New York City briefs

Bill pushes ID cards for those not in U.S. legally

New York City Council members introduced legislation Thursday to create a municipal identity card that would provide photo identification for New Yorkers who are not legal U.S. residents.

Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said the bill will help New Yorkers access vital city services.

"For those who have been disenfranchised in the past, this program provides identity," said Mark-Viverito, a Manhattan Democrat. "But it also speaks to our identity as a city. We're a city that believes in including everyone. We don't just accept that some people are inevitably going to be left out." All city residents will be eligible for the cards, but they will be targeted to those who cannot easily get photo ID cards because they are not legal U.S. residents.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has championed the idea of a municipal identity card, and Dromm said a majority of the council's 51 members are supporters.

But Councilman Steve Matteo, a Staten Island Republican, said the ID cards would add to the city's financial obligations.

Other cities, including San Francisco and New Haven, Conn., have created similar cards.

Bush bullhorn goes to

Sept. 11 museum The bullhorn George W. Bush used as president to address rescuers at Ground Zero in the days after Sept. 11, 2001, has been sent to the national museum opening next month in New York City dedicated to chronicling the terrorist attacks.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas said Thursday that the bullhorn was hand-delivered to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The bullhorn will return by mid-July to the presidential library, where it has been on display since the library opened last year.

The bullhorn was made famous when Bush told rescue workers at the World Trade Center site, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

Officials: Day care site a front for drug ring

Authorities say a drug ring used a private Bronx day care center as a cover for a narcotics trafficking scheme.

Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan announced Thursday that five people have been arrested following an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Agents seized more than 50 pounds of cocaine and $1.4 million.

Authorities said wiretaps revealed that the ring used couriers to deliver suitcases full of cash to Puerto Rico. The cash paid for cocaine and other drugs that were mailed to New York hidden in children's merchandise. Late last year, agents discovered more than two pounds of cocaine hidden in SpongeBob SquarePants bedding.

In a raid on a residence that also housed the day care center, agents found another two pounds of cocaine, 1,000 oxycodone pills and cash.

Skyway shutdown will alter traffic, N.J. warns

New Jersey's top transportation official is urging the commuting public to be aware that the looming partial shutdown of the Pulaski Skyway is going to have a ripple effect on the region.

Transportation Commissioner James Simpson was joined by the mayors of Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark Thursday to urge the public to study alternate routes and means of transportation once the Skyway's northbound lanes are shut, starting on Saturday.

They will remain closed for two years while $1 billion in repairs are done to the aging bridge.

An estimated 40,000 motorists who take the Skyway toward Jersey City and The Holland Tunnel every day are being urged to carpool, take the Turnpike extension or other alternate routes or use public transportation.

Compiled with wire reports