CITYWIDE

Silver Has Harsh Words For City Projects

The state assembly speaker had harsh words yesterday morning about the government’s handling of the revitalization of Lower Manhattan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “There was no leadership,” Speaker Sheldon Silver said. Mr. Silver was addressing a breakfast meeting of the Association for a Better New York, at the Ritz-Carlton in Lower Manhattan. Mr. Silver also weighed in on a drive to expand the No. 7 subway train beyond Times Square. “If the city believes the expansion of the No. 7 subway to 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue is a priority, it must make clear that no diversion of MTA resources for that extension will be required,” he said. An agreement between Mayor Bloomberg and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to dig an expanded tunnel is said to cap the city’s obligation around $2 billion.

— Special to the Sun

Columbia Reinstates Hockey Team

Columbia University reinstated its ice hockey team yesterday after the university drew the ire of civil rights groups last month for suspending the team. The suspension was prompted by the team’s distribution of recruitment fliers that contained an offensive term that played on the university’s team name. “There may have been miscommunication of existing club sports policy and procedures” between the university and the hockey team, the school’s athletic department said in a statement yesterday. Under university guidelines, teams are required to seek approval for their flyers from the athletic department before posting them, and the hockey team failed to do so.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Bloomberg: A Real Ladies’ Man

Mayor Bloomberg said earlier this week at an event in the Bronx that he wanted to join the women’s volleyball team. And yesterday he was in the ladies room in the basement of City Hall. So what gives? The volleyball comment was Mr. Bloomberg’s quirky, off-the-cuff humor. And, as it turns out, his foray into the women’s bathroom was done at the request of film and music star Ice-T and hip-hop star Fab 5 Freddy. Mr. Bloomberg was joining them to film a promotional skit for the Hip Hop Honors, which will air later this month on VH1. And, the bathroom was set up to look like a dressing room. Fab 5 said Mr. Bloomberg was “cooler than air conditioning” and Ice-T said the Republican was a “better actor than I am a mayor.” The two stars were tight lipped on Mr. Bloomberg’s role in the skit.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Survey: Disparities in

Prescription Drug Costs

The price of five top prescription drugs in pharmacies across New York City can vary by as much as 695%, according to a survey released by Speaker Christine Quinn examining how much medicines cost the 1.8 million New Yorkers who don’t have health insurance. In order to reign in prices, the speaker called for city and state agencies to create a database of prescription drug prices, promote generic medicines, and enforce price-disclosure laws. The surveyors priced are Albuterol, Metformin, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Zoloft, and Lipitor.

— Special to the Sun

Bronx Residents Charged With Fraud

Eight people from the Bronx have been arrested on charges that they defrauded the government of housing benefits ranging from $5,200 and $29,000 by underreporting income and submitting fraudulent documents. Many of the residents would not have qualified for the government assistance had they told the truth.The fraud totals $133,727, according to investigators.Two of the people lived in public housing projects, and six were beneficiaries of Section 8 subsidies.The criminal arrests were the result of fraud audits by the city Housing Authority and anonymous tips made to investigators, a spokesman for the city Department of Investigation, Emily Gest, said yesterday.

— Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

Minivan Strikes Two, Kills One in Brooklyn

A minivan jumped a sidewalk in Brooklyn yesterday, killing a 75-year-old man and injuring another, police said. Police said the minivan and an ambulette were traveling on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn Heights at 12:15 p.m., when the minivan was rear-ended by the ambulette. It subsequently struck Alvaro Fernandez, 75, of Staten Island, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The vehicle also hit a man in his 30s, who had a minor leg injury. Police said the ambulette continued crossing Atlantic Avenue, where it struck two more cars. The ambulette and the minivan drivers were treated for minor injuries. As of last night, police reported no arrests.

— Special to the Sun