Daily News from New York, New York • 14

1 I I If UlL Car stays benched -y in judge lnM By MICHAEL R. BLOOD DAILY NtWS SrAt-f WHIItH mW The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has quietly ousted its two top law-enforcement officials after a messy public feud and dueling accusations of misconduct, cronyism and coverups. I 1 1 I 1 I i 1 TTTTTT! BDGD a startling turnaround from late 2001, when he was recruited to safeguard the nation's largest transportation network. While at MTA, Anemone and Casale were credited with uncovering information on an alleged bribery-and-billing scam that led to the firing of two MTA employees last year. Renovation scandal And their accusations of unchecked graft came as the agency contends with an embarrassing corruption scandal at its 2 Broadway headquarters, where renovation costs have soared to $430 million from a projected $135 million.

But they were suspended after Sansverie concluded they fabricated a confidential informant to accuse then-Long Island Rail Road President Kenneth Bauer of accepting favors from an MTA contractor. Meanwhile, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) slapped former MTA Chairman Virgil Conway with a subpoena to testify before a legislative committee that is investigating renovations at 2 Broadway. "I'll be glad to discuss whatever topics he brings up," Conway said, adding, "2 Broadway is a good real estate deal." With Pete Donohue have done a better job in presenting the agency's finances. The MTA will issue four-year financial plans, complete with backup documentation, Lapp said. A preliminary budget will be released in July instead of November giving the public more time to comment.

Lapp said the MTA already provides a large amount of financial information, but said: "Perhaps we can do it in a better way." A panel of experts made up of city government veterans like former Deputy Mayors Peter Powers and Stanley Brezenoff will help develop the new budget and financial reports. Pete Donohue MTA security director Louis Anemone, once the highest-ranking uniformed officer at the NYPD, and Nicholas Casale, his deputy, were fired Friday, according to a source. Their dismissal comes about six weeks after a report by MTA Inspector General Matthew Sans-verie accused them of concocting an informant to launch a supposed corruption probe of an MTA executive, then misleading investigators when questioned about it. Anemone and Casale were suspended following the report, which also accused them of supplying friends with parking passes, gold badges and police credentials. The pair has denied wrongdoing and accused the MTA of tolerating widespread graft within its ranks while pursuing a witch hunt against them.

MTA spokesman Tom Kelly confirmed that Anemone and Casale were terminated but would provide no other details. "A search for a new director of security is underway," he said. Anemone told the Daily News he will sue, but declined to elaborate. Norman Siegel, one of Casale's lawyers, had no comment. Anemone's ouster represents 10)1170 case By CHRISENA COLEMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER The wheels of justice are turning too slowly for a judge accused of driving while intoxicated, her lawyer complained yesterday.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills wants her Rolls-Royce back. But the Bronx district attorney's office, which has held the car since Mills' arrest 10 months ago, put the brakes on that idea. "We are not willing to release the car," Assistant District Attorney Joseph McCor-mick told Bronx Criminal Court Judge Seth Marvin. "It is a piece of evidence, and I am not going to give up evidence." Marvin told both sides to submit motions on release of the car and set June 3 for oral arguments. Mills, 50, was arrested July 22 and charged with driving while intoxicated after allegedly sideswiping two cars parked in the lot of Loeh-mann's department store in Riverdale, where she and her husband live.

Her lawyer, Paul Gentile, said outside court that Mills had completed a required 18-session alcohol counseling program and produced the title to the car, a 1979 Rolls. "The police said we can have her car back provided that the DA will release it," he said, adding that the prosecutor's office has photographed and examined the car. "Nobody is going to bring this automobile into court as evidence," Gentile said. Car may be forfeit NYPD spokesman Capt. James Klein said continuing to hold the Rolls-Royce was the "DA's position." Klein said the NYPD, which can seize the cars of drunken drivers under a law passed during the Giuliani administration, plans to file a forfeiture action against Mills once the criminal case is resolved.

Police said arresting officers saw Mills hit two cars while trying to back out of a parking space. She smelled of liquor and slurred her words, and she refused to take a Breathalyzer test, they said. Mills, a Democrat, has been a judge for a decade. After serving on the Civil Court bench, she was elected as a Supreme Court justice in 1999. She has remained on the bench pending the outcome of her case.

i'i Transit finance pSan to get back on track (I 1 1 mi 'JTL .5 1 mm tr MARIELA LOMBARD Amid swirling accusations of financial gimmickry, transit officials announced a series of reforms yesterday. The move, directed by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Peter Kalikow, comes as transit fare hikes are being challenged in court by the Straphangers Campaign. The lawsuit is based largely on a report by state Controller Alan Hevesi that contends the MTA secretly shifted funds and concealed hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been used to delay a hike. While MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp and other MTA officials denied they they could Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Donna Mills leaves Bronx court without her Rolls-Royce. it tn "i 'j, RfJii'u 3 'u'i 1 Ir fO'TPfc lta).