Sylvester Stallone (Getty Images)
BERNIE BUD: Bernie Kerik (left) has many visitors at his Maryland prison, including Sylvester Stallone (right). (
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It is back to push-ups in a cell and prison chow for disgraced ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik, but he won’t be lonely.
Kerik, who testified in The Bronx last week in the perjury trial of construction execs Frank and Peter DiTommaso, gets a steady stream of visitors and mail at his federal penitentiary home in rural Maryland, friends say.
His visitors include Sylvester Stallone, former stock-exchange chief Dick Grasso, retired cops, correction officers and even a congressman.
“Bernie is the kind of guy, if there was ever a problem, I would want to be in a foxhole with him,” said caterer Albert Manzo, who appears on the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” with his wife, Caroline.
Manzo, who visits Kerik regularly, said they became friends years ago in Franklin Lakes, NJ, where they both have homes.
Kerik has a year to go on his 48-month sentence for tax fraud and lying to investigators when he was being vetted to become Homeland Security chief.
Longtime pal Stallone has been on Kerik’s list of approved e-mail contacts and they’ve exchanged messages, sources said.
A rep for Stallone said she couldn’t confirm their communication.
Grasso, whom sources identified as a visitor, didn’t return a call for comment.
Every weekend, Kerik’s wife, Hala, makes the five-hour drive with their two young daughters.
Sometimes, the family hitches a ride with Kerik’s friends — in cars, private planes and helicopters.
“The real interesting thing . . . is his list of loyal friends. He has a long list and they visit him on a regular basis,” said Byron Pitts, the chief national correspondent for CBS News, who befriended Kerik in Iraq.
Rep. Peter King (R-LI) has visited Kerik four times. “Bernie spends his time making you feel good,” King said, adding, “He provided a great service to New York.’’
Fox reporter Geraldo Rivera, another of Kerik’s friends, has chartered aircraft to make it easier for Mala to visit.
“They could not have put him in a more inconvenient facility,” said Rivera, who has made several visits to Kerik himself.
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli