Subway pusher Erika Menendez describes killing Sunando Sen

He didn’t go down without a fight.

The Muslim-hating maniac who shoved a Queens immigrant to his death in front of the 7 train told The Post yesterday that the victim tried to shake her off at the last second — but she was determined to kill.

“My mind was just racing that day. I was mad. I was just angry,” Erika Menendez, 31, said in a rambling interview on Rikers Island.

“I was homeless. I was hungry. I was fighting with my boyfriend. He came running up the stairs, and I just got up and pushed him.”

Sunando Sen, 46, didn’t have time to react.

“He was trying to shake me off,” she said.

Paul Martinka

Erika Menendez

Menendez — glassy-eyed, greasy-haired and clad in a prison jumpsuit — professed her hatred for Muslims and Hindus and said the murder was revenge for 9/11. Sen was Hindu.

But the massive loss of life in the World Trade Center attacks was not what left her enraged.

“I’m not mad about the people. I’m mad because I liked the buildings,” Menendez said.

“I just wanted to hurt Muslims and Hindus ever since [9/11].”

Her attachment to the buildings, she said, comes from being a native New Yorker.

For much of the interview, she was emotionless.

But her eyes lit up and she became very animated when describing other violent run-ins with people she believed were Muslim or Hindu.

“I’ve been beating up Muslims and Hindus for a long time. I just want to hurt them. I would punch them,” she said.

Her racist rants and callous disregard for Sen’s life horrified the dead man’s heartbroken friends.

“How could she do this to him? My hands shake. I can’t be alone. I think of him all the time, all the time,” said the woman he rented a room from in Queens.

Her son is now scared to ride the subway, she said.

“We were family. Who cares if he is Muslim or Hindu? He was a man,” she said.

That’s not what the unhinged Menendez saw on Dec. 29.

In her first interview since being arrested, she told The Post that Sen had stood out from the other riders because of his religion.

The tragedy might have been averted if she had taken the medicine she is prescribed.

She said she doesn’t take them because she hates the side effects, which make her “shaky.”

She “self-medicates” by smoking pot.

“If I smoked a blunt that day, I wouldn’t have pushed him,” Menendez said.

Sen was the second person fatally shoved in front of a subway train last month.

Queens father Ki Suk Han, 58, was pushed into the path of a Q train at the 49th Street station in Manhattan on Dec. 3 by Naeem Davis, cops said.

Additional reporting by Natasha Velez

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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B'klyn teen dialed 911 more than 400 times for fake emergencies: police

A Brooklyn teen dialed 911 more than 400 times to phone in fake emergencies, police said yesterday.

Dean Whylie, 16, disguised his voice as a girl when he made 404 calls reporting non-existent incidents, starting on May 26 of last year, police added.

“He reported police officers needing assistance, shots fired, motor vehicle accidents and disputes,” a police source said.

Whylie allegedly used two phones that weren’t yet activated, but were set up for emergency calls only — which made it difficult to trace the hundreds of fake reports, police said.

At least 329 bogus incidents were reported at locations in the 70 Precinct, which includes Kensington, cops added. Other fake calls reported crimes in Borough Park and other parts of southern Brooklyn, according to police.

Investigators finally traced cell phone pings to the teen’s home on East 22nd Street in Ditmas Park, where he made his last call Monday, police said.

The teen gave no explanation as to why he made the prank calls, cops said.

He was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, obstruction of governmental administration, filing false reports and criminal nuisance, police said.

One of the two phones — which had been used to dial 186 bogus calls — was recovered, cops added.

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Ex-pal: Lance is ‘a criminal’

Lance Armstrong’s former right-hand man blasted the cycling cheat yesterday, saying that he should be in jail for lying about taking steroids.

“He’s a petty criminal,” Mike Anderson told The Post after the disgraced champion admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

“This is a guy who never had a real job in his life. If he had not weaseled his way into [the] sport and undertook this incredible fraud, he would be a petty criminal.”

Anderson sued his former boss in 2005 for allegedly reneging on a deal to help him open a bike shop after serving as his assistant for more than two years. Armstrong settled.

Their relationship fractured in early 2004, shortly after Anderson found Armstrong’s stash of steroids in an apartment where the star cyclist stayed while training, according to court papers.

Anderson says he’s vindicated by the confession, but still wants to see his former boss locked up.

“I’d like the guy to be brought to justice — jail would be good,” he said.

Winfrey hasn’t revealed many details on the “emotional” interview, which is set to air tonight and tomorrow night.

“I left it all on the table with her, and when it airs, the people can decide,” Armstrong told The Associated Press.

His former cancer charity said it expects full disclosure.

“We expect Lance to be completely truthful and forthcoming in his interview and with all of us in the cancer community,” Livestrong said.

The TV confession comes after Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and barred for life from Olympic sports.

Armstrong faces a slew of possible legal troubles over his confession. The Department of Justice was reportedly considering joining a whistleblower lawsuit against the doper, and could still reopen a criminal probe, sources said.

Armstrong’s attorney declined to comment. A rep did not respond to an e-mail.

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2 dead after helicopter crashes in London

Getty Images

Smoke pours from the burning debris of a helicopter which crashed in in London.

LONDON — Police say two people were killed when a helicopter crashed Wednesday during rush hour in central London after apparently hitting a construction crane on top of a building.

Two people were taken to a nearby hospital with "minor injuries," London Ambulance Service said.

The helicopter crashed just south of the River Thames near the Underground and mainline train station at Vauxhall, and the British spy agency MI6.

Video on Sky News showed wreckage burning in a street, and a large plume of black smoke rose in the area. The video from the crash scene showed a line of flaming fuel and debris.

EPA

Firemen at the wreckage of a helicopter crash in London. Two people were killed when the aircraft collided with a crane during rush hour.

Witness reports that the helicopter hit a crane atop a 50-story residential building, the St. George Wharf Tower, were not immediately confirmed.

The Ministry of Defense said it was not a military helicopter, and a British security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press said the incident was not terror-related.

London Fire Brigade said it was called at 8 a.m. to a report of a crash on Wandsworth Road on the south bank of the Thames.

"There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it," Paul Ferguson, an office worker near the scene, told BBC News.

"The top of the crane was actually obscured by fog so I didn't see the impact," Michael Gavin told the BBC. "But I heard a bang and saw the body of the helicopter falling to the ground along with pieces of the crane and then a large plume of smoke afterwards."

Erin Rogers, who was waiting at a bus stop near Vauxhall Station, said she "heard a bang and saw bits of crane debris falling to the floor."

"Then the helicopter was in flames. The rest of the people at the bus station were looking on going, 'What was that?'"

Police said the helicopter appeared to have hit a crane.

Early reports indicated the crane was at St. George's Wharf, a high rise apartment complex with apartments that offer sweeping river and city views.

The area, roughly 10 blocks from the major Waterloo train and Underground station, is extremely congested during the morning rush hour. Many commuters arrive at the main line stations from London's southern suburbs and transfer to buses or trains there.

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VOTE for the worst liar in history

Lance Armstrong’s lies weren’t the first to lead to a stunning crash. Here is a list of the rest of history’s 10 all-time greatest liars, a rogues gallery of devious dissemblers who can all be enshrined in the forked tongue Hall of Shame.

AFP/Getty Images


RICHARD NIXON — You know when a guy says “I am not a crook,” watch out. “Tricky Dick” Nixon took presidential perfidy to new heights, when he went on TV on August 15, 1973 and said “I had no prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in.” A year later, he resigned.

AP



BERNIE MADOFF — He was more of a Ponzi King than the scam’s inventor, Charles Ponzi. Madoff pretended to be one of the most savvy investors in New York, but his firm was a bogus house of cards that wound up costing his investors $50 billion when it collapsed. Now Bernie cooling his heels in prison.

Spencer A. Burnett

TAWANA BRAWLEY — Her lie set racial tensions in New York to boiling in the 1980s. The Dutchess County teen falsely claimed to have been abducted and raped by a group of men, including a cop and a prosecutor. In 1988, a grand jury found her story was a horrific hoax.

AP

JOHN EDWARDS — A slick haircut doesn’t mean you’re honest. The clean-cut Edwards went from possible President to loathed liar when — after two years of denials — he admitted in 2010 to siring a love child with mistress Rielle Hunter while his wife, Elizabeth, was dying of cancer.

AP

MILLI VANILLI — Their album may have been called “Girl You Know It’s True, ” but it was really a big lie. The “musical” duo of Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan, became laughing stocks in 1990 when they had to return their Grammy for best new artist after it was revealed they did not actually sing the songs on the album.

AP

ANTHONY WEINER — Sure, you were “hacked” Mr. Weiner. When a picture of the Queens Congressman’s “member” wound up on the internet he tried to claim he got shafted — by a hacker to stole the picture and put it on line. Later it was revealed that he actually sent the pic to a young woman who was not his wife. He finally admitted “I have not been honest,” and short time later resigned.

AP

PETE ROSE — He was known as “Charlie Hustle.” It was an appropriate nickname. Baseball’s all time hit leader denied for years that he ever gambled on baseball, even though he was banned from the game in 1989. Then in 2004, he admitted he did place bets on the national passtime, and even bet on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds “every night.”

AP

MARION JONES — She lost her golds on the track, but still takes top honors for lying. The disgraced track star had the five medals she won in the 2000 Summer Olympics stripped for doping, charges she initially denied. She was later sentenced to six months in jail for lying to federal prosecutors who were probing use of steroids.

PINOCCHIO — History’s all time greatest liar, this little wooden “boy” wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him. His fibs were so devious that they actually made his nose grow, making him the forerunner of all politicians throughout history.

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It’s all jerks, jokes & Jodie Foster

Linda Stasi

What do you get when 85 freeloading freelancers without genuine media affiliations vote for winners in an industry that’s filled with affiliations and worth more than most small countries?

A) A scam; B) The Golden Globes; or C) Jodie Foster.

If you guessed A, you are correct, if you guessed B, you are correct, and if you guessed C, you are as confused as the rest of us.

Last night, for the 70th time, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association held their annual confusing grifter fest, the Golden Globe Awards, filled with Hollywood honchos pretending it was all real, while millions of viewers tuned in pretending to believe those Hollywood honchos believed it was all real.

Get it? Good.

The show was hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the first time, and if Ricky Gervais hadn’t set the bar so high for the past two years by killing the very hands that fed him — the Golden Globes — they would have seemed better than they did.

But somehow, these two wildly funny women made it all seem tame and, yes, sort of old-fashioned.

Thank God for Jodie Foster. In an industry filled with insane people who make no sense when left to their own devices and, worse, left to their own words, Jodie Foster set the bar lower than ever and managed to stand out as maybe the most confused human ever to hit the Golden Globes stage.

It seemed that in one 75-minute (or maybe five-minute) speech, she said that nothing is more important in the world than privacy and that her sexuality was no one’s business and then promptly came out and quit show business. I think.

But what about Fey and Poehler, who were supposed to be the big story?

Yes, their opening dialogue was funny, but we’re so used to hosts roasting the rich and famous in the audience that it seemed not so fresh. I prefer Gervais’ mean-spirited honesty.

Chances are good the gig is up for Fey and Poehler. I mean, seriously, how could they stand out when Jodie Foster comes out and goes back in, all in one speech? Bottom line? The Globes is either an international conspiracy of dunces or a mass fugue or some sort probably manufactured in China of inferior ingredients and sold at Walmart.

But it still beats the Oscars.

linda.stasi@nypost.com

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Egypt court grants Mubarak appeal, orders retrial

REUTERS

A court granted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's appeal of his life sentence.

CAIRO — A court granted Hosni Mubarak's appeal of his life sentence in a Sunday hearing, ordering a retrial of the ousted Egyptian president on charges that he failed to prevent the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that toppled his regime nearly two years ago.

The ruling read out by judge Ahmed Ali Abdel-Rahman during a brief hearing also granted the appeal of Mubarak's security chief Habib el-Adly, who is also serving a life sentence after his conviction on the same charges. He too will be retried.

No date has been set for the start of their retrial.

The ruling came one day after a prosecutor placed a new detention order on Mubarak over gifts worth millions of Egyptian pounds (hundreds of thousands of US dollars) he and other regime officials allegedly received from Egypt's top newspaper as a show of loyalty while he was in power.

The public funds prosecutor ordered Mubarak held for 15 days pending the completion of the investigation. Mubarak, 84, was moved to a Cairo military hospital last month after slipping inside a prison bathroom and injuring himself.

Mubarak's two sons, one-time heir apparent Gamal and businessman Alaa, are in prison while on trial for alleged insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market price. The two were acquitted of corruption charges in the same case as Mubarak, but judge Abdel-Rahman on Sunday said the court has granted the prosecution's appeal against their not-guilty verdict.

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Kate’s ‘poor’trait

What did they do to Kate Middleton?

The newly unveiled official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge turned the 31-year-old beauty into a dowdy, ghostly woman at least 10 years older, artists and critics said.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint what is most offensive,” sniffed Stuart Pearson Wright of the work by fellow portraitist Paul Emsley. “Is it the pursed lips and lumpy cheeks that put one in mind of Marlon Brando in ‘The Godfather’?”

Critics who saw the painting when it was publicly shown for the first time yesterday at London’s National Portrait Gallery said the bags depicted under Kate’s too-small and too-far-apart eyes, the hint of silver in her hair and her lined face made her look haggard and grimacing.

INFphoto.com

PRETTY WEAK:Kate Middleton (top left) manages a smile yesterday for Paul Emsley, whose work (above) was widely bashed.

And not at all like the most vivacious woman in Britain.

“Artist Paul Emsley has managed quite a feat making the future queen look like a dowdy 45-year-old,” wrote Daily Mirror art critic Martin Newman.

“It is like an ‘In Memoriam’ picture etched onto the front of a dark marble gravestone or one of those paintings on black velvet that cohabitate the hallways of everyone’s less discerning grandmother.”

But Kate — who studied art history when she met Prince William in college — saw something she liked. “It’s just amazing. I thought it was brilliant,” she told Emsley.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” added William.

Emsley, an award-winning artist who was chosen by Kate from a short list, defended his work.

“The Duchess explained to me that she would like to be portrayed naturally, her natural self as opposed to her official self,” he said.

But many art lovers were appalled.

“Fortunately, the Duchess of Cambridge looks nothing like this in real life,” said Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal. “I’m really sad to say this is a rotten portrait.”

Ben Luke in the London Evening Standard said it was a “gentle, soft-focus image, like a delicately air-brushed photograph or a Vaseline-lensed view of a Hollywood star.”

David Lee, former editor of Art Review magazine, said Emlsey was the wrong man for the job. “He is essentially a wildlife artist used to painting every hair on a gorilla,” he said.

Guardian arts writer Charlotte Higgins detected a “sepulchral gloom” in the painting.

“Kate Middleton is — whatever you think of the monarchy and all its inane surrounding pomp — a pretty young woman with an infectious smile, a cascade of chestnut hair and a healthy bloom,” she wrote.

“How is it that she has been transformed into something unpleasant from the ‘Twilight’ franchise?”

andy.soltis@nypost.com

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Man gunned down in Bed-Stuy

A man was gunned down in Bedford-Stuyvesant Thursday night, according to police.

The man, described by cops as a white male in his 30s, was shot in the torso near the corner of Macon Street and Throop Avenue at around 9:30 p.m., authorities said.

He was transported to Kings County Hospital where he later died.

Police are still investigating. No arrests have been made.

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LI travel agent shoved to his death in Brooklyn robbery: police

A Long Island travel agent who showed up at a South Slope, Brooklyn address to buy a car wound up dead when he was shoved to the ground and smashed his head in an apparent robbery, law enforcement sources said this morning.

Jesus Morales, 67, of Merrick, LI, was discovered lying with head injuries at 260 18th street at around 7:15 p.m. yesterday.

Morales was rushed by EMS to Lutheran Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Cops are calling the incident a robbery, though it was unclear what was taken.

According to family, Morales owns a travel agency in the neighborhood.

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Kennedy kid sues nurses

A son of the late Robert F. Kennedy who was acquitted of criminal charges in a maternity-ward scuffle is suing two nurses who said on TV that he hurt them.

Douglas Kennedy alleges defamation and malicious prosecution stemming from a legal battle with the pair, who said he physically harassed them after his son’s birth.

The suit, filed in White Plains, doesn’t specify damages.

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Two struck by Chinatown bus

William Miller

Two pedestrians were struck Monday night by a Brooklyn-bound Fung Wah line bus just as it was pulling onto the Manhattan Bridge.

The accident happened at around 11 p.m. in the crosswalk at Canal Street and Bowery, across the street from the Chinatown bus company’s office, cops said.The victims are in stable condition. The driver of the bus is not expected to be charged, cops said.

It is unclear if the bus was carrying passengers at the time of the accident.

The accident snagged traffic across Canal Street for at least two hours, holding up a fleet of massive high-end yachts fresh from the New York Boat Show at the Javits Center.

"You have to have an even temper driving these huge, oversized trucks through New York City, but I can tell you, the first thing I thought about was the poor guy driving that bus,” said Brian Christensen, 51, of Florida, who was towing an $800,000, 50 foot-Prestige 500 yacht to Staten Island. “It’s crazy driving down here. People just jump right out."

Additional reporting by Natasha Velez

William Miller

Anchors a-wait: The accident left yachts from a boat show stuck in traffic near the Manhattan Bridge.

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Officials in Conn. capture 2 female jail escapees

AP Photo/Connecticut Department of Correction

Jessica Rivera, left, and Melissa Riley had escaped from the York Correctional Institution in Connecticut.

NIANTIC, Conn. — Authorities say they have captured two inmates who escaped from the York Correctional Institution.

Officials say 30-year-old Melissa Riley, of Willimantic, and 34-year-old Jessica Rivera, of Waterbury, were captured about 8 p.m. Sunday in Hartford. They were returned to York Correctional, where they were charged with escape and held on $500,000 bail each.

Prison officials say they could not locate the pair at the minimum security facility about 8:15 p.m. Saturday.

The facility was placed in lockdown.

Riley was in prison for a drug charge, while Rivera was serving time for conspiracy.

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Jacko’s girl on the fast tracko

She’s heir to a $1 billion fortune, keeper of the legacy of pop’s biggest star. She grew up with a father who spent money with abandon, popped pills, wasted away into emaciation — all while living in perpetual childhood.

So the most surprising thing about Paris Katherine Jackson, age 14, is how normal she is.

That’s all thanks, ironically, to her damaged, brilliant father, Michael Jackson.

Until his death in 2009, the King of Pop kept his children in near-hiding from the media and especially from his family, the siblings who wanted his money and the father who Michael said abused him as a child star.

WireImage

Luiz Martinez/Broadimage

POP’S KID: Wise and worldly beyond her 14 years, the striking Paris Jackson shields her brothers (below) from disputes over her late dad’s will, prepares for her first film role and still enjoys teen stuff like shopping at the mall and Twitter.

Perhaps most important, Jackson, infamous for his money troubles, tried to protect his kids from the temptations of too much wealth. They’re certainly comfortable, getting six-figure stipends annually. But for now that money is controlled by their guardian, Michael’s mother, Katherine, and the three children won’t have access to their full inheritance until age 40.

The result, friends of the family say, is that Prince Michael, 15, Paris and Blanket, 10, seem more grounded than you might expect from kids who grew up in a place called Neverland (or who are named “Blanket”).

Of the three, it’s Paris — with her mesmerizing blue eyes and prolific Twitter account — who has become the family’s most fascinating figure.

She’s already stood up to her aunts and uncles who, furious that they were largely left out of Michael’s will, tried to get more money out it by pressuring Katherine. It didn’t work; the will remained unchanged. And Paris, much to the Jackson family’s annoyance, tweeted the whole thing, in a moment that would have made her father proud — using his enemy, the media, to help her own cause.

“I am who I am,” Paris says on Twitter. “I’m weird, I’m lame, I run into things, I spill food, I trip, I scream about random stupid stuff but I’m me and I like it.”

So, what’s it like being the daughter of the King of Pop?

Paris Jackson eats trail mix for snacks, loves going to the mall and getting reactions from those who stare because of the “weird and long socks she’s wearing” — although the stares are likely because people are stunned when they see the daughter of the late and famously reclusive Jacko in public.

And like her father, family members say, she’s a perfectionist. She joined her middle-school flag-football team, but only after she knew she could match the fastest kids in the prestigious Buckley School north of Beverly Hills.

Its $29,000-a-year tuition is up slightly from when alumni such as Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Matthew Perry, Alyssa Milano and Laura Dern attended.

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Strong quake hits Alaska, sparks tsunami warning

USGS

An earthquake struck at midnight Friday off the coast of Alaska.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Officials say a tsunami warning is in effect for parts of southern Alaska and coastal Canada after a strong earthquake shook the region.

The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says the warning area includes coastal areas from about 75 miles southeast of Cordova, Alaska, to the north tip of Vancouver Island.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 7.6 quake struck at midnight Friday and was centered about 60 miles west of Craig.

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Statement by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly

At 7:32 p.m., a lieutenant and three police officers assigned to Transit District 34 were in plainclothes on patrol in two separate cars of a Manhattan-bound ‘N’ train here in Brooklyn. Officers Michael Levay and Lukasz Kozicki observed an individual moving from the second car to the third in violation of transit regulations.

As the train approached the Fort Hamilton Parkway station at 62nd Street, the subject sat down toward the front of the third car. The officers approached, and asked him for identification with the intention of removing him from the train as it came to a stop. The male stood up as if to comply with the officers, and appeared to reach for his wallet.

Paul Martinka

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly responds after three officers were injured Thursday.

Instead, he pulled a 9-millimeter Taurus handgun from his waistband and opened fire. Officer Kozicki, 32, was struck three times; once in each of his upper thighs and once in the groin.

A witness said that the gunman appeared to notice the officer’s bullet-resistant vest, and, as a result, aimed low before he fired.

Although shot in the lower back protected by his vest, Officer Levay, 27, returned fire, striking his assailant, killing him.

A passenger on the same car sustained a graze wound to the leg during the gun fight.

Fortunately no one else was injured, as passengers ran onto the platform when the gunfire erupted.

An hour earlier in the Bronx, as the Mayor said, at 6:30 p.m., Police Officer Juan Pichardo was working off-duty at his family’s car dealership when two men, one of them armed with a Bryco .380 handgun, entered the location. Two accomplices waited outside in a getaway car.

After the two feigned interest in buying a red Altima that was parked near the dealership office, one of them produced the gun and forced Officer Pichardo and a second dealership employee on to the floor in the small back office. They began to ransack the office, looking for cash and the safe, all the while brandishing the weapon in Officer Pichardo’s face.

A few minutes after the robbery, Officer Pichardo stood up and grabbed the gunman, who fired, striking the officer in the right thigh. Despite being wounded, Officer Pichardo and the other employee wrestled the gunman to the ground and disarmed him. The gunman’s accomplice fled with the two others in the getaway car, a white Impala with Oregon license plates.

Officer Pichardo held the gunman for responding officers, who recognized the gunman as a member of a Bronx robbery crew who they had been looking for. A short distance away, at 183rd Street and Katonah Avenue, police stopped the getaway car and its three occupants, placing them under arrest.

As both of these incidents illustrate, the historic crime reductions that New Yorkers enjoy come at a price. As the Mayor said, a dozen police officers were shot last year. And now three more, in the first three days of the new year. So thank God, that the doctors at Lutheran and Jacobi did their usual work, and all of these officers will recover.

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Colo. theater shooting kin reject 'disgusting' movie invitation

AP

Relatives of the victims in July's movie theater shooting are offended by an invitation to attend the theater's reopening.

DENVER — Relatives of those killed at a Colorado movie theater rejected an invitation Wednesday to attend its planned reopening, calling it a "disgusting offer" that came at a terrible time — right after the first Christmas without their loved ones.

The parents, grandparents, cousins and widow of nine of the 12 people killed in the July shooting said they were asked to attend an "evening of remembrance" followed by a movie when the Aurora theater reopens on Jan. 17. They released a letter sent to the theater's owner, Cinemark, in which they criticized the Plano, Texas-based company for not previously reaching out to them to offer condolences and refusing to meet with them without lawyers.

"Our family members will never be on this earth with us again and a movie ticket and some token words from people who didn't care enough to reach out to us, nor respond when we reached out to them to talk, is appalling," the letter said.

Cinemark had no immediate comment.

The company announced last month that it would reopen the theater on Jan. 17 and invite people affected by the attack and other guests, a move that Aurora officials said has strong support in the community. Gov. John Hickenlooper plans to attend.

The Aurora Sentinel reported that plans filed with the city call for turning the theater into one of the company's "extreme digital cinema" sites that feature massive screens. It's not clear from the plans whether there will be a memorial to the victims.

The invitation was emailed to families by the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, which said the offer was being sent on behalf of Cinemark.

It arrived two days after Christmas as Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, the mother and stepfather of Jessica Ghawi, one of the 12 people killed, were housesitting in Denver.

They had left their home in San Antonio, Texas, on the advice of their grief counselor to avoid being where they typically would have celebrated Christmas with Jessica. Sandy Phillips said they picked Denver on purpose because her daughter, a 24-year-old aspiring sportscaster, had been happy there.

The Phillipses said the invitation could be a public relations ploy to help show the public that some victims or their families are willing to attend the theater reopening.

"It was a killing field. It was a place of carnage and they've not once told us what their plans are for the theater other than that they're reopening it," said Sandy Phillips. She would like the theater where her daughter was killed to be demolished, though she acknowledged that it was unrealistic to expect Cinemark to give up the rest of the building.

The families of some victims have sued Cinemark. The father of the youngest person killed in the shooting, 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, is among them. He didn't sign the letter but the girl's grandparents did. The Phillipses have not decided whether they will sue.

Also Wednesday, prosecutors and defense lawyers said they are ready for a crucial hearing next week in which prosecutors will outline their case against James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 people and wounding 70 during the midnight showing of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20.

It starts Monday and is scheduled to run all week. At its conclusion, state District Judge William B. Sylvester will decide if the evidence is sufficient to put Holmes on trial.

The defense could waive the hearing but legal analysts said defense lawyers sometimes go ahead with the hearing to get an idea of how strong the prosecution's case is.

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a former federal prosecutor, said preliminary hearings sometimes set the stage for a plea agreement as each side gets to assess the strength of the other.

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder and hasn't been asked to enter a plea yet. His lawyers have said he suffers from mental illness.

Next week's hearing will give the public its first officially sanctioned look at much of the evidence against Holmes.

A judge imposed a gag order shortly after Holmes' arrest barring attorneys and investigators from speaking publicly about the case, and many documents have been sealed.

The University of Colorado, where Holmes was enrolled in a Ph. D. neuroscience program, has also been tight-lipped about the case. Investigators said he began stockpiling firearms and ammunition while taking classes in the spring.

In June, he made threats to a professor and on June 10 filed withdrawal papers after failing a year-end exam, prosecutors said. The next day he saw his school psychiatrist who tried to report him to a campus security committee, according to Holmes' lawyers.

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NY area lawmakers furious after House GOP scraps vote on Sandy aid

WASHINGTON — New York area-lawmakers in both parties erupted in anger late Tuesday night after learning the House Republican leadership decided to allow the current term of Congress to end without holding a vote on aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio had decided to abandon a vote this session.

Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that just before Tuesday evening's vote on "fiscal cliff" legislation, Cantor told him that he was "99.9 percent confident that this bill would be on the floor, and that's what he wanted."

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel said, "The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month."

In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision "absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities."

The Senate approved a $60.4 billion measure Friday to help with recovery from the October storm that devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and nearby states. The House Appropriations Committee has drafted a smaller, $27 billion measure, and a vote had been expected before Congress' term ends Thursday at noon.

More than $2 billion in federal funds has been spent so far on relief efforts for 11 states and the District of Columbia struck by the storm, one of the worst ever to hit the Northeast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund still has about $4.3 billion, enough to pay for recovery efforts into early spring, according to officials. The unspent FEMA money can only be used for emergency services, said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, District of Columbia, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are receiving federal aid.

Sandy was blamed for at least 120 deaths and battered coastline areas from North Carolina to Maine. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were the hardest hit states and suffered high winds, flooding and storm surges. The storm damaged or destroyed more than 72,000 homes and businesses in New Jersey. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed and more than 265,000 businesses were affected.

"This is an absolute disgrace and the speaker should hang his head in shame," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.

"I'm here tonight saying to myself for the first time that I'm not proud of the decision my team has made," said Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y. "It is the wrong decision, and I' m going to be respectful and ask that the speaker reconsider his decision. Because it's not about politics, it's about human lives."

"I truly feel betrayed this evening," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

"We need to be there for all those in need now after Hurricane Sandy," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.

The House Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, said she didn't know whether a decision has been made and added, "We cannot leave here doing nothing. That would be a disgrace."

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants better living standards, arms

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday called for improving the economy and living standards of his impoverished nation with the same urgency that scientists showed in successfully testing a long-range rocket recently.

Kim's first New Year's speech, delivered on state TV, was peppered with rhetoric, with calls for boosting the military's capabilities and making the science and technology sector world class. But other passages in the speech were also an acknowledgement of the poor state of the country's economy that has long lagged behind the rest of the region.

EPA

Kim Jong Un delivers a New Year's Day address in Pyongyang, North Korea.

North Korea has little arable land, is prone to natural disasters and struggles to grow enough food for its 24 million people.

The annual New Year's Day message lays out North Korea's policy goals for the year. But Kim gave no indication whether he plans to introduce economic reforms or allow free enterprise, except to say the economy should be underpinned by science and technology.

"The industrial revolution in the new century is, in essence, a scientific and technological revolution, and breaking through the cutting edge is a shortcut to the building of an economic giant," he said.

He then pointed at the success of a long-range rocket that North Korea fired on Dec. 12, ostensibly carrying a satellite into space.

"Let us bring about a radical turn in the building of an economic giant with the same spirit and mettle as were displayed in conquering space," he said.

North Korea has hailed the rocket as a big step in peaceful space exploration. Washington and others called the launch a banned test of ballistic missile technology and a step in Pyongyang's pursuit of a nuclear tipped long-range missile.

North Korea has tested two atomic devices since 2006, both times weeks after U.N. condemnation of a long-range launch. A recent analysis of North Korea's main nuclear test site indicates readiness for a possible third atomic explosion.

Kim made no mention of nuclear weapons, but indicated that military will continue to be boosted.

"The sector of defense industry should develop in larger numbers sophisticated military hardware of our own style that can contribute to implementing the Party's military strategy," he said.

"Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country and defend the security and happiness of its people," Kim said.

The speech itself was a signal that Kim will continue with a leadership style more in line with his gregarious grandfather, national founder Kim Il Sung who routinely addressed his people on New Year's Day, than with his father, Kim Jong Il, who avoided making public speeches. He never gave a TV address during his 17-year-rule, and his New Year's messages were published as joint editorials in the nation's three major newspapers.

With the speech — the first televised New Year's Day message by a North Korean leader in 19 years — Kim Jong Un has tried to tap into North Koreans' fond memories of his grandfather, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in South Korea.

The rocket launch boosted public morale, Koh said. "Now people are expecting him to improve the economy and help them live better economically," Koh said. "Kim Jong Un knows that and feels the pressure of meeting that demand."

Kim, who took power after his father's death on Dec. 17, 2011, has asserted control over the government and the military by dismissing its powerful chief Ri Yong Ho. Some other officials who were viewed as more moderate, including Kim's uncle, Jang Song Thaek, were elevated.

South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye has said she will make efforts in her five-year term to boost aid and engage North Korea.

"If Kim Jong Un is going to engineer a shift from 'military-first' to 'It's the economy, stupid,' he is going to need Seoul's encouragement, and he doesn't have five years to wait," John Delury, an analyst at Seoul's Yonsei University, wrote recently.

He said it's up to South Korea "to unclench its fist first, so that the leader of the weaker state can outstretch his hand."

Kim's speech avoided harsh criticism of the United States, its wartime enemy. North Korea has used past New Year's editorials to accuse the U.S. of plotting war.

In other signs of changes in the country — at least at a superficial level — North Korea also had its first grand New Year's Eve celebration, with residents of the capital treated to the boom of cannons and fireworks at midnight.

In Pyongyang, residents danced in the snow at midnight Monday to celebrate the end of a big year for North Korea, including the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung and the first year of Kim Jong Un's leadership. Fireworks lit up the cold night sky, and people stood in fur-lined parkas, taking photos and laughing and dancing with each other in plazas.

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LI families displaced by Sandy put up in luxury apartments on Upper East Side for free

Gabriella Bass

Erin and Jim Joyce, along with their son James, were displaced from their home by Hurricane Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy moved them out — kind-hearted New Yorkers moved them on up.

Three Long Island families displaced by October’s hurricane have been put up in posh Upper East Side rentals ever since — for free.

The luxury 1-bedroom digs, which typically rent for $2,500 per month, have been a godsend to the families — whose lives were derailed by flood damage.

Surge waters flooded the first floor Long Beach home of Jerry Springer Show producer Lacy Edwards and her police officer husband, Brian.

When they heard through a friend that they could stay in a luxury rental for free, they were floored.

“It was unbelievable. We couldn’t pass it up and moved in right away... it really helped us a lot,” said Lacy. “There are really no words to describe how it made us feel. It’s overwhelming.”

They’re planning to rent a home in Long Beach next month so Lacy, who is expecting her third child in February, can be closer to her doctors.

“The stuff we lost were material things,” she said. “At the end of the day, it can all be replaced.”

Another two families stayed in the apartments only until recently, allowing them to get back on their feet.

That includes Erin Joyce, an accountant, who moved with her husband and 1-year-old son into a new Long Beach home one day before the storm — and were forced to evacuate from it the next day.

“We bought a house that didn’t need any work but within a couple of days it became a fixer-upper,” Joyce said.

And Antoinette Diamond and Anthony Borello lost all their possessions from their Long Beach basement rental in Sandy’s storm surge — including everything they were gathering for their upcoming wedding.

“It felt so good to take a hot shower and go to sleep in a bed,” Diamond said.

The pair recently moved in with Borello’s grandmother.

The apartments belong to the real estate investment firm Stone Street Properties, which was founded last year by Rob Morgenstern and Jeff Kaye.

“We talked about donating – money or clothes, but what we have are bricks, heat and water,” said Morgenstern. “All of a sudden that became a commodity.”

Kaye’s parents live in a Long Beach neighborhood that was ravaged by the flooding — which brought the plight of displaced families closer to home.

“It’s like a war zone out there. People’s homes were ripped to their foundations,” he said.

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