Shel biz as usual

ALBANY — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday defended his decision to be featured as the “honored guest” at a fund-raiser for the chairman of a legislative ethics panel reviewing Silver’s hush settlement of Vito Lopez’s alleged sexual harassment of young staffers.

“The speaker, as leader of the Democratic conference, routinely allows members to use his name for fund-raising purposes,” his spokesman, Michael Whyland, told The Post.

The fund-raiser next week is for Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-LI), who notes on the invite that he chairs the Assembly Ethics Committee, one of two legislative committees weighing possible sanctions against Lopez and Silver.

NY Post: Chad Rachman

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

The same committee must also decide whether to release a report by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state’s ethics watchdog, on the case.

Staten Island DA Dan Donovan, the appointed special prosecutor for the case, has asked the committees not to release JCOPE’s report until his team concludes its criminal investigations.

Silver approved a $103,800 “confidential” Assembly payment to settle harassment claims that two female staffers had brought against Lopez.

Silver later stripped Lopez of his leadership duties and called for him to resign after a separate ethics probe concluded that Lopez groped and abused two other female staffers.

Government-watchdog groups say the timing of the fund-raiser is suspect and gives the appearance that Lavine, rather than being an independent monitor, is beholden to Silver.

“The fact that it’s just business as usual is not the standard we want applied,” said Susan Lerner of Common Cause New York. “There is a pervasive culture in Albany that upsets most New Yorkers, that their elected representatives don’t see this as a problem.”

Lerner said her group is closely watching the Lopez case to see if the creation of JCOPE was an adequate measure for enforcing government ethics.

“We have concern that it’s not sufficiently removed from [Silver’s] appointed control,” she said.

Silver’s spokesman insisted the fund-raising has nothing to do with the investigation.

“We’re confident that the commission has found no legal or ethical violation by Speaker Silver or his staff,” Whyland said.

Silver said he hadn’t seen the report. By law, it would have been released to him had he been the target of the investigation, sources told The Post.

bdefalco@nypost.com

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Escort jumped from sixth-story window to escape captors who enslaved her: prosecutors

Two men held a female escort worker enslaved in apartments on the Upper West Side and Harlem, forcing her to have sex with multiple customers until — desperate to escape — she jumped from a sixth-story window, prosecutors said in describing a horrific rape-kidnapping case yesterday.

The unnamed woman had gone last November to an escort job at an apartment on West 92nd Street and Columbus Avenue — only to have her “john” steal her cellphone, money and identification, telling her, “You’re not leaving the apartment — you’re working for me and making me money.”

That first “john,” — allegedly Benjamin Gaston, 36 — struck the woman and held a pillow to her face when she protested, prosecutors say. The woman repeatedly snuck 911 calls on a cellphone she found in the apartment, but couldn’t give an accurate address, and police were unable to save her, officials said.

Gaston allegedly took the woman the next night to a second apartment on West 149th Street, where there were six or seven additional men waiting to have sex with her, including co-defendant Johnny Jackson, 53.

“You do what I say in there,” Gaston allegedly threatened her again.

Instead, she climbed out of a window of the sixth-floor apartment — attempting to use her jacket as a rope, but instead falling to the ground, breaking both of her legs and her back, according to the complaint against the two men who have been arrested as co-defendants in the alleged rape-kidnapping so far.

Jackson told cops that his only involvement was in lending his apartment out so Gaston could bring “a girl” over for prostitution. “She was OK with it,” he insisted. “She didn’t want to leave.”

“My client is an honorably discharged Marine — that’s all I feel comfortable saying right now,” Jackson’s lawyer, Arnold Keith, said after Jackson and Gaston pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“The facts of this crime are truly heinous,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., said after the arraignment. “These defendants are accused of holding a woman hostage in order to essentially enslave and prostitute her.”

litaliano@nypost.com

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Cannibal cop plotted with goat-slaughtering 'butcher' to kill wife: feds

Cannibal cop Gilberto Valle plotted to slaughter his future bride with the help of a depraved Pakistani “butcher” who bragged about his skills — and even sent the officer a video of a goat’s throat being slit, the feds said yesterday.

In an online chat with Valle last year, a nut job who called himself Aly Khan said he “would love to slaughter a girl and make her meat,” according to a transcript read aloud in Manhattan federal court in testimony by FBI Agent Corey Walsh.

“I killed few goat to see what happens to the animal and how its done,” Aly Khan wrote in a typo-filled, sadistic back-and-forth with Valle, according to documents entered into evidence.

Gilberto Valle

GRISLY: This video of a goat butchering was sent online to Gilberto Valle by an alleged co-conspirator.

“i fond it easy. Its just to use some arm power to lay it down. tie it a little and cut its throat.”

To back this up, Kahn sent Valle a graphic YouTube video of someone slitting a goat’s throat halal-style, in an effort to educate the cop about butchery and show him that anyone can do it with a little practice.

The video is so sickening, prosecutors have been barred from showing it to the jury. Only a still picture of a knife against a goat’s throat in the moment before slaughter was entered into evidence.

Valle — who met Aly Khan on a Web site for human-meat-obsessed perverts — wrote in one chat that he was “trying to pick out a girl who i can send over” before saying “i can talk my girlfriend into going to india,” where Walsh said Aly Khan claimed to live.

“If you bring her here, i promise i will make a good meal for you,” Aly Khan wrote in January 2012 about Kathleen Mangan, the woman who would become Valle’s wife about six months later.

The butcher said he would kill Mangan as humanely as possible, adding, “i can’t resist her meat.”

“Will you participate in the slaughtering process with me,” Aly Khan asked.

“Absolutely,” Valle, 28, wrote back.

“I have longed to butcher and cook female meat.”

The two also shared twisted plans to humiliate Mangan. They would “tie her down spread eagle” and take turns raping the woman, mother to Valle’s baby daughter.

“It would humiliate her. do you have something to keep her mouth open? otherwise she will bite,” Aly Khan wrote

“Hell yes,” Valle replied.

He added, “She is a sweet girl. I like her a lot. But I will move on.”

While Aly Khan claimed to be a butcher in India, Walsh said the feds actually traced his IP address to an unspecified location in Pakistan.

After Valle said that his girlfriend was a vegetarian, Aly Khan remarked that “her meat quality be slightly less.” “She will taste like a tasty goat, . .” he added.

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Horror as hot air balloon catches fire in Egypt, killing 18 foreigners

LUXOR, Egypt — A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 18 foreign tourists, a security official said.

It was one of the worst accidents involving tourists in Egypt and likely to push the key tourism industry deeper into recession. The casualties included French, British, Japanese nationals and nine tourists from Hong Kong, the official said.

Three survivors of the crash — two tourists and one Egyptian — were taken to a local hospital.

According to the Egyptian security official, the balloon carrying at least 20 tourists was flying over Luxor when it caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister, then plunged at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) from the sky.

It crashed into a sugar cane field outside al-Dhabaa village just west of Luxor, 320 miles south of Cairo, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Bodies of the dead tourists were scattered across the field around the remnants of the balloon. An Associated Press reporter at the crash site counted eight bodies as they were put into body bags and taken away. The security official said all 18 bodies have been recovered.

The official said foul play has been ruled out. He also said initial reports of 19 dead were revised to 18 as confusion is common in the aftermath of such accidents.

In Hong Kong, a travel agency said nine of the tourists that were aboard the balloon were natives of the semiautonomous Chinese city. It did not say whether all nine were killed. The information was posted on the agency's website.

In Paris, a diplomatic official said French tourists were among those involved in the accident, but would give no details on how many, or whether French citizens were among those killed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to be publicly named according to government policy, the official said French authorities were working with their Egyptian counterparts to clarify what happened. French media reports said 2 French tourists were among the dead but the official wouldn't confirm that.

Hot air ballooning, usually at sunrise over the famed Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, is a popular pastime for tourists visiting Luxor.

The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.

Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 18-day uprising in 2011 against autocrat leader Hosni Mubarak and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day.

Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 percent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season.

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Holy hit job! Robin eats it

Robin the Boy Wonder, Batman’s aide-de-camp, will be killed battling a brutal enemy in a comic book published Wednesday.

The shocking demise of the Dark Knight’s sidekick will first appear in issue No. 8 of the offshoot title “Batman Incorporated,” but the aftermath of his death will ripple throughout the DC Comics universe, the publisher confirmed exclusively to The Post.

“He saves the world. He does his job as Robin,” writer Grant Morrison said. “He dies an absolute hero.”

Robin — a k a Damian Wayne, the 10-year-old son of Bruce Wayne — is slain fighting a hulking assassin who happens to be, in true comic-book form, a “brother” cloned from his genetic material.

SIDEKICKING THE BUCKET: Damian Wayne — the son of Bruce Wayne and the latest hero to assume the mantle of Robin — has a heart-to-heart with fellow superhero Nightwing before his final, and ultimately fatal, battle in the pages of “Batman Incorporated” No. 8, out Wednesday.

And — SPOILER ALERT ! — unlike all the times he has swooped in at the last minute, Batman arrives too late to save his protégé.

A number of heroes have filled the role of Robin over the decades, including the first and best known, Dick Grayson, introduced in 1940.

The latest Robin, however, was the brilliant and caustic Damian, the illegitimate son of billionaire Bruce Wayne and Talia, the beautiful daughter of one of his deadliest enemies, Ra’s al Ghul.

Morrison, one of the industry’s top talents, brings an adult perspective to the grim tale.

Robin’s death, he said, will illustrate how parents lose sight of their kids when they fight.

“It’s all about the family and the family going to hell,” said Morrison, who threw in elements of his own parents’ divorce. “The two adults in the story are both culpable. The kid’s the good guy.”

Morrison, who brought Damian to the forefront in 2006, said he had created a full arc for the character, who grew from a violent, fledgling assassin to a selfless leader.

“What we did was turn this little monster into a superhero,” he said. “He’s a little brat, but he’s a super-brat.”

Damian isn’t the first Robin to die, but he’s the first to die at the height of his popularity with fans.

In 1988, a few years after Grayson moved on, the next Robin — the disliked, surly Jason Todd — was slain by the Joker after an infamous phone poll let fans choose whether the teen should be killed off.

Todd was resurrected in 2005.

So who knows if Damian will stay dead, or if a new Boy (or perhaps Girl) Wonder will take his place.

Noted Morrison: “You can never say never in a comic book . . . Batman will ultimately always have a partner.”

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Oscar Pistorius's brother Carl faces homicide charges in 2010 car crash: report

Getty Images

Carl Pistorius, older brother of tarnished athlete Oscar, faces homicide charges in a 2010 car crash, according to reports.

Oscar Pistorius’s older brother Carl also faces homicide charges in South Africa over a 2010 car crash, it was reported today.

Carl Pistorius allegedly struck and killed a female biker in the daytime crash, his lawyer told eNCA news, a South African TV channel.

Prosecutors accused Carl Pistorius of driving recklessly in the accident.

But his lawyer, Kenneth Oldwage, denies the charges and told the TV channel that Carl Pistorius was not drunk.

Oldwage says the woman died because she drove into Carl Pistorius’s car.

Carl Pistorius is charged with culpable homicide, a lesser charge than the premeditated murder case against his brother.

The charge carries a possible 15-year prison term.

Carl’s trial was supposed to begin on Thursday, the same day his Olympian brother was freed on bail.

But the case was postponed until next month.

Word of another Pistorius homicide case shocked South Africa.

“Looks like Carl & Oscar will keep each company in jail,” tweeted Johannesburg resident Rebecca Chiedza Goba.

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Rivals go OMG for IMG in model machination

Claire Atkinson

@ THE OSCARS

Img Worldwide, the sports and modeling talent powerhouse, could end up being an important pawn in the crosstown rivalry between Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor.

Forstmann, Little and Co. is pursuing a sale of IMG, which is a valuable player in the entertainment arena. IMG owns the rights to numerous sports properties such as Wimbledon, and represents top athletes and models including tennis pro Novak Djokovic and supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Sources say they expect Ari Emanuel’s WME, which sold a minority stake to private-equity firm Silver Lake, and CAA, backed by buyout shop TPG, will both swing hard at IMG.

AP

Warner Bros. TV boss Bruce Rosenblum (pictured), who was recently passed over for the Warner Entertainment top spot, has met recently with other studios.

“Ari and [CAA head] Richard
[Lovett] have huge minority owners who will be pushing for this. Lovett is obsessed by sports,” said one source close to the situation. “But these guys won’t be the only ones interested.”

The two talent agencies boast connections that could come into play when IMG hits the auction block.

For instance, IMG board member Irving Azoff is said to be close to Lovett. In addition, Azoff’s son also works as an agent in CAA’s music division.

CAA already has a sports division but the unit has struggled to make money.

Meanwhile, IMG CEO Mike Dolan is close to Joe Ravitch’s investment bank, the Raine Group, which is part owned by WME. CAA declined comment, while WME didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t to say that there are no obstacles to a sale of IMG.

The sports powerhouse, which is valued at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, is much less lucrative than TV and film. Sports fees are generally around 4 percent, while Hollywood reps typically get a larger 10 percent cut.

Moreover, IMG will need to renew its rights deals with the likes of Wimbledon because it doesn’t own them, sources say.

IMG, which is in the process of hiring an investment bank to handle the sale, may also find interested parties in Guggenheim Partners and France’s Lagardère, say sources close to the process.

*

Spurned Warner Bros. TV boss Bruce Rosenblum has been making the rounds of rival studios.

Two sources say Rosenblum — who was recently passed over for the top job as CEO of Warner Entertainment — has chatted with Disney chief Bob Iger and NBC Universal’s Steve Burke.

A Warner spokesman said speculation that Rosenblum is shopping himself to other studios is “false,” although Warner hasn’t moved to renew Rosenblum’s contract that expires in August.

Some sources suggest that incoming Warner Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara is already making contingency plans, and that’s why he’s been chatting with CW President Mark Pedowitz. Warner denied talks with Pedowitz.

With Hollywood wondering if Rosenblum will move on, it looks like Sony USA chief Michael Lynton is staying put.

Sources say Lynton — who was also in contention for the top Warner job — has his contract renewal sitting on his desk and will re-up for another year.

Universal Pictures CEO Ron Meyer has also demonstrated remarkable staying power during his long run. But he may be stepping down before his contract is up at the end of 2015.

Meyer will likely get the chairman title, but first his bosses at Comcast, which runs NBCUniversal, must find a successor.

catkinson@nypost.com

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All ‘hail’ the Oscar winners

And the Oscar goes to “Lincoln” . . . at least according to city taxi riders.

The historical drama won Best Picture in a monthlong survey of New York City taxi riders, officials said yesterday.

“Lincoln” — heavily favored for Sunday night’s Oscars — scored 25 percent of the votes for Best Picture.

The other winners were:

* Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (inset top right), “Lincoln,” 43 percent.

* Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (pictured), “Zero Dark Thirty,” 33 percent.

* Best Director: Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln,” 42 percent.

* Best Animated Feature Film: “Brave” (inset below), 35 percent.

Tony DiMaio/startraksphoto.com

Jessica Chastain

This is the first year the Taxi and Limousine Commission has asked riders to weigh in with their picks for the Oscars.

Commissioner David Yassky said it was done to engage passengers during rides.

“There are few things that New York City loves more than its movies and its taxicabs,” he said.“People really enjoyed the combination of the two in this survey.”

Yassky, a known movie buff, said he agrees with the survey’s winners.

“The customer is always right!” he tweeted after the results were announced.

Almost 100,000 taxi riders took part in the survey, which popped up on TV screens in the backs of yellow cabs.

That’s far more than the nearly 6,000 people who vote for the real winners.

However, not all of the taxi-survey respondents answered every question. For Best Picture, 27,681 people voted.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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5 dead after small jet crashes in Georgia

AP

Ambulances gather in Thomson, Ga., near the scene of a Wednesday plane crash that killed five people.

THOMSON, Ga. — Five people were killed and two injured when a small jet crashed off the end of a runway in eastern Georgia, an official confirmed early Thursday.

Thomson-McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall said the jet crashed after 8 p.m. Wednesday. He said the two survivors were taken to area hospitals but did not have information on their conditions. He said the identities of those killed were being withheld pending notification of family members.

The Hawker Beechcraft 390/Premier I en route from Nashville, Tenn., crashed around 8:30 p.m. at the Thomson-McDuffie County Airport, about 30 miles west of Augusta, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email.

Seven people were aboard, she told The Associated Press in the email. She added that she had no immediate details about a possible cause.

The Augusta Chronicle cited Assistant County Fire Chief Stephen Sewell as saying there were at least two survivors identified as a pilot and a passenger. But he provided no additional information about those aboard in that account.

The newspaper said a brush fire flared near the crash scene, quoting witnesses who reported local power outages that prompted a utility to send workers to the site. A photograph posted on the newspaper's online site showed ambulances with lights flashing.

The plane was on a flight from John Tune Airport in Nashville, Tenn., to the Thomson-McDuffie airport, Bergen said in her email, adding the aircraft is registered to a company based in Wilmington, Del.

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Anchor’s ‘killer’ ravings

A shocking Connecticut police report reveals a dark, violent side of veteran local anchorman Rob Morrison that has long been masked by his television veneer.

The WCBS/Channel 2 newsman drunkenly told cops on the day of his domestic violence arrest that he would kill his wife if they let him go — and he has previously threatened to murder their young son if she ever leaves him, according to the report obtained by The Post.

“I can’t go home tonight man, I’m f--king killing her!” a vodka-fueled Morrison, 44, slurred to a cop booking him Sunday for allegedly throttling his wife, Ashley, at their Darien home.

Facebook

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Rob Morrison and fellow CBS anchor wife Ashley have a history of domestic disputes.

He also taunted his arresting officers, dubbing one cop “Sergeant Douchebag” and daring them to make his handcuffs tighter, the report says.

Ashley, 40, an anchor for “CBS Money,” bashed Morrison in the face with a remote control to stop him from choking her with both hands on the couch, cops said.

That’s how he ended up with a bloody gash on his nose in his mug shot.

The petite, 115-pound blonde was so “distressed, visibly shaken, and clearly in fear of her husband” that she refused to write out a statement against him, cops wrote. She also would not allow them to photograph red marks on her neck.

Ashley’s brother, Dr. Gregory Risk, told police that Morrison once threatened the couple’s 7-year-old son, Jack.

“G. Risk stated that in the past R. Morrison commented to him that if A. Morrison leaves him he would shoot their son in front of her and then shoot her,” police wrote.

Cops notified Connecticut Child Protective Services about “suspected child abuse and neglect” at the home, which automatically triggered an investigation.

But sources told The Post that Ashley is also confrontational — and that she got him fired as morning news anchor at WNBC/Channel 4 in 2008.

WNBC refused to renew his lucrative contract when Ashley e-mailed about 100 people in the newsroom, accusing them of being complicit in his suspected affair with an intern.

“You know that if I go public, it is going to make everybody at Channel 4 look bad,” she wrote.

Sources close to Rob Morrison say he’s convinced the arrest will now cost him his job at WCBS.

The handsome, 180-pound ex-Marine was arraigned in Stamford Superior Court yesterday on charges of strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct.

A judge ordered the “News This Morning” host Morrison to stay at least 100 yards away from Ashley outside the office, and barred him from contacting her or going to their million-dollar home.

“I did not choke my wife. I have never laid hands on my wife,” Morrison, who remains free on $100,000 bail, told reporters before his arraignment.

“I love my wife more than anything,” said Morrison, whose nose and lip were still scarred.

Ashley was not in court. Her mother, Martha Risk, told cops during the Sunday morning blow-up that Morrison called her to say, “Your daughter is crazy, we have to do something with her,” the police report said.

Risk said she had begged her daughter to leave Morrison, but the long-suffering wife feared he “would do something to her and their son,” the report said.

When cops got to the Morrison house around 1:30 a.m., an “extremely intoxicated” Rob greeted them at the door, blood dripping down his nose and lip, and tried to stop them from entering.

Morrison called the arresting officers “f--king a--hole cops.”

When asked if his cuffs were too tight, he “stated that he wanted them tighter,” according to the police report.

Judge Kenneth Povadator said the police report “not only reflects a serious incident, it reflects the likelihood of a serious history . . . If I’m going to make a mistake, I’m going to err on the side of safety.”

Morrison apologized to the cops in his statement to reporters, saying: “I regret deeply how I acted toward the Darien Police Department.”

His lawyer, Robert Skovgaard, did not comment on the contents of the police report. When asked if Ashley would drop the charges, he said, “I don’t know the answer to that question.”

Cops had been to the couple’s Darien home before. Records obtained yesterday show Rob Morrison was arrested Oct. 17, 2011, for disorderly conduct in an incident involving Ashley.

On Jan. 19, a cop went there in response to another domestic disturbance.

And The Post first reported that Morrison was also arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife in 2009 in New York — and that cops had gone to their city apartments seven other times for verbal disputes.

WCBS has refused to comment on the scandal, which has kept the couple off the air since Sunday.

Additional reporting by Emily Smith, Michael Shain, Lorena Mongelli, Larry Celona and Beth DeFalco

dan.mangan@nypost.com

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Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend; prosecutor says he planned to use 'intruder' story all along

Getty Images

Oscar Pistorius's sister Aimee Pistorius arrives for her brother's bail hearing at the Pretoria Magistrate Court, South Africa.

PRETORIA, South Africa — Sobbing softly with his head in his hands, Olympian Oscar Pistorius was charged Tuesday with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. The defense lawyer says it was an accidental shooting.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court that Pistorius got up from bed, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven yards from the bedroom toward the bathroom and shot 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp several times through the bathroom door, Pretoria. Nel told the court the door was broken open afterward.

Gallo Images/startraksphoto.com

Oscar Pistorius, charged with murder.

The shooting death in the early hours of Valentine's Day of Steenkamp has shocked South Africans and many around the world who idolized Pistorius for overcoming adversity to become a sports champion, competing in the London Olympics last year in track besides being a Paralympian. Steenkamp was a model and budding reality TV show contestant.

Nel said the killing was premeditated because Pistorius had planned to say that he thought he was shooting an intruder. "It was all part of the preplanning. Why would a burglar lock himself inside the bathroom?" Nel said.

Defense lawyer Barry Roux said the shooting was accidental: "We submit it is not even murder. There is no concession this is a murder."

In arguing that Pistorius should be freed on bail, he said there were no other charges outstanding against the 26-year-old double-amputee who last year became the first double-amputee track athlete to run at the Olympics.

As the dramatic court hearing was held in the capital, Steenkamp's body was being driven to a church for a memorial service under gray skies in the south coast city of Port Elizabeth. Six pall bearers carried the coffin draped in white flowers. The family said relatives have gathered from around the world.

June Steenkamp, the mother, said the family wants answers.

"Why? Why my little girl? Why did this happen? Why did he do this?" she said in an interview published Monday in The Times newspaper.

Legal experts say it could take months for the case to be tried.

Pistorius, in a gray suit and tie, nodded after the chief magistrate asked if he was well. And he nodded his appreciation when his brother, Carl, pressed his shoulder in support. Journalists jammed into the courtroom, which was full with almost 100 people, including Pistorius' father, Henke, and the athlete's sister, Aimee.

In an email to The Associated Press on Monday, Pistorius' longtime track coach — who was yet to comment — said he believes the killing was an accident.

"I pray that we can all, in time, come through this challenging situation following the accident and I am looking forward to the day I can get my boy back on the track," Louw wrote in his statement. "I am still in shock following the heart-breaking events that occurred last week and my thoughts and prayers are with both of the families involved."

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Cutest little bay-Bey!

Blue Ivy Carter — in the loving hands of her famous mom — couldn’t look any more like her world-famous, hip-hop dad — even though she’s an adorable girl.

Beyoncé showed off their pride and joy in the HBO documentary “Life Is But a Dream.” The power couple welcomed their bundle of joy on Jan. 7, 2012. “It’s about connecting all the dots in your life and growing from all your experiences,” Beyoncé said.

Supplied by WENN.com

Beyonce Knowles and Blue Ivy Carter

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Stand clear of the doors!

Last week, uptown 1 train, 50th Street. Taking up fully half the doorway and immovable as an oak is a prim middle-aged lady. She doesn’t make the slightest move to slide out of the way of the dozen people who have to frantically scramble around her in the five seconds before the sadistic conductor sounds his little warning bell as a polite notice that the least-aggressive amongst us is about to get bisected by closing doors.

The fight to burst through this narrow space yields a micro-Pamplona. Bags are caught on belts. Shoulders ram into skulls. Ankles get tangled like twigs that have just been raked together, although we’re all jammed in so tightly that there’s no room for anyone to fall to the floor.

J.C. Rice

There is grousing and oof-ing, possibly some mild hemorrhaging. All of this to gain space on a train that, we realize in a sweaty daze once we’re aboard and have separated our bodies into discrete life forms, is mostly empty.

As punishment for the lady, I reach into my extensive catalog of dirty looks and deliver one of my favorites (No. 31, the Cheney). She maintains a look of tranquil innocence that betrays no hint of the savagery she has just unleashed.

Call this a victory for feminism, I guess. Normally when you try to enter a train, it’s a guy the width of a love seat who is planted in the doorway, as if he’s a bouncer and the train is his personal club on rails. Sometimes two of these rhino-dudes stand side by side, and you have to turn to your narrowest angle (shoulder first) and try to slide between the two mounds of flesh. And when you’re trying to get off the train, it’ll be like fighting your way upstream against the tide of humanity trying to board before anyone’s gotten off.

Scenes such as the ones I describe are happening thousands of times a day, every day across New York — the Big Grapple. Why? How hard is it to get away from the doors? The city is stocked with people who advocate for community programs, vote for ever-increasing collective action at the local, city, state and federal level — then step one inch onto the train and instantly turn human roadblock against their neighbors.

Yes, yes, I know: You grew up in New York in the ’70s, didn’t you? Tough guy.

Do tell: You were robbed every day on the way to school, then murdered each afternoon on the way home. Man-eating anacondas roamed Central Park, there were citywide blackouts every Tuesday and Saturday, and people who lived in housing projects in the South Bronx used to fire cannons at passersby below. No one is disputing that New York City could be, and used to be, much worse.

But is “no longer all that likely to be stabbed” the standard to which we all should aspire? We’re supposed to be the capital of the world, A-number one, top-of-the-heap — a “luxury product,” in Bloombergian parlance. Couldn’t we do a little better?

Nobody is making you live here. You could be in Missoula. Hell, you could live in an ordinary suburb in the single most densely populated state, New Jersey, and still enjoy 10 times the personal space we get in the city.

But here square feet are so precious, your body is like a car would be anywhere else. Would you drive aboard a ferry and stop on the ramp?

To be a New Yorker is to sign a social contract: You live here because this is the biggest possible stage upon which to show off your individuality, but in return you agree to a minimal base of shared values and behaviors.

One: Pause to let the tourists take pictures of each other. Two: No eye contact on the subways. Three: If someone’s rushing for the elevator you’re in, pretend to hit the “doors open” button.

A city of 8 million can’t function unless we’re all at least minimally aware of the presence of many, many others. That means not stopping suddenly on the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue and creating a six-pedestrian pileup. That means not riding your bike around the narrow jogging patch circling the Central Park Reservoir. That means understanding that texting in a theater is as polite as screaming during a wedding.

Yet there’s something especially barbarous about the subways, something that makes otherwise highly civilized people re-enact “Game of Thrones.” Maybe when human density is close to being maxed out, the momentary desperation for a few square inches of space to call our own means we might all just as well be wearing furs and carrying clubs. And yet somehow we persist in thinking that it’s those awful Texans who are knuckle-dragging yahoos.

kyle.smith@nypost.com

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Rangel eye on GI Janes

WASHINGTON — Rep. Charles Rangel wants to send your daughters to war.

The veteran Harlem Democrat yesterday introduced a bill that would reinstate the military draft and require women aged 18 to 25 to register for the Selective Service.

“Now that women can serve in combat, they should register,” Rangel said.

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Fire damages building on Pratt Institute campus in Brooklyn

Instagram.com/Petemiser

Fire damaged a building at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn this morning.

Fire tore through a building at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn this morning, sending flames skyward – and forcing hundreds of fire officials to the scene.

The fire was reported after 2 a.m. in a non-residential building on the campus, which is located along Willoughby Avenue near the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Clinton Hill.

Officials issued a fourth alarm due to the severity of the fire.

Nearby residents posted pictures of the fire online – showing heavy flames and thick smoke shooting from the building’s roof.

Firefighters contained the fire by 4 a.m. There’s no word on any injuries.

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South African track star Oscar Pistorius questioned in girlfriend's shooting death: reports

REUTERS

South Africa's Oscar Pistorius was one of the most inspirational athletes in the 2012 London Olympics.

South African track star Oscar Pistorius — who became an Olympic legend by becoming the first person to race on prosthetic legs — was being questioned today by South African police for allegedly shooting his girlfriend dead at his home in Pretoria, according to reports.

Pistorius apparently shot his girlfriend in the head and arm, although the circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear, Johannesburg’s Talk Radio 702 reported. He may have mistaken her for a burglar.

Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale says the woman died at the home.

Officers found a 9-mm pistol at the scene and took the 26-year-old Pistorius into custody. He is expected to appear in court later Thursday.

Pistorius, who races wearing carbon fiber prosthetic blades after he was born without a fibula in both legs, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics and reached the semifinals of the 400 meters in the 2012 London Games.

Known by the nickname “Blade Runner,” Pistorius was one of the most heart-warming stories of the London Olympics.

South Africa's Sports Confederation and Olympic committee released a statement saying they had been "inundated" with requests for comment, but were not in a position to give out any details of the shooting.

"SASCOC, like the rest of the public, knows no more than what is in the public domain, which is there has been an alleged fatal shooting on the basis of a mistaken identity and an apparent assumption of a burglary," the South African Olympic committee said. "The organization is in no position to comment on the incident other than to say our deepest sympathy and condolences have been expressed to the families of all concerned."

SACOC said it would be inappropriate to comment because of the ongoing police investigation.

South Africa has some of the world’s highest rates of violent crime and some home-owners carry weapons to defend themselves against intruders.

With AP and Reuters

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Jew-bash designer Galliano's costume mocks faithful

Disgraced designer and convicted anti-Semitic ranter John Galliano ignited a new round of outrage yesterday — dressing like a Hasid to attend pal Oscar de la Renta’s Fashion Week show in New York.

The provocative fashion pariah sported the ill-advised outfit — replete with long jacket, hat and curly “peyos,” or sidelocks — as he exited a friend’s Manhattan apartment en route to de la Renta’s West 42nd Street design studio.

RELATED: JUST HIS WAY OF MAKING AMENDS

The garb stunned New York’s Jewish leaders.

“He’s trying to embarrass people in the Jewish community and make money on clothes [while] dressed like people he has insulted,” fumed Williamsburg community leader Isaac Abraham. It looks like the hairstyle he added was done purposely to insult.”

Splash News

WHO JEW KIDDING! Hitler-loving designer John Galliano wears Hasidic-like garb in Manhattan yesterday.

“Who is he mocking?” added Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind. “The way the socks look, the jacket, the peyos . . . My question is, who’s he laughing at?

“If it was just anyone else, I wouldn’t know what to say. But considering who this guy is, considering his background and what he’s said in the past, let him explain it to all of us: Are you mocking us?”

Galliano was fired from Christian Dior in 2011 after a video went viral showing him professing, “I love Hitler!” in a Paris café. He was convicted in France of making racist public insults and was shunned by the fashion industry.

Last month, de la Renta offered Galliano a chance to make amends, inviting him to work in his Midtown studio.

He’s clearly not working hard enough at making things right, critics said yesterday.

“I would invite Mr. de la Renta and Galliano to come to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so I can show them some Holocaust survivors and the clothes they [wear],” Abraham said.

Rabbi and fashion designer Tobi Rubinstein Schneier said, “This was not very smart, unless he really wants attention. I’m hoping that this is not in any way a mockery through this attire.”

Asked for comment about Galliano’s get-up, spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg said, “Your accusations are not at all correct.”

Regardless of what Galliano might ave been thinking, he’s not likely to find a warm welcome in New York City.

“He just better not step in our streets or come to our synagogue,” sad one furious Williamsburg resident after seeing a picture of Galliano’s garb.

Additional reporting by Joe Tacopino and Kenneth Garger

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North Korea conducts third controversial nuke test, using smallest A-bomb yet

REUTERS

A monitor at the Japan Meteorological Agency's earthquake and tsunami observations division shows ground motion data from the nuclear test in North Korea.

PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea conducted a nuclear test at an underground site in the remote northeast Tuesday, taking an important step toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile that could reach United States.

North Korea made clear that the explosion of its third atomic device — which it claimed was smaller than the ones in its previous two tests — was a warning to what it considers a hostile United States. Its actions drew immediate condemnation from Washington, the U.N. and others. Even its only major ally, China, voiced opposition.

"The test was conducted in a safe and perfect way on a high level, with the use of a smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power," North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said.

It was a defiant response to U.N. orders to shut down atomic activity or face more sanctions and international isolation, as well as a direct message from young leader Kim Jong Un to the United States, Pyongyang's No. 1 enemy since the 1950-53 Korean War.

KCNA said the test is aimed at coping with "the ferocious hostile act of the U.S." That's a reference to what Pyongyang said was Washington's attempts to block its right to launch satellites. North Korea was punished by U.N. sanctions after a December launch of a rocket that the U.N. and Washington called a cover for a banned missile test. Pyongyang said it was a peaceful satellite launch.

The timing was significant. The test in an underground tunnel came hours before President Barack Obama was scheduled to give his State of the Union speech, a major, nationally televised address.

Obama said in a statement Tuesday that the test is "a highly provocative act" and promised to "continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies."

The test also comes only days before the Saturday birthday of Kim Jong Un's father, late leader Kim Jong Il, whose memory North Korean propaganda has repeatedly linked to the country's nuclear ambitions. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, and in late February South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye will be inaugurated.

North Korea is estimated to have enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to American nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker.

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Tot death plunge

A 3-year-old Queens girl died last night after falling five floors from the window of a bathroom, where she had accidentally gotten locked inside with her little sister, police said.

Rusroshi Barua was found shortly after 2:30 p.m., writhing in the snow in the courtyard of the Woodside apartment building where her family lives. She was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, where she later died.

Rusroshi and her 2-year-old sister had somehow gotten themselves locked in the bathroom, prompting their frantic parents to summon the building superintendent.

“They called me and said the kids were locked in the bathroom,” said Hazar Addyli, the super. “I went in, and there was one.”

NY Post: G.N. Miller

TRAGEDY: Police yesterday look up at the fifth-floor window from which Rusroshi Barua (inset) fell yesterday, after getting locked in the bathroom with her baby sister.

Stephen Yang

DEVASTATED MOM: Relatives last night escort the tragic little girl’s mother from Elmhurst Hospital.

“Where’s the other kid? Where’s the other kid?” Addyli recalled asking the 2-year-old.

The frightened toddler said nothing but pointed to the window, he said.

“I went downstairs in the back and found the child,” he said. “I called 911.”

Police are trying to determine how the girls got locked in and how long they were inside before Rusroshi fell. No criminality is suspected, they said.

It was not clear if the window was already open when the girls went into the bathroom, but there were no protective bars installed.

Addyli insisted all of the 32nd Street apartment’s windows had safety bars installed when the family moved in.

He added there had been no requests to fix or replace any of the bars.

One neighbor, Ira Oppenheimer, said the child’s parents were hysterical after the fall.

“The father came running down with the wife,” Oppenheimer said. “He didn’t have any shoes on. They were both screaming as they were running toward to the ambulance. The father was yelling, ‘That’s my daughter! That’s my daughter!’ ”

A family friend, Shaikritty Barua, 39, escorted wailing dad Pappu Barua, no relation, out of Elmhurst Hospital last night. The little girl’s mother was with them but could barely walk.

“It’s very sad. You can’t imagine, for now, they lost a child. They are not able to talk,” Barua said.

Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Kenneth Garger

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Police: 4 wounded in shooting on Bourbon Street in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS — Four people were shot on the French Quarter's iconic Bourbon Street, sending people running as revelers partied Saturday night amid the countdown to Mardi Gras, police and bystanders said. But the party was back in full force hours later as crowds returned afterward.

Two males and two females were wounded just before 9:30 p.m. time, New Orleans police spokesman Frank B. Robertson said. He reported that one male was in critical condition and had undergone surgery, while the other three were in stable condition. He did not release their ages.

Robertson said detectives were working to identify a suspect and determine a motive. A police statement said the shooting occurred on the French Quarter street, but did not provide the exact location where the shots were fired. He said he had no additional information immediately.

"They're just piecing together what happened," he added. Subsequent messages left with police seeking more information were not immediately returned.

The streets were crawling with bar-hopping throngs taking in the last weekend before Fat Tuesday, the enormous party that engulfs New Orleans each year with parades, gaudy floats and merrymakers tossing trinkets and beads to the crowds.

Bourbon Street street is home to strip clubs, watering holes and second-floor balconies lined by people who throw beads to revelers below each Mardi Gras season. The street often gets so crowded that officers have to control the crowds on horseback.

Patrick Clay, 21, an LSU student, told The Times-Picayune he was standing on the corner of Bourbon Street when suddenly he saw a crowd running and people screaming that there was a shooting.

"Everyone immediately started running and the cops immediately started running toward where people were running from," Clay said. "I was with a group of about seven people and at that point we all just kind of grasped hands and made our way through the crowd as soon as possible."

Afterward, police moved in to investigate. Many revelers said they stayed hunkered down in bars and other establishments until police cleared them to move freely.

WWL-TV reported that police had obtained surveillance video from one of the establishments as part of the investigation.

"We don't know what happened but they shut down the entire block for an hour," Peter Manabani, an employee at the Rat's Hole bar, told AP as loud music thumped in the background. He said the block reopened shortly before midnight and his establishment was again thronged entering the early hours.

Early Sunday there were no signs a shooting had occurred, as revelers had returned to party mode, packing the block anew amid a heavy police presence. Many milled about, wearing beads, drinking and carousing.

"It's scary. We heard about the shooting in the cab ride down here and almost turned around but it's our first Mardi Gras and we wanted to be here," said Ashley Holleran, 19, of Allendale, N.J., visiting with a friend from New York.

Laura Gonzalez, 21, of Baytown, Texas, said it was also her first Mardi Gras and she spent some time in the Fat Catz Bar nearby as police investigated the shooting. She said the bar quickly locked its doors soon after the shooting and wouldn't let anyone in or out while police kept the crime scene clear of throngs.

Asked if it was frightening, she responded: "Not really. We were just locked in a bar and we weren't going to let this one incident wreck our party."

Parades rolled all day Saturday but none on Bourbon Street because the streets are too narrow. One of the biggest Mardi Gras parades, the Krewe of Endymion, rolled down Canal Street and just skirted Bourbon Street a few hours before the shooting. Typically, once the parades end, partygoers head to the French Quarter.

The lifeblood tourism trade is vital to New Orleans and Mardis Gras is one of the city's signature events, along with Jazz Fest and major sporting events such as the recent Super Bowl. Yet decades-old problems persist and New Orleans remains plagued by violent crime, including gun violence that soared after Hurricane Katrina clobbered the city in 2005.

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