Maternity wards test new moms for drugs

Maternity wards test new moms for drugs

This time it’s the mothers who are subjected to high-stakes testing.

More than a dozen city maternity wards regularly test new mothers for drugs, then turn the results over to child-protection authorities if they are positive for pot, the Daily News has learned.

Family Court attorneys said they see scores of neglect proceedings each year originating from a positive marijuana test â€" almost exclusively against low-income and minority women.

Private hospitals in rich neighborhoods rarely test new mothers for drugs, whereas hospitals serving primarily low-income moms make those tests routine and sometimes mandatory.

“It’s absolutely discriminatory,” said Lynn Paltrow of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women. "This all comes out of the same history of racism, the drug war, misinformation."

For example, Lenox Hill Hospital on the tony upper East Side â€" where roughly 12% of inpatients are uninsured or on Medicaid â€" only tests if the mother is obviously buzzed, a spokeswoman said.

But St. Barnabas Hospital â€" which is also private but serves an impoverished section of the Bronx, with roughly 73% of its patients uninsured or on Medicaid â€" requires all new mothers to agree to testing. If they refuse, their babies are tested, a spokesman said.

Glarimar Cruz, a 25-year-old Bronx mother, had her baby on the wrong side of the tracks.

She flunked a surprise drug test at St. Barnabas in March and admitted to smoking a joint at a party two weeks earlier. The hospital called the Administration for Children’s Services, which inspected her home while Cruz and her baby were held at the hospital, court records show.

Cruz was released two days later and subsequent drug tests came out negative. But ACS unearthed a two-year-old domestic violence complaint Cruz filed against the baby’s father claiming he brutalized her in front of the children and “refused to allow her to make phone calls," court records show.

The agency issued an order of protection against the father - who quickly dropped out of the picture - and suggested Cruz move to a shelter.

After she refused, the agency filed a neglect petition and demanded a year of “mommy probation” â€" drug tests, counseling and parenting classes. “I feel like they ruined my whole family,” Cruz said, sobbing, as she balanced her cherubic baby boy on her lap. ACS dropped the case in October.

"It’s a relief it’s over, but I feel emotionally scarred,” she said.

St. Barnabas reports a handful of positive drug tests every month, said spokesman Steve Clark. “This is a high-risk population in this hospital,” he said. “The intent is to help them deliver healthy babies.”

Attorneys who fight these cases have began citing scientific findings that pot use poses less risk to fetuses than cigarettes or alcohol. “They take a urine test and act as if it can predict parenting ability,” said Emma Ketteringham of the Bronx Defenders, which represented Cruz. “It’s doing more harm than good.”

The shift in legal strategy followed a landmark decision by a Brooklyn judge early this year that included the first-ever expert testimony in this type of case.

Columbia University neuroscientist Carl Hurt has testified marijuana poses less risk to the fetus than alcohol or cigarettes.

"All the scientific research," Hart wrote in a court document, "leads me to conclude that recreational use of marijuana does not undermine responsible parenting."

City officials said no figures are available on the number of neglect cases that stem from positive maternity ward drug tests. But anecdotal estimates from attorneys put the number between 100 and 200 a year.

ACS Commissioner Ronald Richter said his agency is mandated to investigate reported cases and follow the laws against marijuana.

"I'm not going to sit here and say we're always able to meet our burden," said Richter. "That's why we have a court."

In fact, the issue of maternity ward drug tests made its way to the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that taking such tests without consent, when they could lead to a criminal charge, amounts to an unconstitutional search. But the ruling does not cover civil child protection proceedings.

An analysis by The News found that testing policies vary citywide:

* Eleven city-run hospitals test if the mother has admitted to past drug use or shows signs of “aberrant behavior,” a Health and Hospitals Corporation spokeswoman said.

* Brookdale Hospital in hardscrabble Brownsville, Brooklyn, tests at the discretion of the physician.

* Hospitals in affluent neighborhoods â€" like Methodist in Park Slope and Lenox Hill on the upper East Side â€" test only on rare occasions.

That’s why “you just don’t have these cases in privileged women,” said Cruz's attorney, Ketteringham.

oyaniv@nydailynews.com

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Psycho woman flees subway station after hurling man to his death in front of train, leaving victim 'mangled so badly his ID is mystery'

CAUGHT ON TAPE: Psycho woman flees subway station after hurling man to his death in front of train, leaving victim 'mangled so badly his ID is mystery'

Sunando Sen, 46, was pushed off a subway platform to his death in Sunnyside, Queens on Thursday night. Police are searching for his killer.

A MAN WAITING for an approaching No. 7 train in Queens died a gruesome death Thursday night when a young woman darted up behind the helpless straphanger and pushed him onto the tracks, police said.

Sunando Sen was crushed by the first and second cars of the Flushing-bound train about 8 p.m., as his murderer hustled down the stairs of the elevated station at the 40th St./Lowery St. stop in Sunnyside and fled in an unknown direction on Queens Blvd.

The suspect, described by police as a heavyset Hispanic woman in her 20s, was still at large as of early Friday.

Sen co-owned New Amsterdam Printing Co. in Manhattan. Cops are trying to reach his relatives in India before officially releasing his name to the public.

Witnesses told police that Sen likely never saw his killer as she struck. He was the second person this month to be slain by being pushed from a subway platform into the path of an oncoming train.

STRAPHANGER KILLED AFTER BEING PUSHED IN FRONT OF MIDTOWN MANHATTAN TRAIN

The 7 train horror, due to its apparent random nature, was eerily reminiscent of the 1999 death of 32-year-old journalist Kendra Webdale at the hands of a schizophrenic platform pusher, a notorious case that rattled the city and sparked a debate over treatment of the mentally disabled.

Even before the suspect’s fatal action Thursday night, she exhibited signs that seemed to point to a troubled mind.

The woman, who is about 5-feet-5 with brown or blond hair, was seen by at least five witnesses pacing on the platform and mumbling to herself, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

She eventually took a seat on a wooden bench about 20 yards from the victim, who stood on the platform’s edge and did not appear to have ever noticed her, Browne said.

As the train pulled into the station, the woman quickly made her move.

SUBWAY HOMICIDE CAUSES PARENTS TO RELIVE DEATH OF KENDRA WEBDALE IN 1999

SHOVE SUSPECT: 'HE ATTACKED ME FIRST.'

“She was seated alone and then waited until the train came into the station and approached this individual from behind and pushed him in front of the train,” Browne told reporters at the station Thursday night.

There was not enough time for other straphangers on the platform to save Sen, Browne said. His body was not removed from the tracks until about 1:30 a.m. Friday.

There was no video surveillance of the suspect filmed at the station, but investigators were scouring locations on Queens Blvd. to see if her image was filmed. She wore a gray, blue and white ski jacket and gray and red Nike sneakers, witnesses told police.

Investigators do not believe the victim knew his attacker.

On Dec. 3, Ki-Suk Han, 58, of Elmhurst, Queens, was fatally crushed by a downtown Q train at the 49th St.-Seventh Ave. station after a drifter with a lengthy rap sheet tossed him onto the tracks following an argument.

Cops collared Naeem Davis, 30, and charged him with second-degree murder in the deadly altercation. Davis claimed he had merely tried to push Han, a Korean immigrant and father, away after the altercation.

With Rocco Parascandola and Erik Badia

skavanaugh@nydailynews.com

SUBWAY SHOVE SUSPECT RUNS FROM THE QUEENS CRIME SCENE: VIDEO

TV review: ‘United States of Bacon’

TV review: ‘United States of Bacon’

Just watching Chef Todd Fisher’s report on America’s love affair with bacon will raise your cholesterol probably 20 points.

The first episode of this new 12-part series rapidly becomes an exercise in pure indulgence, consumption with no concern for consequence.

Some of the food Fisher finds on his tour of bacon meccas almost defies description.

Try a couple of large hamburger patties, each with several slices of cheese, topped with multiple slices of bacon and a serving of macaroni and cheese, all crammed into a sandwich between a couple of doughnuts.

When the menu gets that preposterous, Fisher doesn’t pretend he’s eating something the average person orders on a regular basis.

He does suggest that regular patrons of certain restaurants in Milwaukee routinely order bacon sandwiches that include ingredients like peanut butter.

Nor does Fisher merely watch people dig in. He’s an interactive guy, wrapping his mouth around sandwiches that don’t look as if they’d fit and then rhapsodizing about how the bacon flavor kicks in at just the right point in the bite.

He does not at any point suggest excessive bacon might not be an advisable component of a healthy diet. On the contrary, he plays the pied piper of bacon, inviting everyone who loves the stuff to join in.

It’s an entertaining tour, and it's impossible to resist Fisher’s enthusiasm for bacon coupled with a parallel interest in hearing the different brands, cuts and the hog of origin.

And clearly someone is taking all this to the piggy bank.

Joyce DiDonato is on the eve of singing at the Met again

Joyce DiDonato is on the eve of singing at the Met again

Joyce DiDonato says it's a 'good habit' to sing on New Year's Eve at the Metropolitan Opera.

Diva Joyce DiDonato is hooked on spending New Year’s Eve on stage at the Metropolitan Opera.

“It’s a good habit,” she says.

Last year, DiDonato played the fantastical sorceress Sycorax, who went from near-death to glowing youth in the playful pastiche “The Enchanted Island.”

On Monday, DiDonato wraps her head and mezzo-soprano around an historical figure whose fate leads to a different end. She stars as the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots, in Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” (“Mary Stuart”).

“The stakes are very high in every scene,” says the Kansas-raised DiDonato. “Her life is on the line. She takes a huge emotional journey before she accepts the mantle of martyrdom.”

Before Mary’s date with the chopping block â€" she’s being led to the her execution in the final moment â€" the force of Donizetti’s lush score propels her along.

One of DiDonato’s favorite moments is Mary’s confrontation with Queen Elizabeth at the end of Act I. Mary rages at Elizabeth, declaring, “The English throne is sullied, vile bastard, by your foot.”

The other moment, in Act II, presents a 180-degree turn in tone. Mary calls people to join her a final prayer.

“Mary choreographed and owned her death,” says DiDonato. “There’s cathartis in that.”

“Maria Stuarda” runs Dec. 31-Jan. 26. On Jan. 19, it will be shown in theaters as part of the Met’s “Live in HD” series. For details: metopera.org.

jdziemianowicz@nydailynews.com

Teachers train to shoot after Sandy Hook

Teachers train to shoot after Sandy Hook

Rick Bowmer/AP

Cori Sorensen, a fourth grade teacher from Highland Elementary School in Highland, Utah, receives firearms training with a .357 magnum from personal defense instructor Jim McCarthy during concealed weapons training for 200 Utah teachers

Jessica Fiveash sees nothing wrong with arming teachers. She’s one herself, and learned Thursday how to safely use her 9 mm Ruger with a laser sight.

“If we have the ability to stop something, we should do it,” said the elementary school teacher, who along with nearly 200 other teachers in Utah took six hours of free gun training offered by the state’s leading gun lobby.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE DAILY NEWS ONLINE PETITION TO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS

It is among the latest efforts to arm or train teachers to confront assailants after a gunman killed his mother and then went on a rampage through Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children and six adults before killing himself.

In Ohio, a firearms group said it was launching a test program in tactical firearms training for 24 teachers. In Arizona, the attorney general is proposing a change to state law that would allow an educator in each school to carry a gun.

George Frey/Getty Images

Joanna Baginska, a fourth grade teacher at Odyssey Charter School in American Fork, Utah, laughs as she is shown how to handle a 40 cal. Sig Sauer by firearm instructor Clark Aposhian

The moves to train teachers come after the National Rifle Association proposed placing an armed officer at each of the nation’s schools, though some schools already have police officers. Parents and educators have questioned how safe the proposal would keep kids and whether it would be economically feasible.

Some educators say it is dangerous to allow guns on campus. Among the potential dangers they point to are teachers being overpowered for their weapons or students getting them and accidentally or purposely shooting classmates.

UTAH OFFERS FREE GUN TRAINING FOR TEACHERS

“It’s a terrible idea,” said Carol Lear, a chief lawyer for the Utah Office of Education. “It’s a horrible, terrible, no-good, rotten idea.”

Kristen Rand, the legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, a gun control advocacy organization, said to believe that a “teacher would be successful in stopping someone who has made the decision to engage in a shootout is just not rationale.”

“No teacher is ever going to be as effective as a trained law enforcement officer,” Rand said. Even trained police officers don’t always hit their targets, and arming teachers could put innocent students at risk of crossfire, she said.

Gun-rights advocates say teachers can act more quickly than law enforcement in the critical first few minutes to protect children from the kind of deadly shooting that took place in Connecticut. They emphasized the importance of reacting appropriately under pressure.

“We’re not suggesting that teachers roam the halls” looking for an armed intruder, said Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, the state’s biggest gun lobby. “They should lock down the classroom. But a gun is one more option if the shooter” breaks into a classroom.

The group waived its $ 50 fee for the training. Instruction featured plastic guns and emphasized that people facing deadly threats should announce or show their gun and take cover before trying to shoot. They cautioned teachers about the liability that comes with packing a gun in public.

11 STATES BACK NRA PLAN TO PUT GUNS IN SCHOOLS

“It’s going to be a hassle. It’s another responsibility. You can’t just leave your gun lying around,” Aposhian said. “Not for a minute.”

The teachers at the basic gun training applied for a concealed-weapons permit, submitting fingerprints and a mug shot for a criminal background check. The class kicked off as an instructor in the “psychology of mass violence” offered various tactics to disrupt an assailant.

The first, the instructor said, was to start with the command: “Stop right there!”

“I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot if the danger was immediate,” said Fiveash, adding that her laser sight would make shooting in tight quarters safer.

English teacher Kevin Leatherbarrow said he often felt threatened while working at an inner-city school in Buffalo, N.Y., where he got a license to carry a pistol. He moved less than a year ago to Utah, where he feels safer. But he said gun violence can break out anywhere.

Leatherbarrow said he was highly trained in handling guns â€" and was taking criticism from parents who don’t appreciate his views on school safety.

“I’m in agreement not everybody should be carrying firearms in school. They’re not trained. But for some parents to think we’re cowboys, that frustrates me,” he said. “I wish parents would understand.”

In the U.S., the number of homicides at schools of children, ages 5-18, have been lower year-by-year in the 2000s than they were in the mid- to late-1990s, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report on school crime released in 2012. At 32 deaths, the 2006-2007 school year was the only one that reached the levels from the 1990s. The manner of death was not listed.

Utah is among a few states that let people carry licensed concealed weapons into public schools without exception, the National Conference of State Legislatures says in a 2012 compendium of state gun laws.

Utah educators say they would ban guns if they could, but legislators left them with no choice. State law forbids schools, districts or college campuses from imposing their own gun restrictions.

Educators say they have no way of knowing how many teachers are armed. Gun-rights advocates estimate 1 percent of Utah teachers, or 240, are licensed to carry concealed weapons. It’s not known how many do so at school.

“I never felt threatened in 14 years of teaching, but I don’t think you can be too prepared,” said Tiffany Parry, a dance teacher in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy who applied for Thursday for a license to carry a concealed gun. “I think it could come in handy.”

Marsalis stars on WBGO's year-end special

Marsalis stars on WBGO's year-end special

Wynton Marsalis will ring in 2013 on WBGO (88.3 FM) as the city’s jazz station crosses the country on its annual “Toast of the Nation” feature.

This ambitious show starts in New York and moves west as each time zone welcomes the new year.

WBGO’s Rhonda Hamilton hosts the event, which begins at 9 p.m. Monday with John Scofield and his Uberjam Band live at the Berklee Center in Boston.

At 10 p.m. it’s Henry Cole and his Afrobeat Collective at the 92nd St. Y Tribeca. Then Marsalis and Vince Giordano team up at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., playing a tribute to Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens.

Dee Alexander plays in Chicago at 12:30 a.m., followed by an encore of a 1990 broadcast with Clark Terry and Red Holloway from Chicago.

Things wrap up starting at 2:30 a.m. with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band from Los Angeles.

Elsewhere for New Year’s on the radio:

WCBS-FM (101.1): Top 101 party songs of all time, Monday and Tuesday.

WFUV (90.7 FM): “Sunday Breakfast” year in review, Sunday, 8-11 a.m. “Ceol na nGael” year in Irish music, Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Folk music year in review, Sunday, 4-5 p.m.

WHTZ (100.3 FM): Top 100 songs of 2012, through Tuesday.

WHUD (100.7 FM): Top 100.7 songs of 2012, Tuesday 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

WKCR (89.9 FM): Bach festival through Monday midnight.

WPLJ (95.5 FM): Biggest songs of 2012 hosted by Scott and Todd, running over the weekend through Tuesday.

WQHT (97.1 FM): All-mix weekend from Friday through noon Tuesday, when the listener-voted top 97 of 2012 countdown begins.

WSOU (89.5 FM): Uncle Kevin’s “Streamlined,” Monday, 10 p.m. “The Loudest New Year,” Monday, midnight-6 a.m. Top 89 metal songs of 2013, Tuesday, noon.

Sirius XM Satellite: “New Year’s Nation,” pop-up Ch. 3, from 3 p.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Tuesday. The best New Year’s party tunes from across Sirius XM stations.

Monday night: concert by Willie Nelson (Ch. 56), Gregg Allman (Ch. 26), Widespread Panic (Ch. 29), Lumineers (Ch. 28) and Southside Johnny (Ch. 20). Live DJ sets, Ch. 51 and 52.

Movie Reviews: 'Tabu' and 'Allegiance'

Movie Reviews: 'Tabu' and 'Allegiance'

Shad “Bow Wow” Moss (center) in “Allegiance”

TABU â€" 4 stars

A woman learns the early history of her elderly neighbor (1:58). Not Rated: Mature themes. In Portuguese with subtitles. Film Forum.

If “Try new things” is at the top of your 2013 resolutions list, you could do far worse than to start with Miguel Gomes’ defiantly unclassifiable romance.

Divided into two major sections, this gorgeous, black-and-white melodrama tells the tragic story of Aurora (Laura Soveral), a widow in Lisbon. In the first half, we see her as an old woman being tended to by her worried neighbor (Teresa Madruga) and impassive nurse (Isabel Cardoso).

Before Aurora dies, she asks them to find a mysterious man named Ventura, who then narrates Aurora’s poignant early history in colonial Africa.

In its decidedly postmodern way, the picture is partially designed to resemble a silent film. (The title and structure reference F.W. Murnau’s “Tabu: A Story of the South Seas,” from 1931.) But while the style is enchanting, the substance is, too. Not a bad way for film fans to end one year, or begin another.

Elizabeth Weitzman

ALLEGIANCE â€" 2 stars

A soldier goes AWOL from his unit in Iraq. (1:32). Not Rated: Language, violence. Cinema Village.

In 2004 Iraq, as part-time soldiers were being deployed in numbers not seen since World War II, a National Guardsman (Shad “Bow Wow” Moss) requests a transfer so he can be stateside while his sick child receives care. His request is denied by a tough commander (Aidan Quinn), but a sympathetic lieutenant (Seth Gabel) helps out â€" at the risk of reassignment or consequences from his incoming replacement (Pablo Schreiber) and amid dangerous circumstances off the base.

Though produced with honorable intentions by a collection of military veterans, director Michael Connors’ mission into the mindset of duty-bound soldiers never gets rolling into its complicated issues, and the film is paced like a 10-mile hike with full pack. Still, it’s a serious effort, and Moss, Schreiber and Gabel do nice work as men with opposite viewpoints in a time, and place, filled with tension.

Joe Neumaier

Tom Cruise's dirty dancing partner Cynthia Jorge previously had a craving for 'American Pie' star Seann William Scott

Tom Cruise's dirty dancing partner Cynthia Jorge previously had a craving for 'American Pie' star Seann William Scott

Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com

A source told the Daily News that Cynthia Jorge, Tom Cruise's reported new love interest, previously dated actor Seann William Scott.

Before moving up to the celebrity A-list, Tom Cruise’s latest love interest had a taste for “American Pie.”

Queens cutie Cynthia Jorge once dated actor Seann William Scott, best known for his role as the party-hearty Steve Stifler in the raunchy movie series, a source who is friendly with the brunette told the Daily News.

Scott announced his engagement to former Victoria’s Secret model Lindsay Frimodt in March. After Jorge and Scott went their separate ways, she dated another man â€" but the pair recently split.

Jorge, 26, was single and eager when Cruise took her out last week in Chelsea.

The friend described Jorge as “really nice...she doesn’t want to be an actress, she just wants to have fun. She’s young and single.”

Jorge lost some weight “and then got hot,” the friend said. “She got prettier.”

Jorge slipped her business card to the “Risky Business” star after he dined at Beauty & Essex â€" the lower East Side restaurant where she works as manager.

Scott and Jorge first met while she was working in the eatery, another source said.

“She works at a hot place where she gets to meet people,” the friend said.

The intrigued Cruise, 50, contacted Jorge for a night on the town that included a bit of dirty dancing at the trendy club LeBaron on Mulberry St.

Their date brought the couple just a few subway stops away from the Chelsea home shared by Cruise’s ex-wife Katie Holmes and their daughter, Suri, 6.

Holmes, 34, dumped her husband of five years this past summer, with a lightning-quick divorce settlement. He was said to be devastated.

Jorge, who stayed home from work Wednesday as media attention mushroomed, remained unavailable for comment Thursday about her brush with greatness. A restaurant employee said Thursday it wasn’t clear when she might return to the job.

But a former co-worker was stunned by word of the ambitious woman’s high-profile date.

“I’m surprised she was with Tom Cruise,” the ex-colleague said. “She was lovely, beautiful to look at. On the inside, that was something else.”

According to E! News, a source close to Cruise said the thrice-married “Top Gun” star is not dating Jorge.

“He’s single and will be talking to women â€" all of whom he won’t be instantly dating,” the source said.

"They’re just friends," another source added.

“Cynthia told me they went out for drinks and it was nothing but a casual night out,” a pal told People magazine.

Cruise is more typically linked with Hollywood insiders than denizens of the outer boroughs: His first two ex-wives were actresses Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman.

The action hero is currently starring in the just-released thriller “Jack Reacher.”

Their Dec. 18 evening ended with Cruise escorting Jorge back to the Queens home where she lives with her mother, according to the friend.

kburke@nydailynews.com

NBC wants a new feed, for Lauer and Curry

NBC wants a new feed, for Lauer and Curry

NBC wants Matt Lauer and Ann Curry to literally break bread to help shift the public perception of Lauer back to what it once was â€" the gracious and friendly “Today” talk host â€" before the backlash from Curry’s firing.

Network execs are encouraging the duo to do lunch â€" preferably at media hotspot Michael’s in midtown â€" and make a public display of patching things up, a source tells Confidenti@l’s Marianne Garvey.

“When the ratings fell after Ann, there was no more public ‘Matt’s really nice,’ and the bosses now need to do damage control,” the source says. “Matt’s beloved inside and they want to help him.”

The source adds that higher-ups feel the only way to repair Lauer’s image is having Curry â€" still under contract with NBC as a correspondent â€" agree to the public outing with her former co-star.

“It’s terrible; every time they try to do something to fix this, another Ann story pops up,” says the show insider. “Their biggest mistake was letting her burst into tears on air and her saying she wasn’t able to carry the ball, shifting the blame on Matt.”

The staff “absolutely loves” Lauer, insists the source, noting that he has had the same assistant for more than nine years.

“He knows every cameraman, every crew guy. He turns up for staff weddings and he’s very loyal,” says the source. “They all said Ann would bring down ‘Today’ and she really has.”

But despite reports saying Lauer’s future is in jeopardy, he’s unlikely to be fired.

“The numbers are good. Getting Ann backlash is not firable,” says the source. “Even with their problems, it’s still a hit show. They’re trying to make it better and making ideas and new segments. They even issued that statement saying Matt had nothing to do with Ann’s firing, but nobody cared, because Matt’s the face of the show.”

Another show insider adds that staffers can’t believe Lauer’s getting the blame, because he’s “one of the nicest guys around.”

Word is that Curry hasn’t been so open to the lunch with Lauer. The source tells us: “The only way this can finally be put to rest is for Ann to publicly sit with Matt or issue a statement. For now, she is resisting. If it was easy to do, it would have happened by now.”

NBC declined comment for this story.

ROYALS NEARLY BUCKLE BUCKLEBURY

Kate Middleton and Prince William put the small village of Bucklebury, in the U.K.’s Berkshire, in a tizzy by visiting Middleton’s parents, Michael and Carole, on Christmas Day.
When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge descended upon the tiny town of just over 2,000, breaking the royal tradition of spending it with the rest of the royal family, they brought major security.
“The village is the tiniest place. There is a post office and a pub. Now that she’s a princess, the security makes it not such a low-key event,” a source says. “The village prepares for it days in advance and secures a perimeter around the town. Royal security meets with the local police to ensure 24-hour security. The locals call the house ‘Little Buckingham Palace.’ ”
The source adds that despite all the attention, the drama in the village has been dissipated by the down-to-earth attitude of the couple. “Everyone in Bucklebury is very happy for Kate and Wills,” local pub owner and royal wedding attendee John Haley tells Confidenti@l’s Marianne Garvey. “I saw them this week they both looked overjoyed. Of course Kate’s not drinking; only soft drinks.”

KATIE SLIPS, BY MOST ‘ACCOUNTS’

Katie Holmes’ star power isn’t drawing the big crowds to see her in Broadway’s “Dead Accounts.” For the week ending last Sunday, the play grossed $ 243,154. That was a decline from the week prior, when the play brought in $ 337,545. “For a star like Katie the intake should be nearly triple,” says a Broadway insider. “She’s in a tiny theater; it should be full.”

KRAKOWSKI AND CRY-KOWSKI

“30 Rock” star Jane Krakowski could have used a little Jenna Maroney attitude in handling her baby boy Bennett on Saturday. The actress, who brought the 8-month-old Christmas shopping, began apologizing to fellow customers in Jonathan Adler in SoHo when he wouldn’t stop screaming and crying. “He was screaming his head off. She was really sweet; she said she kept him out too long,” an eyewitness tells Confidenti@l’s Marianne Garvey.

Charges dropped against trespassing Taylor Swift fan

Charges dropped against trespassing Taylor Swift fan

Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Taylor Swift's family's Nashville estate had an unwelcome visitor on Dec. 14.

A creepy fan arrested for trespassing on Taylor Swift’s Nashville estate got a late Christmas gift from the singer â€" his freedom.

Prosecutors dropped charges against 24-year-old Jacob Kulke, who scaled a fence onto the property in an effort to meet the country crooner, The Associated Press reported.

During the Dec. 14 incident, a day before Swift’s 23rd birthday, Kulke was intercepted by her security team, but claimed to have contacted the mansion’s owner through “social media” and that he was dating her.

Kulke also added that he had taken a bus from Wisconsin for a surprise visit on her birthday, according to cops, Tennessee’s News Channel 5 reported at the time.

A “Happy Birthday @taylorswift13 !!!! :)” was posted the day before on a feed believed to belong to Kulke, along with a link to a photo of the Nashville skyline

Kulke's attorney, Steve McKinney, argued that the lack of "No Trespassing" signs around the fence made the Wisconsin man think he was welcome, TMZ reported.

But the decision to drop the case reportedly came after consultation with Swift’s family â€" who did not wish to pursue criminal charges.

TERROR ON THE TRACKS! Another innocent victim murdered in the subway

TERROR ON THE TRACKS! Another innocent victim murdered in the subway

Robert Mecea for New York Daily News

Police officers stand in the entrance to the 40th St. subway station on Queens Blvd where a No. 7 subway train struck and killed a person who was pushed in front of it. 

A young woman shoved a helpless straphanger into the path of an oncoming Flushing-bound 7 train in Queens Thursday night, killing him, police said.

The heavyset Hispanic woman was seen by at least five witnesses pacing and mumbling to herself on the 40th St. station platform in Sunnyside about 8 p.m., said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

She eventually took a seat on a bench about 20 yards from the victim, who stood on the platform’s edge and did not appear to notice her.

“She was seated alone and then waited until the train came into the station and approached this individual from behind and pushed him in front of the train,” Browne told reporters at the station later Thursday night.

There was not enough time for passengers on the platform to save the man, and he was crushed underneath the train, Browne said. His body was still underneath the train’s second car late Thursday night. Police did not release the man’s name.

The suspect, believed to be in her 20s and about 5-foot-5, bolted down a flight of stairs and fled onto Queens Blvd., police said.

The woman was wearing a gray, blue and white ski jacket and pair of gray and red Nike sneakers, witnesses told police.

Investigators do not believe the man knew his attacker.

There was no surveillance camera on the subway platform, but police are reviewing footage from ones near the station’s entrance.

The man’s death marked the second time this month that a person died as a result of being pushed in front of a subway train.

In early December, a 58-year-old Queens man named Ki-Suck Han was crushed to death by a Q train at the 49^th St. and Seventh Ave. station. Police later arrested Naeem Davis, 30, and charged him with second-degree murder.

A surveillance video in that case showed that the men were arguing in the moments before the fatal push.

skavanaugh@nydailynews.com

Simon Cowell parties with ex-fiancé in Barbados

Simon Cowell parties with ex-fiancé in Barbados

PRIMADONNA/GEMAIRA/Splash News

Simon Cowell and ex-fiancé Mezhgan Hussainy show that they still get along as they escaped the hustle of the entertainment industry by fleeing to Barbados.

Simon Cowell does not get along with tone-deaf musicians, but he appears to work well with beautiful ladies.

The painfully honest “X Factor” judge was spotted yet again with another gorgeous woman: his former fiancé Mezhgan Hussainy. But this time â€" rather than cruising around Los Angeles â€" Cowell was revving up a personal watercraft in Barbados.

Hussainy, who works as a makeup artist for “American Idol,” still has the looks that attracted Cowell in the first place â€" and she showed off her figure with a stylish teal bikini.

PRIMADONNA/GEMAIRA/Splash News

With one look at Hussainy, most people can see what drew Cowell to this brunette bombshell.

But she had to cover up with a life jacket when she hopped aboard a Yamaha WaveRunner, which the pair chose rather than the better-known Kawasaki Jet Ski.

Cowell and Hussainy darted across the blue-green sea that surrounds the coral island-nation of white sand beaches, roaring surf and rolling hills.

The Caribbean island is so beautiful that it is not hard to see why Cowell appears to have made a Christmas tradition out of visiting it. And with an estimated $ 90 million in earnings this year, according to Forbes, a little fun in the sun during the holiday season will not put a dent into the media mogul’s massive bank account.

PRIMADONNA/GEMAIRA/Splash News

Perhaps the breathtaking island-nation will help Cowell unwind from the stress of sitting through untalented performers ruining pop hits.

Some may speculate that Cowell and Hussainy have rekindled their past romance. But this might only be true if Cowell is no longer a one-woman-man. He has been spotted with several brunette beauties in the past month alone.

Cowell recently admitted to dating former Playboy model Carmen Electra, reported Ok!

“She's not my girlfriend," Simon told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show. "We're people who date. She's adorable isn't she?"

PRIMADONNA/GEMAIRA/Splash News

Cowell cruises the surf atop a Yamaha WaveRunner.

Electra is not the only woman the TV producer finds adorable. Earlier this month, he was spotted with another stunning starlet, Janina Gavankar.

When not acting on “True Blood,” Gavankar can be seen on dinner dates with Cowell or having flirtatious Twitter exchanges. The pair recently enjoyed a classic Italian meal together at Cecconi’s restaurant in West Hollywood.

In his professional life as a talent judge, lovely ladies surround Cowell. In his personal life, the same appears to be true.

mwalsh@nydailynews.com

Stan Lee, Marvel sound off on death of Peter Parker

Stan Lee, Marvel sound off on death of Peter Parker

Comic book fans are crawling up the walls in anguish after the shocking end to this week’s “Amazing Spider-Man #700” that left beloved alter ego Peter Parker squashed like a bug.

To add insult to mortal injury, Parker goes out losing to the nefarious Dr. Octopus - who trapped his arch-enemy’s mind in his own dying body - in the story by writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos. Doc Ock, aka Otto Octavius, survives in Parker’s body to take up the mantle of Spider-Man with no one else the wiser .

“We didn't make this move lightly,” Marvel Comics editor in chief Axel Alonso told the News. “No one loves Peter Parker more than Dan Slott, the man who killed him.”

Slott is just one of millions of fans across generations and continents to fall in love with the nerdy Queens boy whose run-in with a genetically altered spider grants him super powers but not the ability to overcome problems in his personal life.

Ever since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (and possibly Jack Kirby) launched the awkward super hero in 1962’s “Amazing Fantasy # 15,” Parker even more than Spidey has been the publisher’s most popular creation.

In fact Alonso initially vetoed the idea of killing him off - just like he did another creator’s pitch to wipe out the entire Avengers lineup including Spider-Man in another storyline. But Slott’s pitch to continue the Dr. Octopus as a hero concept won him over. (His adventures in the blue and red costume will begin next month in "Superior Spider-Man" #1.)

“You're going to kill Peter Parker in an issue that hits stands a few days before Stan Lee's birthday, you better have a good plan,” says Alonso. “People fell in love with Peter Parker first and then Spider-Man second." 

No one was more “shocked and saddened” at first than Lee himself:

“That's one helluva birthday present for me, thought I,” Lee, who turns 90 on Friday, said by email. “But then, a little voice in my head whispered, "’never say never. Just go with it while you can because Marvel, the House of Ideas, will always have a surprise up its creative sleeve for you and the rest of Marveldom Assembled!”

When word of Parker’s impending doom leaked early on the Internet a few weeks ago, the reaction online ranged from intrigued to nasty to disturbing - including death threats.

“Peter Parker has the most emotional resonance with the readers of any character in the Marvel universe, so you're going to have some outrage,” says Jeff Ayers, manager at Forbidden Planet, a comic book store near Manhattan’s Union Square.

“I can say for our subscription base though that a lot of people are signing up to buy the revamp.”

Death never seems to last long in the pages of comic books. DC Comics revived Superman less than a year after his “death” and had the Flash eventually sprint back to the mortal coil two decades after his demise. Captain America was killed off in 2007 â€" only to turn out to be lost in time, courtesy of a high-tech ray gun blast.

Another version of Peter Parker - in Marvel's alternate "Ultimate" universe line - was killed off last year and replaced as Spider-Man by a half Latino, half African American teenager.

"It can feel like professional wrestling where there are these sort of melodramatic kabuki theater storylines," says Entertainment Weekly's Geoff Boucher of the trend towards killing off characters in comics. "It starts to feel a little gimmicky to the point where you roll your eyes when it happens.

"At some point do you begin to cannibalize your own credibility? But to me...if you look at who's buying Marvel and DC, it's long term fans and those readers are going to complain about this and debate about it -- but are going to buy two copies."  

And with a sequel to this year’s “The Amazing Spider-Man,” starring Andrew Garfield, scheduled to hit the big screen in 2014, Parker is unlikely to stay dead for long.In the meantime, Slott, Alonso and Otto himself have a lot of hearts and minds to win over.

“I have no doubts that the same fans that are screaming bloody murder now will be on the edge of their seats in a few months,” says Alonso.

'Toxic' workplace! Britney Spears to be fired from 'The X Factor': report

'Toxic' workplace! Britney Spears to be fired from 'The X Factor': report

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

‘The X Factor’ judge Simon Cowell, contestant Carly Rose Sonenclar, and judge Britney Spears attend the season finale news conference on Dec. 17. Cowell wanted "crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney," one source reportedly said.

Oops, he did it again.

“The X-Factor” co-creator Simon Cowell is on the verge of firing Britney Spears after just one season in the judge’s chair, US Weekly reports.

“Britney will get the boot,” an insider told the mag.

“Producers wanted her for the long haul, but it isn't working.”

PHOTOS: BRITNEY'S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Spears, who was signed along with Demi Lovato amid much fanfare for the Fox singing competition show’s second season, earned $ 15 million for her critically panned run. 

Fellow judge L.A. Reid â€" a veteran by the show’s standards - already announced his departure to focus on his record label responsibilities.

An “X Factor” offical told the Daily News that Cowell has not talked about Spears’ â€" or anyone else’s â€" future on the show.

“No one has discussed next year’s judging panel yet - any reports otherwise are complete speculation,” a show spokesperson said.

But Fox sources said Cowell was not pleased with Spears’performance overall, which lacked ... outlandishness.

“He wanted crazy Britney, but he got boring Britney,” another source told US Weekly.

The TV/music mogul’s rep said Cowell was “uncontactable,” Thursday â€" just as pictures surfaced of him frolickling on a beach in Bardados with his former fiance, Mezhgan Hussainy.

It’s been musical chairs on the “The X-Factor” â€" a huge hit in Cowell’s native Britain â€" since it debuted on this side of the Atlantic in fall 2011.

Cowell cleaned house after the first season of the Americanized version of the show. Last January, he axed judges Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones.

The 53-year-old then opened up the purse strings to sign some big bold names to compete with his former show, “American Idol,” and NBC’s upstart “The Voice,” each of which boasts celebrity singers in the judging seats.

Hiring Louisiana native Spears was considered a particular coup because of the 31-year-old pop star’s troubled history of meltdowns, antics and eccentricities, like the time she shaved her head in 2007 after her divorce from backup dancer Kevin Federline.

Then there was a period when she spoke only in the voice of “Family Guy” cartoon baby Stewie, the time she drove around with a baby on her lap and that moment of paparazzi ecstacy when she showed the world, in a flash, that she was not wearing panties.

Cowell had defended his judge early in the season on a conference call with reporters. She’s been “a lot better than everybody thought,” he said at the time.

But the Dec. 20 second season finale was watched by only 9.6 million viewers, down 18 percent from the first season finale.

Spears’ bland delivery - her repeated use of the word “amazing” become a running gag for online recappers - didn’t help the “Toxic” numbers.

SEE IT: 'Twilight' star accused of LAX pee spree charged

SEE IT: 'Twilight' star accused of LAX pee spree charged

"Twilight Saga” actor Bronson Pelletier â€" is in hot water after being charged with public intoxication after allegedly peeing in the middle of an LAX airport terminal last week, sources in the LA City Attorney’s office told TMZ.

Pelletier, who plays a werewolf and turns 26 next week, vehemently denies that he ever demarcated his territory.

But a video that surfaced on the gossip site seems to show an inebriated Pelletier whining and blubbering as he’s carted off in handcuffs by airport cops.

The up and coming Cree actor plays Jared and can be seen in the final installment of the supernatural franchise, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.” He just wrapped filming on the indie romance, “Fishing Naked.”

Pelletier is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 7 and faces up to six months in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor.

Marvel on decision to off Peter Parker in 'Amazing Spider-Man'

Marvel on decision to off Peter Parker in 'Amazing Spider-Man'

Comic book fans are crawling up the walls in anguish after the shocking end to this week’s “Amazing Spider-Man #700” that left beloved alter ego Peter Parker squashed like a bug.

To add insult to mortal injury, Parker goes out losing to the nefarious Dr. Octopus - who trapped his arch-enemy’s mind in his own dying body - in the story by writer Dan Slott and artist Humberto Ramos. Doc Ock, aka Otto Octavius, survives in Parker’s body to take up the mantle of Spider-Man with no one else the wiser .

“We didn't make this move lightly,” Marvel Comics editor in chief Axel Alonso told the News. “No one loves Peter Parker more than Dan Slott, the man who killed him.”

Slott is just one of millions of fans across generations and continents to fall in love with the nerdy Queens boy whose run-in with a genetically altered spider grants him super powers but not the ability to overcome problems in his personal life.

Ever since Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (and possibly Jack Kirby) launched the awkward super hero in 1962’s “Amazing Fantasy # 15,” Parker even more than Spidey has been the publisher’s most popular creation.

In fact Alonso initially vetoed the idea of killing him off - just like he did another creator’s pitch to wipe out the entire Avengers lineup including Spider-Man in another storyline. But Slott’s pitch to continue the Dr. Octopus won him over. (His adventures in the blue and red costume will begin next month in "Superior Spider-Man" #1.)

“You're going to kill Peter Parker in an issue that hits stands a few days before Stan Lee's birthday, you better have a good plan,” says Alonso. “People fell in love with Peter Parker first and then Spider-Man second." 

No one was more “shocked and saddened” than Lee himself:

“That's one helluva birthday present for me, thought I,” Lee, who turns 90 on Friday, said by email. “But then, a little voice in my head whispered, "’never say never. Just go with it while you can because Marvel, the House of Ideas, will always have a surprise up its creative sleeve for you and the rest of Marveldom Assembled!”

When word of Parker’s impending doom leaked early on the Internet a few weeks ago, the reaction online ranged from intrigued to nasty to disturbing - including death threats.

“Peter Parker has the most emotional resonance with the readers of any character in the Marvel universe, so you're going to have some outrage,” says Jeff Ayers, manager at Forbidden Planet, a comic book store near Manhattan’s Union Square.

“ I can say for our subscription base though that a lot of people are signing up to buy the revamp.”

With a sequel to this year’s “The Amazing Spider-Man,” starring Andrew Garfield, scheduled to hit the big screen in 2014, Parker is unlikely to stay dead for long.

Death never seems to last long in the pages of comic books. DC Comics revived Superman less than a year after his “death” and had the Flash eventually sprint back to the mortal coil two decades after his demise. Captain America was killed off in 2007 â€" only to turn out to be lost in time, courtesy of a high-tech ray gun blast.

In the meantime, Slott, Alonso and Otto himself have a lot of hearts and minds to win over.

“I have no doubts that the same fans that are screaming bloody murder now will be on the edge of their seats in a few months,” says Alonso.

Consumer confidence hits lowest level in four months, cools retail spending

Consumer confidence hits lowest level in four months, cools retail spending

EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS

The 2012 holiday season may have been the worst for retailers since the financial crisis, with sales growth far below expectations.

Consumers grew grumpier this month as the ongoing fiscal wrangling in Washington tried their patience and frayed their nerves, a report showed on Thursday.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index hit its lowest level in four months in December. It dropped to 65.1 from 71.5 in November.

The confidence report arrived amid an otherwise upbeat batch of data showing first-time jobless claims fell and new home sales climbed.

Still, cliff jitters sent stocks lower, pushing the S&P 500 down for a fourth straight day.

“Consumers think the future looks pretty dire given the lack of progress in the fiscal cliff negotiations and the likely impact on their pocketbooks,” Bricklin Dwyer, an economist at BNP Paribas, told the Daily News.

Americans are also worried about the toll the $ 600 billion worth of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts could take on the broader economy, Dwyer said.

“We just got out of a recession. Now we’re going to put ourselves back in one?”

Those fears have helped cool both business and personal spending. Early reports on the holiday shopping season have shown less than stellar results. U.S. retail sales were down 2.5% last week from a year earlier, according to ShopperTrak, which recently trimmed its holiday sales forecast to a gain of 2.5%.

Consumer spending is key as it drives more than two-thirds of U.S. economic growth.

Data from the Labor Department showed unemployment benefit claims fell by 12,000 to 350,000 last week.

Separate numbers from the Commerce Department showed new home sales climbed 4.4% last month to a 377,000-unit annual rate â€" a pace not seen since April 2010.

With News Wire Services

elazarowitz@nydailynews.com

Lauer getting verbal abuse from New Yorkers

Lauer getting verbal abuse from New Yorkers

Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images

Matt Lauer appears minus his trademark smile during a Nov. 20 telecast of NBC's ‘Today’ at Rockefeller Center.

This just in: A man is being verbally assaulted on the streets of Manhattan.

And that man is reportedly Matt Lauer.

The 45-year-old co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show is being regularly screamed at by passersby on the streets of Manhattan in the wake of the awkward handling of Ann Curry’s dismissal, TMZ reported.

Departed executive producer Jim Bell took the blame for the decision to force out Curry from the co-anchor chair, but there’s been public perception that the move was made with Lauer’s approval.

"It's driving him crazy,” a source with the network told the gossip site. “He's so unhappy."

The “Today” show has been in a freefall in the ratings since Curry’s tear-filled exit, with longtime also-ran ABC’s “Good Morning America” having leap-frogged into the morning top spot.

Lauer told The News in December that he has not been too concerned about the vitriol from former fans who have taken to Twitter to bash the $ 25 million-a-year television staple for the “Today” chaos.

“They have an opinion and two thumbs, and that gives them the right to do whatever they want,” Lauer said at the time.

esacks@nydailynews.com

People who vent anger live two years longer on average: study

People who vent anger live two years longer on average: study

Dreamstime

People who repress anger did show one advantage, however: Their discipline is thought to explain why they bounce back more quickly from illness. 

Blowing your top can help you live longer, a new study shows.

A team of German researchers found people who let out anger live an average of two years longer than those who bottle up their rage.

In findings published in the journal Health Psychologies, the analysis of 6,000 patients showed those who internalized anxiety ran the risk of an elevated pulse â€" increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and other ailments.

Patients who held back their anger were dubbed “repressors.”

They did bounce back more quickly from illness because they were more disciplined, the study found.

The study focused on Italians and the Spanish, who lived an average of two years longer than the buttoned-up English.

bhutchinson@nydailynews.com 

TV review: ‘The Joffrey Ballet’

TV review: ‘The Joffrey Ballet’

Dancers perform 'Billboards' in PBS' 'The Joffrey Ballet.'
@nydailynews.com>

Based on this admiring new documentary, the sometimes-quirky Joffrey Ballet proves there is value in a good vanity project.

It also suggests the limitations and perils of being an independent contractor in the often unpredictable world of the arts.

This production often plays like a Wikipedia version of Joffrey history, and not in a bad sense.

It explains step-by-step to people outside the ballet world how Robert Joffrey and his lover-then-business-partner Gerald Arpino created a ballet company because they wanted to.

Joffrey's first company consisted of six dancers who toured the country in a borrowed station wagon with costumes in the back, traveling 350 miles a day to play high schools and art events.

It was grueling and not especially lucrative, but it introduced high-quality ballet to rural America and gave Joffrey a solid foundation of versatile dancers, as well as a modest but glowing reputation.

That stage ended with the first of several financial crises that led to a near-total artist turnover and a new mission for the company.

Dire as these crises looked at the time, they also mostly ended in upgrades, because Joffrey also ran a school that trained the next generation of dancers.

When the company settled in New York, before moving to Chicago in 1995, it built a reputation for radical approaches to dance and radical statements within the dance. If it wasn’t always technically the most accomplished, it became hugely influential in the dance world.

Despite some technical content, this documentary isn’t for dance world insiders. It’s for people who may not even think they like ballet, but can appreciate a good story.

dhinckley@nydailynews.com

Varner shines on her 'Perfectly Imperfect' debut

Varner shines on her 'Perfectly Imperfect' debut

Getty

Elle Varner’s CD opened in Billboard’s top five, and made some critics’ best-albums lists for 2012.

No one can say Elle Varner skimps on the intimate truths of her life.

On her striking debut, Varner writes about how loud she can be while having sex (“Sound Proof Room”), how drunk she can get (“Oh What a Night,” in which she ends up so wasted she can’t remember what she did), and how disappointed she is in her body (“So Fly,” where she informs us that her chest “might as well be nonexistent”).

“I’ve always been outspoken,” Varner says. “And I like to use a bit of sarcasm and humor to deal with what I’m going through. I want to give it to you real.”

Clearly, listeners and critics have found her frankness refreshing. When Varner’s CD, “Perfectly Imperfect,” came out in August, it opened in the Billboard top five. At year’s end, it’s made some reviewers’ best-albums-of-the-year lists. All of which gives the 23-year-old singer plenty to celebrate on New Year’s Eve, when she opens for Nas at Radio City.

It’s not just Varner’s candor that has gotten her attention. She has a commanding soul voice, which she harnesses with a jazz-singer’s skill. More, the material on her album shows an exciting impatience. It keeps flitting between styles, which Varner’s firm character makes cohere.

The CD’s first three songs dash through a trio of genres, from the hip-hop-accented “Only Wanna Give It to You,” (a hit with the rapper J. Cole), to the bluegrass-tinged “Refill” (with its fiddle-driven hook) to the retro-soul-belter “Sound Proof Room.”

“Each song is a different color,” Varner says. “I come from a very musical background, so there’s no way not to represent that in the dimensions of my music.”

Varner’s background stacked the deck in favor of a career in song. Both her parents claim key musical credits. Her mom, Mikelyn Roderick, sang backup for Barry White, has written for Tevin Campbell and Rahsaan Patterson, and has released her own solo album.

Her father, Jimmy Varner, played, produced and wrote for acts from Kool & the Gang to Will Downing. “They weren’t stage parents trying to exploit me,” Varner says. “But they definitely encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do. When they saw I wanted to sing they said, ‘Okay, let's put you in performing arts school and get acting and singing classes.’”

Her parents also warned her of the business’ less savory side. “Because of all they’ve gone through they can say, ‘Hey, you don’t want to make the same mistake. It cost me more than you know.’ ”

The L.A.-born Varner learned more about such things when she was accepted to N.Y.U.’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music.

“It gave me a real understanding of the music industry and contracts,” she says. “Maybe you know how to sing and dance, but this prepared me for the business side. Also, I wanted to know about production. So now I can go into a session and not just say, ‘I want this to sound different, but I don’t know how.’ Now I’m able to say, ‘This EQ is high and I need more low end.’ ”

Varner’s talent and knowledge helped her get a recording contract one year after graduating, in 2008.

Natalie Portman named most bankable actor by Forbes

Natalie Portman named most bankable actor by Forbes

Kristen Stewart and Natalie Portman towered above the competition to be named the most bankable actors by Forbes. They beat out other profitable performers, such as Robert Pattinson, Bradley Cooper and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

“Black Swan” was the dark horse Natalie Portman rode to the top of Forbes’ Most Bankable Actors list.

Films in which Portman stars reportedly earn $ 42.70 for every dollar she earns on average.

With a budget of about $ 13 million, “Black Swan,” the critically acclaimed juggernaut, grossed $ 329 million worldwide.

Her roles in “No Strings Attached” and “Your Highness” were also taken into account. “No Strings Attached,” a romantic comedy with Ashton Kutcher, earned $ 150 million at the global box office and only cost about $ 25 million to produce.

“Your Highness,” on the other hand, was a veritable flop. The $ 50 million budget produced a movie that only grossed $ 25 million, failing to cover expenses. But that was not enough to topple her ranking as the actor who provides studios the best bang for the buck.

Coming in second place, Kristen Stewart is part of movies that rake in $ 40.60 for every dollar she is paid. Since the “Twilight” films grossed $ 3.3 billion worldwide, her return on investment was high.

Stewart received the same salaries as her Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner for the final films. But Pattison ranked the fourth most-bankable actor, and Lautner placed sixth.

This happened because “Snow White and the Huntsman” â€" which grossed $ 400 million with a $ 118 million budget â€" pushed her ahead to become the list’s runner-up. 

Forbes assembled the rankings by comparing actors’ earnings from the magazine’s Celebrity 100 list with movie grosses and budgets from Box Office Mojo.

“We looked at the last three films each actor starred in over the last three years that opened in more than 2,000 theaters, calculating the return on investment for the studios who pay his (or her) salary,” explained Forbes writer Dorothy Pomerantz, who oversees the Celebrity 100 list.

Forbes did not take into account supporting roles, so Portman’s part in “Thor,” for instance, did not come into play. Even with this money-making marvel omitted, Portman still skyrocketed to the top.

mwalsh@nydailynews.com

Kate Winslet ties the knot in secret New York ceremony

Kate Winslet ties the knot in secret New York ceremony

CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images

Kate Winslet attends the world premiere of “Titanic 3D” in central London on March 27. This is her third marriage.

He's only Rocknroll, but she likes him enough to marry him.

Actress Kate Winslet has married Ned Rocknroll, the nephew of British tycoon Richard Branson, in a secret ceremony in New York - and was given away by "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, according to British press reports.

It was the third marriage for mom-of-two Winslet,37, and the second marriage for Rocknroll, 34, who was born Abel Smith and works for his uncle's Virgin Galactic space-tourism operation.

She is divorced from Jim Threapleton, and from director Sam Mendes. He split from heiress Eliza Pearson, who he married in a 2009 Druid ceremony attended by Princess Beatrice.

"I can confirm that Kate Winslet married Ned Rocknroll in NY earlier this month in a private ceremony attended by her two children and a very few friends and family," Winslet's rep told People.

The couple, who had bought a $ 3 million house in the English countryside earlier this year, met at Branson's compound on Necker Island last year.

Winslet rescued Branson's elderly mother when a fire broke out at Necker during their stay.

New York is lawsuit city

New York is lawsuit city

Mary Altaffer/AP

Lawsuits from confrontations between the police and the public, like this May 2012 scuffle at an Occupy Wall Street protest, have led to more legal battles than actions against any other city agency.

THE NUMBER of lawsuits against the NYPD jumped by 10% in the 2011 fiscal year, with cases involving alleged misconduct leading the way, a new report revealed.

There were 8,882 suits filed against the NYPD from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011 â€" the most against any city agency during that period, according to an analysis of claims against the city performed by city Controller John Liu’s office.

Claims against the NYPD cost the city $ 185.6 million in fiscal 2011, an increase of 35% from the previous fiscal year, when the payout was $ 137.3 million, the report notes.

In all, the city paid out $ 550.4 million in personal injury and property damage settlements and judgments in fiscal 2011.

Jefferson Siegel for New York Daily News

Donna Lieberman (left, front), chief of the New York Civil Liberties Union, with (l. to r.) NYCLU lawyer  Alexis Karteron, Dinah Ortiz and her son, plaintiff Angel Ortiz, 18, and Roberto Concepcion, lawyer for Latino Justice PRLDEF, speak out about NYPD stop-and-frisk policy in October.

That figure, which breaks down to $ 70 per resident to cover the total cost, was 5% greater than the $ 522 million tally from the previous fiscal year. The mayor’s office said statistics for claims from fiscal 2012 are not yet available.

The suits ranged from medical malpractice claims, to slips or falls, to police actions and motor vehicle damage claims.

The five agencies with the highest claim costs in fiscal 2011 were the NYPD, the Health and Hospitals Corp., and the departments of transportation, education and sanitation, according to the report.

Cases against the Sanitation Department were higher than usual in part because of motorists who claimed their cars were damaged by snowplows during major storms during that winter, including the blizzard shortly after Christmas 2010.

Cases against the NYPD stemmed from allegations of police misconduct, civil rights violations and personal injury or property damage resulting from motor vehicle accidents.

The most frequent type of personal-injury claims filed overall in fiscal 2011 were for police actions. The cases result from alleged improper police conduct, such as false arrest or imprisonment, the shooting of a suspect, excessive force or assault, or failure to provide protection, the report states.

Claims from police action rose 14%, from 3,996 to 4,561, in the period covered by the report. The number has nearly doubled since 2007.

Bloomberg spokesman John McCarthy said the decision to settle a lawsuit was not an indication of wrongdoing by a police officer.

“Police officers make more than 23 million contacts with the public each year and cope with incredibly difficult situations on a daily basis,” he said.

Criminal defense lawyer Joel Berger said that the spike in new lawsuits can be attributed to cases that arise from stop-and-frisks, marijuana busts and trespass arrests. “All of us who practice in this field are seeing a skyrocket in small cases,” Berger said. “The victims are flocking to the courts in record numbers.”

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said there were “too many variables to draw definite conclusions” from the report.

“But what’s inescapable is a trend that reveals New Yorkers are unhappy enough with the way that they’re being treated by police that they are going to court a lot more often,” she said.

Civil rights suits against all city agencies were up 13%, from 2,680 in 2010 to 3,040 in 2011. Those types of lawsuits nearly doubled since 2007, when there were 1,569, the report showed.

With Joe Kemp

tmoore@nydailynews.com

Katie who? Meet Tom Cruise's new gal pal: a gorgeous 26-year-old restaurant manager from Queens!

Katie who? Meet Tom Cruise's new gal pal: a gorgeous 26-year-old restaurant manager from Queens!

Cynthia Jorge, at right, is reportedly Tom Cruise's new leading lady after a sizzling date at Manhattan's Le Baron.

Tom Cruise may have cast a new co-star for the romantic drama that is his life â€" a normal Queens babe.

Less than six months after his divorce from Katie Holmes, the 50-year-old “Jack Reacher” star had a passionate date with Cynthia Jorge, a brunette Fresh Meadows native half his age, including some dirty dancing at the trendy Mulberry St. club, Le Baron.

PHOTOS: A LOOK BACK AT TOM AND KATIE’S ROMANCE

The hookup came two days after Jorge engaged in a little risky business of her own, slipping her card to Cruise after a lunch at Beauty & Essex, the lower East Side restaurant she manages, according to In Touch.

"He was mesmerized by Cynthia," a witness to the Dec. 18 salsa dance interlude told In Touch magazine, which broke the story. "She had her hair in a bun, wore tight black pants and looked gorgeous.

“It was obvious, he's enamored with this woman."

Cruise’s new leading lady is also a freelance publicist.

PHOTOS: TOM CRUISE TURNS 50 - CELEBRATE HIS FILM CAREER FROM 'RISKY BUSINESS' TO 'ROCK OF AGES'

“I don’t know what to say. What would you say if you're cousin was dating Tom Cruise?” said her cousin Pietro Jorge, 25, after being informed of the report.

Jorge wouldn’t comment on the relationship, but said Cruise is the lucky one: “She's nice. She's outgoing. She's a people person," he said.

The 2008 Boston University graduate has made a name for herself in a few short years in New York City’s culinary world.

“As a New Yorker, I have learned that in order to succeed, one must work fast, strike hard and make every move count,” she wrote on her Linked In profile.

PHOTOS: KATIE HOLMES' TRANSFORMATION FROM HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY TO SINGLE NEW YORK CITY MOM

Jorge previously worked at Benvenuti Public Relations firm and as the marketing director at Benjamin’s Steakhouse in midtown.

“She was a hard worker," said a floor manager at Benjamin’s.

Six months ago, she told Joonbug.com she liked her job at Benjamin’s because she enjoyed “meeting new people, from CEOs to celebrities to just really interesting people in the industry.”

And, apparently, dating them, too. And in the topsy-turvy world of silver screen romances, it’s not uncommon for stars to connect with civilians. Indeed, Matt Damon dated and later married a bartender he met in Miami.

“We have seen this with a lot of people in Hollywood where they say, ‘Maybe it’s better if I date someone who’s not famous,’” In Touch Weekly senior editor Dorothy Cascerceri told the News.

“She’s just an average kind of girl from Queens, but she’s beautiful and Tom Cruise seems to be very taken by her.”

It had been a rough year off screen for Cruise, who had been reportedly blindsided and “devastated” by Holmes’ divorce filing in June - his third strike after failed marriages to Nicole Kidman and Mimi Rogers.

“Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy,” Cruise’s rep said in a statement to the Daily News at the time.

His 34-year-old ex, who has moved to Manhattan, ended up with full custody of their 7-year-old daughter Suri.

Then an explosive cover story surfaced in the October issue of Vanity Fair, claiming the Church of Scientology had auditioned Iranian-American actress Nazanin Boniadi to be his girlfriend before his courtship with Holmes.

Cruise’s luck with the ladies, however, may finally be changing.

“People love these kind of stories because it gives them hope that it could happen to them. It’s like winning the lottery,” says Cascerceri.