New York City briefs

De Blasio announces four appointments

Mayor Bill de Blasio yesterday announced the appointment of four more officials to lead New York City agencies.

Jacques Jiha, 56, who has worked in the comptroller's offices of the city, state and Nassau County, will oversee the Department of Finance, which handles parking tickets, property assessments and other drivers of the city's $30 billion in revenue.

Feniosky Peña-Mora, 48, an engineer and Columbia University professor, will be in charge of the Department of Design and Construction, which manages public works.

Lisette Camilo, 37, will lead the Mayor's Office of Contract Services, which deals with procurement. She was the office's acting general counsel.

De Blasio reappointed David Ehrenberg, also 37, to be president and chief executive of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. He has worked at the city's Economic Development Corporation.

Ansel's famed SoHo bakery reopens

The bakery that created the Cronut isn't going away without a fight, its owner said yesterday as he reopened four days after the New York City's health department shut down Dominique Ansel Bakery due to a mouse infestation.

Dozens of people lined up around the block from the popular SoHo bakery to get the special "Rocky" Cronut created by Ansel. Last Friday, the city said there were sightings of mouse droppings at the Spring Street bakery, and a video circulated online showing a mouse inside.

Within a half-hour of opening, Ansel's Cronuts were gone, but customers said they were happy the bakery was open.

Suit by mechanic hurt in Dec. 1 derailment

A Metro-North employee who says he was left a quadriplegic after the Dec. 1 train derailment filed a $100 million lawsuit against Metro-North yesterday, his attorney said.

Sam Rivera, 39, a Metro-North mechanic, spent a month in a hospital and is in a rehabilitation facility, according to his attorney, Gregory J. Cannata.

Rivera's son, Sam Jr., 14, also was injured in the Dec. 1 train derailment and is "very upset by seeing his father paralyzed," said Cannata, who also filed a suit on the teenager's behalf.

Metro-North "has been very supportive" of Rivera Sr. and constructed an addition to his Ossining home with a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, Cannata said.

'Ground Zero mosque' may be demolished

A real estate developer has filed plans to raze the so-called "Ground Zero mosque," a structure housing an Islamic community center two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, New York City officials said yesterday.

The Islamic center and prayer space opened in 2011 amid protests that it could become a shrine to the Islamic extremists responsible for the attacks.

The city Department of Buildings said yesterday it was reviewing an application from the developer to demolish the four-story building and an adjacent property in lower Manhattan, possibly to build a larger structure.

Sharif El-Gamal of Soho Properties has said he eventually planned to construct a $100 million, 13-story Islamic community center on the site, complete with prayer space, recreational facilities and interfaith workshops.

But Hank Sheinkopf, spokesman for the developer, would not confirm yesterday that the request to demolish the existing buildings was a step toward constructing the larger project.

Compiled with wire service reports