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As had been reported last week, there have been more revelations in the story about Rudy Giuliani's then-mistress Judith Nathan using the NYPD as her personal taxi service.

The New York City press corps is having a field day with the story, and the New York Daily News has the latest in-depth investigation:

When pressed by The News Thursday, aides to the Republican presidential hopeful conceded that Nathan got police protection "sporadically" before December 2000 - the previously acknowledged beginning of her taxpayer-funded detail.

Then-Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said in January 2001 the NYPD assigned Nathan round-the-clock protection the month before because of an unspecified threat against her on a streetcorner near her home. He insisted at a news conference she had no guards until then.

Thursday, Giuliani aides changed their story. They said Nathan had received previously undisclosed "threats" earlier in 2000, and that protection was provided at those times.

A law enforcement source familiar with mayoral protection said Nathan got bodyguards as far back as 1999, shortly after the affair began.

"If she had to go shopping, errands, that's where you went," the source said.

Other residents at the building said they often saw Nathan coming and going with two well-dressed drivers, who occasionally toted her packages.

"She was always coming back with shopping bags from the different well-known stores in New York," said Jacqueline Elman, a building resident for 12 years who walked her dog regularly and often spotted Nathan, who became the third Mrs. Giuliani in 2003.

Degenstein said he doesn't remember the exact date that cops started showing up for Nathan, but he's certain the rides started before May 10, 2000. That's the day Giuliani dramatically informed his wife, Donna Hanover, via a news conference, that he wanted a separation.

The law enforcement source said that Nathan eventually had as many as seven detectives assigned to her, and that like any protected person, they took her wherever she wanted to go.

"Whether it was to take her shopping or business - you can't say 'We are not going there,'" the source said. "[If you did] you'd be walking a foot post in the seven-five [Brooklyn's 75th Precinct] somewhere."