NYPD using ‘Road House’ movie to teach cops how to ‘be nice’

The NYPD has turned to Patrick Swayze to teach city cops how to behave.

Police bosses are using a scene from the 1989 action flick "Road House" as part of the mandatory, three-day retraining course for 22,000 cops, The Post has learned.

"You have to have a thick skin," an instructor told cops forced to take part in the $35 million program before hitting play on the two-minute clip from the cult classic, sources said.

In the scene, Swayze — playing the tough guy bouncer, Dalton — teaches his goons at the rowdy bar Double Deuce how to handle unruly customers.

First, he spells out three rules, with the third being simply "Be nice."

"If somebody gets in your face and calls you a c–ksucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you, and you'll both be nice," he says.

"I want you to remember that it's a job. It's nothing personal."

When another bouncer in a cut-off plaid shirt asks if "being called a c–ksucker isn't personal," Swayze responds: "It's two nouns combined to elicit a prescribed response."

"Well, what if somebody calls my mama a whore?" the other bouncer asks.

"Is she?" Swayze answers to chuckles from the group.

The scene also includes Swayze's most important message: "I want you to be nice, until it's time to not be nice."

"Well, how are we supposed to know when that is?" asks a mush-mouthed bouncer with a big black eye.

"You won't. I'll let you know," Swayze says.

The clip had the audience at the Police Academy smirking and stifling laughter.

"It's just ridiculous, the stuff they're showing us," the cop said. "It's crazy. They're showing us something from a movie and they want us to act like that in real life. It's not realistic — its Hollywood."

The use of "Road House" as a training tool was revealed after The Post exclusively reported that the lecture portions of the sessions were so boring that many cops have been falling asleep in their seats.

Cops also told The Post that they were told to "take a step back, close your eyes and take a deep breath" when dealing with angry people, despite the potential danger in that advice.

Mayor de Blasio on Monday tried to down play those reports as coming from "some disgruntled individuals," and insisted that the retraining program — ordered after the police chokehold death of Eric Garner — was "going to have a transcendent effect."

An NYPD spokesman also claimed that cops "are not being trained to shut their eyes while in a possible confrontation situation."

Additional reporting by Michael Gartland

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Outside income limits won’t affect most New York legislators

Two-thirds of state legislators won't feel a pinch if their outside income is limited because they don't have that much to lose, according to a report Monday.

In all, 35 of 53 state senators and 97 of 134 Assembly members made less than $20,000 last year outside of their legislative salaries, the New York Public Interest Research Group found.

Blair Horner, director of the good-government group, said a cap on outside income would follow the model set by Congress and is the easiest way to solve Albany's rampant corruption scandals.

"It may well be the members don't know until today that the vast majority of them already live voluntarily under a system like the congressional model," said Horner.

"This is New York's Watergate moment."

Gov. Cuomo has linked passage of the state's budget to his proposed ethics reforms, which would require lawmakers to disclose their private clients, restrict their campaign spending and limit their travel expenses.

"That, I think, is the single most important thing we can get done this year."

But he did not propose a cap on outside income.

Horner argued that's needed to keep legislators in line ethically.

"Our view is, what he is proposing doesn't solve the problem as we see it," said Horner.

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Veterans Affairs secretary admits he lied about Special Forces service

President Obama's secretary of Veterans Affairs lied about his military career when he claimed he served in the Army's Special Forces.

Robert McDon­ald — who took charge of the agency amid a scandal over veterans dying while awaiting treatment at VA facilities — made the comment in a conversation with a homeless vet in LA.

"Special Forces? What years? I was in Special Forces!" McDonald, 61, tells the man.

The conversation was recorded by a CBS News crew.

McDonald graduated from West Point, completed Army Ranger training and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, the Huffington Post said.

But he never served in the Special Forces.

After his fabrication was revealed, McDonald released an apology Monday in which he admitted the lie.

"I incorrectly stated that I had been in Special Forces," his statement read. "That was inaccurate and I apologize to anyone that was offended by my misstatement."

Real Special Forces members were baffled by the secretary's dishonesty.

"What a boneheaded statement," former senior Special Forces Commander Col. Gary Bloomberg told the Huffington Post.

"Is this what we want from our senior government officials?"

Obama appointed McDonald to the position last year after then-Secretary Eric Shinseki was forced out over the scandal.

As many as 40 veterans died while waiting to be treated at a VA hospital in Phoenix. Other facilities soon vecame embroiled in the scandal.

The White House told ABC Monday that it was satisfied with McDonald's explanation.

"We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he's doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation's veterans," a spokesperson said.

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‘Pervy’ teacher says he was ‘doing crossword puzzles’ with student

A Riverdale prep-school teacher who is accused of bedding a 16-year-old student testified Monday that there was no hanky-panky going on — insisting they were merely doing a crossword puzzle when his fiancée walked in on them.

"I'm sure I was doing crossword puzzles," a haggard-looking Richard Hovan told Manhattan Supreme Court jurors.

Hovan, 33, who taught at Riverdale Country School, said he met with the victim, whose name is being withheld by The Post, multiple times because she was on a special dean's list for academic, social and emotional issues, including throwing tantrums and swallowing magnets during class.

He said that the girl was emotionally unstable and stopped by his Chelsea apartment three times — but that they never had sex.

"I put on the TV . . . I did crossword puzzles . . . Eventually she calmed down and left," he testified about the first time she came over in April of that year.

But on May 14, 2011 — the night before his ex-fiancée, Marina Bontkowski, busted them — the victim showed up at his doorstep "out of control . . . really distraught," Hovan testified.

"I was trying to talk to her and not getting a lot out," he said, adding that she stayed over that night instead of going to her friend's house.

The now-19-year-old testified last week that Bontkowski burst through the door and caught the two on the couch, just as "my shirt came off just as we were about to have sex" — a claim Hovan denied.

"She was livid. Marina is small in stature but she can be very scary," he said. "I didn't quite understand what was going on."

The former geometry teacher admitted to lying to Bontkowski about his relationship with the victim to "protect her privacy."

Prosecutors revealed that Hovan exchanged a staggering 10,000 text messages and calls with the victim between March and May 2011 — compared to the 3,000 he shared with Bontkowski.

"[The victim] had more difficulties than anyone else in my life at that time," he responded about the constant communication.

When pressed by defense attorney Vinoo Varghese for "the truth," Hovan reiterated, "Nothing happened sexually and I was just trying to help someone through some difficulties."

On cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Shanda Strain tore into Hovan for not informing authorities of the victim's troublesome issues.

"You didn't feel the need to tell anyone . . . 'Maybe take a look at her, this behavior is crazy'?" Strain asked.

"Teens often swing wildly," Hovan replied. "She didn't want me to tell anyone."

The strawberry-blond victim and Bontkowski have both lied during the rape investigation in an effort to protect their alleged two-timing man.

The stunning brunette ex was convicted of perjury after having a change of heart about lying to a grand jury in 2013, destroying her goal of becoming an FBI agent.

Hovan testified that he told Bontkowski not to take the stand because he was afraid she would tell "lies" and that "she'd end up in trouble and I would end up in trouble for something I didn't do."

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DOE hiring tech firm linked to kickback scheme

The city's Department of Education plans to award a contract worth as much as $2 billion to a tech firm that got caught up in a kickback scandal four years ago while doing the very same work being proposed.

The deal, set for vote by the Panel for Educational Policy Wednesday, would give Long Island-based Custom Computer Specialists $1.1 billion over five years for "IT networking and installation services," DOE documents say.

It includes options to extend the contract four years for $900 million more.

City investigators confirmed CCS was cited in their 2011 probe of a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme that led to the conviction of contractor Willard "Ross" Lanham on fraud and theft charges.

Watchdogs were furious.

"It's just an immense contract, and the idea that it should be given to a company that was involved in a kickback scheme just a few years ago is mind-boggling," said Leonie Haimson, director of the group Class Size Matters who first blogged about the contract.

CCS was a subcontractor that for years worked on Project Connect, a federally funded program to give public schools computers and high-speed Internet.

The 2011 probe found CCS "facilitated the concealment" of Lanham's profiting off the DOE and also of the employment of consultants at inflated wages.

In one case, CCS charged Verizon $247 per hour for a staffer whom Lanham paid $60 an hour, the report said.

Investigators also found Lanham insisted Verizon hire CCS as its subcontractor even though the telecom company's officials said they could do the work more cheaply without him.

"[The firm] benefited by Lanham's threat to Verizon that they would lose millions of dollars in business if they did not hire CCS," the 2011 report said.

After the probe, CCS was put on the city's vendor "caution list" for five years.

In August 2012, the firm submitted a corrective plan that included agreeing to report suspicions of wrongdoing to the city.

A call and e-mail to CCS went unanswered Monday.

DOE officials said that the contract is essential for schools and that it meets federal requirements.

They said CCS is partnering with Dell under a publicly bid contract that was renegotiated to $637.4 million for the first five years.

"This is a smart contract that will ensure smart classrooms," said DOE spokeswoman Devora Kaye.

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Rangers help on way as Jesper Fast nears return

Jesper Fast, sidelined since sustaining a sprained knee in Nashville on Feb. 7, could rejoin the Rangers as soon as Thursday for their match against the Coyotes at the Garden.

Fast participated in Sunday's morning skate at the club's practice rink wearing a non-contact jersey in advance of missing his eighth straight game hours later, the Rangers' 4-3 shootout victory over the Blue Jackets. The 23-year-old skated on his own on Saturday, marking the first time he had been on the ice since the injury.

"The training staff has been really happy with the progress he has made over the last week," coach Alain Vigneault said. "I would assume in the next couple of days he would be able to practice fully with the group."

The Rangers are at home Tuesday to the Flames, but it would be a stretch to envision a return that night for Fast, who had become a bottom-six staple and a regular on the club's third penalty-kill unit.

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Henrik Lundqvist skated again on his own before the team took the ice Sunday, but there is no update on the four-to-six week timetable for The King's return from the vascular injury he suffered by taking a shot to the throat on Jan. 31. The club said Lundqvist is not due for a medical exam this week. Lundqvist said at his Feb. 8 press conference he would be reevaluated in three weeks.

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Vigneault's rotation at the sixth defense spot continued on Sunday, with John Moore replacing Matt Hunwick against the Jackets. Starting Feb. 8, Moore has played every other game.

The coach acknowledged this rotation is likely making it difficult for either defenseman to get on a roll, but again said that both "are about the same … both are playing well.

"There will come some point where one guy is playing a little bit better than the other and I will stick with him, but that point has not yet come," Vigneault said before invoking the specter of the March 2 trade deadline.

"There are still a couple of days before the trade deadline," he said. "And we're looking at all options."

The Post has reported the Blueshirts' interest in Andrej Sekera, the Hurricanes' hot commodity on the blue line, but whose cost may be prohibitive.

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Dan Boyle got back on the power-play unit in overtime on Sunday, but Vigneault was asked why he did not use the right-handed Boyle at the point on the Blueshirts' five-on-three first period power play in Buffalo on Friday night, when righty Derek Stepan was unavailable while receiving stitches to close a head wound he'd sustained minutes earlier.

The Blueshirts instead went with an all-lefty lineup for the 1:45 two-man advantage when Vigneault chose Marty St. Louis to join Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and point-man Ryan McDonagh.

"We had worked with that group before with Marty on it," the coach said. "[Brassard] and [Zuccarello] are two guys I don't mind going up top. … It was one of those things. It was a quick decision."

Mackenzie Skapski got a loud ovation in the first period when he was shown on the scoreboard. Skapski made 24 saves in his NHL debut in a 3-1 win in Buffalo on Friday.

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Oscars showed no edge awarding ‘Birdman’ Best Picture

Narcissism, thy name is Oscar.

For the third time in four years, the motion picture academy gave its top honor to a movie with a show business background in a night filled with play-it-safe, pre-endorsed choices.

"Birdman" (washed-up actor trying to make a comeback on Broadway) followed "Argo" (Hollywood helps the CIA smuggle hostages out of Iran) and "The Artist" (silent-screen star washed up by the coming of sound) as Best Picture winners with distinct company-town feel (never mind "Birdman" was directed by a Mexican and "The Artist" was directed by someone from France).

You have to wonder if last year's Best Picture win by "12 Years a Slave" — the kind of serious historic epic the Oscars used to prefer — was some kind of anomalous choice by the motion picture academy, which has gotten younger and apparently more frivolous in its tastes in recent years.

For the first time in memory, Oscars were awarded to each and every one of the eight Best Picture nominees. What is this, elementary school? "Selma," for instance, went home with best song, while "American Sniper" — which grossed more than the seven other nominees combined — got an honorable mention for sound editing.

Only two other features won Oscars, "Still Alice" (Best Actress) and "Interstellar" (visual effects).

As much as I loved Eddie Redmayne's fantastic performance as Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," does it really make sense to exclude the actor who "Birdman" was literally built around, Michael Keaton?

Or, for that matter, to reduce the accomplishment of "Boyhood" — filmed over 12 years — to a single award for Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette)?

With the Oscars merely rubber-stamping the choices of the guilds — "Birdman" won with the directors, producers and actors — maybe they've outlived their usefulness.

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The 10 craziest, most memorable moments from the 2015 Oscars

Throughout tonight's seemingly never-ending Oscars broadcast, there were a number of moments that made us clap, made us cry and some that just left us scratching our heads and wondering why.

John Travolta invades Scarlett Johansson's personal space…

As celebrities started flooding the red carpet, there was one quick moment you might have missed on the telecast: John Travolta planting an uninvited smooch on the cheek of Scarlett Johansson. Many couldn't help but notice the similarities between uber-creep Travolta and Vice President Joe Biden, who came under fire this week for whispering into the ear of Stephanie Carter as her husband was sworn in as defense secretary.

…and then Idina Menzel's

A year after welcoming "Adele Dazeem" to the stage for her performance of "Let It Go" at least year's Academy Awards, Travolta and Idina Menzel made nice – but perhaps got a bit too close for comfort.

Travolta caressed the singer's chin, saying, "But you, you my darling, my beautiful, my wickedly talented Idina Menzel!"

Holograms, holograms and more holograms

Host Neil Patrick Harris continued his tradition of opening awards show with a musical number, and he didn't disappoint in tonight's performance. "Today we honor Hollywood's best and whitest…I mean brightest," he quipped, acknowledging the heavily criticized lack of nominations for people of color in this year's ceremony.

Anna Kendrick joined him on stage as her Cinderella character from "Into the Woods" before the duo sang and danced through 87 years of movie history – including inserting Harris into scenes from some of the most iconic films from all time. Jack Black also made a belligerent cameo somewhere in the middle.

Harris' spoon joke falls flat with Reese

In a night riddled with ill-timed jokes, Harris introduced Reese Witherspoon by describing her as being "so lovely, you could eat her up with a spoon." What does that even mean, Neil?

"Everything is Awesome"

Will Arnett as Batman, Tegan & Sara and The Lonely Island took to the stage to perform the hit song from "The Lego Movie" in an eclectic musical number that also included confetti. But while anyone who has ever seen the movie was over the moon about the awesome-ness of the performance, many older viewers were left scratching their heads in a huge WTF moment.

Harris strips on stage

In homage to Best Picture nominee "Birdman," Harris stripped down to his tighty whities for a brief moment during the ceremony. But the only thing on everyone's mind was: What did he have stuffed into those briefs?

Meryl Streep steals Patricia Arquette's thunder

In a speech for the ages, Patricia Arquette used her win as Best Supporting Actress in "Boyhood" to shed light on gender discrimination, an issue still prevalent in 2015. "To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America," she said.

Then the camera cut to Meryl Streep, who jumped out of her chair to give a resounding, "Yes!" in what will likely be the most meme-d moment of the night.

Not everything sounds better with a British accent

Harris tested a bit about whether or not everything sounds better when spoken by a Brit, using "Selma" star David Oyelowo to test his theory. Harris set up the joke, and asked Oyelowo to deliver the punch line.

"This year, we said goodbye to some beloved movie franchises," Harris began, before Oyelowo took over.

"We saw the last every 'Hobbit' movie, the last-ever 'Night at the Museum' movie and the last-ever attempt to remake 'Annie.' "

"See, no, with the British accent it's not at all insulting!" Harris concluded, to minimal laughter.

Lady Gaga does her best Julie Andrews impersonation

The recently-engaged Gaga took to the stage to pay tribute to "The Sound of Music" for the film's 50th anniversary, performing a medley of memorable songs from the iconic musical. While her singing was fine, it was just the image of seeing Mother Monster singing such a quaint song such as "My Favorite Things" that was a bit visually upsetting.

Octavia Spencer is so over it

In a long-running gag throughout the broadcast, Harris demanded Octavia Spencer keep a watchful eye on a secret suitcase on the back of the stage, locked in a glass case. He checked in on her periodically throughout the show to ask if anyone had tampered with the suitcase – and each time he did so, the actress seemed less and less amused with the skit. And many on Twitter couldn't help but notice that it seemed as though Harris was diminishing Spencer's achievements as an award winning-actress.

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Martin St. Louis has ignored his supposed demise for 9 years

This was the wisdom espoused by Brendan Shanahan, when the winger was 37, off to a dreadful start in his second season with the Rangers in 2007-08 and eulogies were already being penned on his Hall-of-Fame caliber career.

"When you're 27 and have a cough, people figure you have a cold," he told The Post columnist who had rushed to catalog Shanahan's demise. "When you're 37 and have a cough, people react like you have pneumonia.

"A 37-year-old can have a cold, too, you know."

Martin St. Louis, 39 and having just endured a cold spell befitting this northeast winter, understands exactly what Shanahan meant.

"Yeah, for sure," the winger told The Post before the Rangers 4-3 shootout victory over the Blue Jackets at the Garden on Sunday. "People look at you differently and draw different conclusions when you're older.

"But I don't look at myself differently, not at all."

St. Louis is looking much better these days to everyone else after scoring twice and adding a shootout marker against Columbus. The goals give St. Louis four in his last four games following an ungodly stretch in which the winger went 15 straight without one before breaking the schneid during Monday's third-period comeback at the Coliseum.

"You're always looking for that one good play, that one shot to get you going," St. Louis said after the pockmarked victory that moved the Blueshirts to within two points of the division-leading Islanders while holding three games in hand. "You're always that one goal away from feeling good about yourself."

The two goals against the Jackets' Curtis McIlhenny boosted St. Louis' total to 18. That's not only second on the Rangers to Rick Nash's 37, it is 11th in the NHL among right wings.

That's not all that shabby for a guy for whom eulogies had been prepared, especially so with St. Louis on the final year of his contract and perhaps destined to go on the open market for the first time in his career if he and the Rangers are unable to agree on a new deal before July 1.

"That's not on my mind; I'm only focused on doing whatever I can do to help this team win," St. Louis said. "This is not about my age, or anything else.

"When I was 30, I had a 60-point year and people thought I was never going to be the same player I had been. The following year I had 100 points."

That was a flashback to Tampa Bay. In 2003-04, then then-28 year-old led the league in scoring with 94 points (38-56) while capturing the Hart Trophy in the Lightning's Stanley Cup season. There was no NHL the following year, wiped out by Owners' Lockout II, but when play resumed in 2005-06, a 30-year-old St. Louis recorded 61 points (31-30).

The next year, 2006-07, St. Louis went for a career-high 102 points with 43 goals and 59 assists. The man has a memory, but his career isn't one. Not now. Not yet.

"For an athlete, the mind-set can be fragile; confidence comes and goes, and that doesn't have anything to do with age," St. Louis said. "When you have confidence, you want to hang on to it as long as possible and when you lose it, you want to get it back as quickly as possible.

"The difference when you're younger is that you pay more attention to goals and assists, instead of putting that aside and concentrating on doing whatever is necessary to help the team win, which is where I am now. A lot of times, by focusing on goals or points, you can lose sight of the big picture.

"The big picture is the team winning games."

The Rangers are 7-1-2 in 10 games since Henrik Lundqvist was ruled out for an indefinite, extended period of time. They are not only closing in on first place in the division, they are only three points behind Eastern Conference-leading Montreal while holding a game in hand on the Canadiens.

"We've found ways," St. Louis said. "That's what it's about."

St. Louis' play has improved immeasurably over the last week following a stretch in which he was rarely part of the picture, either big or small. He and linemates Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan formed the Blueshirts' most dangerous unit in this one and in three of the last four games, beginning with the 6-5 victory at the Coliseum.

"You try and pull your weight and do what you can for your linemates and your team, but sometimes your linemates make the plays that get you going," St. Louis said. "That's the way it works."

That is the way it has worked throughout a decorated career for St. Louis, universally renowned for his work ethic on and off the ice, in season and during the offseason.

"You have to be mentally strong as an athlete in order to be able to pull through these things," he said. "You can't feel sorry for yourself. There's no time for that."

This is one case in which time is not of the essence, at least not if the time frame has anything to do with the past.

"I feel the same on the ice as I always have," St. Louis said. "There's no question about that."

And by the way? Martin St. Louis doesn't even have a cough.

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Cops instructed to ‘close eyes’ during tense situations

Cops should "take a deep breath'' — and close their eyes — when dealing with angry people, according to the NYPD's new "retraining'' program.

The potentially dangerous advice is part of a $35 million "smart policing'' primer by Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton that most of the cops who have gone through it say is completely useless.

One cop who sat through two full-day programs called them "not realistic'' and "pretty silly."

At one point during the lectures, the cop said, those in attendance were given breathing exercises to learn how to calm down — even when facing someone who could pose a threat to their safety.

"They said if you find yourself in a situation that's getting heated, take a step back, close your eyes and take a deep breath," he said.

"That's pretty funny — that I would close my eyes in a tense situation."

Another cop called the lectures "smoke and mirrors" to appease the public.

"They want you to stop and think about everything before you do anything, but a lot of times cops have to make a split-second decision, and they don't have the luxury of stopping and thinking," the cop said.

The officer said he was paid overtime to attend the retraining program. Other cops have been going to training sessions instead of their regular shifts, sources said.

Both cops said they — and everyone they know — gave the lectures low marks on surveys they filled out after the program.

The Post reported exclusively on Sunday that many cops have been falling asleep in their seats as they listen to the lectures at the brand-new, $750 million Police Academy in Queens, and that about 80 percent gave the program negative reviews afterward.

A high-ranking NYPD source said the lectures were "boring" and a "big disappointment" to cops who thought they were going to learn "real, hands-on, quality training on how to deal with a hostile prisoner or arrestee."

De Blasio has promised that his retraining program "will have an impact on millions of people, because every interaction that every officer has with their fellow New Yorkers after they are trained again will be different."

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