Jovan Ming, 32, of the 300 block of Clove Road, shattered the front and rear windshields of a silver Acura in the lot of Forest Avenue Motors, at 2141 Forest Ave., on Sept. 11, a law-enforcement source said.

Not content with that, the 6-foot, 2-inch, 200-pound Ming allegedly telephoned the salesman “multiple times” four days later and threatened to kill him and torch his business.

They came to clear overgrown brush from the yard in what they might have thought was an abandoned building in Tompkinsville.

But the building’s owner says workers from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene were filching copper pipes, tools and whatever else they could grab from the former American Legion post at 43 Van Duzer St.

One Health Department worker, Edwin R. Torres, 54, of Queens, was arrested this morning, according to a law enforcement source, after building owner John Galarza called police when he said an employee saw the men begin hauling their alleged booty into a private van as well as a city Department of Health vehicle.

Three other Health Department workers were questioned as well.

“All the copper pipes are gone,” said Galarza as he walked through the building, which smelled of urine, where the toilet and boiler had pipes removed. He pushed his toe against a buckled wood floor, showing how it had sustained water damage after the pipes were removed. “I’m going to talk to the legal department of the Health Department.”

To make at least one leg of a long journey a little more serene for commuters, State Sen. Diane Savino has been pushing for the creation of a “Quiet Deck” aboard the Staten Island Ferry, where riders can be free from loud cell phone conversations, chatter, and, of course, the ferryboat preachers who have long rankled a captive audience.

After reviewing legal issues surrounding free speech and how it applies on public transportation, the city’s Department of Transportation, which runs the ferries, has agreed to adopt the Quiet Deck, with signage posted on the Bridge Deck of the three newest Molinari-class ferryboats.

Based on similar quiet areas aboard Long Island Railroad and Amtrak trains, Sen. Savino suggested the idea for a “place for people who just want to sit and decompress” before or after a long day at work.

Location Scout: Staten Island Ferry.

Workers at the Corporate Grind Cafe in Bloomfield kept the Salvation Army’s red kettle campaign going long after the holidays, with staff agreeing to direct any tips from customers into the familiar collection bucket on the counter.

Every few weeks, just as the kettle fills to capacity, store owner Darren Smith delivers its contents to the Christian charity he’s had a relationship with for several years. Smith’s father, Realtor J. Delbert Smith, is on the board of directors for the Staten Island chapter of the Salvation Army.

The bucket was almost full Tuesday when a couple — a man and woman who look more like grandparents than thieves — ordered a salad and a sandwich wrap and ate before walking out the door with the bucket and an estimated $200 in donations.

Two years after igniting a controversy by naming one of its flavors “Staten Island Landfill,” the 5 Boroughs Ice Cream company has hit a rocky road — it’s out of money and out of business.

In a note posted on the ice cream maker’s Web site, owner Scott Myles said he and his co-founder wife, Kim, are relocating to Los Angeles, where she hosts the show “Myles of Style” on the HGTV network.

Myles’ note made no reference to the tempest he created when he introduced “Staten Island Landfill” to the market in 2007. No one doubted that the flavor was scrumptious — vanilla ice cream packed with brownies, fudge and cherries — but political leaders felt the name was in poor taste.

A man was gunned down on a Staten Island street early today as he stood near a bus stop, authorities said.

. . .

A police source said they are looking into whether the murder is mob-related.

For the past two days, visitors to a park in Staten Island’s Fort Wadsworth section have stumbled upon a gory mystery — a mutilated animal, possibly a dog or a goat, wrapped in a white sheet.

Parkgoers found two such animals in Von Briesen Park yesterday and this morning, city Parks Department officials confirmed.

The discovery has sparked speculation of ritual sacrifice and cult activity, and has led one Port Richmond woman to douse part of the ground where one animal was found with holy water, in an attempt to ward off what she believes is an evil presence.

Several alluded to Santeria, which blends elements of Yoruba, an African religion, with Catholicism and involves animal sacrifice in some of its rituals.

. . .

“This is not good, doing this,” said Nancy Kelcho of Port Richmond, who was walking her Scottie, Tara Lynn, this morning when a friend pointed out the mutilated animal. “This is evil. I just pray to God to take away the evil spirits.”

Ms. Kelcho, a firm believer in the supernatural, chanted prayers this afternoon as she sprayed holy water on the ground, and at one point gasped, “Evil! Evil! Evil!”

Though Ms. Kelcho said she was certain the animal she saw was a dog, Parks spokesman Phil Abramson said both animals are believed to be goats.

Location Scout: Arthur von Briesen Park.

When the DOT interposed them on Bay Street, critics cried that the meandering bike routes were, at best, a waste of money. The fact that it took only months for the pounding of traffic to just about wear away the paint in spots only compounded the skepticism.

Now the city is adding more routes, this time on North and South Railroad avenues, and the reaction is edging toward disbelief.

“Shared lanes” were installed on Bay Street last winter, to serve as a navigational aid to cyclists looking to connect to bike lanes on Capodanno Boulevard and Richmond Terrace. The chevrons and bike markings painted on the asphalt also are intended to keep cyclists a safe distance from car doors that open in the parking lane, and to remind motorists that must share the road with bike riders, who have an equal right to use the street.

. . .

City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) said he encourages cycling as a form of exercise and isn’t opposed to setting aside bike lanes and routes in theory.

“It’s not about bike lanes, per se,” he said. “It’s about misguided priorities.” He criticized the installation earlier this month of another bike route on Jefferson Avenue in Dongan Hills, which leads to the North and South Railroad facilities, because he believes the area’s narrow streets are too dangerous for cyclists. In addition, he continues to push for improved road conditions for cyclists and drivers alike.

“I’m not quite sure what the obsession is with bike lanes in this administration. I just wish they were obsessed with smooth streets,” Oddo said.

“Agents are acting in order to maximize revenue to fill the city coffers, rather than doing their job correctly, which is to ensure turnover to help small businesses,” the letter read. “We, along with the business owners, want traffic agents to perform their job of enforcing the traffic laws to ensure turnover so that parking spots are made available. Unfortunately, the only way to describe the situation on New Dorp Lane — where tickets are handed out within seconds of a meter expiring — is harassment, pure and simple, the letter read.

For decades, stamps on letters mailed in New York City have generally been canceled with squiggly lines of ink and the name of the sender’s home borough. But this tradition may itself soon be canceled, at least in Brooklyn and Queens and on Staten Island.

Under the Postal Service’s plan, most mail from the three boroughs would be sent to a central processing center in East New York, Brooklyn, where it would be branded with a new emblem:

“TRIBORO, NY

BKLYN-QNS-STATEN ISL.”

The plan was spawned because of a 29 percent decline in the volume of first-class mail over the past decade. Officials say the change would save $6.7 million annually.

This is where a bureaucratic transaction gets personal.

“There are certain things you don’t mess with,” said Audrey Hecht-Stewart, 54, a teacher from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, who was standing in line last week at the Cadman Plaza Post Office in Downtown Brooklyn. “The postmark on your letter should represent where you live, like caller ID on your phone.

“You can’t throw Brooklyn in the same pot with Queens and Staten Island,” Ms. Hecht-Stewart added. “When you go and lump us in with those other two boroughs, you take away our individuality.”

A host of elected officials, from the relevant borough presidents to New York’s two United States senators, has decried the proposal, along with postal union officials who translate a consolidated postmark into lost jobs. And dismay is rippling across this proposed new land called “Triboro,” where many who know about the plan resent the prospect of being stripped of their envelope identifier.

*Think about it — it could look cool on a T-shirt!