MAFIA BODY SNATCHERS
STEAL SCRAP METAL BOOTY

Mobbed-up mayor serves NYC to Mafia on tarnished platter, aids terrorists' getaway

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09282001/index.shtml

MAFIA VULTURES LOOT WTC SCRAP

By LARRY CELONA

September 28, 2001

A Manhattan grand jury is investigating the Mafia's theft of scrap metal from the World Trade Center rubble, law-enforcement sources told The Post.

More than 250 tons of crime-scene material mysteriously found its way into three scrap yards, and investigators blame organized crime, a source says.

Material taken from ground zero at the WTC site is supposed to be held at the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, where authorities are sifting through debris and conducting the largest crime-scene investigation in U.S. history.

But law-enforcement sources said some of the scrap metal was stolen and held at three scrap yards.

NYPD organized-crime investigators are probing the case, along with the state Trade Waste Commission.

Investigators found 75 tons on Monday after searching Mid-Island Scrap Metal in Deer Park, L.I.

No one has been charged in the case, and sources said the yard's operators allowed cops to search it.

An office worker at Mid-Island Scrap said the yard's manager, whom she declined to identify, was "out," and he didn't return a call for comment.

Investigators later found a total of 180 tons at two New Jersey yards, which they declined to identify.

A law-enforcement source said it's believed that associates from some of the city's five crime families - long linked to corruption in the waste business - are involved.

At least 10 suspects are involved in the thefts, the source said.

While the diverted evidence was a staggering amount of metal, it was also easy to miss - more than 128,000 tons of debris has been hauled away from lower Manhattan since two hijacked planes brought down the gleaming towers.

Police sources said they believe the metal was taken directly to the yards by garbage trucks in the days immediately after the awful terror attack.

That was before the trucks were escorted to the dump or to floating garbage barges, and drivers were free to go wherever they wanted, one source said.

All of the scrap - with some single pieces weighing as much as 800 pounds - has since been returned to Fresh Kills, one source said.

Sources said the heartless and unpatriotic crooks who pulled off the massive theft wouldn't have made a lot of money - they'd get $1.60 per 100 pounds of scrap, or just over $15,000 for all 255 tons.

The grand jury could charge the suspects with such crimes as tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, theft and conspiracy, the source said. The Manhattan DA's office refused comment.

The incident isn't the first involving theft from the ground-zero area. Looters have ripped off some of the vacated stores in the area, and some passers-by have taken pieces of debris off garbage and flatbed trucks as they go by.

Meanwhile, police and federal officials denied a published report that there was a nationwide search under way for a missing rented U-Haul truck.

"There's no A.P.B. out and we don't believe the truck has any bearing on the case at all," the fed said. "People don't return rental vehicles every day."

They also denied a report that city officials have specific intelligence information about a tractor-trailer full of explosives headed for New York.

"That's bull," a top police official said.

The federal official also didn't know about any such threat, and said the feds were "surprised" by the stop-and-searches being done on trucks in the city.

The police official said they're simply "being cautious."

Additional reporting by Kieran Crowley, Murray Weiss, Maggie Haberman and Dareh Gregorian

NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc.
NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and
NEWYORKPOST.COM are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2001 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/5672.htm

ASH-HOLES

By DAVID SEIFMAN and RITA DELFINER

October 3, 2001 -- Heartless, greedy ghouls are peddling phony soil and ash from the World Trade Center to families mourning loved ones still buried in the rubble, Mayor Giuliani warned yesterday.

He assured relatives of victims that the city will give "every single family" soil from ground zero in an urn "made of beautiful wood."

The mayor made the announcement after learning that scam artists are preying on the family members with offers to sell them bogus soil or debris.

"People are saying we can provide you with material. We can provide you with things from the World Trade Center for a price," Giuliani said.

"No one is going to sell anything from the World Trade Center," he said in remarks directed at the relatives. "We're going to give it to you.

"So if anybody comes along and wants to sell you something, they are fraudulent, they are deceiving you."

A law-enforcement official told The Post that the issue came up at the mayor's briefings when Rosemary O'Keefe, head of the City's Community Assistance Unit, said families told her they were contacted by phone with the offers.

"They're going to chop up an iron bar and say it's part of the site. It's kind of silly. The families have already been told they'll be supplied with urns," the official said, explaining that relatives who went to family assistance sites were told about the urns.

As of yesterday, 4,392 families have filled out forms to indicate a loved one is missing.

Giuliani's warning was not the first sign of vultures looking to make a buck out of the catastrophe. A grand jury is already probing the Mafia's alleged theft of 250 tons of scrap metal from the WTC site, and many New Yorkers have been appalled by the organized armies of street peddlers hawking snapshots of the twin towers in flames.

At the disaster site yesterday, searchers recovered equipment belonging to firefighters - including a hat and gloves - and were checking to see whom they belonged to. The discovery came the day after searchers found the bodies of 14 firefighters in the rubble.

Earlier yesterday, a group of actors and sports stars belted out the message to tourists that "New York, New York" is still a wonderful town.

Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli, Sigourney Weaver, Jerry Orbach, Alan Alda, Bobby Valentine and Al Leiter were among those who joined Gov. Pataki to kick off a $40 million ad campaign aimed at jump-starting tourism.

"It's going to be rebuilt, bigger and stronger than ever," said De Niro, whose restaurant is several blocks from ground zero.

The city is "going to be a monument to all the people who died there," he said.

Minnelli said, "The energy this city gives us is back. New York is the best town in the world."

The commercial will begin airing next week.

At a separate press conference with Giuliani, Delta Air Lines announced it will give away 10,000 free trips to New York City.

The airline will also give away hotel accommodations and tickets to museums and other tourist attractions. The promotion will be advertised on the radio and Delta's Web site.

And the American Society of Travel Agents announced that it has moved the site of its convention next month from Seville, Spain, to New York.

"If you're thinking of coming over during the next year, do it now," Giuliani said in an appeal to tourists. "We're all in this together - the attack that happened in New York could happen anywhere."

Meanwhile, in Chinatown, kids at PS 130 were looking forward to a scheduled visit from President Bush today.

The Twin Towers once were visible from some of the school's windows, and many of the students saw the horror, said principal Lilly Woo.

The kids, who collected donations for their local firehouse, are "very excited" by Bush's visit, she said.

Additional reporting by Larry Celona, John Lehmann, Mark Stamey, Lorena Mongelli and Carl Campanile

NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc.
NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and
NEWYORKPOST.COM are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2001 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.