That’s “Kills” As In “Body Of Water” . . .

The GAO reports “large quantities of radium” in Great Kills Park:

High levels of radium were found in Gateway National Recreation Area in Great Kills when anti-terrorism officials conducted a helicopter survey of city radiation sources last summer to prepare for potential terrorist attacks using so-called dirty radiation bombs, but that fact was revealed only yesterday in a congressional survey.

The aerial survey found 80 unexpected radiation “hot spots” around the city, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, which stated that the NYPD had singled out “a local park” that was “contaminated by large quantities of radium.”

NYPD officials confirmed that the park was Gateway’s Great Kills Park, a portion of which served as a city landfill until the 1930s. It became federal parkland in 1972.

A piece of metal equipment — possibly part of an old X-ray machine — was found underground on Aug. 2, 2005, and it was removed the next day from a portion of an area between the Great Kills Ranger station and the model airplane field, said Tom O’Connell, site manager for the park. An investigation by federal environmental officials found that the radiation levels posed no current risk to human health, according to officials with close knowledge of the survey.

. . .

Vincent Scavuzzo, another Great Kills resident, said he’s skeptical that everything is OK. But Scavuzzo added that the news would not stop him from taking daily walks in the park with his wife, Toni.

“I don’t like the idea that they found something like that,” he said. “Maybe they should do some testing, test the soil, test the water. Anything that’s around here, they should do tests.”

Elaine Borruso agreed.

“You’d hate to think you could come into contact with [radiological material],” she said, adding that she wants the National Park Service to do more testing.

Officials downplayed the threat:

O’Connell, who worked with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy during the investigation, said people should not worry about the news.

“It is no more harmful for a human than having a cigarette on a sunny day,” said O’Connell, who was present during the EPA and DOE’s investigation. “But the only way it would have that effect is if you were sitting in the hole [where the equipment was found].”

Beep Beep!

Borough Presidents . . . what is it they do again? Perhaps they discuss that very issue when they get together:

The five New York City borough presidents agree on many issues: The need for more affordable housing; their common struggle to control development and traffic in their communities, and their desire to preserve their office budgets from further cuts.

. . .

All five chief executives — Staten Island’s James P. Molinaro, Marty Markowitz of Brooklyn, Adolfo Carrion of the Bronx, Helen Marshall of Queens and newly elected Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer — gathered yesterday in the Roadhouse restaurant in Sunnyside [Staten Island] for one of their semi-regular meetings.

On Quitting While You’re Ahead, Or, This Guy Has Balls The Size Of . . . Well, You Know

After abandoning the piece at Bowling Green and using the site as his private showroom, Charging Bull sculptor Arturo DiModica now wants to sue businesses who use the image for advertising:

Arturo Di Modica is seeing red, accusing Wal-Mart, North Fork Bank and seven smaller concerns of horning in on the popularity of the 7,000-pound, bronze “Charging Bull,” which stands in Bowling Green Park.

In a suit filed in Manhattan federal court, Di Modica said Wal-Mart was selling photos of “Charging Bull” without his permission.

And North Fork Bank, based in Melville, L.I., is using the sculpture in a national advertising campaign — also without his permission, he says.

“It must stop,” an angry Di Modica told The Post yesterday.

“I’m tired of seeing all this work done. It’s bad for my career. What they’re selling is not a good representation of my work. It’s destroying my image.

“If they want to sell it, they must buy it from me. I see people making money off my work.”

Di Modica, who spent two years and $350,000 of his own money creating the 16-foot-long bull, trucked it to the entrance of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989.

He said it was a Christmas gift to the people of New York, but the cops said it was illegal.

They seized it, but after a public outcry, the Parks Department installed it in Bowling Green Park.

. . .

Di Modica said he was inspired to create the larger-than-life bull as a symbol of hope after the 1987 stock market collapse. The artist, who copyrighted the bull in 1998, makes money from the authorized use of the sculpture’s image in movies and advertising.

If Wal-Mart had a sense of humor, they would buy the sculpture and have DiModica put their name on the plaque the artist once proposed.

Location Scout: Bowling Green.

Hizzoner In California Not Running For President

Because of course New York City mayors always travel to California for photo-ops with other independent-minded elected officials:

Mayor Bloomberg outlined an ambitious environmental agenda for New York City yesterday while standing next to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a move designed to raise the mayor’s national profile as speculation mounts about his potential bid for the White House in 2008.

. . .

Schwarzenegger, who is facing reelection this fall, said Bloomberg is “not only a fantastic mayor of New York City, but he’s also a great national leader.”

When a reporter asked whether Bloomberg was in California to test the waters for a 2008 presidential bid, Schwarzenegger responded facetiously.

“What? I can’t believe that. This is unbelievable,” joked the governor, drawing laughter. Asked if he would urge Bloomberg to run for President, the governor said he and the mayor haven’t discussed the issue. But he described himself as a “big fan” of Bloomberg’s because he said the mayor is “interested in getting the job done.”

“I admire Mayor Bloomberg,” Schwarzenegger said. “He’s my soul mate. He’s the man.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg announced several environment-related initiatives, including creating an “Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability” that will evaluate the environmental soundness of the city’s land-use plans.

First the New York City Department of Homeland Security, then the War on Poverty, now the local version of the EPA. Next up, expect the mayor to announce a stem-cell initiative . . .

The First Ten Looks Good, But How Will The Last Ten Read?

This week, Brian Carter outlines a pitch perfect “first ten” pages of a script — assuming anyone would be interested in a script about the dog-eat-dog world of rental agents and the struggle to close the deal:

I’ve gone through dry spells before, and it would be easy enough to chalk this one up to a bad market and a slow time for everyone. But I have the misfortune of sitting next to Stacey, who is currently knocking back deals like shots of tequila on Cinco de Mayo. While I’m in a terrible debate over whether to play another game of solitaire or take a walk, she’s closing her second deal of the day.

. . .

At first, I thought it was merely a coincidence that every time I went cold, Stacey started a hot streak. Part of it may have to do with some weird karmic alignment, but my manager is also pulling some strings in this tiny universe. The hotter one agent gets, the slower everyone else seems to become. Managers take a cut of the overall office profits. That’s a lot of incentive. They steer business away from agents with slippery hands and feed the closers every decent client who calls or walks in the office. Work breeds work and managers rarely encourage slumping agents by wasting potential clients on them, no matter who’s due on the list. She’s working a $3,200 corporate transfer, with the rent and fee paid by the company, and I’m looking all over town for a one bedroom with a terrace large enough to call a porch . . . in a high traffic area no less.

. . .

I don’t harbor any hurtful feelings toward Stacey, but I do hide my client list when she’s in the office. Let’s just say she’s thorough and a really good real estate agent. When I first started, she was one of the few people who went out of her way to teach me about the business. It doesn’t matter that her method of teaching entailed screwing me out of my first deal and using her seniority to justify it. I learned my lesson, and have never forgotten the special attention she showed me. The slacker agents in my office, including myself, could all learn much from her example. She’s a real asset.

It’s all there — complex and morally ambiguous figures, high stakes, conflict — with New York as a character! How about Michel Gondry to direct?