Homeless families can be kicked out of city shelters for repeatedly breaking rules like staying out past curfew or for refusing apartments offered to them, according to a tougher policy that takes effect Tuesday.  The new policy gives the city greater latitude to push families out of the shelter system, which had swelled to a near-high of 9,720 families as of Sunday. Families could always be evicted for illegal behavior like bringing in drugs or weapons, but they can now be ousted for any of 28 violations, including failing to sign in and out or not keeping an active case file with city welfare agencies.  The new policy is also meant to encourage families to more readily accept permanent housing, even if it is not to their liking.  A lawyer who questioned Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Monday during a deposition in a federal discrimination lawsuit against Mr. Bloomberg’s giant media company described him as more dismissive and uninterested than he was during his previous appearance, two months ago. [NYT] (Also see City Room and The New York Post.)  For Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, pharmaceutical industry support comes at a politically sensitive time. [NYT]  Anyone anticipating that the sparks would fly at Monday’s annual meeting of the state Financial Control Board — where Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. both spoke — was sorely disappointed. The mayor conceded what Mr. Thompson and other fiscal monitors have been warning for months: that the $5 billion-plus budget gap projected for the next fiscal year will be particularly difficult to close. [New York Post]  When Bill de Blasio was knocked off the ballot in the race for public advocate last week, he found out which of his opponents was the mensch. While City Councilman Eric Gioia of Queens took the vulture approach - calling de Blasio’s backers in hopes that they’d shift allegiance - the civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel called to offer legal assistance. [Daily News]  Some folks are seeing that race between Councilwoman Maria Baez and the Rev. Fernando Cabrera in a Democratic primary in the Bronx as a potential serious challenge to the Democratic party boss Carl Heastie’s future. [Daily News]  Officer Eric Grimes, whose leg was amputated after he was hit by a car while on duty in Brooklyn, refused a wheelchair as he was released from the hospital. [NYT] (Also see The Daily News.)  Prosecutors say that Anthony D. Marshall prevented his mother from donating $117,000 to help buy an antique Buddha for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [NYT] (Also see The Daily News.)  A Polish-born sculptor who crafted a magnificent statue of Pope John Paul II for St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Greenpoint was found dead near a Brooklyn marina where he kept a boat. Mieczyslaw Partyka, 51, was discovered on the banks of the Rockaway Inlet near Gateway Marina around dawn, fewer than six hours after his wife had gone searching for him at the dock, fearful that something had happened to him. [New York Post] (Also see The Daily News.)  This food vendor cart is parked here for good. A famed Mexican food vendor cart that snagged the top Vendy Award prize last year is now a Red Hook restaurant. [Daily News]  Entry Level: Jamyang Gurung manages Himalayan Yak, a restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, that caters to Nepalese and Tibetan immigrants, not to mention Americans. [NYT]  Renderings of Bruce Ratner’s embattled Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn commissioned by the Municipal Art Society portray how the $4.9 billion project will look now that all the bells and whistles have been stripped from it - most notably the architect Frank Gehry and his expressionist building and arena design. The society says it’s doing what Mr. Ratner and the state won’t — providing the public with renderings to rely on as the Empire State Development Corporation holds public hearings Wednesday and Thursday regarding Ratner’s revised project plan, which was released last month and is scaled down and more costly than the one state officials approved in 2006. [New York Post]  A new transcript offers a glimpse into the lives of the two pilots who died with the 47 others on board Continental Flight 3407, which crashed near Buffalo on Feb. 12. [NYT] (Also see The New York Post.)  Investigators said they did not know what caused a driver to travel the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and plow head-on into an S.U.V. [NYT] (Also see The Daily News and The New York Post.)  About 360 maintenance, cleaning, painting and managerial positions will be eliminated in 2010 as part of New York City Transit’s yearly cost cutting. That means 63 of 1,201 subway-car cleaners and 25 of 1,515 station cleaners will be gone next year, Howard Roberts, the MTA’s subway and bus chief said on Monday. [New York Post]  In a groundbreaking security initiative, M.T.A. will begin running one subway train with security cameras in every one of its cars by the end of the year, officials said on Monday. Every corner of every car will be in the cameras’ view. [New York Post]  Anchors aweigh. Bronx residents could someday soon be doing their commuting by boat. [Daily News]  The New York State Board of Regents appointed David M. Steiner the state education commissioner and president of the University of the State of New York, effective Oct. 1. [NYT] (Also see City Room.)  Clyde Haberman’s NYC column: A censorious streak runs stubbornly through New York, a city that regards itself as a bastion of freedom of expression. [NYT]  Joseph Cirillo, 70, the in-house tailor for Metro-North Railroad, is retiring this week after two decades of providing quick repairs and custom fittings. [NYT]  Calling it the “greatest moment of my life,” a New York Police Department officer walked out of the hospital on crutches Monday, just two weeks after he lost a leg in a car accident. Scores of cheering colleagues applauded Officer Eric Grimes as he left Kings County Hospital. [Daily News]  Long Island City pet owners won’t heel to a state park’s dog crackdown. Gantry Plaza State Park recently started enforcing a dog ban on the piers, an area that owners have enjoyed with their furry friends for more than a decade. The restriction, which has been on the books for state-run parks in the city, came after the park opened a new green, dog-free section to the public this month. [Daily News]
Also in Morning Buzz: the stories behind Himalayan and Mexican restaurants; job cuts at New York City Transit; and more headlines from papers in the region.