Daily News from New York, New York • 28

CO CM fasiit Dips Wisigra 11 Siders call RITA plans shortsighted for BUT's 72nd St. By AUSTIN FENNER By JAMES RUTENBERG "No one needs to see their sex life improved at the risk of their life," he said. Pfizer said the action, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, marked the first Viagra-related lawsuit brought against the company. In a prepareJ statement, the company said, "Viagra was extensively studied by Pfizer and subjected to a rigorous review process by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Viagra is a safe and effective medicine for erectile dysfunction. Because of its unique value as a therapy, it has attracted unprecedented public attention." Pfizer said more than 16 of patients tested in clinical trials were diabetics. The FDA is investigating the deaths of 31 men who used Viagra, though there is no evidence the drug has caused any fatalities. Many of men whose deaths are under investiga-tio were suffering from heart conditions, diabetes and hypertension. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that some of the men may have suffered fatal heart attacks brought on by the physical exertion of sexual activity.

Daily News Staff Writer A Queens man who said he suffered a heart attack after taking the impotence wonder drug Viagra filed an $85 million lawsuit yesterday against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Diego Padro, a married father of three, said he was stricken five days after he began taking the little diamond-shaped pills and two days after he last had sex. "I took four pills before I had a heart attack over the Memorial Day weekend," said Padro, 63. "I had no problems with my heart before." Padro, a diabetic, spoke to reporters at the Waldorf-Astoria with his attorney Ronald Benjamin, saying he regrets the day he heard of Viagra. "If I had known what I know now about Viagra, I wouldn't have taken it," Padro told reporters.

He said he was given the drug by his doctor in a bottle marked "physician sample." "I would like to see the drug off the market," said Padro, whose heart attack landed him in the intensive-care unit at Parkway Hospital for four days. Daly News Staff Writer Upper West Siders charged yesterday that the planned renovation of the crammed 72nd St IRT station is getting short shrift compared with a mega-project slated for Times Square. Officials announced they will spend $180 million to transform the Times Square station from a confusing, crumbling mess into a bright, art-filled complex featuring a rotunda overlooking trains. They said it will be the heart of a buffed and polished Times Square that now boasts a substantial Walt Disney presence. But upper West Side leaders said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is spending big bucks to beautify Times Square while refusing to widen dangerously skinny platforms at 72nd St, which serves 45,000 riders a day.

In a S63 million project the MTA is planning to add a new entrance building at 72nd St and longer platforms with more exits, but that's not enough, advocates charge. Transit officials say widening the platforms would double the cost of the project money they don't want to spend until other needs are met elsewhere. "What's good for Disney should be good for upper West Siders," said Assemblyman Scott Stringer (D-Manhattan). "Everyone agrees this is one of the most dangerous subway stations in the city." Transportation officials defended their decision, saying Times Square has far more daily riders at 500,000, it's the busiest station in the city. "Seventy-second St is an important station, but it doesn't begin to compare to Times Square in terms of ridership, and we're giving upper West Siders a nice beautiful station," MTA Chairman Virgil Conway said.

Third-rail burns send tivo LI. girls to hosp Two girls were burned yesterday when they touched the third rail while attempting to cross Long Island Rail Road tracks in Central Islip on a bicycle, officials said. The girls, ages 9 and 13, were taken to University Hospital in Stony Brook, where they were in stable condition. The 9-year-old suffered second-degree burns from the waist down, while her friend was burned on her right arm. The 13-year-old apparently was injured trying to help her pal, said Tom Kelly, an LIRR spokesman.

Kelly said the girls were among a group of kids crossing north to south at 5:15 p.m. when the-acci-dent happened. He said the group apparently reached the area, about a quarter-mile east of the Central Islip station, by hopping a security fence. The girls, whose names were not released, live on Marie St in Central Islip, on the south side of the tracks, Kelly said. The No.

314 train out of Penn Station, which was running a half-hour behind schedule, came upon the accident moments after it occurred. Kelly said the train crashed into the bicycle, which was left on the tracks. Electrical power feeding the tracks was shut down from 5:18 p.m. to 6:11 p.m. With Bill Hutchinson rf: cry fumitue.

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