Grand jury refuses to indict NYPD cop who gunned down National Guardsman during traffic stop

Seth Gottfried

The traffic stop in October that left National Guardsman Noel Polanco dead.

A Queens grand jury today declined to indict a NYPD cop who gunned down an unarmed National Guardsman last year, The Post has learned.

The jury returned a no true bill in the case against ESU cop Hassan Hamdy, who shot Noel Polanco in October during a traffic stop on the Grand Central Parkway, a law-enforcement source said.

Hamdy, with the Emergency Services Unit, pulled over Polanco on Oct. 4, and claimed the 22-year-old Guardsman reached to the floor of the car despite his warnings to keep his hands on the wheel, sources previously said. The elite detective feared for his life, the sources said.

Ellis Kaplan

Hassan Hamdy

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Noel Polanco

But Polanco's companion in the car said that Polanco kept his hands on the wheel the whole time.

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American Airlines, US Airways announce merger

After a nearly yearlong courtship, the union became official Thursday: American Airlines and US Airways have formally announced plans to merge.

An early morning announcement by the airlines confirmed reports widely circulated after boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday.

The move brings stability to one of Miami-Dade County’s largest private employers more than a year after the airline and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the fate of thousands of employees — and the largest carrier at Miami International Airport — in question.

According to the Thursday announcement, the deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, creating the world’s biggest airline with implied market value of nearly $11 billion, based on the Wednesday closing price of US Airways stock. The airline will have close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft, $38.7 billion in combined revenue.

The deal must be approved by American’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, but no major hurdles are expected. The process is expected to take about six months, according to a letter sent to employees Thursday by American CEO Tom Horton.

Travelers won’t notice immediate changes. The new airline will be called American Airlines. It likely will be months before the frequent-flier programs are merged, and possibly years before the two airlines are fully combined. The new airline will be a member of the oneWorld airlines frequent flier alliance.

And for Miami travelers, it’s unlikely that much will change at any point. American and regional carrier American Eagle handled 68 percent of traffic at the airport last year, while US Airways accounted for just 2 percent. American boasts 328 flights to 114 destinations from Miami.

“We don’t expect any substantial changes at MIA if the merger occurs because our traffic is largely driven by the strength of the Miami market and not the airlines serving it,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

American has said for more than a year that its long-term plan calls for increasing departures at key hubs, including Miami, by 20 percent. That pledge has already started to materialize; in recent months, the airline has added new service to Asuncion, Paraguay and Roatán, Honduras.

During its bankruptcy restructuring, about 400 American employees lost jobs, leaving American and its regional carrier, American Eagle, with 9,894 employees in Miami-Dade County and 43 in Fort Lauderdale. US Airways has few employees in the area.

“It really isn’t going to affect Miami in a very major way anytime soon,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. “Only because US Airways isn’t a big player in South Florida.”

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, American and US Airways combined would still only be the fifth-largest airline after Southwest, Spirit, JetBlue and Delta, a spokesman said. The two airlines have little overlap in routes from Fort Lauderdale.

Despite the lack of major changes, Boyd said the merger would be a good development for Miami.

“It should be positive for the employees and it should be positive for the communities that the airlines serve,” he said.

Robert Herbst, an independent airline analyst and consultant, said US Airways will add a “significant amount” of destinations in the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

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Mystery shrouds failure of Internet video link between Pakistani hotel, Miami terrorism trial

The mystery of who pulled the plug on the Internet connection linking witnesses testifying in Pakistan to a Miami terrorism trial remained unsolved Wednesday, stalling the high-profile proceeding until next Tuesday as the defense scrambles for an alternate solution.

A defense attorney for Miami imam Hafiz Khan, standing trial on charges of financially supporting the Pakistani Taliban, told a federal judge by phone that the Pakistan government’s foreign and interior ministries did not even know that the live video feed was cut off to Miami Tuesday morning.

A federal prosecutor said his office contacted an FBI legal attache in Islamabad, and the official checked in with several Pakistani government agencies and the staff at the hotel where the testimony was taken earlier this week. No one had a clue about the mysterious shutdown -- whether it was a technical glitch or the secret work of the Pakistan government.

Prosecutor John Shipley accused defense attorney Khurrum Wahid of trying to orchestrate the live testimony at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad “under the radar screen” of the Pakistan government -- an accusation strongly denied by Wahid.

U.S. District Judge Robert Scola, clearly exasperated by the high-tech failure 8,000 miles away, gave Wahid an ultimatum that must be met by Friday. Wahid could take the testimony of 10 remaining witnesses in a third country, such as a United Arab Emirate, as long as he could obtain travel visas for them and resume the depositions by next Tuesday. If not, the judge said, Wahid must abandon his alternate plan and return home over the holiday weekend to resume his defense in Miami.

“One way or the other, that’s the last accommodation I’m making,” Scola told Wahid by phone Wednesday morning.

A moment later, the judge told the 12 jurors: “We still don’t have any transmission from Pakistan. We are trying to make alternate arrangements.”

Perhaps the most befuddled in the bunch: Khan, 77, who is standing trial on charges of sending thousands of dollars to the Taliban terrorist organization, sworn enemies of the U.S. and Pakistan governments. Khan was the leader of the Flagler Mosque, 7350 NW Third St.

Despite safety concerns, the judge had allowed Khan’s defense attorney to travel to Pakistan to take live testimony from 11 witnesses so the defendant could receive a fair trial. Prosecutors opposed allowing the testimony, and refused to make the trip.

Everything seemed to be going well until about 11:20 a.m., or 9:20 p.m. Tuesday in Islamabad. The flat-screen televisions and video monitors in front of the judge, lawyers and jurors in Miami suddenly lost the signal and flashed “disconnected.”

Wahid explained to the judge by phone Tuesday that there was “absolutely no problem” until a prosecutor in Miami mentioned the name of the Serena Hotel, where the testimony was being taken, during cross-examination. He noted the hotel staff said “there were some intelligence operatives in the business center here, and they were taking pictures of us and our witnesses.”

Added Wahid: “I’ve been told by the hotel staff that it’s from outside the building and that ... the IP [Internet] address has been blacklisted by the Interior Ministry, I’m sorry, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.”

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Eliza Coupe Happy Endings Shanghai Calling Interview

Eliza Coupe is best known from bringing the funny thanks to her sublime sitcom Happy Endings and so wrong it's right webseries, Frenemies. But in her new movie, Shanghai Calling, Coupe proves her heart is as strong as her funny bone.

The fish out of water tale casts Coupe as Amanda, a relocation specialist who is tasked with helping Sam (played by Daniel Henney) acclimate to his new surroundings in Shanghai. But filming the movie on location in China led Coupe to wish she had an Amanda of her own.

In addition to opening up about this amazing moviemaking experience (as well as hooking ETonline up with an exclusive clip!), Coupe talks about the current season of Happy Endings and previews a couple fun surprises coming in the near future.

ETonline: Shanghai Calling actually filmed in China. Did that immersion help you step into the character's shoes?

Eliza Coupe: Yes, and I'm going to steal that from you because that's exactly how it felt. There's nothing like being on location and throwing yourself into the world you're representing. We were really there. My character was supposed to have been living there so she knew the language, but I had never been to China, so I felt more like Daniel's character -- which is funny because David's lived in Asia a lot, so he ended up teaching me a lot in our off-time. But I have to say, filming this movie was one of the best experiences of my life.

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ETonline: You speak very impressive Chinese in the movie -- did you have a pre-existing grasp on the language?

Coupe: Not even a little bit. In fact, I was coming from a French lesson when I got a call to read the script. Which is hilarious. I'm pretty fearless when it comes to roles. I mean, if someone told me I had to play King Lear right now, I'd be excited. That's just kind of the way I do things ... but I had no idea how hard Chinese is. I'm not a mathematical person, and it's a very mathematical language -- wrapping my mind around that was hard. And the tone is very important, if you get the tone wrong, you're not even saying a real word. I was practicing at least an hour a day and was in tears all the time, but it worked out. Well ... there was one scene that was entirely in Chinese and it was cut from the movie [laughs]. But the director assured me it had nothing to do with my grasp of the Chinese language.

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ETonline: The movie is all about acclimating to a new country, what was the biggest adjustment to life in China for you during production?

Coupe: It was so hot there. I lived in New York forever, so I'm very used to humidity. But it doesn't even compare to the humidity in Shanghai. I would step outside and immediately have to turn around again because I'd be drenched in sweat. I had short-shorts on the entire time. Well, they were jean cutoffs that basically looked like denim underwear -- I just pranced around in denim underwear the whole time. And my body is basically all limbs. My legs and arms are awkwardly long, so I looked like a big marionette walking around in China.

ETonline: I was a little disappointed to find out that you didn't tap Michael Fassbender to play the role of "Awesome Wang" in this movie. What happened?

Coupe: [sighs] You know, he won't talk to me. That's where that comes from. I tried, I really did -- I was outside his house and he wouldn't even read the script. But the cops have tapped into my phone, so if I talk about him too long, they're going to be here in five minutes, so...

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ETonline: Moving on then, I've been loving this season of Happy Endings. I think I've watched The Merry Prankster about 10 times. Great job making it rain on Damon, by the way.

Coupe: Thank you! Brad and Jane are completely unhinged this season and clearly need to go to some sort of sex addiction therapy. It was so funny because they only used such a tiny part of what we did. We went crazy. Like, crazy with that scene -- I hope they put it on the DVD because we did some crazy stuff. I don't know what was going on with me that day, but I was loving Damon in that outfit.

ETonline: Looking at what you have coming up, what are you excited for fans to see?

Coupe: Let me say, it's going to get crazy. Just buckle up. There's an episode where Brad and Jane throw a game night -- we wear matching tracksuits and have our own warm-up cheer ... it's a really intense episode. And in the episode we're filming right now, Penny writes a play and it's pretty much the worst play in the world but Derrick comes back to, of course, be in the play. That's a great episode.

ETonline: Right now ABC is, basically, burning off Happy Endings episodes. What's it like to still be filming the show that ABC is, once again, treating so badly?

Coupe: It's a running joke on set when we film something we all think is incredible that someone goes, "Oh man, that was so good -- it's too bad no one will ever see it." It's the same as every year, we just never know. The network and the studio love the show, and they have been very good to us. They have given us a chance and kept us around for three season. Do we wish there was more publicity? Yeah. But it's undeniable we're making a great show. I just wish we had more of a push, and I really hope we get a fourth season -- but that's not up to me.

Shanghai Calling opens February 12 on VOD and February 15 in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

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Alleged Baldwin 'stalker' mulling plea deal in harassment case

Steven Hirsch

Genevieve Sabourin at Manhattan Criminal Court today.

He's having a baby, and maybe losing a stalker.

A plea deal is on the table for the shapely French Canadian blonde accused of sending creepy emails and texts to Alec Baldwin after a one-night-stand dinner date in 2010.

Genevieve Sabourin breezed in and out of Manhattan Criminal Court today for a tete-a-tete between her lawyers and prosecutors, and left hopeful that the misdemeanor stalking and harassment case would be resolved before a judge when the case is reconvened tomorrow morning.

"I'm totally innocent, since day one, and I've said it loud and clear," the perky model and actress told reporters as she left court. "So there's no reason for me being here after nearly a year."

Asked if the deal involved any jail time, her lawyer, Rick Pasecreta, said, "If that's the case something's very wrong with the system."

Sabourin had been arrested in April, 2012, after sending Baldwin a series of emails and text messages in which she told him she loved him, wanted to have his baby, and needed cash. Sabourin allegedly freaked out Baldwin's soon-to-be wife, Hilaria, by turning up at Baldwin's Manhattan apartment; Sabourin was arrested at Lincoln Center, having turned up in the audience of an event in which Baldwin was appearing.

Sabourin was arrested a second time, last November, for allegedly violating an order of protection by continuing to Tweet about Hilaria, Baldwin, and "my INJUSTICE," and having notifications of the Tweets forwarded to Hilaria's Twitter name and account.

Asked if she had anything to say about Hilaria's pregnancy, Sabourin started to answer, but was hushed by her lawyer. "Don't comment about them because they might arrest you again," he warned.

"We want to resolve this," the lawyer explained. "She's wanted to resolve this from the very beginning. She doesn't think she should have been a part of this from the very beginning. And for the last two months we're doing everything we can to try to resolve this."

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Carnival Triumph out of commission through mid-April due to fire

As tugs continue to pull the fire-disabled Carnival Triumph to land, Carnival Cruise Lines said it has canceled another 12 sailings aboard the stricken vessel.

Tuesday night, the company’s president and CEO, Gerry Cahill, said only the Feb. 11 and Feb. 16 Caribbean voyages had been axed. But Wednesday afternoon, the Miami-based cruise operator said the Feb. 21 through April 13 sailings were also being canceled.

Parent company Carnival Corp. estimated that the financial hit from the canceled trips and repair costs would be eight to 10 cents per share, or $64-$80 million, for the first half of 2013.

Carnival said guests whose trips have been canceled will get a full refund of their cruise fare, non-refundable transportation costs, pre-paid shore excursions, tips, government fees and taxes. They will also be entitled to a 25 percent discount on three- to five-day cruises or 15 percent discount for six- to seven-day sailings.

The 2,758-passenger ship, which launched in 1999, is based in Galveston, where it sails four- and five-day trips to the Caribbean.

Triumph departed Thursday with 3,143 passengers and 1,086 crew. It was scheduled to return to port early Monday after a weekend stop in Cozumel, but fire broke out Sunday morning in the engine room. The cause of the blaze, which was put out by automatic systems, is still not known.

The ship lost propulsion and had to rely on emergency generator power, leaving passengers with a limited number of working bathrooms and no air conditioning. Guests have reported long lines for food and said they were forced to use bags as toilets.

“No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions on board the ship and we obviously are very, very sorry about what’s taken place,” Cahill said Tuesday night at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Doral. “There’s no question that conditions on board the ship are very challenging. I can assure you that everyone on board in the Carnival team and everyone shoreside is doing everything they can to make our guests as comfortable as possible.”

Two tugs are towing the ship to Mobile, Ala. Carnival has lined up more than 1,500 hotel rooms in Mobile and New Orleans and chartered more than 20 flights to get passengers back to Houston. Bus service directly to Houston and Galveston will also be provided.

In a similar case, the Carnival Splendor was set adrift in the Pacific in November 2010 after an explosion in a diesel generator. It was out of service for about three months; the company estimated the loss at $56 million.

Tim Conder, a Wells Fargo analyst, said in a note Monday that he estimated the impact from the Carnival Triumph fire could be between $40-$80 million, or five to 10 cents a share, for the quarter.

“While this incident represents a string of similar occurrences over the last several years, we believe this incident will most likely be more of a negative PR event, especially during the Wave season,” Conder wrote in the note to investors. “We believe that management will place additional efforts to better identify and install preventive measures to avoid future similar incidents and related negative PR.”

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Jackson Health System board member resigns abruptly

Joaquin del Cueto, secretary of the Jackson Health System board, has resigned abruptly in what appears to be a union-inspired maneuver to put a new person on the board.

Del Cueto, a retired Miami-Dade firefighter who announced his resignation Monday, was the union-named representative to the seven-member Financial Recovery Board, which sunsets at the end of May.

He did not respond to phone calls and emails Tuesday, but Martha Baker, president of SEUI Local 1991, which represents Jackson’s nurses and other healthcare professionals, issued a statement saying del Cueto’s resignation “was a mutual decision reached by Mr. Del Cueto and the union leadership. We are grateful for his honorable service over the past five years.

“Andy Madtes, president of the South Florida AFL-CIO, is responsible for designating a replacement to fill this vacancy. Following consultation with the union leadership, Mr. Madtes will notify the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners of a chosen replacement by the end of the week,” Baker’s statement said.

Madtes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Financial Recovery Board, created two years ago when Jackson was struggling with a deep financial crisis, has four members selected by Miami-Dade County Commissioners, one by the mayor, one by the head of the Miami-Dade legislative delegation and one selected by the AFL-CIO.

The process is beginning to select a new board that will take over in June. A new nine-member nominating committee, including one union representative, is scheduled to meet later this month. In essence, it will allow present board members to continue, with the committee selecting which members will serve staggered terms from one to three years.

Del Cueto, the most senior of present board members, often spoke out at meetings about how Jackson’s executives should pay attention to its talented labor force, and he consistently opposed management’s moves to explore out-sourcing services. He had been recently been appointed co-chair of the important strategy and growth committee, assigned to finding new sources of revenue to grow Jackson’s business.

Several sources in the gossipy healthcare community conjectured that his replacement will be Natacha Seijas, an ousted county commissioner who has been a strong union supporter.

“I’m not the one,” Seijas said Tuesday. She said she was on the board of the Penavler clinic, which was scheduled to meet Tuesday night to decide on a new contract with Jackson. “It would be a complete conflict for me to be on the Jackson board.”

Seijas praised del Cueto -- “he has my complete confidence.” She said Jackson Chief Executive Carlos Migoya “is doing a good job.”

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'Die Hard 2' Flashback: Bruce Willis Wanted to Kill Off His John McClane

Bruce Willis is back as veteran cop John McClane in his fifth go around with the Die Hard franchise – A Good Day to Die Hard, in theaters Valentine's Day – and we're flashing back to the set of 1990's Die Hard 2: Die Harder, where Bruce (sporting a lot more hair) declared that not only would he pass on future Die Hard sequels – he wanted to kill off his character!

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Asked if he would do another one, he replied, "Another Die Hard? I don't think so. I was trying to get them to kill me in this one. I wanted my character to be killed off in this one, but they wouldn't let me do it. … I don't know if there's anything to do. I mean, we're still trying to figure out how to make this one better than the first one. I don't think so, but who knows. Ask me a couple years from now."

Still, Bruce said that he had a blast making the movies, which would explain why he keeps coming back for more over 20 years later.

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"I enjoy this, this is fun; beats the hell out of working at a chemical factory," he said. "These films are just big, very expensive cartoons, but they're very entertaining as well, and we try to make them as scary and as thrilling and as much of a rollercoaster ride as we can."

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Brooklyn teen shot by cops was firing blanks at friend

The teenage gunman shot by police in Brooklyn yesterday was firing blanks, police said.

Gino Mercado, 16, and his cohort James Capeles, 22, were both arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and attempted assault on a police officer after they were nabbed yesterday for shooting a gun loaded with blank cartridges, police said.

“Mercado is the one with a fully operational Ruger 22 caliber revolver, that we subsequently learned was using...blanks,” Browne said.

The two were on the roof of a building on Atlantic Avenue in Brownsville where Mercado was firing the gun around 9:35 p.m., police said.

Responding officers heard the shots when they were canvassing the area and went onto the roof of a nearby building, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

A 32-year-old sergeant and a 26-year-old officer, quickly spotted the men one building away and repeatedly asked the teen to drop the weapon, police said

Instead, Mercado turned toward the cops with the gun still in his hand and the cops opened fire.

"The sergeant sees Mercado turning with a gun in his hand towards the officers, Mercado tells police that he's turning to throw the gun down the hatch, that he's about to throw it away," Browne said.

The sergeant fired one shot and the officer fired twice -- all three bullets struck the victim -- once in his right shoulder, once in the left forearm and once in his right ankle, police said.

The gun and several shell casings were recovered in the backyard of the building, police said.

Capeles was taken into custody at the scene and Mercado was treated and released from Brookdale Hospital, police said.

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U.S. Century to OK details of new deal

U.S. Century Bank is expected to sign off on Monday on its letter of intent — the framework for a plan to recapitalize the bank.

Under the deal, a local group of investors, led by Jimmy Tate of Tate Capital and Sergio Rok of Rok Enterprises, will bring in fresh capital and wipe out the Doral bank’s bad loans, while allowing it to operate independently.

The investor group is expected to inject $50 million in capital into the bank, becoming majority owners. In addition, the group will pay about $90 million to buy certain loans, including all $98 million of U.S. Century’s non-performing loans, said U.S. Century President and Chief Executive Carlos J. Dávila. The deal would also provide for a negotiated amount to be paid to the federal government to repay U.S. Century’s $50.2 million in TARP funds.

A definitive agreement, based on the letter of intent, is expected next month. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval, the deal could be completed by mid-year, Dávila said.

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