CITYWIDE

Schumer Gives Washington a ‘C-‘

In a speech at ground zero yesterday Senator Schumer gave the federal government a grade of “C-” on its homeland security efforts five years after September 11 attacks. “Are we safer now than we were five years ago? Absolutely. But are we as safe as we should be? The answer is no,” Mr. Schumer said. Mr. Schumer lauded steps taken to improve airline and nuclear power plant security, but flunked the government in three areas: mass transit security, bomb detection technology, and first responder grants. Mr. Schumer estimated an effective counterterrorism strategy would require doubling the Department of Homeland Security’s $30 billion budget.

— Special to the Sun

McDonald’s Could Be On Menu for Rikers Island Jail Guards

The McDonald’s Hamburglar could wind up in a city jail. The Department of Correction is serving up a plan to put a fast-food restaurant in the Rikers Island jail system, giving thousands of workers there greater meal options. Currently, the jail guards eat the same food as the inmates. A Department of Correction classified ad in a restaurant industry publication says there’s a demand for meal alternatives and for food at the beginnings and ends of guards’ shifts. It seeks expressions of interest from companies that would like to operate a fast-food joint in the joint. “They certainly have a captive audience,” Dean Poll, who operates a city concession in Central Park, quipped to the New York Post for yesterday’s editions. About 9,000 municipal employees a day pass by the spot where the restaurant would be if the plan cuts the mustard; more than 1,000 people pass through a visitors’ center five days a week. There was no word on whether the jail guards, who get one free meal a day, would have to pay for the fast food or how many cigarettes it might cost them. The inmates’ menu would be confined to what it’s always been.

— Associated Press

STATEWIDE

Police Capture 100th Fugitive on State’s Most Wanted List

ALBANY — Police last week made their 100th arrest under New York’s “100 Most Wanted” list, Governor Pataki announced yesterday. The arrest of Percival Ortiz in Erie County came less than two years after Mr. Pataki announced the most wanted program. Mr. Ortiz faces assault charges in Buffalo. Mr. Pataki said creation of the program has helped police track down fugitives by making them known to the public and law enforcement agencies around the state, mostly through the program’s Web site. “Thanks to the eyes and ears of New Yorkers and hard working law enforcement officials in this state, these dangerous fugitives have been going back where they belong — behind bars,” Mr. Pataki said. The fugitives caught were responsible for a litany of crimes ranging from murder, rape and armed robbery to burglary and narcotics charges. More than half of the 100 fugitives apprehended were wanted in New York City.

— Associated Press

Weakened Ernesto Causes Power Outages

Tens of thousands of people in Westchester County, Long Island and parts of New York City were without power yesterday, as residents dealt with the aftermath of a storm that sent trees crashing into houses and felled power lines. Con Edison reported that about 19,000 customers, or an estimated 76,000 people, remained without power yesterday, with almost all of those outages in Westchester County. About 360,000 people —90,000 customers — lost power at some point during the storm Saturday. Spokesman Chris Olert said he expected power to be fully restored by tomorrow.

— Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

Boaters Rescued In Jamaica Bay

Five boaters were plucked from Jamaica Bay yesterday by the police department’s Air-Sea rescue squad after the boaters’ 21-foot fishing boat capsized near the aviation unit base in Brooklyn. According to police, the boaters had anchored about 300 yards from Floyd Bennett Field when their boat began taking on water around 1 p.m. yesterday. Minutes later, rescuers at the air base who happened to see the boat in distress, reached the victims by helicopter, and scuba divers transported the victims to nearby civilian boats, which brought them to shore. Of the five boaters, police said one, 29-year-old Nicole Gaddy, was trapped in an air pocket underneath the boat and was treated at Brookdale Hospital for an asthma attack. The other boaters, identified as Karen Washington, 35, Reggie Linton, 44, Michael Gaddy, 47, and Abdulio Riveria, 77, were not injured, police said.

— Special to the Sun

Man Found Dead In Queens Parking Garage

The body of a 34-year-old man was found yesterday in a car in a parking garage at a department store in Queens, police said. The body of Deryck Dhanraj, of Garden City Park, L.I., was found in a black Buick shortly after 11 a.m. in a parking garage at Macy’s near Douglaston Parkway and the Long Island Expressway, police said. Police had no other details on the incident. The medical examiner was investigating the death.

— Associated Press