Philip Seymour Hoffman family, friends attend wake
Victoria Will/VICTORIA WILL/INVISION/APThose who loved Philip Seymour Hoffman most and knew him best will gather Thursday evening for what's likely to be a wrenching wake.
It will be the first of the farewells for the Oscar-winning actor who burned brightly in Hollywood and on Broadway - and who died alone with a needle in his arm.
Mimi O'Donnell, his longtime girlfriend and the mother of their three children, invited family and close friends to the gathering.
But Hoffman was one of the greatest actors of his generation, so some of the stars who have comforted O'Donnell since his death Sunday are expected.
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Hoffman's funeral is Friday at St. Ignatius of Loyola on Park Ave.
Meanwhile, police were trying to track down whoever it was who sold Hoffman the heroin he apparently overdosed on.
Police on Tuesday nabbed what they described as four suspected drug dealers, seized a large stash of heroin, and found three cellphones that had Hoffman's number in them.
But only one of them, Robert Vineberg, allegedly had heroin.
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Vineberg also had one of the phones with Hoffman's number that was found in a grungy building at 302 Mott St. A once much-in-demand saxophonist, Vineberg turned to dope dealing when the gigs began drying up, his step-daughter said.
Christina Soto also told the Daily News he knew Hoffman.
But prosecutors have not said whether Vineberg supplied Hoffman with the fatal fix.
Vineberg, who performed as Robert Aaron, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of felony possession of heroin with intent to sell.
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Juliana Luchkiw, who was arrested with live-in boyfriend Max Rosenblum during the police raid, was released Thursday on her own recognizance after spending a night in jail.
Luchkiw, 22 and charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession, appeared to be on the verge of tears after she was sprung by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin.
'Thank you,' the relieved woman said.
Her attorney, Stephen Turano, said Luchkiw is no heroin dealer.
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'She doesn't sell it,' he said. 'She doesn't use it.'
Luchkiw is due back in court on Valentine's Day.
Rosenblum, 22, who had two prior drug collars and is also charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession, is due in court later Thursday. He too has bunked a night behind bars.
His lawyer, Daniel Hochheiser, said earlier that he was not responsible for Hoffman's death.
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The fourth person arrested, 48-year-old Thomas Cushman of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, was let go earlier after the Manhattan District Attorney's Office decided not to prosecute.
'I was visiting,' Cushman said as he left, sporting a black eye he blamed on cops. 'I had nothing to do with it.'
Hoffman, 46, was found dead Sunday with 70 baggies of heroin in his West Village apartment. His body was discovered by his longtime friend, screenwriter David Bar Katz.
While police have suspected from the start that Hoffman died of a drug overdose, the medical examiner said Wednesday that his autopsy was inconclusive.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
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