N.J. TO CRACK DOWN AT GIANTS STADIUM:

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority said it intends to aggressively monitor tailgating and drinking at Giants Stadium after a jury awarded $135 million to a 7-year-girl left paralyzed by a car crash involving a fan who was drunk when he left a football game at the stadium. “We plan to increase our number of undercover monitors to look over both the fans and the vendors selling beer,” said George Zoffinger, authority president. “We also have spotters on the field with binoculars scanning the crowd. I don’t want the Meadowlands, in general, to ever be in any way responsible for doing that to a little girl.”
A Bergen County jury awarded $75 million in punitive damages to the family of 7-year-old Antonia Verni, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a 1999 accident involving a fan leaving a game. The family also received $60 million in compensatory damages a day earlier.

Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which operates the concessions at Giants Stadium and about three dozen other indoor and outdoor stadiums that house pro teams, was found liable for most of the damages. The company has said it will appeal the verdict.