in critical condition. According to police, the vehicles were traveling westbound on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway near Long Island City around 4:30 a.m. when police said the driver of the 1998 Lincoln livery cab allegedly struck the rear of a tractor-trailer that was slowing down in traffic. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured, police said.

– Special to the Sun