Albany pols confirm agreement to team up

ALBANY - Coalition government is coming to Albany.

The state Senate's Republicans and a group of five breakaway Democrats announced agreement today that they're teaming up to run the chamber next year, as first reported in today's Post.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau), and Sen. Jeff Klein of the Bronx, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference, announced a power-sharing arrangement that will make each man "conference leader" of his respective group.

The deal gives Skelos and Klein joint control over state budget negotiations for the Senate, what bills come to the Senate floor, leadership and committee assignments for their respective groups and appointments to state and local boards.

The two men will alternate every two weeks in the largely ceremonial position of temporary president of the Senate - which is second in line to succeed the governor after the lieutenant governor.

One source said Gov. Cuomo was aware of the developments.

Insiders say the deal will likely allow Senate votes on key legislation such as increasing the minimum wage and partial taxpayer financing of state campaigns - bills the GOP has bottled up.

“All decisions on what bills come to the floor will be made jointly by Sens. Skelos and Klein after receiving input from members of the coalition,” said Skelos spokesman Scott Reif.

The IDC also formally announced that Sen. Malcolm Smith of Queens has joined the conference - as The Post reported exclusively in today's editions.

It's an unprecedented arrangement for the state Legislature, but the Senate could wind up with none of the three conferences having enough members to claim an outright majority next year pending the outcome of two close upstate races.

Republicans now control the Senate 33-29 but could be down to 30 seats in an expanded, 63-seat Senate next year. Brooklyn Democrat Simcha Felder has said he'll caucus with the GOP when he takes office in January.

"Having dedicated the past two years to a serious, policy-driven agenda, this agreement delivers on the IDC’s pledge to become a permanent third conference within the State Senate and to have a major voice in all policy decisions moving forward," Klein said.

"Senator Klein has proven to be a thoughtful and effective leader, and I look forward to partnering with him to move this state forward,” added Skelos.

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Family of worker killed in MDC garage collapse has filed suit against contractors

Family members of one of the workers killed when the garage at Miami Dade College West campus collapsed have filed a lawsuit against five companies involved in the construction.

The garage was almost complete when a part of it collapsed on Oct. 10, killing four workers.

Samuel Perez, 53, was driving a cement truck and the time of the collapse and was trapped by the rubble in the truck’s cab.

It took rescue workers 17 hours to reach him, after amputating his legs to free him. He did not survive. He died three hours later in the hospital.

Now his widow Migdalia Lopez is suing Ajax Building Corporation and other companies contracted for the project. Allegations include gross negligence, failure to comply with safety standards and rushing the operation to meet a deadline.

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J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' Coming to TV

J.K's Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, her first post-Harry Potter novel, is being adapted into a BBC television series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rowling will collaborate closely on the project, with the number and length of the episodes to be decided.

Related: J.K. Rowling Gets Political In New Novel

The Casual Vacancy, which came out in September, is set in a small English town called Pagford. The book starts with the death of Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother, which leaves an empty seat on the town’s council, and leads to the "biggest war the town has ever seen."

Rowling herself says she is pleased that the novel is coming to the small screen rather than getting a movie adaptation.

"I always felt that, if it were to be adapted, this novel was best suited to television, and I think the BBC is the perfect home," she said.

Video: Behind the Scenes of the Final 'Harry Potter'

And clearly, the BBC is happy to have her.

"It's a book of such richness that -- through humor, social commentary and, above all, fantastic characters -- says something insightful and entertaining about the country we live in," controller of BBC Drama Ben Stephenson said in a statement.

The series is expected to air in 2014.

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R train to Whitehall resumes for first time since Sandy

AP

Service on the R train to the Whitehall Street Station resume today for the first time since Sandy.

The MTA resumed R train service today to Whitehall Street station in Manhattan for the first time since the system was shuttered for monster storm Sandy.

Trains had been stopping at 34th Street because of serious damage to the Lower Manhattan station and the line’s signals system.

“The resumption of service to the Whitehall Street station will restore a vital link to Midtown’s West Side for Staten Islanders and also ease crowding along the Lexington Avenue Line,” said Governor Cuomo.

There is still no Brooklyn-Manhattan R train service because of flooding damage to the Montague Tube, which carries the trains under the East River.

Service between the two boroughs is expected to resume by the end of the month.

“Transit workers continue to work around the clock to bring the Montague Tube back online, which will complete the R Line link from lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn,” said MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota.

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Two dead after bus crash at Miami International Airport

What began as a day of prayer and fellowship turned into a surreal scene of stunned, bloodied passengers and twisted metal.

There was the sickening sound of crunching metal early Saturday as a busload of Jehovah’s Witnesses was low-bridged by a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport, peeling back the top of the vehicle “like a can of sardines.”

Airport workers running to the scene found shocked passengers thrown into the aisle or trapped in their seats by the wreckage.

Riders in the front rows were crushed — two of them killed, others seriously injured.

The driver of the bus, 47-year-old Ramon Ferreiro, took a wrong turn off LeJeune Road, entering the airport by mistake, then rolled past multiple yellow signs warning tall vehicles. He drove on, approaching an overpass whose sign said “8ft-6in”. The driver either didn’t see it, couldn’t read it, or realized it too late.

The bus stood 11 feet tall.

“The last thing he should have done is to keep going,” said Greg Chin, airport spokesman. “That goes against all logic.”

Ferreiro, whose driver’s seat was lower than those of the passengers, was not injured.

One passenger, 86-year-old Miami resident Serfin Castillo, was killed on impact, and all 31 others were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Thirteen ended up at Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center, where one of them, 56-year-old Francisco Urana of Miami, died shortly after arriving.

Three remained in critical condition Saturday night, and three had been released.

Luis Jimenez, 72, got a few stitches on his lip and hurt his hand. He said the group left the Sweetwater Kingdom Hall about 7 a.m., bound for West Palm Beach.

“I was sitting in the back when it happened,” Jimenez said. “We were on our way to an assembly and lost a brother today. I’m very sad.”

Delvis Lazo, 15, a neighbor and member of the same congregation, described Castillo as a “nice, old man.” He often saw Castillo at religious gatherings, and their families have known each other for more than 15 years.

The last time Lazo saw him was about two months ago, as he prepped for a talk before his congregation.

“He gave me a thumbs up, told me that everything was going to be all right,” he said.

The bus, one of three traveling to the Spanish-language general assembly on Saturday, had been contracted by the congregation, which has fewer than 150 members.

According to public records, the bus belongs to Miami Bus Service Corporation, a Miami company owned by Mayling and Alberto Hernandez that offers regularly scheduled service between South Florida and Gainesville, often used by University of Florida students. At the home address listed for the company and the owners, Mayling Hernandez told The Miami Herald that passenger safety is her primary concern.

“At this time I’m worried about the driver and the families of the victims. I’m praying for them,” she said. “My job is to worry about the safety of the passengers who are our clients. What we do requires a lot of responsibility. I didn’t know the passengers but that doesn’t mean I’m not suffering.”

Neighbor Armando Bacigalupi described the owners as “caring people” and said he had seen buses park briefly in front of the house.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the company has two drivers for its three passenger motor coaches.

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Apple to sell new iPads, iPhone 5 in China in Dec.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple Inc. on Friday said its latest iPad models will go on sale in China on Dec. 7, followed by the iPhone 5 a week later.

China is one of Apple‘s largest and fastest-growing markets. Analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital Markets said iPhone 5 is launching roughly when he expected it, but he hadn’t expected the iPad mini and the fourth-generation, full-size iPad to go on sale in China this year.

“Our conversations during our meetings and casual consumer interactions during our China trips tell us that the iPad Mini will take off like wildfire in China,” White wrote in a research report Friday morning. “The smaller form factor and lower price point, we believe Apple will be able to sell the iPad mini in meaningful volumes.”

White said uptake of the iPhone 4S was relatively slow in China, because the signature new feature, voice-recognition-powered virtual assistant Siri, did not understand Mandarin Chinese. With this year’s software update, Siri now does understand the language, which should encourage upgrades, he said.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Bachelorette Ashley Hebert and JP Rosenbaum are Married

Ashley Hebert is a bachelorette no more!

The 28-year-old dentist and her construction manager fiancé J.P. Rosenbaum, 35, walked down the aisle on Saturday in Pasadena, California, reports People Magazine.

The ceremony, officiated by Bachelor and Bachelorette host Chris Harrison, was attended by familiar faces from the series including Ali Fedotowsky, Emily Maynard, and Jason and Molly Mesnick.

Video: 'Bachelorette' Ashley Hebert and Fiance J.P.'s Passionate PDA

Ashley and J.P.'s exchanging of vows will be televised December 16 on a two-hour special on ABC.

The season seven sweeties will be the second Bachelorette couple ever to televise their walk down the aisle, following in the footsteps of Trista and Ryan Sutter, who married in December 2003.

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Man found 'beaten to death' in Brooklyn shopping cart

A man was found dead inside a tipped-over shopping cart in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, this morning, police said.

The unidentified victim, who appeared to have been beaten to death, was discovered around 4:30 a.m. in front of 750 Madison St., cops said. His body was partially covered by a camouflage bag.

He had trauma to the torso and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

No arrests have been made, and cops are waiting for the medical examiner to determine a cause of death.

Investigators believe the victim died nearby and was abandoned by someone who tried to move him in the shopping cart and gave up after it tipped on its side, sources said.

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