CITYWIDE

New Telecom Companies Coming to Your Neighborhood?

A City Council committee hearing planned for today will weigh giving Mayor Bloomberg the authority to negotiate new cable franchises for the city. One telecom giant, Verizon, has indicated that it wants to begin providing service in the five boroughs. Only a few companies provide service to the majority of the Big Apple now, and competition could drive down prices. Chairwoman of the council’s telecom committee, Gale Brewer, has said that the new entrants to the cable market should be required to provide service to all New Yorkers, including lesser affluent neighborhoods.

— Special to the Sun

Mayor: City Will Have To Contend With Terror For a Long Time

Mayor Bloomberg, who said last week that city officials were “kept in the loop” about a terrorism plot in Britain to blow up America-bound airplanes using a liquid explosive cocktail, said yesterday that he expects America to have to contend with terrorists for a long time. “I hope it doesn’t hurt tourism,” Mr. Bloomberg said regarding the stringent security procedures now in place nationwide that prohibit liquids in airplane cabins.To combat the threat, he said, the city would continue to make its actions unpredictable so terrorists won’t be able to figure out what actions city counterterrorism officials are taking.”If you want to attack the city, that person sitting next to you may very well be an undercover cop,” he said.

— Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

Foursome Injured In Early Morning Violence In the Bronx

Two men were shot and two men were stabbed outside a building in the Bronx early yesterday morning, police officials said. Police responded to a 911 call about shots fired at 125 Mt. Hope Place in the University Heights section of the Bronx at 4:20 a.m., police said. One man had been critically injured with a gunshot wound to the head. Another had been shot in the leg, and two others stabbed — one in the leg and one in the torso, police said. They were brought to area hospitals, including St. Barnabas, police said. No arrests had been made last night, but police said the attacks began with a dispute.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Intoxicated Man Found Dead in Staten Island Pool

A 21-year-old man was found dead in a pool in Staten Island early yesterday morning, police officials said. Paramedics rushed the man, identified as Jesus Neri of 158 Blackford Ave., to the nearby Staten Island South Hospital, but he was declared dead by emergency room doctors. Sources said the man was intoxicated, which contributed to his drowning in the pool. The medical examiner had yet to conduct an autopsy, so the official cause of death was uncertain last night.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Deli Manager Dies After Fight Uptown

A store manager at a deli on West 137th Street in Harlem collapsed and died after a struggle with a man who tried to steal items from the store, police officials said. Mohammed Mused, the 56-year-old manager, chased the alleged thief, who was described by police as a black male in his 30s, sometime after 10 p.m. on Saturday night. When Mr. Mused confronted the man about the stolen goods, they began to fight, police said. Mr. Mused then staggered back into the deli where he collapsed on the floor, police said. Paramedics brought him to Harlem Hospital, where he was declared dead at about 11 p.m. He had no injuries to his body, indicating he died from cardiac arrest, sources said. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Man Killed in Queens Hit and Run

A man was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Queens, police said. The unidentified man, who appeared to be in his 50s, was struck about 12:35 a.m. Saturday at Union Street and 39th Avenue in Flushing. He was taken to New York Hospital Queens, where he died about 45 minutes later. The driver of the light-colored car that hit him fled west on Roosevelt Avenue, police said.

— Associated Press

STATEWIDE

SUNY Albany President Dies in Possible Drowning

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — The president of SUNY’s University at Albany died in a possible drowning on a South Carolina beach yesterday, according to published reports. Kermit Hall, 61, and his wife Phyllis were rescued by a passer-by about 100 yards offshore around 2:20 p.m., authorities said. Hall was pronounced dead around 3 p.m. at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center, according the Hilton Head Island Packet in South Carolina. Hall was named president of the State University of New York’s University at Albany in 2004.

— Associated Press

TRISTATE

‘American Idol’ Hosts Local Auditions

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.— With “American Idol” auditions only a day away, registration took place yesterday for New York and New Jersey residents wishing to be a part of the sixth season of Fox’s talent competition. A spokeswoman for Fox said thousands of people showed up at Continental Airlines Arena for the first day of registration Saturday, including both aspiring singers and the companions they are allowed to bring. The spokeswoman said registration continued with a steady crowd yesterday and was expected to go into the early morning hours of today. Auditions for the sixth season of the hit show were expected to start today at 8 a.m., but no overnight camping was allowed. Anyone who registered for auditions was due back at Continental Airlines Arena by 5 a.m. this morning.

— Associated Press