NBA’s best player (LeBron James) isn’t best-paid

HOUSTON --
When LeBron James walks onto the court for Houston’s NBA All-Star Game Sunday, he’ll do so as the undisputed king of his sport.

Named the league’s most valuable player three times in the past four years, James is once again dominating the NBA and most likely headed for his fourth MVP award — two fewer than Michael Jordan — with presumably a long career still ahead.

But while James is the most valuable player in the NBA, he’s nowhere close to being the league’s highest paid. Of the 10 players voted into the starting lineup of Sunday’s All-Star Game, five earn more than James, whose salary for this season ranks 13th in the NBA.

James’ decision a while back to “take my talents to South Beach” was a case of trading dollars for victories. The league caps what teams can spend on salaries.

The bimonthly checks cut by team owner Micky Arison this year will equal a bargain come season’s end: $17,545,000.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, the league’s highest-paid player, will earn about $10 million more than that this season.

James understands he’s underpaid in the purest sense, but he also understands reality: He makes obscene amounts of money playing a game. Super-rich athletes who gripe about money seldom get much sympathy — witness the outpouring of scorn when golfer Phil Mickelson recently complained that increased taxes on high earners, coupled with California’s high tax rates, might force him to make “drastic changes” in his playing schedule.

James also makes a fortune in endorsements, from companies ranging from Nike to Sprite to Samsung to Dunkin’ Donuts.

Still, the obvious question remains: Considering not only James’ impact on the Heat, but also his overall contribution to the entire NBA, how much money could James command on the open market if there were no league-imposed economic constraints?

“Per year, if there were no salary-cap restrictions, I think he’s worth well over $100 million, easy,” said Shane Battier, the Heat’s heady forward and former Duke University schoolmate of Heat CEO Nick Arison.

That’s $100 million per year.

It’s an audacious and historic number, but considering James’ recent run of play, it’s not complete fantasy. James is performing at a historic level of excellence. After thoroughly wiping the court in Oklahoma City on Thursday, scoring 39 points, pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out seven assists, James has scored at least 30 points in seven straight games.

The last player to accomplish that feat going into the All-Star break was Wilt Chamberlain back in 1963.

“This guy, LeBron James, he’s doing stuff that I’ve never seen,” said Hall of Famer Charles Barkley on Thursday night during TNT’s Inside the NBA. “He’s on another planet.”

Considering Barkley’s sharp criticism of James in the past, not to mention his history of going head-to-head with Michael Jordan during both men’s prime, that’s high praise.

But a market value of $100 million?

“Really, it boils down to the ego of an owner,” Battier said. “A lot of owners would pay just to have LeBron James on their team. I can think of a couple that would pay him, easily, nine figures per year.”

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The Miami Beach cop and the meth dealers: a tawdry tale

While other cops strived for the big bust or sergeant’s stripes, George Navarro Jr. had other aspirations. The Miami Beach patrolman yearned for the ultimate score, his friends told investigators: to engineer an epic drug deal, one that would make him rich and allow him to leave law enforcement behind.

They called it the “Coke Dream.”

That dream is dead now, as may be Navarro’s police career. He was suspended last September without pay after being charged with racketeering and fraud in connection with a scheme to use phony paperwork to acquire luxury cars.

But that might be just the beginning of Navarro’s troubles. Although for now he hasn’t been charged with anything else, the investigation into his actions has produced reams of damning documents detailing bungled trips to the Bahamas to buy kilos of coke, the rip-off of a suspected marijuana grow house, drunken brawls, a botched attempt to collect a drug debt and — perhaps most strikingly — his penchant for lending his police car, uniforms and other gear to meth-dealer pals.

If nothing else, the investigation of George Navarro Jr. inflicts another black eye on the beleaguered Miami Beach Police Department, battered in recent years by stories of lax discipline and criminal misbehavior.

The mud is being splattered in many directions, onto other officers and other agencies, spawning a slew of investigations.

For instance, the U.S. Coast Guard is probing one of its own for allegedly providing detailed locations of cutters near the Bahamas to help Navarro avoid detection while at sea.

Authorities are also examining the role of Navarro, 27, and his father — once a high-level Miami Beach police commander, now retired — in a secret and illegal recording made by the younger officer’s drug-dealing former roommate as he was being grilled by internal affairs detectives.

Michael Band, attorney for Navarro Jr., said the allegations are nothing more than the “spouting of a Judas.”

That “Judas” would be Marlon Mayoli, a childhood friend of Navarro. Mayoli and another drug dealer, Rafael Guedes, both 27, have been talking quite a bit to state and federal agents, presumably in hopes of trimming some years off their prison sentences.

“What was George’s crime?” asked Band. “He made the mistake of being too loyal of a friend, and exercising poor judgment in friendship.”

Mayoli and Guedes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm while drug trafficking. (The federal probe also led to the indictment of former Boynton Beach Officer David Britto, who has since fled to Brazil.)

Mayoli is serving 15 years in prison, Guedes 14.

Ronald J. Manto, attorney for Mayoli, insisted his client is telling the truth.

“Mayoli accepted responsibility for his participation … He cooperated with the authorities and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. It appears that the investigation is ongoing but much of what Mayoli told police has been corroborated by other sources and evidence. I believe it’s just a matter of time before the other shoe drops.”

The investigation into Navarro Jr. began in March 2011 when the feds raided Guedes’ and Mayoli’s Miami apartment. Inside, they found ecstasy, crystal meth — and, curiously, Navarro’s police uniforms.

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Hugh Grant is a Dad Again

Hugh Grant confirmed Saturday that he is a dad again.

PICS: Celebs and Their Cute Kids

The 52-year-old British actor tweeted, "In answer to some journos. Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

Hugh and actress Tinglan Hong welcomed a daughter named Tabitha in 2011. No word yet on what Tabitha's little brother is named.

Related: Hugh Grant Responds to Jon Stewart Diss

Hugh told The Guardian in 2012 of being a dad, "I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I'm not sure. Not yet. Not massively, no. But I'm absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am. And I feel a better person."

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Required Reading

Middle Men

by Jim Gavin (Simon & Schuster)

The guys (mostly Southern Californians) in Gavin’s first story collection are not at the top of the heap. They are trying to at least achieve fine middle-class lives. With a sharp, witty eye, Gavin gives us a game-show assistant whose high-powered host sends him to steal his dog back from an ex-wife (“Elephant Doors”). There’s a one-hit-wonder screenwriter, who’s success was ethnic cop-buddy flick “Hyde & Sikh” (“Illuminati”). And in “Costello,” a father-and-son toilet-salesmen team.

Where the Cherry Tree Grew

The Story of Ferry Farm, George Washington’s Boyhood Home

by Philip Levy (St. Martin’s)

Levy asserts that a young George Washington never really chopped down a cherry tree, much less refused to lie about it. But the author did spend a decade researching and excavating the property, near Fredericksburg, Va., where Washington lived from age 6 to about 15. He recounts how the cherry-tree myth began; the sordid tale of how real-estate speculators tried to sell the grave of Washington’s mother; bloody Civil War battles on the property; and more recently, how Walmart tried to turn the farm into a mall.

The Soundtrack of My Life

by Clive Davis (Simon & Schuster)

Clive Davis has come pretty far for a kid from Crown Heights who lost both parents as a teen. As a top record exec, he found, signed, worked with and mentored the likes of Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Simon and Garfunkel, Aerosmith, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and many more. He recalls the first time he heard Houston sing, at Sweetwater’s in 1983 (he immediately offered her a contract); how he found out Simon and Garfunkel were breaking up; and a chance meeting with John Lennon at a coffee shop, where the ex-Beatle told him he was moving to the Dakota.

Washed Away

How the Great Flood of 1913, America’s Most Widespread Natural Disaster, Terrorized a Nation and Changed it Forever

by Geoff Williams (Pegasus)

One hundred years ago, there was no AccuWeather forecast or Doppler Radar or Weather Channel, so the people of Ohio, Indiana, their neighboring states — and even as far away as New Jersey, New York and Vermont — hardly knew what hit them. Tornadoes and a days-long deluge wreaked havoc. As many as 1,000 people died. In Omaha, Neb., alone, a March 23 twister killed 140. Williams brings the disaster back to life with tales of desperation and heroism that sadly sound so familiar today.

Doug Unplugged

by Dan Yaccarino (Knopf)

Take a break from your electronic and digital devices for this delightful picture book about a robot boy, Doug, whose robot parents plug him in every morning for his information download. Until one day, Doug — drawn a bit like Elroy Jetson — figures he can learn even more by unplugging and exploring the city. He takes the subway, sees pigeons, makes a friend and plays in the park and ends up sharing what he learned with his parents.

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Credit reports still not error-free

Lucky you if you’re one of the many consumers who recognize an error in your credit file and are able to successfully dispute it, get it removed and receive the credit rating you deserve.

But woe to those who find errors and still have trouble getting corrections from any of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian or TransUnion.

That’s the conclusion of a long-awaited study by the Federal Trade Commission on credit report accuracy.

Each credit bureau maintains files on more than 200 million consumers, which are used to create credit histories. The information is then used to create credit scores, which can affect consumers’ ability to get a credit card, a home loan, an apartment or even a job. The most widely used credit scoring system is FICO, which ranges from 300 to 850. The higher your FICO score, the better.

The FTC found that 26 percent of the 1,001 participants surveyed identified at least one potentially material error, such as a late or missed payment. When information was successfully disputed and modified, 13 percent of participants saw a change in their credit score.

Not all the errors resulted in a significant increase in a consumer’s credit score. But for 5.2 percent of participants, the errors were serious enough that it made them appear more risky and thus resulted in them having to pay more for products such as auto loans and insurance, the FTC said.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives consumers certain rights to dispute and challenge inaccurate information in their credit files. But if true errors remain on people’s reports even after they have challenged the information, the current dispute process is not serving consumers well, the FTC said in its report.

As often happens with such studies, people see what they want to see.

The Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade organization, said the FTC’s study proves that the vast majority of credit reports are error-free.

“The FTC’s research determined that 2.2 percent of all credit reports have an error that would increase the price a consumer would pay in the marketplace and that fully 88 percent of errors were the result of inaccurate information reported by lenders and other data sources to nationwide credit bureaus,” the association said in a statement.

The association is right. But when you talk about the millions of files being kept, there are still quite a number of people with incorrect information in their reports. The FTC concluded that the impact of errors on credit scores is generally modest (an average of an 11.8-point increase in score), but for some consumers, it can be large.

“Roughly 1 percent of the reports in the sample experienced a credit score increase of more than 50 points,” the report said.

Several consumer advocacy groups feel that this conclusion confirms their long-held concerns about the accuracy of credit reports.

Because the credit bureaus have become powerful gatekeepers, you ought to care about this issue even if you haven’t found errors in your report, said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

“If 5 percent of consumers overall have serious errors, that’s about 10 million adults. Sooner or later, it will happen to you,” he said.

Everyone with a stake in this issue urges consumers to take action by pulling their reports every year. Only about 44 million consumers per year, or about one in five, obtain copies of their files, according to another recent report. You have the right to get a free copy of each of your credit files once every 12 months. Just go to www.annuacreditreport.com, the only official site, to get them.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The federal government needs to do more to monitor the systems the bureaus have in place to investigate a consumer’s complaint about an error. Far too often the furnishers of the data will just resend the incorrect information back to the bureaus.

Evan Hendricks, author of Credit Scores and Credit Reports: How The System Really Works, What You Can Do, has frequently testified in court cases and before Congress about the struggles people have in correcting their reports. Responding to the FTC survey, he said, “With FTC’s confirmation that credit report errors are all too common and harmful to consumers, it’s high time that credit reporting agencies overhaul their operations so they actually comply with the law and investigate consumers’ disputes, with actual human beings as investigators.”

Since consumers don’t control the flow of the data about them and yet this information is so vital to their credit lives, even the small percentage error rate the FTC found is unacceptable.

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State’s flawed contracting process comes under fire

TALLAHASSEE --
In the last two years, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater has agreed to let the state lose $48 million.

That’s the amount of taxpayer money Atwater spent to settle dozens of bad contracts and grants that he said could have been avoided had the state done a better job cutting the deals.

“We could have built two elementary schools with that money,’’ said Atwater, a former Senate president whose office writes the checks.

In each case, the state concluded it was not going to get what it paid for, Atwater said. “So we said, ‘This is hogwash and you know it. ’ ”

Rather than taking the company to court, the state agreed to settle the contract at a loss.

With $50.4 billion of the state’s $70 billion budget spent on vendors this year, Florida is one of the largest buyers of goods and services in the Southeast, but its contract management is haphazard and inconsistent.

Now, Atwater, Gov. Rick Scott and his secretary of the Department of Management Services, Craig Nichols, are inching toward some improvements that will change the system.

Atwater is asking the Legislature for “pre-audit” authority to review contracts before they are completed to make sure the state is getting its money’s worth.

Nichols has published a guidebook for contract negotiators, including a set of uniform standards. His agency has increased the number of agencies using the state’s online purchasing program, MyFloridaMarketPlace, to get better discounts, and DMS is working to streamline the state’s patchwork of contract procedures.

Scott has urged his agency heads to attempt to re-negotiate their top contracts to produce savings, and he recommended spending $353,000 in his 2013-14 budget to hire four full-time people to train contract managers across the state.

The state’s contracting process has been the target of criticism for years, most recently from former Senate budget chairman JD Alexander who bashed state agencies for using different methods and even different codes to buy cars, lease buildings or purchase cell phones and computers.

In 2011, an independent group hired to review the state’s online purchasing program, the 10-year-old MyFloridaMarketPlace system, found that half of the eligible state contracts were covered by the program and that the system was “hampered by poor project governance, lack of standard procurement processes… uneven executive sponsorship and continued dependence on older shadow systems and workarounds.’’

An analysis by the Herald/Times found hundreds of contracts, known as evergreens, are given terms that allow them to automatically renew, with little or no standards. Other vendors get in the door as the lowest cost bidder, but the cost is allowed to balloon with budget amendments. Dozens of contracts have been on the books with the same vendor for more than 20 years.

One of the loudest critics has been the Koch brothers-funded Americans For Prosperity, which lists as its top legislative priority the increase in oversight and transparency of the state’s contracting process. The Republican Legislature and governor’s failure to properly police the state’s contracting system has earned the organization’s charge that the process “rewards cronyism and picking winners and losers.”

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'Escape from Planet Earth' Interview

Jessica Alba, Rob Corddry, William Shatner, Sofía Vergara and George Lopez are among the all-star voice cast creating laughs in the fast-paced, animated comedy-adventure Escape from Planet Earth, and they tell ET's Brooke Anderson that it's the perfect film for the whole family.

Pics: 13 Must-See Movies of 2013

In theaters now, the out-of-this-world 3D comedy is told from the alien point of view, following the misadventures of famed interplanetary astronaut Scorch Supernova from the Planet Baab and his buddies. Trapped by evil government forces on the distant "Dark Planet" (aka Earth) and tossed behind bars in Area 51, it's up to his nerdy brother Gary to navigate the third rock from the sun's strange customs and inhabitants in order to save him.

Video: Cosmic Comedy in 'Escape from Planet Earth' Premiere

The film also features the vocal talents of Brendan Fraser, Jane Lynch, Sarah Jessica Parker, Craig Robinson, Steve Zahn, Chris Parnell, Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Morgan Heit.

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Pull the Plug On Chuck Hagel

Linda Chavez

Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be secretary of defense is in trouble — as it should be. The former Republican senator has so much baggage, it is amazing that the administration hasn’t dumped him, as they did Susan Rice when her proposed nomination ran into trouble. Unfortunately, having won that battle, the GOP may be in weaker position to defeat another Obama nominee. And Rice, her misstatements about the attack on Benghazi notwithstanding, would have been a less dangerous cabinet member than Hagel.

Hagel has made clearly anti-Semitic statements before public forums time and again. If his target had been, say, blacks or Hispanics, he’d have been forced to withdraw. Just try that on for size.

Hagel: Nominee unable to answer even basic questions competently.

What if Hagel had been on record as declaring, “The black [or Latino] lobby intimidates a lot of people”? And then had publicly declared the Ku Klux Klan “legitimate”? What if the nominee had also been the one U.S. senator who refused to sign a letter criticizing the former apartheid government of South Africa for its racist treatment of blacks?

In fact, Hagel’s actions with respect to Jews have followed exactly this course. In 2006, Hagel said, “The Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people,” an accusation for which he could not produce a single example during his confirmation hearings. He has defended the murderous Iranian regime as “legitimate” — a regime whose leaders are committed to annihilating Israel and who deny the Holocaust.

And he’s opposed sanctions against Iran, even though the regime is a state sponsor of terrorism against the United States. Apparently he thinks Israel is a greater threat to the United States than Iran. In a speech at Rutgers University, Hagel accused the State Department of taking its orders from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Lest anyone think his animus is toward Israel — not Jews — consider that he is the only US senator to have refused to sign a letter to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin asking him to take action against rising anti-Semitism in Russia.

Hagel’s office issue the lame excuse that the then senator had a “policy not to send letters to foreign heads of state regarding their domestic policy.” Really? Well then I guess we can expect President Obama’s nominee to remain silent on Syrian and North Korean “domestic policy” as these nations slaughter their citizens by gunning the down in the streets of Homs or Aleppo or killing them slowly in the gulags of Hoeryong?

Hagel would do himself and the president a big favor by stepping aside. His performance during his confirmation hearings was embarrassing. He seemed woefully ignorant of the president’s own policies toward a nuclear Iran.

At one point, he said, “I support the president’s strong position on containment,” suggesting the president believes a nuclear-armed Iran can be “contained” much as the Soviet Union was during the Cold War. But President Obama has not suggested he favors containment, which would be a green light to the Iranians to move ahead with their plans to develop nuclear weapons.

So Hagel later tried to correct the record, but in doing so, he made himself look like a fool. In fact, his inability to answer questions before the Senate committee alone should be enough to derail his nomination.

The president has a right to nominate his cabinet — but the Constitution doesn’t give him a blank check. The Senate also plays an important role in advising and consenting on presidential appointments.

President Obama may have thought he was extending an olive branch to Republicans by picking a former GOP-elected official for his defense secretary. But Hagel is a caricature of the Republican Party — a man whose personal prejudices (his anti-gay comments about a Clinton nominee seem to have been largely forgotten by his liberal backers) are cringe-inducing and who is as ill-informed as he is inarticulate.

The Senate will take up Hagel’s nomination later this month after Thursday’s threatened filibuster delayed the vote. That is, unless the president admits his mistake and pulls the nomination. The country would be better served if he did.

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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American Airlines, US Airways announce merger

After a nearly yearlong courtship, the union became official Thursday: American Airlines and US Airways have formally announced plans to merge.

An early morning announcement by the airlines confirmed reports widely circulated after boards of both companies approved the merger late Wednesday.

The move brings stability to one of Miami-Dade County’s largest private employers more than a year after the airline and its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the fate of thousands of employees — and the largest carrier at Miami International Airport — in question.

According to the Thursday announcement, the deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both companies, creating the world’s biggest airline with implied market value of nearly $11 billion, based on the Wednesday closing price of US Airways stock. The airline will have close to 100,000 employees, 1,500 aircraft, $38.7 billion in combined revenue.

The deal must be approved by American’s bankruptcy judge and antitrust regulators, but no major hurdles are expected. The process is expected to take about six months, according to a letter sent to employees Thursday by American CEO Tom Horton.

Travelers won’t notice immediate changes. The new airline will be called American Airlines. It likely will be months before the frequent-flier programs are merged, and possibly years before the two airlines are fully combined. The new airline will be a member of the oneWorld airlines frequent flier alliance.

And for Miami travelers, it’s unlikely that much will change at any point. American and regional carrier American Eagle handled 68 percent of traffic at the airport last year, while US Airways accounted for just 2 percent. American boasts 328 flights to 114 destinations from Miami.

“We don’t expect any substantial changes at MIA if the merger occurs because our traffic is largely driven by the strength of the Miami market and not the airlines serving it,” said airport spokesman Greg Chin.

American has said for more than a year that its long-term plan calls for increasing departures at key hubs, including Miami, by 20 percent. That pledge has already started to materialize; in recent months, the airline has added new service to Asuncion, Paraguay and Roatán, Honduras.

During its bankruptcy restructuring, about 400 American employees lost jobs, leaving American and its regional carrier, American Eagle, with 9,894 employees in Miami-Dade County and 43 in Fort Lauderdale. US Airways has few employees in the area.

“It really isn’t going to affect Miami in a very major way anytime soon,” said Michael Boyd, an aviation consultant in Evergreen, Colo. “Only because US Airways isn’t a big player in South Florida.”

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, American and US Airways combined would still only be the fifth-largest airline after Southwest, Spirit, JetBlue and Delta, a spokesman said. The two airlines have little overlap in routes from Fort Lauderdale.

Despite the lack of major changes, Boyd said the merger would be a good development for Miami.

“It should be positive for the employees and it should be positive for the communities that the airlines serve,” he said.

Robert Herbst, an independent airline analyst and consultant, said US Airways will add a “significant amount” of destinations in the Northeast, including Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

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Miami-Dade packed for weekend of events

Lured by sailboats and megayachts, urban street art and Romero Britto — and, of course, the lack of snow — thousands of visitors are expected to pour into Miami-Dade this holiday weekend.

The activities started Thursday morning with the opening day of the 72nd annual Progressive Miami International Boat Show at the Miami Beach Convention Center and the Yacht & Brokerage Show on the Indian Creek Waterway. Art Wynwood kicked off with a VIP preview Thursday night. And the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, in its 50th year, opens its gates on Saturday.

Combined, the events expect nearly 250,000 attendees over Presidents’ Day weekend — many of them from out of town.

“Presidents’ Day weekend is the busiest weekend here in South Florida,” said Nick Korniloff, founder and director of Art Wynwood. “It’s when the 30 five-star resorts are at the highest occupancy, when the Europeans and South Americans and Northeast residents come here. It’s a very diverse, well-cultured audience.”

Expecting similarities in audiences interested in yachts and art, Korniloff will have shuttles running between Art Wynwood in the Midtown Miami neighborhood and the Yacht & Brokerage Show near the Fontainebleau.

In its second year, the fair features 70 dealers from around the world, many representing urban street artists or selling Latin American and Asian art. That’s a jump from last year’s 53 dealers. Korniloff said he expects about 30,000 attendees this year, up from 25,000 at the inaugural event.

At the boat show, which includes locations in Miami Beach and downtown Miami, organizers anticipate more than 100,000 visitors. About 40 percent are from outside the state and a quarter of visitors are international, said Cathy Rick-Joule, show manager and vice president of the boat shows division for the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

“We’ve definitely seen a continued influence of Brazilians; you hear Portuguese spoken everywhere,” Rick-Joule said, adding that Russian, Chinese and Korean visitors have also been increasing.

Monty Trainer, president of the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, has been busy publicizing the 50th year of the event with pop artist Romero Britto, who designed this year’s festival poster and will attend at some points during the weekend.

“This is the best year for all our exposure,” Trainer said. “Romero Britto is going to be a big draw.”

The show will feature 380 artists this year, 30 more than last year, when about 118,000 people attended. Of those, nearly 40 percent were overnight visitors who came to town for the festival.

Trainer expects this year’s activities to draw a bigger crowd — with a caveat.

“If this weather holds up, we’re in business,” he said. “But if you get bad rain, all your promotions are out the window.”

On that front, the forecast is mixed. The National Weather Service calls for a 60 percent chance of rain in Miami on Friday, dropping to 20 percent for Saturday with a high near 77. Sunday should be sunny and cool, with a high only in the mid-60s. By Monday, the weather should be just about perfect for February: sunny and topping out around 74.

“When other folks unfortunately have it bad, we have it good,” said Rolando Aedo, chief marketing officer for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. “I think the country as a whole, with the exception of us, has been experiencing severe weather. It bodes well for our hoteliers and frankly bodes well for our winter season. We’re hearing very, very good things.”

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Simon Baker Gets Star on Walk of Fame

Today was a very special Valentine's Day for Simon Baker, as he received the 2, 490th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings

"It's about inspiration -- not for me, but for anyone else," said Baker when asked what the honor meant to him. "Nine out of ten people might walk across that star and not know who my name is, but someone might come along and it might inspire them."

As a young actor, Baker drew on the inspiration of those around him to gain the confidence needed to get to where he is today.

"Like a lot of young actors, I was filled with self-doubt," said The Mentalist star. "I was incredibly fortunate to meet people who believed in me more than I believed in myself."

Perhaps his biggest supporter was his wife Rebecca, whom he wed in 1998.

"My wife once gave me a card that said, 'Opportunity, having knocked, moves on.' And the most important opportunity that I took advantage of in my life was marrying her," Baker said before kissing his wife who was in attendance.

Click the video to hear what Naomi Watts had to say about her friend of more than 20 years.

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Slain SI mom remembered

Steven Sierra spoke about his “roller coaster” marriage with his wife Sarai as hundreds payed their last respects tonight to the Staten Island mom who was mysteriously slain on a solo trip to Europe.

“We were looking to grow old together,” the jilted husband said during the Valentine’s Day wake, choking up at times.

Sarai went missing on Feb 3 and it was later reported that she had been seeing a man identified as Tarkan K. Turkish newspapers said the man had sex with Sarai in a bar restroom before she disappeared.

“Despite the roller coaster that we'd been through in our marriage ... The love was truly so deep, so rooted, that we always made it through,” Steven said.

James Messerschmidt

Sarai Sierra's husband Steven at the wake.

Her two young sons, Sion and Silas, sat quietly on relatives’ laps at Christian Pentecostal Church while dad Steven — who proposed to his wife on Valentine’s Day fifteen years ago — met mourners near the closed white coffin bearing the 33-year-old Silver Lake mom’s remains.

Sierra’s friends and family smiled through tears as videos of Sarai — as a child with her dad, Dennis Jimenez, on the beach with Steven, and pregnant with her kids — played on large screens set up on either side of the church altar.

Before his wife was slain, Sierra poured his heart out on social media, indicating their marital strife.

“Don’t cheat in relationship [sic],” reads Steven Sierra’s Instagram posting dated Dec. 28.

FBI sources said Sierra had been seen with a “criminal element” before she disappeared. Investigators have questioned several people in her death and are reportedly looking for a homeless man in connection with the murder.

“It doesn’t sound like they’re describing the girl I know,” Carlo said.

“There’s been so many things said, and so many things untrue. If we would just stick to what actually happened, I think it would help, but unfortunately (there’s) a lot of innuendos and things.

Longtime family friend Danny Gonzalez said the community has rallied around the Sierra boys.

“They want to understand that out of sad stories, you have to find something positive in it,” Gonzalez said.

“The [boys] understand what happened, they’re receiving a lot of love from their family and friends.

Sierra will be buried Friday morning.

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Bobby Flay’s Burger Palace coming to Dadeland as part of expansion wing

When Dadeland Mall opens its new expansion wing later this year, diners will be able to enjoy the first Bobby Flay Burger Palace in Florida and nearly a half dozen new dining options.

The highlight of the new two-story expansion is the outdoor terrace offering diners a view of the bustling Kendall Drive. This area aims to turn the mall into more of an entertainment destination, following a trend set years ago by others areas malls including Aventura Mall, Sawgrass Mills and Dolphin Mall.

The first phase of the 102,000 square foot expansion wing will open starting in May with the arrival of 18 new retailers, including Tommy Bahama, Hugo Boss, Microsoft, Stuart Weitzman, PUMA, Donald J Pliner, Porsche Design, Urban Outfitters, Express and Original Penguin.

The restaurants are expected to open in the fall.

The new wing, which was built on the site of the former Limited store location, is designed to open the mall up to Kendall Drive.

“It feels like a whole new Dadeland,” said Maria Prado, the mall’s general manager. “We’re going to have that entertainment component that we’ve been missing. This is going to take us to the next level and give people more reason to come and stay longer.”

Joining Chef Bobby Flay’s restaurant will be Aoki Teppanyaki, Balans, Earls Kitchen + Bar and Aroma Espresso Bar located on the ground floor. Aoki Teppanyaki is the first of a new concept by Kevin Aoki, the son of Benihana’s late founder Rocky Aoki. Earls is an upscale casual dining chain based out of Canada and this will be its first location on the east coast.

Aoki’s restaurant, which is designed to feel like a Kyoto-style Japanese Village, will include teppanyaki tables, a sushi bar and sake bar.

“It’s a tribute to my father and all his hard work in creating Benihana,” Kevin Aoki said. “I’m not trying to compete with Benihana. I’m trying to open a restaurant and create excitement using the things I’ve learned from my father and my experience.”

A spokesman for Bobby Flay said he chose Dadeland for his first Florida location because of the traffic and demographics in the area. This is the beginning of plans by Flay to expand Bobby’s Burger Palace to other locations in South Florida.

The other new retailers coming to Dadeland: Vince Camuto, Tesla Motors, Everything But Water, Fit2Run, babycottons, Luggage & More and ALO Diamonds.

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Kendall teen shot inside home; rushed to hospital in critical condition

A Kendall teen is in critical condition at a local hospital after being shot at his home Wednesday afternoon.

According to Miami-Dade police, they were to a home near Southwest 118th Avenue and 99th Street at about 5 p.m. after reports of shots fired.

When they arrived, they found a 13-year-old boy had been shot. The teen was rushed to Miami Children’s hospital and is listed in critical condition.

Inside the home at the time at the shooting were three juveniles and one adult. No arrest have been made

The cause of the shooting is still under investigation.

This story will be updated when more information is available.

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Artists You Should Know: Emeli Sande

British recording artist and songwriter Emeli Sandé is already making waves in the UK and hopes to become the latest in a growing list of British musicians that have taken over the world in recent times. Her debut album Our Version of Events is the UK's biggest selling album of 2012 and with her lyrically rich songs powered by an incredible voice, I have no doubt she is the next Global superstar. I recently chatted with Emeli before her gig at the ChapStick Sessions Concert in partnership with MySpace. Check out our full interview below and be sure to watch the concert footage above for a special performance of her latest single, Next To Me.

PICS: Candid Celeb Sightings

ETonline: You are one of music's rising stars, have a number one album (UK) for Our Version of Events, sang at the open and closing of the Olympics, and a new hit single Next To Me, how has the ride to fame been for you?

Emeli: It definitely feels surreal. It's been an incredible year and so much has happened that I didn't expect to happen so quickly. It's definitely been the type of year that you dream about as a kid so I'm very happy.

How much would you say your life has changed?

Dramatically it's definitely changed a lot. But I try to keep grounded by just focusing on the music so that part hasn't changed. But day to day it's so busy and you have less and less time to have alone and to write but it's all good that's why you do it in the first place.

A lot of wonderful talent has emerged from the UK in recent years so I've got to ask you, what's in the water over there??

(Laughs) Yeah I'm not sure! It feels like a really good time and I'm really proud to be part of this kind of new generation of musicians that are doing something quite creative. I think we all feel kind of free to experiment with different genres and it's such a small place so we all know each other and can learn from one another.

Tell me about your writing process. Are certain types of songs more easily driven by a lyric or music?

Sometimes when I play something on piano, the tone of it can inspire a feeling. But usually it's a concept that will pop in to my mind or a phrase or if I'm reading something it will spark something or a different way of thinking about the same subject. Usually it's the words but sometimes when I sit at the piano it all falls into place.

What would you say is your favorite lyric you've ever written?

I really like "when the floor is more familiar than the ceiling," just because whenever I sing that lyric I imagine somebody stuck to the floor, someone stuck to the ceiling. I've always been inspired by people that can make you see things so clearly with few words. And that's what I try to channel when I'm writing.

Is there any artist you're hoping to collaborate with in the future? Who are you currently listening to?

I think Drake is amazing lyrically; he's really doing something different I think. I love Frank Ocean as well. There's a lot of new people too, Ed Sheeran ... there's a lot of people I think are great. I love Rihanna, everyone does, and I think what she's doing is very honest and I really respect that.

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Share and share alike

Several friends and I are renting a ski house this winter. Although most have been good about keeping things tidy, two of my girlfriends are absolute slobs. How do I get them to clean up their act? —Lorna B., Long Island City, Queens

Isn’t it amazing what you can learn about people you think you know simply by spending some time together under the same roof? I’ll bet while you’re grumbling about these messy Bessies, they’re complaining to anyone who will listen that you’re uptight.

You could probably ease up on these two if the areas in question are their own rooms — as long as the messes don’t creep into the space of others (or attract critters). The same cannot be said for common areas like the kitchen, bathroom and living room, where everyone shares responsibility for keeping things pristine.

In private, have a gentle-but-firm conversation with the offenders. Your goal should not be to embarrass, but to convey the importance of maintaining a tidy quality in shared living spaces. They might not become “cleanliness is next to godliness” converts, but even their grudging cooperation will mean a more enjoyable environment for everyone else.

I’ve put together a great ski house in Vermont for Presidents Day weekend, but one member of the group pulled out at the last minute due to a work emergency. He’s now asked me to find someone to take his place. Shouldn’t he be the one to find a substitute? — Arthur D., Englewood, NJ

Ah, the joys of organizing a group getaway. You find the house, negotiate a rate, find the right mix of people, sign a lease, send a deposit and then, just when you think your work is done, someone drops out and dumps the responsibility of finding a replacement on you.

Work emergencies happen, of course, and his coming to you first was the right course of action. For all he knew, you had a waiting list of friends eager to join. However, at this stage, I’m guessing you have neither the time nor the desire, and you’re fully within your rights to expect the canceler to find his own understudy.

If he’s unable to come up with another person at this late date, he must be prepared to pay the full share amount. Under no circumstances should his work crisis become your monetary one.

We’re invited annually to spend a weekend in the Catskills with friends who own a ski house. They’re always so generous, but refuse our offers to take them out to dinner during our stay. Any thoughts on how we can repay them for their hospitality? — Trina K., Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Start with a great hostess gift . . . ideally something for the house. (After many shared weekends together, you should know their taste by now.) Bring food and spirits, too — some to be consumed during your visit, some to be left for their enjoyment at a later date. When you get back home, send them an invite for a home-cooked meal at your place. And last but not least, don’t forget the thank-you note.

Next column: Newspaper nabbers and other neighbor nuisances. Got a question? E-mail me at
t
estingthemarketnyc@gmail.com or Tweet me @MisterManners.

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South Florida group commits to investing in U.S. Century Bank

U.S. Century Bank has signed off on its deal to recapitalize with cash from a high-profile group of local investors, allowing the Doral bank to remain independent.

The investment team, led by brothers Jimmy and Kenny Tate of Tate Capital, Sergio Rok of Rok Enterprises and Jorge Perez of Related Group, has expertise in buying distressed assets and promises to fortify U.S. Century to give it a financial foundation for success.

“We believe that our group, coupled with the additional investors we’re bringing in, will prove to be the proper brain trust needed in order to clean up the past and build a beautiful bank in the future,” said Jimmy Tate, 49.

The “handpicked” group is composed of about 10 prominent South Florida business leaders with substantial experience, who will each be making a significant investment, said Tate, who did not yet have their approvals to name them all, but said he hopes to soon.

“They are the leading businessmen in South Florida, and they are philanthropic, and they have South Florida at heart,” he said. “And they are very excited about this endeavor because they believe, as I believe, that there is a strong demand for a well-capitalized community bank that serves the banking needs of the local community.”

As part of the deal, the group will pump $50 million in capital into U.S. Century, becoming majority owners. In addition, the group will pay about $90 million to buy certain loans, including all $98 million of U.S. Century’s non-performing loans. The deal will also provide for a negotiated amount of more than $5 million to be paid to the federal government for U.S. Century’s $50.2 million in TARP funds, said U.S. Century President and Chief Executive Carlos J. Dávila.

“I certainly think this will be a very positive transaction for all the major stakeholders, meaning the community, the shareholders and our employees,” Dávila said.

U.S. Century’s 441 existing shareholders will remain as stockholders, though their percentage of ownership will shrink. Those shareholders will have the option to invest additional capital along with the new group, Dávila said.

The deal is the culmination of years of searching for capital for struggling U.S. Century, whose agreement to be bought by C1 Bank of St. Petersburg was called off by C1 in December.

U.S. Century, a Hispanic-oriented bank that opened in 2002, has been operating under a regulatory consent order since June 2011, which has mandated that it raise capital, among other issues.

The new deal, which is now under a signed letter of intent, should bring the bank “close” to regulators’ requirement of an 8 percent capital ratio, Dávila said.

“For a bank that is in distress or under a consent order where there is a requirement to raise capital, the terms and conditions of this deal are extremely reasonable and fair for the existing shareholders,” he said.

Furthermore, U.S. Century, with $1 billion in assets and 24 branches, now will get a new shot at life as one of the only remaining locally owned community banks of its size. Others, like City National Bank of Florida and BankAtlantic have been sold in recent years to foreign owners or larger U.S. banks.

Tate and his team have been working on the deal since January, after first making an unsolicited offer while the C1 deal was under way.

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Marco Rubio’s school voucher plan shows strong Jeb Bush ties

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio immediately followed his rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night by releasing a “school-choice” bill to allow taxpayers to subsidize private-school education for poor kids.

By putting legislation where his mouth is, Rubio wanted to reinforce the theme of his speech — that conservative policy is good for the poor and working class.

The legislation, which revolves around tax credits, also makes good on a 2010 Rubio campaign pledge, and reinforces his strong ties to former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, his friend and mentor whose nonprofit education foundation helped shape the legislation.

Bush passed a similar school-choice voucher program in 2001, which Rubio voted for while he served in the Florida House.

If Florida’s experience is any measure, though, Democrats, teacher unions and some church-and-state separatists will oppose the scholarship-voucher program, saying it indirectly uses tax money to fund private, and often religious education.

“It’s not about unions. It’s not about school administrators,” Rubio said in an interview. “This is about parents. The only parents in America who don’t have a choice where their kids go to school are poor parents.”

Though Rubio’s rhetoric adopts longstanding Democratic talking points about the disadvantaged, the legislation will have a tough time in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

Across the nation, Democrats and teacher unions have faced off with Bush and his nonprofit foundation as it pushes for more school-choice legislation. Rubio’s legislation, in conjunction with Bush’s lobbying efforts, could bring the fight to Capitol Hill.

It can be a good wedge issue as well for Republicans; black lawmakers, who tend to be Democratic, often support school-choice laws aimed at poor children.

The legislation also highlights the closeness of Rubio and Bush amid Washington speculation that the two might have a rivalry as each eyes a White House bid. Associates of the two say it’s far more likely Rubio will run than Bush; and there’s no real rivalry between them as both take leadership roles in the national immigration debate.

Rubio’s involvement in rounding up conservative support for immigration reform was a key factor in his selection by GOP leaders to rebut President Barack Obama’s speech. Rubio, however, doesn’t want to be limited to immigration policy — a reason he announced his Educational Opportunities Act right after his speech. The legislation should be introduced Wednesday.

Before his Tuesday night national address, Democrats accused him of supporting “extreme” budget policies that would cut social-welfare programs.

Democrats are sure to zero in on a potential irony of his legislation: It could technically increase the debt at the same time Rubio is talking about debt reduction.

Rubio said he doesn’t know how much the legislation could cost the federal treasury. It has not been analyzed yet, or scored, by the Congressional Budget Office. About 11 states have similar tax-credit programs with about $405 million in tax credits for 148,300 students.

Under Rubio’s legislation, corporations or individuals could annually donate a maximum $100,000 or $4,500, respectively. The money, for which the donor receives a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, flows to a nonprofit “Scholarship Grant Organization,” which then distributes money to private schools on behalf of thousands of students.

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Oscar Nominees Before They Were Famous

As hard as it may be to believe, Oscar nominees Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence were once fresh-faced actors itching for their big break in the biz.

Pics: Star Sightings!

Click the video to see the five stars (before they became famous) in their very first on-screen roles!

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Who failed Chicago?

Michelle Malkin

As her husband delivered his annual State of the Union Address last night, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the parents of an innocent teenage girl shot and killed by Chicago gang thug. On Friday, President Obama will travel to the Windy City to decry violence and crusade for more gun laws in the town with the strictest gun laws and bloodiest gun-related death tolls in America.

Does the White House really want to open up a national conversation about the state of Chicago? OK, let’s talk.

Obama, his wife, his campaign strategists, his closest cronies, and his biggest bundlers all hail from Chicago. Senior adviser and former Chicago real estate mogul/city planning commissioner Valerie Jarrett and her old boss, Richard Daley, presided over a massive “Plan for Transformation” in the mid-1990s to rescue taxpayer-subsidized public housing from its bloody hellhole. How’d that work out for you, Chicago?

Answer: This social-justice experiment failed miserably. A Chicago Tribune investigation found that after Daley/Jarrett dumped nearly $500 million of federal funding into crime-ridden housing projects, the housing complexes (including the infamous Altgeld-Murray homes) remained dangerous, drug-infested, racially segregated ghettos.

Altgeld is a long-troubled public housing complex on Chicago’s South Side where youth violence has proven immune to “community organizing” solutions and the grand redevelopment schemes championed by Obama and company.

In fact, as I’ve reported previously, it’s the same nightmarish ’hood where Obama cut his teeth as a community activist — and exaggerated his role in cleaning up asbestos in the neighborhood, according to fellow progressive foot soldiers. As always, Obama’s claims to success there were far more aspirational than concrete.

In the meantime, lucrative contracts went to politically-connected Daley pals in the developer world to “save” Chicago youth and families. Another ghetto housing project, the Grove Parc slum, was managed by Jarrett’s former real-estate empire, Habitat, Inc. Jarrett refused to answer questions about the dilapidated housing development after becoming the top consigliere in the Obama administration.

But as the Boston Globe’s Binyamin Appelbaum, who visited the slums several years ago, reported: “Federal inspectors graded the condition of the complex an 11 on a 100-point scale — a score so bad the buildings now face demolition. . . . [Jarrett] co-managed an even larger subsidized complex in Chicago that was seized by the federal government in 2006, after city inspectors found widespread problems.”

Grove Parc and several other monumental housing flops “were developed and managed by Obama’s close friends and political supporters. Those people profited from the [federal] subsidies even as many of Obama’s constituents suffered.”

Democrats poured another $30 million in public money into the city’s public schools to curb youth violence over the last three years. The New York Times hailed the big-government plan to fund more social workers, community organizers and mentors and create jobs for at-risk youth.

But watchdogs on the ground exposed it as a wasteful “makework scheme.” One local activist nicknamed it “Jobs for Jerks” because “it rewards some of the worst students in the school system with incredibly rare employment opportunities while leaving good students to fend for themselves.”

Obama and his ineffectual champions of Chicago’s youth will demand more taxpayer “investments” to throw at the problem. But money is no cure for the soaring fatherlessness, illegitimacy and family disintegration that have characterized Chicago inner-city life since Obama’s hero Saul Alinsky pounded the pavement.

As City Journal’s Heather MacDonald noted in a damning indictment of the do-gooders’ failures, “official silence about illegitimacy and its relation to youth violence remains as carefully preserved in today’s Chicago as it was during Obama’s organizing time there.”

Team Obama will find perverted ways to lay blame for Chicago’s youth violence crisis on the NRA, Fox News, George Bush and the Tea Party. But as the community organizer-in-chief prepares to evade responsibility again, he should remember: When you point one finger at everyone else, four other fingers point right back at you-know-who.

malkinblog@gmail.com

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Green cards for sale at a South Beach hotel: Competition is on for EB5 investment visas

If David Hart gets his way, South Beach’s 42-room Astor Hotel will be on a hiring spree this year as it adds concierge service, a roof-top pool, an all-night diner, spa and private-car service available 24 hours a day.

New hires will be crucial to Hart’s business plan, since foreign investors have agreed to pay about $50,000 for each job created by the Art Deco boutique.

The Miami immigration lawyer specializes in arranging visas for wealthy foreign citizens under a special program that trades green cards for investment dollars. Businesses get the money and must use it to boost payroll. The minimum investment is $500,000 to add at least 10 jobs to the economy. That puts the pressure on Hart and his partners at the Astor to beef up payroll dramatically, with plans to take a hotel with roughly 20 employees to one with as many as 100 workers.

“My primary responsibility is to make something happen here over the next two years that will create the jobs we need,’’ Hart said a few steps away from a nearly empty restaurant on a recent weekday morning. “It’s all going to be transformed.”

Though established in the 1990s, the “EB5” visas soared in popularity during the recession as developers sought foreign cash to replace dried-up credit markets in the United States.

Chinese investors dominate the transactions, accounting for about 65 percent of the nearly 9,000 EB5 visas granted since 2006. South Korea finishes a distant second at 12 percent and the United Kingdom holds the third-place slot at 3 percent. If Latin America and the Caribbean were one country, they would rank No. 4 on the list, with 231 EB5 visas granted, or about 3 percent of the total.

Competition has gotten stiffer for the deep-pocketed foreign investors willing to pay for green cards. The University of Miami’s bio-science research park near the Jackson hospital system raised $20 million from 40 foreign investors under the EB5 program, most of them from Asia. The money went into the park’s first building; visa brokers are waiting to see if the second building will proceed so they can offer a new pool of potential green-card sales.

In Hollywood, the stalled $131 million Margaritaville resort had hoped to raise about $75 million from EB5 investors before ditching that plan last year to pursue more traditional financing. A retail complex by developer Jeff Berkowitz in Coral Gables also launched a program to raise $50 million in EB5 money for the project, Gables Station. Hart worked with other EB5 investors to back pizza restaurants in Miami and South Beach. A limestone mine in Martin County also was backed by EB5 dollars.

This year, the city of Miami itself is expected to get into the business by setting up an EB5 program to raise foreign cash for a range of city businesses and developments. The first would be the tallest building in the city — developer Tibor Hollo’s planned 85-story apartment tower, the Panorama, in downtown Miami.

With a construction cost of about $700 million, Miami’s debut EB5 venture hopes to raise about $100 million from foreign investors, said Laura Reiff, the Greenberg Traurig lawyer in Virginia working with Miami on the EB5 effort. “This is a marquis project,’’ she said.

The arrangement is a novel one for Miami, with the city planning to help a private developer raise funds overseas for a new high-rise. And it would allow Hollo and future participants to tout the city of Miami’s endorsement when competing with other Miami-area projects for EB5 dollars. “We will have the benefit of the brand of the city of Miami,’’ said Mikki Canton, the $6,000-a-month city consultant heading Miami’s EB5 effort. “A lot of these others are privately owned and they won’t have that brand.”

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Related could give jolt to long overdue Watson Island development plans

The long overdue development of Watson Island, stalled for a dozen years by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a collapsed economy, may have received a huge jolt when New York’s Related Companies agreed to study the plan and possibly join forces in its development.

Developer Mehmet Bayraktar, who won the right to develop on the waterfront crown jewel back in 2001, said Monday that the company run by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has signed a Letter of Intent to “co-develop” the entire project.

“They will come in and we will work together jointly on the whole project. We’re co-developers or co-investors,” Bayraktar said Monday.

He described a Letter of Intent as a non-binding agreement in which both sides agree to do due diligence and spend time and money studying the plans. “It’s like an engagement, or a promissory note,” he said.

Ross was out of town Monday and couldn’t be reached for comment. Ric Katz, a public relations hand hired to help the Dolphins with the push to get public money for Sun Life Stadium renovations, couldn’t confirm the agreement late Monday.

According to Bayraktar, Related would be involved in three main components of the proposal: a hotel and residential complex, retail and a giant mega-yacht facility meant to lure some of the wealthiest people in the world. He estimated the project he won with a $281 million bid in 2001would likely balloon to a cost of about $800 million today. If Related absorbs 50 percent of the deal, it could put Ross’ investment close to $400 million.

“We’re planning to start building this fall,” said Bayraktar, who said he’s known Ross for many years.

The news was all good to Miami leaders who have struggled in dealing with Bayraktar, especially the past three years, when he fell behind in rent by as much as $500,000.

Several times they’ve threatened to kill the plan and reopen the bid to prospective developers. Each time, however, Bayraktar has been able to make required payments before the city rebid the project. Other times lobbyist Brian May was persuasive enough in pleading Bayraktar’s case that commissioners stalled killing the deal. “It’s fantastic news,” said Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, who represents the district that encompasses Watson Island, a large circular spit of land that links Miami Beach to the mainland. “It shows we have someone who has the ability to get the ball across the goal. This type of project is right up his [Ross’] alley.”

Related, which specializes in high-end residential properties, also built New York’s Time Warner Center and CityPlace in West Palm Beach; it is currently working on the high-profile 26-acre Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s West Side.

Bayraktar has been beset by problems since he won the right through a public vote to develop on Watson Island in November 2001.

The original $281 million plan would have yielded Miami a pair of ritzy hotels, one 18 floors and the other 28 floors. Shops, gardens, and restaurants were planned for more than 221,000 square feet of retail space, and a 54-slip mega-yacht complex called for matching 470-foot platforms.

Bayraktar’s company, the Flagstone Property Group, was to pay Miami $1 million a year in rent during the two years it would take to build, then $2 million a year and a percentage of retail and hotel room sales. Miami leaders drooled at the thought of $250 million into its coffers over the project’s 45-year lease.

But construction stalled as banks backed away after 9/11 and Bayraktar fought lawsuits and money issues. When the economy began to tank again in 2007 and banks again wouldn’t commit to the plan, the city granted him extensions.

Bayraktar and May have been a constant presence at City Hall since early 2010, soon after Tomás Regalado was elected mayor and made saving the Flagstone plan one of his top priorities.

“We expect to be open by 2016,” said Bayraktar.

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Bachelor Recap Sean's Sister Provides Perspective on Tierra

Apparently there is one girl whose words have weight enough to sway The Bachelor from his affections for Tierra, and that's his sister Shay.

One week prior to the all-important hometown dates, Sean flies his sister to St. Croix to help him work out his feelings for the remaining six. Harking back to her sage, sisterly advice before he embarked on his Bachelor adventure, Shay tells Sean not to "end up with a girl no one likes." The words strike a painful chord with him seeing as Tierra's alienation from the other ladies is no longer a secret.

Pics: 'The Bachelor' Scorecard (Did the Relationships Sizzle or Fizzle?)

Inspired to test his sister's intuition, Sean decides to introduce Tierra to his sibling, but when he arrives to the ladies' hotel, the resident mean girl is found weeping after an all-out war of words with AshLee. At first dismayed by her pain, Sean comes to realize the humane thing to do would be to send Tierra home, fearing she won't be able to handle the more stressful weeks ahead.

"I can't believe they did this to me!" are Tierra's departing words as she is sent packing. "I hope the girls got what they wanted."

During the final rose ceremony in St. Croix, Lesley is cut loose from the remaining five. Despite their incredible connection and friendship, Sean worries that the relationship had gone stagnant.

Pics: Meet 'Bachelor' Sean Lowe's Lucky Ladies!

A confused, crying Catherine takes Lesley's elimination especially hard as she believed that Sean and Les, in her opinion, were better suited for eachother than she will ever be with Mr. Lowe.

Next Monday on ABC, Desiree, Lindsay, Catherine and AshLee will get to introduce their maybe-husband-to-be to the family, but it seems the hometown dates don't go over as well for Des in particular, whose protective brother appears unwilling to accept her "playboy" boyfriend.

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Bus strike: ayor Mike wins

Michael Benjamin

This afternoon, it will be checkmate for the school-bus strikers. The strike essentially ends — thanks to the Bloomberg gambit.

The mayor played it perfectly, and willingly sacrificed pieces to achieve his endgame.

At midday today, the Office of Pupil Transportation will open the bid packages for the K-12 school-bus routes. It can start service under the new contracts before September — though not as soon as parents hope, since the contracts must go through the city’s lengthy review process. Still, those bids are what the strike was supposed to stop.

AP

Losers: Local 1181 boss Michael Cordiello (r.) with International ATU chief Larry Hanley.

But yesterday, in a bid to be competitive, several bus companies went to court to void the employee protections in current contracts and to halt the new bids.

If that suit fails, a mix of new and currently-contracted bus companies will likely win contracts. Meanwhile, a number of bus companies with current contracts will probably decline to submit bids, because their union contracts would leave them uncompetitive. Their unionized employees, now on strike, would be out of jobs as of June 30.

For these workers, the only rational decision will be to return to work. Already in the last few days, workers have crossed union picket lines to return to their jobs.

After today (assuming the bus companies’ suit fails), it will make sense for more striking drivers and attendants to return for their last few months of pay and benefits, especially their health-care coverage. And it makes even more sense for these workers to seek work with the new companies.

In a sense, the worker-protection bubble finally burst. Small bus companies and their workers are collateral victims; the worker protections put those companies, already operating on a slim margin, at a competitive disadvantage.

When the city, citing court rulings, put out for bid new bus contracts that didn’t require the employee protections (as these contracts had for 35 years), that didn’t mean the bus companies could break their contracts with the unions to provide those priveleges. That left them handicapped in bidding, since they’d have higher labor costs than firms without the generous protections.

To stay competitive, the companies needed the union to work with them to lower costs. But the union instead went on strike — trying to force Bloomberg to retain the protections, and even to get the state to pass a new law to undo the court ruling.

When the National Labor Relations Board this month failed to force even a temporary resolution favorable to the union, the end was in sight.

Mind you, Mayor Bloomberg sacrificed a number of chess pieces to achieve his endgame.

Parents, especially of special-needs children, are angry at him for four weeks of educational disruption. The stress on special-needs kids is incalculable. The city schools lose federal funding for students who couldn’t attend during the strike.

Bloomberg alienated the bus company operators — who feel caught in the middle of the dispute — by not paying them for service they didn’t (couldn’t) deliver during the strike.

Finally, after more than a decade of fairly good labor relations, he will be remembered for breaking one union’s hold on an industry.

Bloomberg’s bold gambit will benefit his successors, who won’t be saddled with needlessly high school-busing costs.

If the city’s lucky, the mayor in his final months in office will use similar gambits to tackle some of the much larger union-benefit issues that are consuming ever-larger chunks of the municipal budget.

Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!

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Green cards for sale at a South Beach hotel: Competition is on for EB5 investment visas

If David Hart gets his way, South Beach’s 42-room Astor Hotel will be on a hiring spree this year as it adds concierge service, a roof-top pool, an all-night diner, spa and private-car service available 24 hours a day.

New hires will be crucial to Hart’s business plan, since foreign investors have agreed to pay about $50,000 for each job created by the Art Deco boutique.

The Miami immigration lawyer specializes in arranging visas for wealthy foreign citizens under a special program that trades green cards for investment dollars. Businesses get the money and must use it to boost payroll. The minimum investment is $500,000 to add at least 10 jobs to the economy. That puts the pressure on Hart and his partners at the Astor to beef up payroll dramatically, with plans to take a hotel with roughly 20 employees to one with as many as 100 workers.

“My primary responsibility is to make something happen here over the next two years that will create the jobs we need,’’ Hart said a few steps away from a nearly empty restaurant on a recent weekday morning. “It’s all going to be transformed.”

Though established in the 1990s, the “EB5” visas soared in popularity during the recession as developers sought foreign cash to replace dried-up credit markets in the United States.

Chinese investors dominate the transactions, accounting for about 65 percent of the nearly 9,000 EB5 visas granted since 2006. South Korea finishes a distant second at 12 percent and the United Kingdom holds the third-place slot at 3 percent. If Latin America and the Caribbean were one country, they would rank No. 4 on the list, with 231 EB5 visas granted, or about 3 percent of the total.

Competition has gotten stiffer for the deep-pocketed foreign investors willing to pay for green cards. The University of Miami’s bio-science research park near the Jackson hospital system raised $20 million from 40 foreign investors under the EB5 program, most of them from Asia. The money went into the park’s first building; visa brokers are waiting to see if the second building will proceed so they can offer a new pool of potential green-card sales.

In Hollywood, the stalled $131 million Margaritaville resort had hoped to raise about $75 million from EB5 investors before ditching that plan last year to pursue more traditional financing. A retail complex by developer Jeff Berkowitz in Coral Gables also launched a program to raise $50 million in EB5 money for the project, Gables Station. Hart worked with other EB5 investors to back pizza restaurants in Miami and South Beach. A limestone mine in Martin County also was backed by EB5 dollars.

This year, the city of Miami itself is expected to get into the business by setting up an EB5 program to raise foreign cash for a range of city businesses and developments. The first would be the tallest building in the city — developer Tibor Hollo’s planned 85-story apartment tower, the Panorama, in downtown Miami.

With a construction cost of about $700 million, Miami’s debut EB5 venture hopes to raise about $100 million from foreign investors, said Laura Reiff, the Greenberg Traurig lawyer in Virginia working with Miami on the EB5 effort. “This is a marquis project,’’ she said.

The arrangement is a novel one for Miami, with the city planning to help a private developer raise funds overseas for a new high-rise. And it would allow Hollo and future participants to tout the city of Miami’s endorsement when competing with other Miami-area projects for EB5 dollars. “We will have the benefit of the brand of the city of Miami,’’ said Mikki Canton, the $6,000-a-month city consultant heading Miami’s EB5 effort. “A lot of these others are privately owned and they won’t have that brand.”

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Carnival cruise ship in Gulf of Mexico to be towed after engine fire

A Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico with 3,000 passengers onboard will be towed to port after an engine fire Sunday morning left it drifting, a cruise line official said,

The fire occurs in the engine room of the Carnival Triumph, which is owned by the Miami-based company.

The fire left the ship with no propulsion, the cruise line says, CNN is reporting.

There were no injuries reported. Passengers and crew have food, water and electricity from generators. Another Carnival ship, the Elation, is transferring more food and drinks onto the Triumph

The cruise ship was in waters off the Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Tx., when the fire occurred, said Astevia Gonzalez from the Carnival Cruises family support team.

The ship's automatic fire extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the blaze.

The fire still left the ship passengers and 1,000 crew members drifting about 150 miles off the Mexican coast, the cruise line said in a statement.

"The ship's technical crew has determined the vessel will need to be towed to port," Carnival said around 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, CNN said. "A tugboat is en route to the ship's location and will tow the vessel to Progreso, Mexico, which is the closest port."

According to Gonzalez, the ship is expected to arrive in port Wednesday.

After they are towed to Progreso, those aboard the Carnival Triumph will be flown back to the United States at no cost to them, the cruise line said.

They will also get a full refund, credit that can be used toward a future trip and reimbursement for all expenses — except casino and gift shop purchases — for their current trip.

The vessel's next two departures, scheduled for Monday and Saturday, have been canceled. Those slated to be on those trips will get full refunds and discounts toward future cruises, the cruise line said.

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Up-Close with Grammy Stars The Lumineers at Clive Davis Bash

ET's Brooke Anderson was on the red carpet for Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy bash and spoke to some of the industry's briggest stars, including one of the year's biggest phenomenons, the Grammy-nominated Lumineers!

"It feels pretty incredible. I mean we wrote music just to satisfy ourselves, so to be recognized at all is a huge honor for us," said Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers. When asked about what the band had planned for its Grammy performance, band mate Stelth Ulvang said the viewers would just have to tune in to find out. "We try to change it up every time, so we're still working on it."

PICS: Star Sightings

Jordin Sparks spoke to Brooke about the different tone of this year's party compared to 2012, when Whitney Houston passed away. "It's just crazy that it's been a year, but she (Whitney) would want everybody to have a good time and to be hear and celebrate music, because that is what she loved," Sparks said. "I'm happy to be here and to honor her in that way because I know she would want me to be here happy." 

This year's event -- sponsored by Davis and the Recording Academy -- honored Epic Records' Chairman and CEO Antonio L.A. Reid.

VIDEO: Flo Rida's Ready For His Big Grammy Moment

Watch the video for more interviews, including Kelsey Grammer on being a new dad again and Ryan Lochte on how he got in shape for his underwear ad!

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The true subway peril

Nicole Gelinas

The Transport Workers Union won a round last Thursday in its war with the MTA, when the TWU’s month-long campaign against subway-track deaths scored it a packed City Council hearing.

Lost in the drama was the fact that riding on the subways is one of the safest things you can do — and what little danger there is comes from the MTA’s crushing fiscal burden, an area where the TWU is far from innocent.

Frustrated after a year without a contract, the union has taken a novel approach to labor relations: telling customers that the MTA doesn’t care if you die.

Stefan Jeremiah

Slower trains would be longer waits: The backup at the Marcy Avenue stop in Williamsburg, after partial J and M service was restored after Sandy.

At the City Hall subway station, union members handed out “MetroCards” with a message: the “blood”-spattered cards warned “use at your risk” and featured a skeletal MTA exec dressed as the Grim Reaper.

The council ate it up. Transportation Committee Chairman James Vacca intoned, “The cost of doing business is $2.25, not your life. One death on our city’s subway tracks is one death too many.”

Councilfolk spent two hours grilling MTA brass on why they’re so heartless that they don’t take basic steps to save lives, ranging from slowing down trains to putting “life preserver” rope kits on platforms to spending billions to install barriers with sliding doors.

Councilwoman Liz Crowley of Queens left her understanding of physics at home, noting that slower passenger-car speed limits save lives. “These are rail cars,” one MTA official explained. That is, they’re heavy enough to kill even at lower speeds.

No one brought up the obvious: Riding the subway (or waiting for one) is pretty safe.

At first glance, it’s shocking to see that 55 people died last year in some kind of collision with a subway train.

But 291 people died in above-ground car and truck crashes crashes in the city, including 176 walkers and bikers. Nationwide, you’re about 71 times more likely (per mile traveled) to die in a car crash than a rail crash.

And the subway’s not getting more dangerous. While the death total has been as low as 34 in recent years, it was 55 in 2007, just like last year. Plus, it’s not clear that extraordinary measures would save many of these lives.

People may think that most subway deaths are “pushing” murders — but December’s two such crimes were the only two that year. In a 2009 academic article studying more than four years’ worth of New York subway deaths (211 total) two doctors found that 52 percent were suicides.

Sadly, the MTA could spend billions protecting these folk from themselves only to see them jump off the George Washington Bridge instead, as one woman did last week.

And of the victims who didn’t kill themselves, nearly half had an average of twice the legal driving limit of alcohol in their blood. Altogether, nearly two-thirds of the accident victims were on alcohol or mind-altering drugs.

To that end, the MTA noted last week that a disproportionate number of deaths occur between 9 p.m. and midnight, not at crowded rush hours.

This is common sense: Drunks do dumb things — fall, fight (which resulted in three falls last year, not including the two pushings) or think it’s wise to climb down to get a dropped iPhone.

Most telling: Of the 211 deaths the doctors studied, 83 percent were men, reflecting men’s greater risk-taking behavior.

Since these deaths are already largely avoidable, it’s hard to see what we gain by spending billions trying to avoid them — or by slowing down trains, adding to long commutes and creating more crowding on busy platforms.

Speaking of crowding: The biggest risk is that the MTA won’t have enough money to grow its transit system as ridership grows — cramming more people onto crowded lines like the Lex, or forcing frustrated riders into cars, where they face more danger.

And the MTA’s biggest money drain is its rising pension and health costs for its workers. Such costs will grow by 6.2 percent and 8.2 percent respectively at the subway and bus unit each year, reaching nearly $2.5 billion by 2016.

Too bad no city councilman mentioned that.

Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.

Twitter: @nicolegelinas

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