CITYWIDE

Bloomberg Stands By President’s Move On Rumsfeld

Mayor Bloomberg endorsed President Bush’s decision to get rid of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday. “I do think that it was time for a change in leadership,” Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, told reporters. Mr. Bloomberg, who has not taken a clear position on the war in Iraq, said “when you have something that’s not going well, you ride with the people you’ve appointed, but you ride with them for a period of time. It’s time to have somebody new.”

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Developers Chosen To Build Housing In Rockaways

The Bloomberg administration has selected three private developers to build more than 1,600 units of middle-income housing and about 500,000 square feet of retail space in a now dilapidated section of the Rockaways in Queens. The project, to be built next to a similar development of 2,300 hundred units, will be constructed by the Bluestone Organization, L&M Equity, and Triangle Equities. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who ran for mayor last year, joked that he would invite Mr. Bloomberg back if the project was finished after his term expired. He was, of course, suggesting that he’d succeed Mr. Bloomberg in City Hall.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

IN THE COURTS

Accused Mobsters Charged in Bronx Gambling Operation

Eleven men — accused by prosecutors of being affiliated with the Genovese and Lucchese organized crime families — were charged yesterday with running a betting and gambling operation out of major city-owned produce markets in the Bronx. The indictment unsealed yesterday capped a 17-month-long investigation that included felony charges of gambling and enterprise corruption. In Manhattan Criminal Court, a judge set bail for five of the defendants between $5,000 and $100,000, and she released five others on their own recognizance. One of the accused is already in federal prison on unrelated charges. If convicted on the most serious charges, the accused mobsters face up to 25 years in prison.

— Special to the Sun

Nightclub Bouncer Faces More Lawsuits Over Shootings

A jailed former Chelsea nightclub bouncer who was accused of opening fire at unruly patrons in May, is now facing an additional lawsuit for unspecified damages in New York State Supreme Court along with his former employer. Yeison Andres Correa, one of the people he shot at the West 22nd Street club, alleges Stephen Sakai committed “extreme and outrageous conduct” that “cannot be tolerated in a civilized society.” Mr. Sakai was a licensed security guard but had no permit to carry a gun. Last month, the mother of two other victims — one of whom died from the gunfire — also filed suit against Mr. Sakai and the club. He also faces criminal charges in connection with the shooting.

— Special to the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

Teenagers Charged In Queens Homicide

Two teenagers were charged with murdering a Queens man, whose decomposed body was found in the basement of his home last week. Billy Ray Staton and Alex Brown, both 17, were arrested yesterday after detectives connected them to the victim’s stolen car. Police said the victim, John Canora, 55, had been choked and bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat and fire extinguisher, then stuffed in a hole in the basement behind a bureau. Yesterday, police said the suspects stated that Canora hired them for work around his house, and that they attacked him after he made unwanted sexual advances. The suspects were charged with second-degree murder, robbery, burglary, criminal possession of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence, police said.

— Special to the Sun