Long Island briefs

Hempstead/Woman held in stabbing of man, 61, in her home

Nassau police arrested a 55-year-old Hempstead woman, saying that she stabbed a 61-year-old male friend in the arm at her home.

Jacqueline Granger, of West Columbia Street, was arrested at the scene without incident, police said. The victim, who was not identified, was treated at a hospital for a laceration on his upper left arm, police said.

Police said they responded to a 911 call from Granger's home, but gave no more details about the incident, which happened at 10 p.m. Friday night.

Granger was charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree possession of a dangerous weapon. She is due in First District Court in Hempstead tomorrow.

- PATRICK WHITTLE

Lindenhurst/Firefighters help rescue several pets from blaze

Lindenhurst firefighters retrieved several pets, including a rabbit that received emergency oxygen, from a burning house yesterday morning.

The house, at Albany Avenue and 41st Street, was heavily damaged by the fire, but the occupants escaped unharmed, said Mike McCloud, second assistant chief of the Lindenhurst Fire Department.

A guinea pig and a hamster were also rescued, but a cat is missing and believed dead, McCloud said.

The rescued pets, including the rabbit that was having trouble breathing, were all found in the basement, McCloud said. Firefighter Jean Szabo applied oxygen to the rabbit, he said.

Firefighters "were treating the rabbit like a real victim," McCloud said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by fire marshals, McCloud said. Firefighters responded to the blaze at 11:40 a.m. and left just after 1:30 p.m., he said.

- PATRICK WHITTLE

MERRICK/Woman with toddler among 3 charged in a drug deal

Nassau County police have arrested three people in Merrick on drug charges, including a woman in a red Jeep Cherokee allegedly involved in a narcotics deal while her 2-year-old child was in the backseat, authorities said.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday at a parking lot at 1828 Merrick Rd., near Kenney Avenue, police said, plainclothes officers said they saw Ryan Byrne, 24, of Coolidge Avenue in Amityville, approach the Cherokee. Inside were Susan Lane, 26, of Tappan Avenue in East Meadow, her child and Angel Alfano, 24, of Third Avenue in Massapequa Park, police said.

The officers then saw what they believed to be a drug deal. After an investigation, authorities charged Byrne with criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance and Alfano with criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Lane was charged with criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child. Authorities said a relative took temporary custody of the toddler.

- WILL VAN SANT

New York City/Transit ridership falls, but remains 2nd-highest

Ridership on the city's subways, buses and paratransit system declined in 2009, and officials said it was the first drop since 2003. Still, the total was still the second-highest since 1969.

New York City Transit said there were 2.31 billion rides last year, down more than 63 million rides from 2008. Officials attributed the decline to tough economic times.

Transit advocate Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said despite the decline, there are still plenty of people using the transit system and it's no time to reduce service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering service cuts. - The Associated Press

Miller Place/Man, two police officers treated after house fire

A Miller Place man and two Suffolk police officers were taken to the hospital after a house fire yesterday, treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Police said Brian Reynolds, 45, was home alone on Wabil Road when a neighbor saw smoke coming from the back of the house and called 911 just before 3 p.m. Sixth Precinct officers Paul Allicino and Richard Caiado responded and forced open the front door. Reynolds was standing inside, police said, and the two officers pulled him out. The three were taken to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson.

Investigators, police said, suspect that the fire was accidental and started in a rear enclosed porch.- Will Van Sant