New York Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

MANHATTAN

OFFICIALS: TERROR PLOTTERS TARGETED FLOOD WALL AT TRADE CENTER

The suspects in a terrorist plot targeting Lower Manhattan hoped to unleash a catastrophic flood by destroying a huge underground wall that keeps Hudson River water out of the World Trade Center site, two law enforcement officials said yesterday. It was unclear how the suspects hoped to bring down the so-called slurry wall, which was quietly put under 24-hour police protection in recent weeks once details of the plot began to emerge, the officials told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the scheme was still under investigation.

— Associated Press

FEDERAL WATCHDOG: 9/11 LOAN PROGRAM WAS DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN

A federal official admitted to Congress yesterday that a post-September 11, 2001, loan program was a bureaucratic disaster waiting to happen. One lawmaker scoffed that money went to a custard shop in Austin, Texas. “This was really a program that had potential for disaster,” an inspector general for the Small Business Administration that administered the ill-fated loan effort, Eric Thorsen, said. Lawmakers conducting a two-day post-mortem of the $21 billion aid package for New York ridiculed the notion that many of the far-flung recipients of the loans had suffered any negative impact from the attacks.

— Associated Press

SILVER SAYS HE WILL VOTE FOR JAVITS EXPANSION PLAN

Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday that he would vote for the latest $1.7 billion plan to expand the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center if the “proposal is sound, as I expect it to be.” Mr. Silver’s comments followed a report yesterday in The New York Sun in which some officials questioned whether the speaker would try to extract concessions from the city and state in exchange for his support of the project. The speaker’s approval is necessary for the Javits expansion plan to pass the Public Authorities Control Board, where a vote could take place as early as next week. “I have always been and continue to be supportive of the Javits Convention Center Project, which is why I sponsored the legislation allowing the expansion,” Mr. Silver said in a statement yesterday.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

CITY HIRES TOP 9/11, KATRINA OFFICIAL

New York City has hired a top ex-FEMA official who became a lightning rod for criticism and praise after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. One New York lawmaker compared the city’s decision to New Orleans hiring an ex-FEMA boss, Michael Brown. Brad Gair, who led the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s September 11 recovery efforts, is now working for the city’s Office of Emergency Management, officials said yesterday. Mr. Gair also played a key role in FEMA’s much-derided response to Hurricane Katrina, when he worked as director of housing issues, including a major cruise ship contract widely derided as a boondoggle.

— Associated Press

PATAKI SENDS STATE ANTI-TERROR MONEY TO CITY

The Pataki administration announced yesterday it would give New York City millions of dollars in anti-terror money to help make up for a recent $83 million cut in federal anti-terror grants. The move was expected after the governor made a similar move earlier this week for Buffalo, which lost nearly half of its federal dollars from the program.

— Associated Press

BLOOMBERG, DISTRICT COUNCIL 37 COME TO TENTATIVE LABOR AGREEMENT

The Bloomberg administration has come to terms on a tentative labor agreement with the city’s largest municipal union, District Council 37, the union confirmed last night. A DC37 spokeswoman, Molly Charboneau, would not confirm reports that the 32-month deal includes raises of at least 9% for the union’s 120,000 members and a provision that rescinds a rule requiring city workers to live in the five boroughs.The deal will be officially announced Monday, she said. The mayor’s office had no comment.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

SPITZER AND PATAKI WEIGH IN ON UPSTATE VIOLENCE

BUFFALO — A summer surge in homicides had the attention of state officials yesterday, with Governor Pataki promising $13 million more for violence prevention and Democratic candidate for governor, Eliot Spitzer, brainstorming with western New York law enforcers. Monroe, Erie, Albany, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties will each receive $1 million or more under Operation IMPACT, a program meant to reduce violent crime outside New York City, Pataki said.

— Associated Press

HEVESI: CORRECTIONS OFFICERS TO GET BACK PAY

ALBANY — The 23,000 corrections officers in New York State will receive part of the back pay owed to them by next month, the state comptroller’s office said yesterday. The announcement followed a complaint by a state senator, Michael Nozzolio, a Seneca County Republican, who said Comptroller Alan Hevesi had indicated the corrections officers would not receive the back pay until 2007 because of complications in calculating the money owed.The advance payment could be as much as $7,500 by August 31, Mr. Hevesi’s office said in a statement.

— Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

TWO CORRECTIONS OFFICERS SUE OVER ALLEGED ASSAULTS BY COLLEAGUES

Two female corrections officers have sued the city’s Department of Corrections, claiming that it retaliated against them after they reported they had been sexually or physically assaulted by male colleagues.The two officers, Danielle Simmonds and Sonya Henderson, claim the department never investigated their reports of abuse. Ms. Henderson further claims that the department ordered her to undergo a psychological evaluation after she continued sending letters requesting an investigation.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

EX-NYU STUDENT’S MOTHER ADMITS PART IN FRAUD

The mother of a former New York University student who allegedly conspired with her son in a multi-million dollar check writing and hedge-fund scheme, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of fraud. Ayferefat Yalincak, 51, admitted she helped her son, Hakan Yalincak, portray himself as a wealthy hedge-fund manager, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

— Special to the Sun

SUPERMODEL SUED AGAIN BY AN EMPLOYEE WHO ALLEGES ASSAULT

Naomi Campbell was sued yesterday by another former employee, this one a young Florida woman who claims the supermodel abused her verbally and physically on three continents. Amanda Brack, 20, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., accused Ms. Campbell of assault, battery, false imprisonment, and infliction of emotional distress in incidents that started a month after she began working for her in February 2005, court papers say.

— Associated Press

CHECK CONNECTS MARION JONES TO CASE THAT SNARED MONTGOMERY

Bank records connect the a star sprinter, Marion Jones, to an alleged check-counterfeiting scheme that led to criminal charges against her coach and an exboyfriend, Olympian Tim Montgomery. Documents filed in a federal court in Manhattan show that Ms. Jones received a $25,000 check from a Virginia man who prosecutors have accused of enlisting friends and business partners to help launder the proceeds of the multimillion-dollar plot.

— Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

POLICE: SUICIDE AT PENN STATION SUBWAY STOP

A Staten Island woman committed suicide yesterday by jumping in front of a train entering the Penn Station subway stop, police said. Shortly before 9 a.m., police said an E train motorman saw Grace Coughlin, 53, of College Avenue, jump off the platform in front of the oncoming train. It was reportedly the latest suicide attempt for Coughlin, who has tried to overdose in the past.

— Special to the Sun

POLICE PROBE ARMED ROBBERIES IN CHELSEA, WEST VILLAGE

Police are investigating a string of armed robberies in Chelsea and the West Village that took place over the past three weeks. Investigators are looking for two men who allegedly confronted their victims in the lobbies of their homes, displayed a knife, and demanded cash. Police said the suspects are wanted in at least four cases, including robberies on June 21 on West 15th Street, June 22 on West 13th Street, June 23 on West 10th Street, and July 4 on West 26th Street.

— Special to the Sun

DRIVER IN DEADLY QUEENS VAN CRASH HAD SUSPENDED LICENSE, DMV SAYS

The driver of an ambulette that crashed into a tree and burned, killing five residents of an adult home, had a suspended license and never had the right license to drive a multi-passenger van, authorities said yesterday. The crash Wednesday was the latest black mark against the Brooklyn Manor Home for Adults, whose owner was removed by the state last year after a resident died in a fire.

— Associated Press


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