For The Record

Former Transport Workers' Union Local 100 President Sonny Hall indicated last week that he has a preferred candidate in the union's upcoming election, but his strongest feeling is that union members should elect anyone but the incumbent, Roger Toussaint.

The bitterness between the two men - which had its roots in the long battles between the New Directions slate for which Mr. Toussaint eventually became the standard-bearer and the old guard leadership of Local 100 that was backed by Mr. Hall - has not subsided since the latter gentleman stepped down as president of the International TWU two years ago.

It seemed a safe assumption that Mr. Hall would support Barry Roberts, a Local 100 vice president who comes out of his old political base, the union's Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority Division. He confirmed that by remarking, "I'm not taking any position where I'm going to campaign for anybody, but I'd be happy if Barry Roberts were elected. I know Barry; he comes out of my old division and he's a good candidate."

He quickly tossed a bouquet, however, to Ainsley Stewart, who is also looking to unseat Mr. Toussaint while running on a rival slate, calling him "a fine, dedicated union guy."

Alluding to the conventional wisdom that Mr. Roberts and Mr. Stewart, as well as independent candidate Mike Carrube, could pave the way for the incumbent's re-election by dividing the anti-Toussaint vote, Mr. Hall said, "All the slates, I wish they could have formed just one and run together."

One prominent Local 100 official claimed in mid-summer that Mr. Hall had been exploring the possibility of coming out of retirement to run himself if the disparate groups of Toussaint critics would coalesce behind him.

Asked whether he had launched such a trial balloon, Mr. Hall replied, "Not a word of truth to it. I'm 74 years old. I would have remained International president if I wanted to stay involved."

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There are two possible explanations for why Jeanine Pirro chose Bernie Kerik as the man she approached last year about bugging her husband Albert's boat to see whether he was having an affair.

One is that, knowing such bugging might be illegal, she needed someone sufficiently unscrupulous to be unconcerned about breaking the law. As his subsequent criminal plea in June proved, Mr. Kerik certainly fit that bill.

The former Westchester District Attorney may also believe that the old saying that it "takes a thief to catch a thief" is applicable when it comes to catching a philanderer. That particular field may be the only one in which Mr. Kerik holds an advanced degree, having cheated not only on his wife but on his two mistresses.

Ms. Pirro took umbrage at the U.S. Attorney's Office - which found out about her conversations with Mr. Kerik because they turned up on the Bronx District Attorney's wiretap of the former Police and Correction Commissioner - conducting an investigation into a scheme she says she never acted upon, claiming last week that she was merely "venting." Her charge, echoed by state Republican Party chair Stephen Minarik, that the leak was "political" and intended to influence her race against Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General seemed a bit shaky, however, given that U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia is an appointee of President Bush.

Perhaps the most telling indication of how much the revelation has damaged her politically is that when Rudy Giuliani withdrew from a fund-raiser he was scheduled to host for her Oct. 3, he didn't even use what for the ex-Mayor would have been a plausible alternative excuse: that he hadn't realized when he committed to the event that it was on the same night the Yankees were opening the playoffs.

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Ed Ott, the executive director of the AFL-CIO New York Central Labor Council, has been named by Mayor Bloomberg to his Sustainability Advisory Board, which will make recommendations to the city administration on environmentally sound policies and practices.