FOR THE RECORD

When a Bronx grand jury indicted Frank and Peter DiTommaso July 19 for lying about paying $165,000 toward the renovation of Bernie Kerik's old Riverdale apartment, Mr. Kerik's lawyer responded with one of those comments that make you go "Hmmm."

Joseph Tacopina stated that Mr. Kerik "has no definite knowledge of who was actually footing the bill" for the renovation.

This seemed a trifle inconsistent with the former Correction and Police Commissioner's guilty plea less than three weeks earlier. During the allocution to his misdeeds, Mr. Kerik stated that when he allowed that portion of the tab for the renovation work to be picked up by the DiTomassos' firm, Interstate Industrial Corp., in the late 1990s, he believed the firm to be "clean." The implication was that he had since learned otherwise.

If he hadn't, as Mr. Tacopina contended, known it was Interstate on behalf of its two principals shelling out the money, why would he have been making any characterization of the firm during his guilty plea?

"I'm confused; I don't what his position is," Assistant Deputy Wardens'/Deputy Wardens' Association President Sidney Schwartzbaum said July 20 of Mr. Kerik. "This is a guy who ruined careers because people didn't know about minutiae, and after all those years of espousing accountability, now he knows nothing? He's like the little kid who puts his hand over his eyes and thinks because he can't see you, you can't see him."

It might seem that Mr. Tacopina was leading reporters down the rabbit hole and into Bernieworld, that place where truth gets turned upside down and has its pockets emptied. But in this case, the attorney's statement contradicting his client's guilty plea may have had a secondary purpose.

The DiTommaso brothers have been linked to the Gambino crime family, in part because they bought a Staten Island waste transfer station a decade ago from a Gambino soldier who is the brother-in-law of Sammy the Bull Gravano. It's not clear whether they actually are connected, but denying that they paid for the Kerik renovations would be consistent with the old-style mob tradition of admitting nothing and forcing the government to prove its case in court.

Mr. Kerik, despite his tough-guy veneer, opted to cop a plea in return for a guarantee of no jail time. In doing so, however, his allocution regarding Interstate's financial help on the renovated apartment opened the door wide for the Bronx DA to bring perjury charges against the DiTommaso brothers.

In claiming that his client wasn't sure who paid for the renovations, Mr. Tacopina may have been sending a signal to prosecutors not to count on Mr. Kerik as a compelling witness against the DiTommasos should the case go to trial. Bronx DA Robert Johnson was noncommittal about using Mr. Kerik to make his case, with his spokesman, Steve Reed, saying "he could be called by either side."

We get the feeling that Mr. Kerik would prefer to remain on the sidelines and not have to answer any questions that would further enlighten the public about the ways in which he sold his office. That probably goes double for his former boss, Rudy Giuliani.

***

Transport Workers' Union Local 100 will celebrate its fifth annual Family Day on Saturday, Aug. 19 from noon to 6 p.m. at Riverbank State Park along the Hudson River in upper Harlem.

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint noted that the event takes on greater significance this year in the wake of the three-day transit strike and what he contends were the unreasonable penalties imposed on the union by a state judge, including a $2.5 million fine, the indefinite loss of dues checkoff, and Mr. Toussaint's jailing for the better part of a week.

Family Day will feature a barbeque picnic, swimming, skating, carnival games and live musical entertainment and is open to all TWU members, both active and retired, and their families. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children ages 3 to 13. Those interested in attending should stop by the Family Day Office in Local 100's headquarters at 80 West End Ave., or its Brooklyn office at 180 Livingston St. on the fourth floor.