Miami-Dade mayor disappointed at Major League Baseball over All-Star Game

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez was swept into office in part because of his opposition to the public financing for the Marlins’ new baseball stadium.

But that doesn’t mean he was happy when Major League Baseball awarded the 2015 All-Star Game to Cincinnati. Marlins President David Samson said last year he hoped to host the game, continuing a streak of All-Star games at new ballparks. That was before the team decimated its roster and chopped its payroll after last season.

After MLB Commissioner Bud Selig made the Cincinnati announcement last month, Gimenez sent him a letter expressing his disappointment. And the mayor phoned Selig last week, according to Gimenez’s calendar.

“[N]ow that the facility is built and operating, it is my responsibility to ensure its greatest benefit to our residents,” Gimenez wrote.

“Public sentiment regarding the Stadium is at an all-time low, and now we are further disappointed by the recent announcement...[I]t is clear that Miami has been benched once again, this time by Major League Baseball.”

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Chris Brown Car Collision

ET has learned that Chris Brown was involved in a solo, non-injury traffic collision in Beverly Hills at noon today, blaming the paparazzi for losing control of his Porsche and colliding with a wall.

Pics: Remembering Whitney Houston

A statement from Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino of the Beverly Hills police details the incident: "On February 9, 2013 at approximately 12:03 p.m., entertainer Chris Brown was involved in a solo, non-injury traffic collision in the 600 Block Bedford Drive/Camden Drive alley. Mr. Brown was the driver of the vehicle and collided with a wall. Brown stated that he was being chased by paparazzi causing him to lose control of his vehicle. Brown's Black Porsche was towed from the scene at his request."

Related: Rihanna Accompanies Chris Brown to Court

Earlier this week, Brown visited an L.A. courthouse with girlfriend Rihanna on to oppose a motion to revoke his probation stemming from his 2009 assault on Rihanna. Prosecutors claim Brown did not show sufficient evidence that he completed his required community labor sentence. 

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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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Mega mansion frenzy: Buyer snaps up Pat Riley’s $16M home to level it, rebuild

Miami Heat President Pat Riley sold his spectacular bayfront mansion in gated Gables Estates for $16.8 million last March.

The 12,856-square-foot Mediterranean-style dream house at 180 Arvida Parkway has a theater, wine cellar, library, and a sprawling pool with waterfalls and an aqua bar.

But that’s all coming down.

Turns out the lure was the lot: a rare fingertip of prime land, nearly two acres, jutting into the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay.

In December, the buyer — listed as 180 Arvida LLC represented by Miami attorney Mark Hasner — presented the city of Coral Gables with plans to tear down the home, built in 1991, and erect an even grander estate along the 900 linear feet of bayfront.

“Most people would move in and be perfectly happy, but clients are looking for perfection — really good stuff,” said Jorge Uribe, a senior vice president at One Sotheby’s International Realty, who wasn’t involved but sold an even bigger trophy property last year: a $39.4 million estate at 14 Indian Creek Dr., on Indian Creek Island in Miami Beach, dubbed “Miami’s Billionaire Bunker” by Forbes magazine.

“The trend in the last several years is a demand for very high-quality product. People are looking for really good locations, really good materials, and they’re willing to pay for it,” Uribe said.

Miami’s ultra-luxury market is on fire. Prices for the fanciest single-family homes and condominiums have soared to levels never before seen in the area, fueled by strong foreign demand and renewed interest from New Yorkers and others in the Northeast.

With Miami’s global image burnished by Art Basel Miami Beach and the debut of other cultural and entertainment venues, the city is emerging as an even greater magnet for the world’s super-rich.

In January, a penthouse at the Setai Resort & Residences on Miami Beach fetched $27 million, a new high for a Miami-Dade condominium. “Every building we do business in is at its highest price of all time,” said Mark Zilbert, president of Zilbert International Realty, which represented the buyer in the Setai deal.

Last August, a sleek, new home, built on spec at 3 Indian Creek Dr., sold for $47 million, a record high for a Miami-Dade residence. The buyer, whose identity has not been revealed, is Russian.

“People are realizing how valuable the bay waterfront is,” said Oren Alexander, co-founder of the Alexander Group at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who co-listed the 3 Indian Creek property with The Jills team at Coldwell Banker and represented the buyer for the home. His father, Shlomy Alexander, developed the property with partner Felix Cohen.

Shlomy Alexander is working on two more extravagant spec homes — one at 30 Indian Creek Dr. and a second that is set to break ground shortly at 252 Bal Bay Dr. in Bal Harbour, his son said. Plans envision a tropical modern-style project that fuses the indoors and outdoors — a concept popular in Brazil.

The elder Alexander recently traveled to Italy to shop for exclusive stone for the projects, said the son.

“It’s really trending to the ultra-luxury. All sorts of exotic materials — exotic woods, exotic marbles, exotic stones,” said Sean Murphy, an executive vice president at Coastal Construction, a major builder of luxury hotels and condominiums that also has erected some of the most extravagant mansions in the region. “Everything is so exotic.”

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Miami-Dade police officer convicted in lewdness case

A Miami-Dade police officer, who routinely stopped women drivers without cause and engaged in lewd conversations, was convicted in federal court Friday.

Prabhainjana Dwivedi, a seven-year veteran, was found guilty on six of seven counts of depriving people of their civil rights. He was found not guilty on the seventh count involving an undercover police officer.

Following the ruling, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez immediately remanded Dwivedi back into custody pending sentencing scheduled for sometime in April, according to prosecutor Karen Gilbert. The trial began Monday.

Dwivedi faces up to a year in prison for each count.

A grand jury indicted Dwivedi after he was arrested by FBI agents Sept. 5 at Miami-Dade police headquarters.

Dwivedi, 33, was charged after an investigation into complaints filed for stops made in May and June of 2011 in which he detained “numerous women” for “unreasonable” length of time “without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or other lawful authority to conduct a stop,” a criminal complaint said.

None of the questionable stops were ever listed on his daily reports or called into dispatch.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi who worked overnight patrolling an area from Key Biscayne to Jackson Memorial Hospital, stopped a 24-year-old bartender who was driving from South Beach to Broward County on her way home from work at about 5:30 a.m. on June 25, 2011, in the area of the Golden Glades interchange.

The bartender, identified as M.F., was accused by Dwivedi of driving under the influence. Pleading her innocence, she requested to have a sobriety test performed. Her request was refused.

Noticing a child’s safety seat in the back seat, Dwivedi threatened M.F. that she would lose custody of her son if she were to be arrested on DUI charges, the criminal complaint said. Then the conversation turned sexual.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi, began to inquire about her surgically enhanced breasts and asked “if she had any scars or incisions from the surgery.”

Dwivedi then asked to see the scars. M.F. obeyed, lifting her shirt and exposing her breasts.

According to the complaint written by FBI special agent Susan Funk, “M.F. stated that Dwivedi did not touch her breast.”

, Dwivedi then allowed her to drive home, but said he would follow her to make sure she got safely home. Once at M.F.’s residence, Dwivedi said he was thirsty and asked for a glass of water. Once inside her home, he lingered for an hour speaking of his personal life.

In the end, Dwivedi left without ever reporting anything to dispatch or making any notes of the stop in his daily reports, the criminal complaint said.

A month earlier, Dwivedi made another questionable stop.

According to the complaint, Dwivedi stopped a19-year-old woman at 2:20 a.m. on May 27, 2011, on her way home from a nightclub with two friends. The woman, identified, as A.R., was informed the traffic stop was a result of a failure to turn on her headlights.

Dwivedi also claimed she was driving under the influence, but A.R. disputed the accusation.

A.R. was instructed to sit in the back seat of his marked cruiser and then Dwivedi “instructed A.R. to lower the zipper on the front of her dress down past her breasts to her mid-stomach” according to the complaint.

An hour and 20 minutes later, A.R. was on her way home without any citation and Dwivedi again made no mention or note of the stop, the complaint said.

Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.

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Khloe Kardashian: Kim Just Wants to Move On

Khloe Kardashian tells ET that sister Kim "just wants to move on" with her life and wrap up divorce proceedings with ex Kris Humphries, saying, "Honestly, she is so happy with her life right now, she just wants to put this behind her and move on."

Pics: Five Years of Kim K. Fashion

Kim, who is pregnant with Kanye West's child, filed a declaration in Los Angeles Superior Court last month seeking dissolution of her short-lived marriage to the basketball star. She is hoping to have it over and done with by the time she has her baby, due in July, but claims that Humphries is "stalling" the process.

Related: Kris Refuses to Expedite Divorce From Kim

Khloe spoke with ET at a meet-and-greet to promote her new fragrance with hubby Lamar Odom, Unbreakable Love, at the Sears in Downey, CA. Khloe says her husband was the one who wanted to make the fragrance in the first place, one that they could both wear, making them the first celeb couple to have a unisex fragrance.

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Snow monster mashes apple

The Big Apple got walloped by Superstorm Nemo overnight, prompting thousands of canceled airline flights, suspended train and bus service and gasoline shortages.

Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency, giving the city and other New York municipalities the flexibility to deal with what threatened to be a storm of historic magnitude.

Workers fled their offices early to hunker down for the night — as Mayor Bloomberg warned drivers to keep off the roads.

“Stay off the city streets,” Bloomberg advised at a news conference yesterday afternoon. “Stay out of your cars.

ZUMAPRESS.com

WE SEE YOUR KNEES! This hot-blooded gal takes a “short” cut, exposing her legs to the elements in Midtown while her prudent pals stay a bit warmer in the superstorm.

“We’ve got to prepare for the worst case. We’re ready for anything.”

Among yesterday’s major developments:

* More than 1,700 flights were canceled in and out of La Guardia, JFK and Newark airports as wind gusts were expected to hit 50 mph. Travelers are urged to call their airlines today before heading out to airports for flights.

* Forecasters predicted that some coastal areas damaged three months ago by Hurricane Sandy would suffer flooding this morning from a storm surge of one or two feet above normal tides.

* New York City deployed 1,700 snowplows, 450 salt spreaders and 65 front-end loaders for a cleanup mission that will continue through the weekend.

And some 250,000 tons of salt were ready to be spread.

* Gov. Cuomo shut down Metro-North Railroad lines indefinitely as of 10 p.m. last night, with Grand Central Terminal closing at about midnight. The Long Island Rail Road suspended service on parts of the Montauk branch, and NJ Transit officials said they were monitoring snow accumulations to decide whether to suspend service.

* Worried about a repeat of gas shortages seen in Sandy’s aftermath, motorists fueled up at stations around the region, with some running out of gas and most reporting long lines.

A key tanker-delivery fill-up terminal on Long Island near the Queens border ran out of gas yesterday, and an estimated 10 percent of the service stations on the Island also came up empty.

* Con Edison promised to have 500 workers performing damage assessment to power lines, and 250 outside contractors and other personnel lined up to help with power restoration. The utility urged people to steer clear of downed wires. The Con Ed Web site showed only a small number of scattered outages last night.

* The NYPD added personnel to its Highway Division and Emergency Service Unit in neighborhoods that had already been socked by Sandy.

The FDNY also added an extra firefighter to each engine unit throughout the city as a precaution, citing the increased difficulty of battling blazes in the snow. It also deployed 100 extra ambulances on the streets.

* Alternate-side parking rules and parking-meter rules were suspended across the city through tomorrow. And senior centers also were closed today.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick signed an executive order barring all private cars from highways and secondary roads in the state effective at 4 p.m. yesterday.

Connecticut also declared a state of emergency, with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy imposing a travel ban on the state’s limited access highways. Utilities reported more than 23,000 customers without power.

More than 225,000 people were without power in New England.

Bloomberg warned motorists to stay home so the city’s armada of plows, salt trucks and front-end loaders could start quickly clearing the streets.

“City sanitation workers are on a full mobilization and have been since Thursday night. They’re on 12-hour shifts,” he said.

“By [this] morning I would expect most streets to be more than passable. We don’t think it’ll be that big a deal,” he added.

Still, “ ‘stay home’ is a good rule,” he told Gotham residents.

“My biggest concern is that people go out and walk, slip, fall into traffic. You can’t take nature too lightly. It’s certainly not going to be Hurricane Sandy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get badly hurt or killed if you’re not careful.”

Meteorologists appeared more alarmed. Nemo is “a very dangerous situation, and people need to take proper action,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service.

Some residents and visitors, meanwhile, were glum about the storm putting a serious damper on their weekend activities.

Cyrus Laali, a 30-year-old chiropractor from Texas, was walking through the onset of yesterday’s mess on the streets of SoHo with his 27-year-old girlfriend.

“I’m coming from Texas. It’s 70 and sunny,” Laali said. “I love New York, but I didn’t think I’d be greeted with this.”

But Betty Kim, 31, of Brooklyn, said the storm won’t spoil her plans.

“I’ll be going full throttle hitting bars and restaurants with my friends. I’m really not afraid of the storm,” she said.

dan.mangan@nypost.com

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Sign up for Feb. 21 Miami Herald Small Business Forum

Prepare your best pitch for the Miami Herald’s Small Business Forum, Feb. 21 at the south campus of our sponsor, Florida International University.

In addition to how-to panels and inspirational stories from successful entrepreneurs, our annual small business forum will include interactive opportunities with experts to learn about financing options and polish your personal and business brands.

During our finance panel, audience volunteers will be invited to explain their financing needs to the group. During our box-lunch session, they will be invited to pitch their business or personal brand to our coaches.

Those who prefer just to listen will be treated to a keynote address by Alberto Perlman, co-founder of the global fitness craze Zumba. Panels include success stories from the local entrepreneurs who founded Sedano’s, Jennifer’s Homemade and ReStockIt.com; finance tips from experts in small business loans, venture capital, angel investments and traditional bank loans; and insiders in the burgeoning South Florida tech start-up scene.

Plus, it’s a real bargain. $25 includes the half-day seminar, continental breakfast and a box lunch.

Register here.

Program

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast, provided by Bill Hansen Catering

8:30 a.m. Welcome

Host: David Suarez, president and CEO, Interactive Training Solutions, LLC

•  Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

•  Alice Horn, executive director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE South Florida)

•  Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge Overview:

•  Nancy Dahlberg, Business Plan Challenge coordinator, The Miami Herald

8:45 a.m. Session I – Success Stories

Moderator: Jerry Haar, PhD, associate dean & director, FIU Eugenio Pino and Family Global

Entrepreneurship Center

Speakers:

•  Jennifer Behar, founder, Jennifer’s Homemade

•  Matt Kuttler, co-president of ReStockIt.com

•  Javier Herrán, chief marketing officer, Sedano’s Supermarkets

10 a.m. Session II – All about Tech

Moderator: Jane Wooldridge, Business editor, The Miami Herald

Speakers

•  Susan Amat, founder, Launch Pad Tech

•  Nancy Borkowski, executive director, Health Management Programs, Chapman Graduate School of

Business, Florida International University

•  Mark Slaughter, CEO, Cohealo.com

•  Chris Fleck, vice president of mobility solutions at Citrix and a director of the South Florida Tech Alliance

11:15 a.m. Keynote

Speaker: Alberto Perlman, CEO and co-founder of Zumba® Fitness

Introduction: Jane Wooldridge, business editor, The Miami Herald

11:45 a.m. Session III – Show me the money: Financing your small business

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make a short investment pitch before a panel, including experts in microlending, SBA loans, traditional bank loans, venture capital and angel investing. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation that includes details about current backing, how much money they are seeking and a brief synosis of ow that money would be used.

Moderator: Melissa Krinzman, founder and managing director, Venture Architects

Panelists:

•  Marjorie Weber, chairman, SCORE of Miami-Dade

•  Cornell Crews, Jr., program director, Partners for Self Employment

•  Darius G. Nevin, co-founder, G3 Capital Partners, a mid-market and early-stage investment company

•  Boris Hirmas Said, chairman of the board, Tres Mares S.A. (Santiago, Chile) and entrepreneur in

residence at the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center

1 p.m. Lunch session - Polish your Pitch, Brighten Your Personal Brand

An interactive session featuring audience volunteers who will be invited to make short pitches about their businesses and themselves. Audience volunteers should come prepared with a two-minute presentation.

Coaches: Melissa Krinzman of Venture Architects and Michelle Villalobos of Mivista Consulting

advise audience volunteers on how to best pitch themselves and their products.

Box lunch provided by Bill Hansen Catering

All speakers confirmed unless otherwise noted. Agenda is subject to change without notice .

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Stranded python hunters rescued from Broward Everglades

Two python hunters were rescued Thursday afternoon by Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue after they became stranded and disoriented in the Everglades.

According to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles, a call came in shortly before 4 p.m. that the hunters, 22 and 25 years old and from Tennessee, were stranded 15 miles west of U.S. 27 near the Broward-Palm Beach County line.

“It doesn’t seem like they were familiar with the area,” Jachles said. “They underestimated the conditions. We had temperature in the 80s. “

The men, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration, complained of lightheadedness and weakness when air rescue located them. They were taken two miles from where they were found and treated by firefighters and paramedics.

“Fortunately our helicopter and rescue crews got to them before it would have gotten much worse,” Jachles said.

The victims, thought to be staying in their car, refused to be taken to a hospital for further treatment.

Jachles could not confirm that they were taking part in the ongoing “Python Challenge,” which began last month and offers cash prizes to hunters who kill the most, and longest, Burmese pythons, which have infested the Everglades in recent years.

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GWB leaping beauty’s sad descent into 'faux foe' rage

The fashionista who jumped to her death from the George Washington Bridge felt under siege by five frenemies she barred from her funeral via suicide note — including one who told her to overdose, The Post has learned.

“Go try to kill yourself on Xanax again, you unstable loser. Go f--k yourself and never speak to me again,” Alison Tinari wrote in a Facebook exchange with troubled Ashley Riggitano, who killed herself Wednesday, her 22nd birthday.

The blond beauty left behind a multipage, handwritten note in a Louis Vuitton bag that excluded Tinari and four other women from the funeral because of their contentious relationships through the years.

HAD WORDS: Ashley (left) and biz partner Victoria Van Thunen (right) fought on Facebook.

WHY? Classmate Teresa Castaldo (left) and publicist Beth Bassil (right) are on enemy list.

FURY: Ashley ripped Alison Tinari (left) for hanging with hunk Drew Heissenbuttel (right).

A source identified the others as Teresa Castaldo, Beth Bassil, Victoria Van Thunen and Samantha Horneff.

Van Thunen was Riggitano’s business partner at Missfits, a jewelry-design business. Castaldo and Bassil were classmates at Midtown’s Laboratory Institute of Merchandising, and Horneff was a friend from New Jersey.

Riggitano placed her handbag on a walkway at about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday before leaping from a midway point in the Jersey-bound lanes of the upper level, authorities said.

Prescription drugs, including Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD, and Klonopin, an anti-panic drug, were found in her bag.

Riggitano’s suicide notes — written in girlish cursive on lined, loose-leaf paper — revealed the depths of her despair.

“To any funeral, these people should not be allowed based upon words and actions,” she wrote about the five women.

She also mentioned three others by first name only — calling them “only people I love & always there to tell sorry.”

She blasted her other pals, writing, “All my other ‘friends’ are in it for gossip, never there just 1/4 for gossip.”

Hours before the suicide, Van Thunen ripped Riggitano in a Facebook post.

“Those who incessantly blame others as the cause of their issues should perhaps take a step back and re-evaluate these situations,” Van Thunen, 21, wrote.

“The common thread may be that ‘they’ aren’t the problem, but rather that YOU are.”

About a month earlier, Riggitano initiated an ugly, two-day exchange with Tinari that led to the Xanax suicide comment.

The fight stemmed from Tinari’s ongoing friendship with Riggitano’s boyfriend, aspiring race-car driver Drew Heissenbuttel.

“It’s really horrible what happened. I feel really bad for her family. It’s crazy. I feel really bad for her. I never went after her; she went after me,” a remorseful Tinari told The Post yesterday, adding that she didn’t even know Riggitano before the exchange.

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