QUEENS

*** A man was killed after apparently being strangled in an Elmhurst park, police sources said.

The unidentified man, believed to be between 25 and 30, was discovered unconscious inside O’Connor Playground near Woodside Avenue and 78th Street at 10:30 last night.

The man was taken to nearby Elmhurst Hospital, where he died nearly 35 minutes later.

Cops believe the man was strangled after an argument – possibly over food – with another man known to him, sources said.

MANHATTAN

*** An ongoing feud between two men in Harlem took a violent turn when one shot the other, police sources said yesterday.

The 20-year-old victim told cops he was walking behind the building at 200 W. 131st St. when he was shot in the shoulder at 10:10 p.m. on Thursday night, authorities said.

According to police, the victim has a history of problems with the 18-year-old triggermen, who remains at large.

*** Cops yesterday nabbed a suspect in the rape and robbery of a 14-year-old girl in Harlem last week.

Benjamin Ganues, 21, who was arrested at 11:30 a.m., allegedly grabbed the young victim in the hallway of a West 92nd Street building on Aug. 13 and dragged her to the roof at knifepoint.

Once on the roof, Ganues, of Brooklyn, told the frightened girl, “Don’t scream or I will kill you,” before he viciously raped, beat and robbed her, sources said.

Ganues is charged with rape, burglary, assault, unlawful imprisonment and sex abuse.

THE BRONX

*** The death of an 18-year-old man who fell from a van after a wild melee in Melrose earlier this month has been declared a homicide, authorities said yesterday.

Darlin Rodriguez died on Aug. 2, a day after he and his friends got into an argument with a group of people in a club on East 163rd Street and Courtlandt Avenue, cops said.

The fight spilled out onto the street, where one man was shot.

When Rodriguez and his friends tried to flee, the van in which they were riding crashed into a wall, and he was ejected.

Rodriguez died as the result of blunt-impact injury to the head and torso with skull and rib fractures, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

*** Three thieves held up a Mount Eden business at gunpoint, police sources said yesterday.

The suspects walked into RC Multi Service, at 43 W. 170th St., around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and stole more than $1,500 in cash and a computer from the store’s office, authorities said.

After the robbery, the thieves, described as Hispanic men in their 30s, fled in a beige sedan, sources said.

*** A gun-toting thug held up a Morrisania gas station early yesterday, police sources said.

The thief, armed with a silver revolver, walked into the BP station at 1365 Boston Road just after midnight and forced a station employee to give him all the money in the cash register.

After snatching more than $500, the suspect fled on foot.

BROOKLYN

*** A 15-year-old boy was nabbed yesterday for allegedly shooting two innocent people, including an 8-year-old girl jumping rope, on a Crown Heights street corner this week, police said.

The alleged shooter, whose name was withheld because of his age, allegedly opened fire in front of 1663 President St. around 7:15 p.m. on Monday evening, and wounded little Shakara Munroe and an unidentified 27-year- old man in the legs, cops said.

According to authorities, the underage gunman was aiming for a man getting out of car at the scene when his errant bullets hit the two bystanders.

Police are still investigating a possible motive for the shooting.

*** A report of a possible drowning in the waters off Brighton Beach yesterday morning sparked a response by cops and other emergency workers, but no victim was found, sources said.

Parks Department personnel received an unconfirmed report shortly before 9 a.m. that a swimmer was seen entering the waters off Brighton 15th Street – and not coming out – sparking fears that someone had drowned due to a strong undertow.

That sent numerous police cars, the NYPD Harbor Unit, the FDNY and at least one ambulance to the scene to investigate.

An extensive search of the shoreline failed to turn up any confirmation that someone had actually disappeared.

STATEN ISLAND

*** Five hoodlums mugged a 14-year-old boy while he waited for a Staten Island Railway train in Stapleton, police sources said.

The teen was waiting at the Stapleton station near Cross Street when the suspects approached him at 11:56 p.m. on Thursday, sources said.

One of the thieves had a revolver, and robbed the victim of his money, jewelry and a cellphone, before all five fled on foot.