Orthodox pre-teen allegedly sexually abused drew disapproval from sect leadership, says principal

She wasn’t like the other girls.

The yeshiva principal who forced an Orthodox Jewish pre-teen to continue seeing the Hasidic counselor prosecutors say sexually abused her testified that her clothes and behavior drew disapproval from the leadership of the insular Satmar sect.

“It was brought to my attention her behavior, her modesty, was not like the other girls,” Benzion Feuerwerger, a principal at the United Talmudical Academy in South Williamsburg, testified today in Brooklyn Supreme Court. “The principals were not happy and it came to the attention of the other rabbis, too.”

The school would have expelled the teen if she stopped going to prominent Hasidic leader Nechemya Weberman, 54, for counseling after her manner of dress — including her tights and the open top button of her shirt — drew reproach from the conservative Satmar sect, Feuerwerger testified.

Weberman allegedly sexually abused the girl during their counseling sessions over three years beginning when she was just 12 years old, prosecutors charge.

The recently married girl — who testified for four grueling days last week — turns 18 tomorrow.

“When we see a girl is not following the tradition, we try to work on it,” testified Feuerwerger, who answered, “Yes,” when asked if the goal of his school was to make sure the students followed “each and every role of Satmar.”

Feuerwerger, who is Weberman’s first cousin, drew incredulous laughter from several Orthodox spectators when he testified that the modesty squad — or Vaad Ha’Tnius — didn’t exist.

The alleged victim testified last week that part of the reason she was afraid to report Weberman was his Vaad Ha’Tnius membership.

The brave teen was so distraught when she reported the alleged abuse by Weberman that she fled the room, a social worker testified in the morning session.

“It took her awhile to get the words out. At the end of the session she uttered the words, ‘I was molested,’” said Sarah Fried, a social worker for a Jewish organization. “Then [she] ran out of the office.”

jsaul@nypost.com

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Police arrest couple for allegedly leaving kids at West Palm Beach bar

After guzzling down beers and throwing back some shots at BB King’s Restaurant and Blues Club in West Palm Beach, Amanda Marsh and her boyfriend Perry Buesking left the restaurant and walked to the CityPlace parking garage on Gardenia Avenue.

A few minutes later a 7-year-old boy and his 10-year-old brother went up to the bartender asking where their mom was.

A restaurant employee soon found Marsh, 28, and Buesking, 44, on the third floor of the parking garage and attempted to bring the kids to the couple.

An employee soon called police after Marsh denied being the mother of the two kids who were seen in the restaurant with her, according to a West Palm Beach Police probable cause affidavit.

Now the mother of two and her live-in boyfriend of five years are facing criminal charges in the Palm Beach County Jail. They were booked into the jail Saturday on charges of neglecting a child without great bodily harm, disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer. Marsh is being held in lieu of $15,000 and her boyfriend in lieu of $10,000, jail records show.

The boys told police they have been living in a van or in motels since October when Marsh and her boyfriend, Buesking, removed them from school in Arizona. The couple sold their property and the four have been on a “road trip” since then, the affidavit says.

Police were called to the parking lot around midnight Saturday and tried speaking with the couple and the restaurant employees.

Restaurant employees told police one of the workers stopped serving the couple alcohol and noticed soon after that they left the bar.

A few minutes later the boys asked where their mother was and that’s when the employee met up with them in the garage.

The employee asked Marsh if she has two kids. She responded “no”, the affidavit says.

Buesking began giving Marsh strange looks and finally spoke up and claimed the kids after Marsh denied the kids again.

While officers tried speaking with the couple, Marsh yelled obscenities while slurring her words and failing to maintain her balance.

She refused to answer if she was the mother of the two boys.

Then she tried to kick the officer but was unsuccessful as he swept her left leg using his right foot which caused her to fall to the ground. She was then handcuffed, the affidavit says.

“Her actions caused patrons walking to and from CityPlace to stop and stare,” the officer wrote.

Meanwhile, Buesking was cursing and smelled of alcohol. When told he was under arrest, Buesking tried walking away but was soon taken into custody.

Marsh has been taken into custody numerous times since 2002 in Florida and in other states. She has been arrested in Palm Beach County on charges of domestic battery, obstruction of justice, possession of paraphernalia and displaying another driver’s license.

She was arrested in 2007 in Arizona on two counts of driving under the influence while a person under the age of 15 is in the vehicle.

Records show she pleaded guilty to one count and the other was dropped.

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Is Pregnant Kate Middleton Having Twins

The royal couple has something extra to be thankful for this holiday season.

Related: Prince William & Kate Middleton Expecting a Baby

Prince William and his bride Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge, announced they're expecting a baby in the coming months. Tomorrow, ET breaks down all of the exciting details including rumors that the mother-to-be is pregnant with twins.

Also Tuesday, Melissa McCarthy's Vanity Fair exclusive!

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Bloomberg: Hillary Clinton would make a great mayor

Mayor Bloomberg wants Hillary Clinton to succeed him at City Hall.

In a recent telephone chat with the secretary of state he told her she’d make a terrific mayor, two sources told The Post.

Hizzoner - apparently unfazed that she lives in Westchester – told her it was a great job and one the one-time presidential contender should seriously consider.

The suggestion seems to suggest that Bloomberg - a one-time Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent - isn’t entirely thrilled with the current crop of mayoral candidates, who include his long-time ally City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

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The business behind the artist: Miami’s art gallery scene still evolving

This week, thousands of art collectors, museum trustees, artists, journalists and hipsters from around the globe will arrive for the phenomenon known as Art Basel Miami Beach. The centerpiece of the week: works shown at the convention center by more than 260 of the world’s top galleries.

Only two of those are from Miami.

While Art Basel has helped transform the city’s reputation from beach-and-party scene to arts destination in the years since its 2002 Miami Beach debut, the region’s gallery identity is still coming into its own.

“Certainly Miami as an art town registers mightily because of the foundations, the collectors who have done an extraordinary job,” said Linda Blumberg, executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “I think there’s a definite international awareness there. But the gallery scene probably has a bit of a ways to go. That doesn’t mean it’s not really fascinating and interesting.”

The gallery business, especially where newer artists are concerned, is a game of risk, faith and passion. Once a gallery takes on an artist who shows promise, they become an evangelist on their behalf, showing their work in-house and at fairs, presenting it to museums and curators and potential collectors and bearing the cost of that promotion.

For contemporary artists, most galleries take work on consignment, meaning they get a cut of as much as 50 percent when works sell. While local art galleries have been growing in number and popularity in the last several years — just try to find parking during the monthly art walk in Miami’s hot Wynwood neighborhood — even some of the area’s top art dealers say that while business overall is good, they struggle in the local marketplace.

“Our problem is that we have to do lots of art fairs in order to connect with the market that we need to connect with to sell the work that we have,” said Fredric Snitzer, a Miami-Dade gallery owner for 35 years. “The better the work is, the harder it is to sell in Miami. And that ain’t good.”

A handful of serious collectors call Miami home and store their own collections in Miami, including the Braman, Rubell, Margulies and de la Cruz families. But outside a relatively small local group, many gallerists say, their clients come from other parts of the country and world.

And some gallerists point out the troubling reality that even the powerhouse Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin could not stay open in Miami for more than a few years.

“The fact that big galleries have not been able to sustain their business models in South Florida tells you we’re obviously not at this high established point,” said gallery owner David Castillo. “It’s not like we’ve arrived, let’s sit back and watch Hauser & Wirth open down the street.”

Still, Miami’s gallery business has come a long way since the early 1970s, when a few dealers on Bay Harbor Island’s Kane Concourse were selling high-end pieces but the local scene was hardly embraced.

Virginia Miller, who owns ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, first opened in 1974 to showcase Florida artists, though her focus soon added an international scope. She and other longtime observers credit several factors for Miami’s transformation, including the community’s diversity, the establishment of important museums, the Art Miami fair that started 23 years ago, the presence of major collections and, of course, Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Passengers, signs warned driver to turn around before deadly crash at Miami International Airport

Seconds before a bus full of Jehovah’s Witnesses slammed into a low overpass at the Miami International Airport Saturday morning, passengers urged the driver to turn around, according to the daughter of one of the survivors.

“When he was going to go under the overpass, the people in the front of the bus told the driver that he was going a way that he shouldn’t,” said the daughter who didn’t want to be named because her pastor hadn’t said she could speak to reporters. “They told him to back up, but he didn’t pay attention and they crashed.”

The driver, Ramon Ferreiro, 47, took a route through the airport that is marked with three yellow warning signs for high vehicles, one of which is illuminated with blinking yellow lights.

His mistake had tragic consequences for two men who were sitting near the front: Serafin Castillo, 86, was killed on impact, and Francisco Urena, 57, died at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital soon after. Thirty other passengers went to the hospital, and two remained in critical condition late Sunday.

Ferreiro had been working for the Miami Bus Service for only a few months, according to Mayling Hernandez, who owns the company with her husband, Alberto. She said Ferreiro had driven for them “a few times before.”

The driver did not have any traffic violations on his personal driver’s license, and commercial records were not available on Sunday.

The company had never reviewed or traveled the route with the driver, and Hernandez insisted that the driver just made an honest mistake.

“We are human beings, just like the people who were on the bus. Human beings can make mistakes, and now we are mourning as human beings,” Hernandez said.

When asked if the driver knew the height of the 1999 Van Hool 57-passenger bus — which is more than 11 feet tall — Hernandez said, “I don’t know. Ask him.”

Hernandez said the Jehovah’s Witness congregation was referred to the Miami Bus Service by another bus company. There were two other buses that took members from the Sweetwater congregation to West Palm Beach, but Hernandez wouldn’t say if they were also from her company, declining to answer questions not directly related to the bus that crashed.

The regularly scheduled Sunday services at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 11699 West Flagler Street were canceled on Sunday so members could go to the annual general assembly meeting in West Palm Beach. The bus that crashed was bound for the same two-day conference, but it took a wrong turn into the airport at about 8 a.m. on Saturday.

The contract that the congregation had with the bus company will determine what kind of civil suits, if any, can be filed against the driver and the company, said Michael Milton, a Tallahassee attorney who deals with truck crashes and wrongful deaths.

Milton said the airport, a governmental agency run by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, would have sovereign immunity from civil suits. However, if the signs were deemed to be insufficient or erroneous, they could still be subject to charges of operational negligence.

The metal support of the overpass that sheared off the top of the bus on Saturday is marked as “Clearance 8’ - 6” ” but is actually more than 10 feet tall. Airport spokesman Mark Henderson was not able to explain the discrepancy but said, “Either way, the bus still would have hit.”

Friends of the victims were incredulous that the driver didn’t heed both the warning signs and the pleas of the passengers.

“It’s hard for me to believe this tragedy,” said Oswaldo Mesa, a truck driver and neighbor who had known Castillo for four years. “As inexperienced as the driver might have been, it’s incredible to me that this man would have wanted to go through there. He should have stopped; he shouldn’t have kept going.”

Castillo, a retired handyman, was originally from Cuba but lived most of his life in the United States. Clara Pupo, another neighbor in the Sweetwater neighborhood of mobile homes, described him as someone who was respected in the community.

“In spite of his age, he was a very active man, who was well-loved because he was always willing to help others,” Pupo said. “I was very sad to hear about this tragedy.”

Family members were gathered Sunday at the Kendall home of Francisco Urena, the other victim. Urena, originally from the Dominican Republic, worked in the customer service department of Nordstrom, according to his Facebook page.

Miami-Dade police said Sunday there were too many unknowns to determine if criminal charges would be filed against the driver, but the investigation is still open.

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Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 Tops Box Office Again

In its third week of release, Breaking Dawn: Part 2 continues to dominate the box office.

Related: The Ultimate 'Twilight' Guide to 'Breaking Dawn' Actors & Their Characters

The final film in the Twilight Saga series raked in $17.4 million in ticket sales over the weekend, putting the vampire drama ahead of Skyfall, which earned $17 million for second place.

The spy thriller beat out Steven Spielberg's biopic Lincoln ($13.5 million) and the family friendly flick Rise of the Guardians, which took in $13.5 million.

Ang Lee's Life of Pi rounds out the top five with $12 million.

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Chiefs linebacker Belcher struggled with head injuries, alcohol and painkillers before he snapped and killed girlfriend: report

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and former Long Island high-school star Jovan Belcher was allegedly battling football-related head injuries and booze, painkiller and domestic problems when he snapped and murdered his girlfriend before killing himself in front of two coaches Saturday.

A pal of Belcher’s told the Web site Deadspin.com that Kasandra Perkins, the mother of Belcher’s 3-month-old daughter, had threatened to leave him for good amid fighting between the pair.

The couple had only recently reconciled after Perkins left their rented house in Kansas City with the baby at one point to stay with friends. Perkins had returned, but friends said the relationship was still volatile.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jovan Belcher (right) battled head injuries, drugs and alcohol before he snapped and killed his girlfriend Michele Perkins (left), friends said.

It didn’t help that he was drinking every day and taking painkillers while dealing with the effects of debilitating head injuries, the friend said.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said today that Belcher was "a player who had not had a long concussion history.’’

Belcher, 25, and Perkins, 22, had argued for the last time when she returned home late from a concert Saturday morning. But the Belcher friend said the concert was only a “tipping point.”

“This was the result of a long-term conflict,” the pal said. “She made it clear that she was leaving and would contact a lawyer’’ to fight for custody and child support.

Cops today revealed that Belcher shot Perkins nine times before committing suicide with a different gun. His mother witnessed the slaying; she had been in town to help Perkins with the new baby, sources have said.

Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, will now take custody of the couple’s infant daughter and plans to return with the child to the family’s West Babylon home, where her troubled son grew up, his relatives said.

The kin said the baby was in another room when Belcher snapped and unloaded on Perkins.

“[Shepherd’s] taking it as anyone else would've taken it,” said Belcher’s cousin, Eric Oakes, 20, who lives in the mom’s renovated house where Belcher grew up. “She just lost a son. We're all coming together.”

Oakes, wearing a game-warn Chief’s jersey with Belcher’s number 59 on it, said his cousin was his role model.

"[He's] always trying to steer me right. That's the only person I wanted to be like. A role model, basically my father. He's the person who made me play football,” said Oakes, who played running back for West Babylon HS.

In Kansas City, relatives trickled in an out of the home that had become a murder scene.

“I think she was home alone a lot,” said Kristen Van Meter, 31, a neighbor who went to community college with the victim. “He was kind of quiet. he would come and go.”

When he was there, she said, there were lots of parties.

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Boat Show may block Miami’s 2016 Super Bowl bid

This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show.

As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s.

It’s a significant enough conflict that, in the past, local tourism officials have declined to pursue a Super Bowl if it fell on boat show weekend. But this time around they may have no choice. For the first time, the NFL is requiring that potential host cities agree to a Presidents’ Day weekend Super Bowl if they want to pursue the big game at all, said two people who have seen the NFL request for Super Bowl bids.

The NFL “invited South Florida [to bid] knowing there was going to be an issue with Presidents’ Day weekend and the boat show,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward’s tourism director. “In the past, South Florida has not responded to a Super Bowl date that included Presidents’ Day weekend. This package is different.”

South Florida vies with New Orleans as the top Super Bowl host, with government and tourism leaders touting the game as both a boon to the economy and a publicity bonanza. But the notion of accommodating both Super Bowl and boat show — not to mention a major arts festival in Coconut Grove — strikes some top tourism officials as a bad idea.

“There is not sufficient hotel inventory available in Miami that weekend to host a Super Bowl,” said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have taken a close look at that weekend, and it’s not physically possible in Miami to host Super Bowl during the Presidents’ Day weekend because of the boat show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The hotel inventory is all being used for these two great events.”

His comments are at odds with the region’s top Super Bowl organizer and reflect the burden that the boat show may be to South Florida’s Super Bowl hopes for 2016 and 2017. The NFL invited Miami and San Francisco to bid for the 2016 Super Bowl by April 1, with the loser vying with Houston for the 2017 game. Talbert said the bid package states both decisions will be made in May.

For now, South Florida’s Super Bowl organizers face a largely hypothetical challenge, because the current NFL schedule has the Super Bowl occurring two weeks before Presidents’ Day weekend. The bid requirements for the ’16 and ’17 Super Bowls include three consecutive weekends as possibilities for the game, with the latest falling on the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Still, possible logistical hurdles may combine with political obstacles if the Miami Dolphins resume their push for a tax-funded renovation of Sun Life Stadium, the Super Bowl’s South Florida home.

Last year, the Dolphins proposed that Broward and Miami-Dade counties subsidize a $225 million renovation at Sun Life as a way to keep the region competitive for Super Bowls and other large events. The renovation includes a partial roof that would prevent the kind of drenching Super Bowl spectators suffered in 2007 when a rare February downpour hit Miami Gardens.

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