MANHATTAN (lcf)

* A man was shot in a housing project in the Upper West Side last night, police sources said. The 18-year-old victim was in the courtyard of the Amsterdam Houses at West 63rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue at 11 p.m. when a gunman fired several shots, hitting him once in the leg.

STATEN ISLAND

* A Port Richmond HS student was arrested for raping a classmate in a mutual friend’s Mariners Harbor home, authorities said yesterday.

The attack took place Oct. 27, when José Santana, 18, dragged the teen upstairs, forcibly planted kisses on her and tossed her on a bed as she pleaded with him to stop.

He then allegedly ripped her pants and sexually asssaulted her. The victim told school officials, who notified police.

Santana was nabbed Wednesday, according to a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan.

* An ex-con was critically wounded yesterday when two gunmen shot him on a New Brighton street, authorities said.

Greg Vann, 26, was shot twice in the head on Jersey Street and Hendricks Avenue at 1:10 a.m.

Vann was rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital, where he was declared brain-dead, sources said.

BROOKLYN

* A thief posing as a gas-station attendant was arrested for trying to defraud a motorist in Greenpoint, authorities said yesterday.

Paul Zeigler, 20, was impersonating a worker in the Hess station on Greenpoint Avenue and McGuinness Boulevard at 5 p.m. Wednesday when he asked for the motorist’s credit card, ran it through the card reader and pumped the fuel, sources said.

Zeigler then fraudulently told the motorist the card did not work and asked for cash, cops said. A real employee in the sales booth spotted the scam and called 911.

Zeigler fled when cops arrived just as the motorist gave him $40.

But he tried to sneak back to fetch his jacket and was busted after a brief struggle with police.

* Police are searching for a thief who robbed a Park Slope bank on Halloween.

The unidentified woman, wearing a costume and make-up, walked into the Commerce branch on Fifth Avenue near Garfield Place and demanded money from a teller at 7:35 p.m.

The thief, in her 20s, fled with cash.

* Police say this man (above) in his 20s made off with an undetermined amount of money from the North Fork branch on Flatbush Avenue near Avenue V in Marine Park at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

QUEENS

* Cops have busted a bandit they believe has been robbing small businesses across the borough since early September. Jose Ruiz, 21, was charged with one robbery but is suspected of at least four more – mostly of nail salons and donut shops. (lcf)

* Two men were arrested in Hollis after getting into a fight, authorities said yesterday.

Vincent Harris, 42, clashed with William Moss, 33, on 186th Street near 89th Avenue at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday, sources said. For undetermined reasons, Harris allegedly punched Moss, a stranger, in the head and bashed him in the face with a wooden slab, and Moss slashed Harris in the face with a boxcutter, sources said.

Cops arrested the pair on assault charges, according to a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown. Neither suspect suffered life-threatening injuries.

* A thug choked and robbed a woman after she accompanied him to a Rego Park motel, authorities said yesterday.

Eric Pena, 20, allegedly approached the 43-year- old woman at Woodhaven Boulevard and 67th Drive at 3:30 p.m. on July 24.

Sources said Pena hired the woman for “entertainment purposes,” and the two got a room at the Haven Motel.

Inside, Pena allegedly put her in a chokehold, stole her car keys and $300 and wrapped her in sheets.

Pena then drove away in her 1999 Infiniti, cops said. The uninjured victim freed herself and called cops, who tracked him down Tuesday, said DA Richard Brown’s spokeswoman.

* Two teen muggers beat a stranger on a Flushing street, sources said yesterday.

Tajdid Ajman, 16, and Hassan Mannan, 16, accosted their 20-year-old victim at Kissena Boulevard and Rose Avenue at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, sources said.

Ajman allegedly shoved the victim, knocking his cellphone to the ground.

Ajman scooped up the phone and tried to run, but the victim grabbed him, cops said.

Mannan then punched the victim in the head before fleeing. The suspects were soon arrested and charged with robbery.