Four and a half yearsafter disaster, he can'tbring himself to goback onto the boats

BY FRANK DONNELLYSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Shriram (Sam) Agni'sright leg was so badly man-gled in the 2003 StatenIsland Ferry crash it had tobe amputated below theknee.

But the 61-year Todt Hillman refused to be defeated –he learned to walk again,first on crutches and thenwith a prosthesis. He evenwent back to work.

Yet for all his spunk andmoxie, there is one thingAgni cannot bring himself to

do more than four yearslater – even with the $6.5million settlement hereceived yesterday from thecity.

He won't ride the ferryagain.

"I can't," the state agencyaccountant said yesterday inthe Great Kills office of hislawyer, Anthony Bisignano."I'm still getting nightmaresabout the accident."

Agni's settlement is thethird-highest paid thus farby the city, in connectionwith one of the worst mass-transit disasters in history.

Eleven people died andscores were injured whenthe ferryboat Andrew J.Barberi crashed into a main-tenance pier at the St.George Ferry Terminal onOct. 15, 2003.

Assistant Capt. RichardSmith, who was at the con-trols, blacked out. Smith saidhe was extremely fatiguedand on painkillers.

Capt. Michael Gansas wasin the pilothouse on theopposite end of the boat.

Agni, a longtime employeeof the state Division ofHousing and CommunityRenewal, was returninghome from Manhattan whenhe heard a loud bang. Hewas sitting on the lowerdeck near the front of theboat.

"It's like someone hit youwith a big bomb," said theamiable, dark-haired Agni,who looks a decade youngerthan his actual age.

Agni's leg was fractured asit became sandwichedbetween collapsing seats.Despite blood loss and"unbelievable" pain, he triedto help other passengerslying in the rubble.

He was taken to the for-mer St. Vincent's Hospital,West Brighton, for treat-ment. Due to complications,his right leg had to be ampu-tated six inches below theknee.

Though forced for a timeto confine himself to thefirst floor of his three-storyhome, Agni was unbowed.He learned to walk withcrutches, then a prosthesis.He returned to work a yearlater, after securing a trans-fer to his agency's St. Georgeoffice.

Yet for all that, there are

still many things he can't dothat he once enjoyed, likeexercise or play tennis.

While he called the settle-ment "good," Agni said hewished it had been achievedmuch sooner.

"It took (the city) so long.It was four and a half years,"he said. "That's what bothersme."

Bisignano said he hopesAgni's settlement is indica-tive of the city's intention toquickly resolve more than60 other open claims.

"Sam's journey to justicehas come to an end," saidBisignano, a partner in theGreat Kills and WestBrighton law firm of Bosco,Bisignano & Mascolo. "Ihope the remainingclaimants will be able to set-tle their cases so they can

put this tragic event behindthem."

A city Law Departmentspokeswoman called the set-tlement "fair and reason-able" and "in all parties' bestinterest."

"We hope it will bring ameasure of solace to Mr.Agni," said Kate O'BrienAhlers, the spokeswoman.

The city, meanwhile, isappealing a ruling issued lastFebruary in Brooklyn federalcourt, denying its bid toavoid legal liability or tolimit its liability for dam-ages.

Chief District JudgeEdward R. Korman foundthe accident was caused bythe city's "laxity" in enforc-ing its own rule requiringthat two pilots be present inthe pilothouse "at all timeswhile the ferry was underway."

Korman's decision, inUnited States District Courtfor the Eastern District ofNew York, exposes the cityto tens of millions of dollarsin damages awards.

The city contends it wascovered by an 1851 maritimeact that limited a boatowner's liability to the ves-sel's value less repair costs –$14.4 million, in this case.City lawyers have arguedthe crash was caused bySmith's – not the city's –negligence.

Smith, 59, of Westerleigh,pleaded guilty to 11 counts offederal seaman'smanslaughter in August

2004 and spent 16 months inprison. He was released inJuly.

Gansas, 42, who has ties toStaten Island and resides inHazlet, N.J., was fired by thecity in November 2003.

Besides disregarding itsown pilothouse rules, thecity failed to follow CoastGuard regulations requiringthat a lookout be present inor near the pilothouse at alltimes, victims and their fam-ilies contend.

Prior to Agni's settlement,the city settled 122 claims fora total of $27.6 million – afraction of the damagessought. Still pending are 63cases.

The bulk of the payouts –more than $24 million – hasgone to six claimants, saidBisignano.

The largest settlement todate – $9 million – wasawarded to Dongan Hillsresidents Tina and WayneEvans in December 2006.Ms. Evans, 41, lost both legsin the crash. The couple wasrepresented by the MountVernon, N.Y., law firm ofWeisman & Calderon.

Paul Esposito of NewSpringville, 24 at the time ofthe crash, was awarded $8.9million in March 2006. Healso lost both legs. Espositowas represented by attorneyDerek Sells.

Frank Donnelly is a news reporter forthe Advance. He may be reached atfdonnelly@siadvance.com.

STATEN ISLAND SUNDAY ADVANCE DECEMBER 16, 2007

HOME

Ferry-crash amputee gets $6.5MTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2008

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HEADLINES

‘LIONS AND TIGERSAND BEARS ... S.I.’The Richmond County SavingsFoundation unveiled the mod-els and the winning artists ofits aptly titled “Lions andTigers and Bears . . . S.I.”at the Staten Island Zoo.Page A 4

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100s ofmovie, restaurant,bar and theater listings+McCain denies affair with lobbyist

Senator paints a pictureof seniors under siegeboth on Island andacross the countryBy TOM WROBLESKIADVANCE POLITICAL EDITOR

As baby boomers age andbecome ever more vulnera-ble to the scourge of elderabuse, U.S. Sen. CharlesSchumer called yesterdayfor stricter federal penaltiesfor those who physicallyharm or financially take ad-vantage of senior citizens onStaten Island and across thecountry.

“It’s a growing problemon Staten Island,” Schumer(D-N.Y.) told his audience atthe New Lane Senior Centerin Rosebank, where he wasjoined by borough Democ-

ratic lawmakers. “You don’thear as much about it as youshould. It’s being swept un-der the rug.”

Quoting city figures,Schumer said there are 100investigations of elder abusecurrently open on the Is-land, but with an estimated80 percent of cases going

New turnin FDNYslay case

IN TOUCH WITH TUSCANY

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL

Tuscan winemaker Piergiorgio Castellani examines the soil at the Snug Harbor CulturalCenter where the vineyards will be planted. Watching as Castellani goes about hisbusiness are Joseph Libassi, left, and Henry Salmon.

A living tribute is taking shapeBorough President pledges $2M seed money

for vineyard at Staten Island Botanical Garden

By TEVAH PLATTSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Merlot-naro, anyone?An Advance reader jokingly posted

that appellation to an Silive forum afew months back as a suggested namefor Staten Island’s first large-scale,home-grown vintage.

Now that the borough president haspledged $2 million to the project thatwill bring a small vineyard anddemonstration winery to the StatenIsland Botanical Garden in Livingston,the name seems rather apt.

“There is no project I am moreproud of than this one,” James P. Moli-naro said yesterday at a well-attendedpress conference on the grounds ofthe Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

The occasion for the enthusiasm,which included a celebratory dinnerlast night in Borough Hall, was a visitfrom Italian winemaker Piergiorgio

Castellani, an adviser to the project.Plans for a two-acre vineyard, to beplanted alongside the Botanical’s

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/ROBIN GEORGE

Borough President Molinaro, right, presentsPiergiorgio Castellani, co-owner of Castel-lani Wines, a hat made up for Crespina,the “sister city” of Staten Island in Italy.

Protect elders,Schumer urges

By FRANK DONNELLYSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Shriram (Sam) Agni’sright leg was so badly man-gled in the 2003 Staten Is-land Ferry crash it had to beamputated below the knee.

But the 61-year Todt Hillman refused to be defeated— he learned to walk again,first on crutches and thenwith a prosthesis. He evenwent back to work.

Yet for all his spunk andmoxie, there is one thingAgni cannot bring himselfto do more than four yearslater — even with the $6.5

SEE WINE, PAGE A 10

GOP frontrunner isexpected to address‘smear campaign’allegations today

By JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUMand MICHAEL D SHEARTHE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Aidesto Sen. John McCain con-fronted a telecommunica-tions lobbyist in late 1999and asked her to distanceherself from the senatorduring the presidential cam-paign he was about tolaunch, according to one ofMcCain’s longest-servingpolitical strategists.

John Weaver, who wasM c C a i n ’ sclosest confi-dant untilleaving hiscurrent cam-paign lastyear, said hemet withVicki Isemanat the CenterCafe at

Union Station and urged herto stay away from McCain.Association with a lobbyistwould undermine his imageas an opponent of specialinterests, aides had conclud-ed.

Members of the senator’ssmall circle of advisers alsoconfronted McCain directly,according to sources, warn-

ing him that his continuedties to a lobbyist who hadbusiness before the power-ful commerce committee hechaired threatened to derailhis presidential ambitions.

The New York Timespublished a lengthy articleon its Web site last night de-tailing McCain’s ties to Ise-

man. “It’s a shame that theNew York Times has chosento smear John McCain likethis,” said Charles R. BlackJr., a top adviser to McCain’scurrent presidential cam-paign and the head of aWashington lobbying firmcalled BKSH & Associates.

McCain issued a state-

ment last night saying he“will not allow a smear cam-paign” to distract from hiscampaign.

Aides said the senatorwould address the allega-tions at a news conferencethis morning.

ADVANCE VIDEO:SCHUMER GETS CANDIDIn this week’s installment of

“Polit.video,” TomWrobleski, Advancepolitical editor, goes

face-to-face with Sen. ChuckSchumer on the presidentialelection and changes in Cuba andPakistan. To watch the interview,go to silive.com/video.

SEE SCHUMER, PAGE A 9

Ferry-crash amputeegets $6.5M settlement

SEE FERRY, PAGE A 10

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL

Shriram (Sam) Agni was sobadly injured when the ferryAndrew J. Barberi crashedthat his right leg had to beamputated below the knee.

SEE SMEAR, PAGE A 16

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embraces his wife Cindy at a Super Tuesdayprimary party in Phoenix.

ISEMAN

With grand jury set toconvene, fire marshal’swidow seeks custodyof her 2 girlsBy PETER N. SPENCERSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Since her fire marshalhusband’s bullet-riddledbody was found in theirOakwood home almost 12weeks ago, she has been thesole suspect in an intensemurder investigation.

But Janet Redmond-Mer-cereau was in a Staten Is-land court yesterday not toanswer charges for the bru-tal Dec. 2 slaying of DouglasMercereau but to fight forlegal custody of the couple’stwo daughters.

Mercereau, 38, a supervis-ing fire marshal for theFDNY, was shot in the headthree times at close rangewith his 9 mm handgun ataround 6 a.m. while he sleptin his bed in their 90 Tar-

ring St. home. The couple’sdaughters, ages 5 and 6,were sleeping in a roomnext door.

The girls were placed inthe temporary custody of aneighbor by the city Admin-istration for Children’s Ser-vices shortly after their

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE FILE PHOTO

Janet Redmond-Mercereau, thesole suspect in her husband’smurder, was in family courtyesterday trying to regaincustody of her two daughters.

SEE CUSTODY, PAGE A 9REPORTED FIRST ON SILIVE.COMYESTERDAY, 11:45 P.M.

A 10 STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2008 .

LOCAL NEWS

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE PHOTOS/ROBIN GEORGE

Plans are under way for a two-acre vineyard, to be planted alongside the Staten Island Botanical Garden’s soon-to-open Tuscan Garden, above,on the grounds of Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Livingston.

In about four years, the winery will produce limited quantities to beserved at on-site tastings and select city events.

WINE FROM PAGE A 1

Living tribute takes shape with plans under way for Island vineyardsoon-to-open Tuscan Gar-den, began to ferment lastfall when a group of Islandbusinessmen formed theTuscan Gardens VineyardFounders Group and flew toTuscany to forge a sister-cityrelationship between StatenIsland and Crespina, a townof about 4,000.

“That trip was one of thehighlights of my life,” Found-ers Group member Joseph Li-Bassi said yesterday as hehelped welcome Castellani,Crespina’s wine prince, tothe borough.

The town of Crespina hadreceived the Island delega-tion with elaborate fanfare,including a parade and a galadinner; the sign to Crespinaalongside a road in Tuscanywas marked with the desig-nation, “sister city to StatenIsland.”

LATEST DETAILSMembers of the Founders

Group, including LiBassi, R.Randy Lee, John Profaci andHenry Arlin Salmon, an-nounced the latest details oftheir plans yesterday.

The organic vineyard,with support from the ParksDepartment and the Depart-ment of Cultural Affairs, willproduce its first juice aboutfour years from now. Thewinery will produce limitedquantities that will be servedat on-site tastings and selectcity events; don’t look for thelabel at your local wine shop.

A contest will be held toname the first vintage, and anadopt-a-vine program willhelp raise funds for the proj-ect.

On the advice of viticul-

ture experts from CornellUniversity and the Univer-sity of Pisa, the wine willlikely be a blend of the deli-cate and adaptable Sangio-vese grape with the hardyCabernet Savignon and Mer-lot varietals.

That combination has cre-ated magnificent “Super Tus-can” blends in Italian soil; onStaten Island, they will soakup the soil’s local attributes,and who knows what a“Super Staten Island” blendwill bring.

Molinaro said a wine rep-resenting Island culturewould be sure to taste“smooth, pleasant and com-forting.” And the FoundersGroup maintains they are notaiming to produce a good-tasting wine— they’re aimingto make a great one.

ANTICIPATES CRITICISM

The borough president ac-knowledged at the press con-ference that he anticipatedcriticism for his support ofthe project.

Indeed, a flurry of com-ments on Silive.com, the Ad-vance’s home on the Web,questioned the borough pres-ident’s budget spending, cit-ing other cultural projectsthat have languished in re-cent years.

But supporters of the proj-ect have high hopes that theproject will help polish the

Island’s image that tarnishedover decades of landfilljokes.

They hope it will becomea tribute to the Island’s Ital-ian cultural legacy and a bigdraw for tourists and stu-dents.

In a letter read publiclylast night from Crespina’sMayor Thomas D’Addona,the author lauded Molinarofor his investment in the en-vironment, education andeconomic development —and in a project that “servesto further strengthen the re-lationship between Italy andthe United States.”

About 100 Island socialitesand community leaderstoasted that bond over din-ner and ceremonies held inCastellani’s honor at Bor-ough Hall; 23 cases of thewinemaker’s own importswere ordered for the event,and each guest took home abottle.

In four years or so, thepour may not be imported.

Said Salmon: “We want toproduce a great wine that is asymbol of this great city.”

Tevah Platt is a news reporter for theAdvance. She may be reached at plat-t@siadvance.com.

FERRY FROM PAGE A 1

Ferry amputeegets $6.5Msettlement

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NEWRATE

million settlement he re-ceived yesterday from thecity.

He won’t ride the ferryagain.

“I can’t,” the state agencyaccountant said yesterday inthe Great Kills office of hislawyer, Anthony Bisignano.“I’m still getting nightmaresabout the accident.”

Agni’s settlement is thethird-highest paid thus far bythe city, in connection withone of the worst mass-transitdisasters in history.

Eleven people died andscores were injured when theferryboat Andrew J. Barbericrashed into a maintenancepier at the St. George FerryTerminal on Oct. 15, 2003.

Assistant Capt. RichardSmith, who was at the con-trols, blacked out. Smith saidhe was extremely fatiguedand on painkillers.

Capt. Michael Gansas wasin the pilothouse on the op-posite end of the boat.

Agni, a longtime employeeof the state Division of Hous-ing and Community Re-newal, was returning homefrom Manhattan when heheard a loud bang. He wassitting on the lower decknear the front of the boat.

“It’s like someone hit youwith a big bomb,” said theamiable, dark-haired Agni,who looks a decade youngerthan his actual age.

Agni’s leg was fractured asit became sandwiched be-tween collapsing seats. De-spite blood loss and “unbe-lievable” pain, he tried tohelp other passengers lyingin the rubble.

He was taken to the for-mer St. Vincent’s Hospital,West Brighton, for treatment.Due to complications, hisright leg had to be amputatedsix inches below the knee.

Though forced for a timeto confine himself to the firstfloor of his three-story home,Agni was unbowed. Helearned to walk withcrutches, then a prosthesis.He returned to work a yearlater, after securing a trans-fer to his agency’s St. Georgeoffice.

Yet for all that, there arestill many things he can’t dothat he once enjoyed, likeexercise or play tennis.

While he called the settle-ment “good,” Agni said hewished it had been achievedmuch sooner.

“It took [the city] so long.It was four and a half years,”he said. “That’s what bothersme.”

Bisignano said he hopesAgni’s settlement is indica-tive of the city’s intention toquickly resolve more than 60other open claims.

“Sam’s journey to justicehas come to an end,” said Bi-signano, a partner in theGreat Kills and West Brigh-ton law firm of Bosco, Bisig-nano & Mascolo. “I hope theremaining claimants will beable to settle their cases sothey can put this tragic eventbehind them.”

A city Law Departmentspokeswoman called the set-tlement “fair and reasonable”and “in all parties’ best inter-est.”

“We hope it will bring ameasure of solace to Mr.Agni,” said Kate O’Brien Ahl-ers, the spokeswoman.

The city, meanwhile, is ap-pealing a ruling issued lastFebruary in Brooklyn federalcourt, denying its bid toavoid legal liability or tolimit its liability for damages.

Chief District Judge Ed-ward R. Korman found theaccident was caused by thecity’s “laxity” in enforcing itsown rule requiring that twopilots be present in the pilot-house “at all times while theferry was under way.”

Korman’s decision, inUnited States District Courtfor the Eastern District ofNew York, exposes the cityto tens of millions of dollarsin damages awards.

The city contends it wascovered by an 1851 maritimeact that limited a boat own-er’s liability to the vessel’s

value less repair costs —$14.4 million, in this case.City lawyers have argued thecrash was caused by Smith’s— not the city’s — negli-gence.

Smith, 59, of Westerleigh,pleaded guilty to 11 counts offederal seaman’s manslaugh-ter in August 2004 and spent16 months in prison. He wasreleased in July.

Gansas, 42, who has ties toStaten Island and resides inHazlet, N.J., was fired by thecity in November 2003.

Besides disregarding itsown pilothouse rules, thecity failed to follow CoastGuard regulations requiringthat a lookout be present inor near the pilothouse at alltimes, victims and their fami-lies contend.

Prior to Agni’s settlement,the city settled 122 claims fora total of $27.6 million — afraction of the damagessought. Still pending are 63cases.

The bulk of the payouts —more than $24 million — hasgone to six claimants, said Bi-signano.

The largest settlement todate — $9 million — wasawarded to Dongan Hills res-idents Tina and WayneEvans in December 2006. Ms.Evans, 41, lost both legs in thecrash. The couple was repre-sented by the Mount Vernon,N.Y., law firm of Weisman &Calderon.

Paul Esposito of NewSpringville, 24 at the time ofthe crash, was awarded $8.9million in March 2006. Healso lost both legs. Espositowas represented by attorneyDerek Sells.

Frank Donnelly is a news reporter forthe Advance. He may be reached atfdonnelly@siadvance.com.

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL

Sam Agni, 61, of Todt Hill, sits with his lawyer, Anthony Bisignano, inBisignano’s Great Kills office, after winning a $6.5 million settlement inthe Staten Island Ferry crash case.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2008

TOP NEWS FOR TODAY

HEADLINES

‘LIONS AND TIGERSAND BEARS ... S.I.’The Richmond County SavingsFoundation unveiled the mod-els and the winning artists ofits aptly titled “Lions andTigers and Bears . . . S.I.”at the Staten Island Zoo.Page A 4

Staten Island Advance on-line:www.silive.com

Noel Frusciante of Sunnyside

Breezy andcold with1 to 3inchesof snow

COMPLETE REPORT ON A 24

WEATHER WATCHER

EAST SHORE

TODAY’S INDEXADVICE B 9BUSINESS A 21CLASSIFIED B 12COMICS B 10-11CROSSWORD B 11EDITORIAL A 22-23GOSSIP A 20HOME C 1

INSIDE OUT A 6LOTTERIES A 2OBITUARIES A 14-15SPORTS B 1

TODAY INHISTORY A 6

YOUNGADVANCE B 8

BREAKING NEWS ALL DAY ON SILIVE.COM PUBLISHED SINCE 1886 50 CENTS

EAT UP! this week in

Find it inside today

AWEADVANCE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT

Staten Island’s Top 100DiningDeals

100s ofmovie, restaurant,bar and theater listings+McCain denies affair with lobbyist

Senator paints a pictureof seniors under siegeboth on Island andacross the countryBy TOM WROBLESKIADVANCE POLITICAL EDITOR

As baby boomers age andbecome ever more vulnera-ble to the scourge of elderabuse, U.S. Sen. CharlesSchumer called yesterdayfor stricter federal penaltiesfor those who physicallyharm or financially take ad-vantage of senior citizens onStaten Island and across thecountry.

“It’s a growing problemon Staten Island,” Schumer(D-N.Y.) told his audience atthe New Lane Senior Centerin Rosebank, where he wasjoined by borough Democ-

ratic lawmakers. “You don’thear as much about it as youshould. It’s being swept un-der the rug.”

Quoting city figures,Schumer said there are 100investigations of elder abusecurrently open on the Is-land, but with an estimated80 percent of cases going

New turnin FDNYslay case

IN TOUCH WITH TUSCANY

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL

Tuscan winemaker Piergiorgio Castellani examines the soil at the Snug Harbor CulturalCenter where the vineyards will be planted. Watching as Castellani goes about hisbusiness are Joseph Libassi, left, and Henry Salmon.

A living tribute is taking shapeBorough President pledges $2M seed money

for vineyard at Staten Island Botanical Garden

By TEVAH PLATTSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Merlot-naro, anyone?An Advance reader jokingly posted

that appellation to an Silive forum afew months back as a suggested namefor Staten Island’s first large-scale,home-grown vintage.

Now that the borough president haspledged $2 million to the project thatwill bring a small vineyard anddemonstration winery to the StatenIsland Botanical Garden in Livingston,the name seems rather apt.

“There is no project I am moreproud of than this one,” James P. Moli-naro said yesterday at a well-attendedpress conference on the grounds ofthe Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

The occasion for the enthusiasm,which included a celebratory dinnerlast night in Borough Hall, was a visitfrom Italian winemaker Piergiorgio

Castellani, an adviser to the project.Plans for a two-acre vineyard, to beplanted alongside the Botanical’s

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/ROBIN GEORGE

Borough President Molinaro, right, presentsPiergiorgio Castellani, co-owner of Castel-lani Wines, a hat made up for Crespina,the “sister city” of Staten Island in Italy.

Protect elders,Schumer urges

By FRANK DONNELLYSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Shriram (Sam) Agni’sright leg was so badly man-gled in the 2003 Staten Is-land Ferry crash it had to beamputated below the knee.

But the 61-year Todt Hillman refused to be defeated— he learned to walk again,first on crutches and thenwith a prosthesis. He evenwent back to work.

Yet for all his spunk andmoxie, there is one thingAgni cannot bring himselfto do more than four yearslater — even with the $6.5

SEE WINE, PAGE A 10

GOP frontrunner isexpected to address‘smear campaign’allegations today

By JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUMand MICHAEL D SHEARTHE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Aidesto Sen. John McCain con-fronted a telecommunica-tions lobbyist in late 1999and asked her to distanceherself from the senatorduring the presidential cam-paign he was about tolaunch, according to one ofMcCain’s longest-servingpolitical strategists.

John Weaver, who wasM c C a i n ’ sclosest confi-dant untilleaving hiscurrent cam-paign lastyear, said hemet withVicki Isemanat the CenterCafe at

Union Station and urged herto stay away from McCain.Association with a lobbyistwould undermine his imageas an opponent of specialinterests, aides had conclud-ed.

Members of the senator’ssmall circle of advisers alsoconfronted McCain directly,according to sources, warn-

ing him that his continuedties to a lobbyist who hadbusiness before the power-ful commerce committee hechaired threatened to derailhis presidential ambitions.

The New York Timespublished a lengthy articleon its Web site last night de-tailing McCain’s ties to Ise-

man. “It’s a shame that theNew York Times has chosento smear John McCain likethis,” said Charles R. BlackJr., a top adviser to McCain’scurrent presidential cam-paign and the head of aWashington lobbying firmcalled BKSH & Associates.

McCain issued a state-

ment last night saying he“will not allow a smear cam-paign” to distract from hiscampaign.

Aides said the senatorwould address the allega-tions at a news conferencethis morning.

ADVANCE VIDEO:SCHUMER GETS CANDIDIn this week’s installment of

“Polit.video,” TomWrobleski, Advancepolitical editor, goes

face-to-face with Sen. ChuckSchumer on the presidentialelection and changes in Cuba andPakistan. To watch the interview,go to silive.com/video.

SEE SCHUMER, PAGE A 9

Ferry-crash amputeegets $6.5M settlement

SEE FERRY, PAGE A 10

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE/JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL

Shriram (Sam) Agni was sobadly injured when the ferryAndrew J. Barberi crashedthat his right leg had to beamputated below the knee.

SEE SMEAR, PAGE A 16

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., embraces his wife Cindy at a Super Tuesdayprimary party in Phoenix.

ISEMAN

With grand jury set toconvene, fire marshal’swidow seeks custodyof her 2 girlsBy PETER N. SPENCERSTATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Since her fire marshalhusband’s bullet-riddledbody was found in theirOakwood home almost 12weeks ago, she has been thesole suspect in an intensemurder investigation.

But Janet Redmond-Mer-cereau was in a Staten Is-land court yesterday not toanswer charges for the bru-tal Dec. 2 slaying of DouglasMercereau but to fight forlegal custody of the couple’stwo daughters.

Mercereau, 38, a supervis-ing fire marshal for theFDNY, was shot in the headthree times at close rangewith his 9 mm handgun ataround 6 a.m. while he sleptin his bed in their 90 Tar-

ring St. home. The couple’sdaughters, ages 5 and 6,were sleeping in a roomnext door.

The girls were placed inthe temporary custody of aneighbor by the city Admin-istration for Children’s Ser-vices shortly after their

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE FILE PHOTO

Janet Redmond-Mercereau, thesole suspect in her husband’smurder, was in family courtyesterday trying to regaincustody of her two daughters.

SEE CUSTODY, PAGE A 9REPORTED FIRST ON SILIVE.COMYESTERDAY, 11:45 P.M.