CITYWIDE

City Outlines Next Step In Search for 9/11 Remains

One of Mayor Bloomberg’s top advisors sent him a memo yesterday outlining the next phase in the ongoing search for human remains from ground zero. The memo, a formality written by Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler, comes after more than 200 human bones and fragments were found around the site of the World Trade Center attacks last month. In his memo, Mr. Skyler said the city “exploratory excavations” are scheduled to start in December and “could last until the end of next summer. “The search will include a Liberty Street service road, along the edge of ground zero, and rooftops at the Millennium Hotel and One Liberty Plaza, as well as several other sites. Mr. Skyler said the renewed effort “will continue until we have searched every place where remains can be found.” But a lawyer representing 17 family members, Norman Siegel, took issue with the memo.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Antiquities Experts Weigh In on Collection Policies

The director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello, will give a lecture on the collecting of antiquities tonight – at the same time as one of his chief critics will be speaking across town. While Mr. de Montebello speaks at the Met on the Upper East Side, author Peter Watson will give the keynote address in Chelsea at an awards gala for Saving Antiquities for Everyone, a group that has denounced the collecting policies of major museums. Mr. Watson is the author of “The Medici Conspiracy,” a book detailing the rise and fall of a convicted antiquities smuggler, Giacomo Medici, and the Met’s purchase of the Euphronios krater, an ancient Greek vase that it agreed to return to Italy in February.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Rapper Jay-Z Touts Humanitarian Work

Following in the footsteps of other celebrities, rapper Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is the next in line to tout his humanitarian efforts in Africa. But instead of bringing home newborns, Jay-Z is purchasing “play pumps.” Tonight Jay-Z will premier a documentary of his travels throughout Africa called “Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life” at an exclusive party at the United Nations. The video portrays Jay-Z’s life-altering experiences in Africa that lead him to a “play pump.” A “play pump” is a specially designed piece of playground equipment, similar to a merry-go-round that uses the force generated by children playing to pump fresh water from beneath the ground. A “play pump” costs $14,000 to install.

— Special to the Sun

City Breaks 1952 Heat-Related Deaths Record

New York City logged more heat stroke related deaths this past summer than any year since 1952. According to a report released yesterday by city health officials 46 people died in last summer’s two blistering heat waves. The report said the deaths were not caused by the blackout in Queens that left thousands with air conditioning. The Bloomberg administration was criticized for not responding fast enough to that outage.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

IN THE COURTS

Assemblymen Hold Hearings on SelectionOf Trial Judges

Several members of the state Assembly conducted hearings yesterday in Lower Manhattan on how New York should select its trial judges. New York’s unique system for picking judges — the judicial nominating convention— was found to be unconstitutional earlier this year by a federal judge who concluded that political bosses had too much control over who received the party’s nomination. Whether those nominating conventions can be made constitutional through several reforms or should be scrapped in favor of open primary elections is being disputed. One attorney, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, told the lawmakers yesterday that “cosmetic changes”to the nominating convention system are not enough to make them constitutional. Mr. Schwarz said there would be further litigation in federal court if the Legislature passes the proposal endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg. That proposal, which the city’s corporation counsel, Michael Cardozo, advocated yesterday would preserve the basic form of the nominating convention but give judicial candidates more chances to address the delegates present at the convention.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

One Dead, Another Injured In Brooklyn Shooting

One man is dead and another injured after a dispute in Brooklyn escalated and shots were fired yesterday, police said. Last night, police said two individuals were apprehended following the assault, which took place just after 4 p.m. near the intersection of Rockaway Parkway and Glenwood Road in Canarsie. Police said they believe the two suspects were inside the Rockaway Parkway station on the L subway train there, when four men entered the station and the two groups began fighting. The dispute spilled outside where one of the two suspects pulled out a gun and fired, striking a 56-year-old Indian man believed to be a bystander in the back. The man, whose name was not released pending family notification, was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.

— Special to the Sun

Man Shot by Police May File Suit Against City

The family of a man shot and killed by police on November 11 is filing a civil suit against the city for wrongful death. In a written statement, an attorney hired by the family of Katrell Butler called for an independent investigation of the shooting: “The family is exploring conducting a full independent forensic examination to determine the exact circumstances of Mr. Butler’s death and whether or not this was an unjustified killing,” wrote attorney Neville Mitchell. But Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the department’s ruling that the shooting was justified. Mr. Kelly said that when officers caught up with the SUV it had followed for several blocks, the driver pinned an officer, severely injuring his legs. At that time, police on the scene saw one individual inside the vehicle hand a gun to the other, prompting police to shoot and kill the driver, and wound the passenger. A 9-millimeter gun was subsequently recovered from the car. “We believe the officer acted appropriately in safeguarding his own life,” Mr. Kelly said. Mr. Kelly said the surviving passenger corroborated the officer’s account that the passengers had passed the gun.

— Special to the Sun