By David Saltonstall, New York Daily News.

Congressional Power Hitters:
* Sen. Chuck Schumer: The Senate's third-ranking Democrat. He's a 900-pound gorilla who gets a seat at any table he wants, and he wants a lot.
* Rep. Charlie Rangel: After 38 years in office, Rangel is head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, where tax policy gets born.
* Rep. Nita Lowey: Her seat on the Appropriations Committee, the strings of the House purse, allowed her to push hard for more education dollars in stimulus bill.
* Rep. Jerrold Nadler: With billions in infrastructure dollars to be spent, Nadler's expertise and seat on Transportation Committee will be increasingly important.

Rarely has a bigger tidal wave of cash come rolling out of Washington than the stimulus bill President Obama is to sign Tuesday - and rarely has New York been better positioned to ride it.

In a confluence of seniority, hard work and some luck, New York's congressional delegation is stacked with power players, and it shows in how the massive, $787 billion stimulus package will soon be carved up.

What's known is this: New York is getting more money for Medicaid relief ($12.6 billion), mass transit ($1.3 billion) and home weatherization ($403 million) than any other state. Other categories may well break New York's way, once funding formulas are set.

"We have come of age," exulted former Mayor Ed Koch, who remembers a time not too long ago when New York's delegation was routinely steamrolled, mostly by powerful Southern Democrats who saw New York as Sin City.

The undisputed captain of this new all-star team is Sen. Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate. He is widely credited, while serving as his party's campaign chief, with wresting the chamber away from the GOP in 2006, then adding to the the Democrats' margin in 2008.

"Pretty much everyone from [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid on down owes their job to Chuck," said one Democratic insider. "So whatever Chuck wants, Chuck gets."

Schumer is followed closely by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Manhattan), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Veteran observers say they cannot remember a time when New York had such heavy hitters at both ends of the Capitol.

There are other key members. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Bronx/Westchester) and Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) are both senior members of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, the keepers of the nation's purse strings.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) won - then lost - a $3 billion increase in transit funding during last week's negotiations. But with so much of the stimulus bill tied to public works, his seat on the House Transportation Committee is bound to help New York.

Less senior impact players include Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens), who successfully championed $1 billion in new grants to help localities hire more cops (New York could gain as many as 400). And Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) got kudos last week for helping to push New York's Medicaid numbers high.

Of course, it probably doesn't hurt that there are also a number of New Yorkers inside the White House - among them Obama political director Patrick Gaspard, Housing chief Shaun Donovan and, yes, Secretary of State Clinton - all of whom know city issues inside and out.

As Weiner said of the $390 million that will soon flow toward New York's aging housing projects, "Trying to explain public housing elevators to the Bush administration was the equivalent of talking French to a fish."

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By Stephanie Gaskell, New York Daily News.

The sign at W. 185th St. and Wadsworth Ave. in Washington Heights now reads: "Corporal Juan M. Alcantara Way."

It's a small token for the family of Alcantara, who was killed in combat in Iraq nearly two years ago.

But it's a lasting one.

"People are going to walk by and ask, 'Who is Cpl. Juan Alcantara?'" said his sister Fredelinda Lena, a 27-year-old NYPD officer. "I want people to remember that behind that plaque is pride, honor and heroism."

Alcantara's wife, Sayonara, held their daughter, Jaylani, in her arms as the sign was unveiled Monday just a few doors down from the family's apartment.

Jaylani was born weeks before Alcantara was killed and never got to meet her father, but the street sign will be a constant reminder of his bravery and sacrifice.

"It'll be there forever," Sayonara said.

Alcantara, 22, and three of his fellow soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device while clearing a house in Baquba on Aug. 6, 2007. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) said Alcantara's death hit close to home.

"In 1950, I wore the same uniform," said Rangel, a decorated veteran of the storied 2nd Infantry Division, which took heavy losses during the Korean War.

"We take so much for granted," he said.

Alcantara, a native of the Dominican Republic, was posthumously awarded U.S. citizenship soon after his death.

Una Calle Para Soldado Dominicano, El Diario NY

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By Richard Sisk, New York Daily News.

Mayor Bloomberg led a Capitol Hill love fest today for embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) while joining other big city mayors in pushing for $73 billion in federal money for urban public works projects.

Rangel brushed off concerns that his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee might be in jeopardy when the new Congress convenes next year over ethical problems ranging from his four rent-controlled apartments in Manhattan to parking fees at the House garage.

Rangel was gruff and to the point. "No problem," Rangel told The News when whether he would hang on as chairman during the current House Ethics Committee investigation of his finances and political contributions. "Nah," the 78-year-old Rangel, when asked whether his effectiveness as a legislator might be limited.

To show that he still had clout, Rangel hosted a meeting the U.S. Conference of Mayors that showered praise on the 19-term Congressman from Harlem.

"He is a fighter-like chairman," Bloomberg said of Rangel. "Nobody understands the problems of urban America better than him."

Mayor Joe Reilly of Charleston, S.C., thanked Rangel for his "extraordinary leadership and support of our cities."

With a grin, Rangel said the nation's mayors needed help because "they don't have the ability to print money the way we do in Washington."

Bloomberg and the mayors of 426 other cities submitted a blueprint for a total of 11,391 projects costing $73 billion to create 847,641 jobs nationwide, which they asked to be included in massive stimulus package of $500 billion or more that President-elect Obama has promised in his administration.

New York City's wish list was not included in the original phone-book thick list of projects. "I don't know why they're not in there," Bloomberg said, but he rattled off a list of projects that he said would be added to the requests.

All of the city's projects were "shovel-ready," Bloomberg said and included new bus express lanes and sewer and water projects.

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