The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 36

B4JL THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Friday, October 2, 1992 Author wrote bad checks, says angry cast of N.Y. flop The Big Apple was a big mistake. Now 27 actors have filed a complaint over 55 bounced checks. signed by Perloff against ah account at the Bucks County Bank in Buckingham that had run out of funds. Perloff said he didn't realize the mistake until it was too late.

He wanted his play to succeed, he said, and kept hoping that enough money would come in to cover expenses. "I didn't realize it was as bad as it was," Perloff said. "If we had closed three weeks earlier, it wouldn't have been a problem." Perloff said the New York production cost $300,000 to $500,000 to stage. but he soon ran out of money. The play had to rely on ticket sales, but there weren't enough to cover costs, he said.

Ron DeBrigida, an assistant district attorney in Bucks County, said that when the play opened off-Broadway in the 24-Karat Club on 44th Street, the 40-member cast was getting paid. "IThe castl got their checks and things were fine, and then they started to bounce, and people started complaining, and the show ran into trouble, and it closed." DeBrigida said the smallest check was written for the largest, for $600. He said some of the cast members approached Buckingham police in August about the bounced checks. Cast members tried to work out a compromise with Perloff before approaching police, he said. Perloff blamed the play's failures on several problems, including a negative review in the New York Times, the economy and the price of the tickets.

The participatory play, for which the audience paid about $80 a ticket to dine and take part in the bar mitzvah, might have cost too much for the average theatergoer, he said. Perloff, who has been in the entertainment business for 25 years, also produced Tony Tina's Wedding, which ran two years ago in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. He said this was the first time that he ever encountered such- financial difficulties. He didn't hesitate when asked why he took the risk of moving a successful play. "Everybody wants to go to New York." Perloff said.

By Christine Bahls INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT For six months, Bernie's Bar Mifz-vah played to delighted audiences in Baltimore. In March, author and producer Howard Perloff of Buckingham, Bucks County, decided to press his luck and take his participatory play north to the Big Apple. Big mistake. In seven weeks, the play closed, and now 27 cast members have filed a complaint against Perloff in Buckingham Township that 55 of Perloffs checks had bounced. "If I knew (the play would fail, we'd still be in Baltimore," said Perloff, 50, in a recent interview.

Last Friday, Buckingham police filed citations contending that checks in excess of $48,000 were Archdiocese to propose closings Ex-Phila. officer, brother to stand trial in bathroom beating; i vtf1 I A p-i 3 55 a Wt Jnw v. flLOCAtlV t- TIM Philadslphia Inquirer TODD BUCHANAN Just before maintenance workers' contract expired, Drexel trustees froze wages. Since Sept. 14, the workers, represented by the Teamsters, have been on the picket line.

This one is at 32d and Chestnut. Three-week-old Drexel walkout causes few disruptions at school By Linda Loyd INQUIRER STAFF WRITER A fired Philadelphia police officer and his brother were ordered to stand trial yesterday on charges that they beat a West Philadelphia man inside the men's room of a police district station on April 3. The former officer, Clayton Tyler, 31, who since the incident has been dismissed, and his brother, Cornell Tyler, 29, were held for trial in Municipal Court on charges of aggravated and simple assault, reckless en-dangerment and conspiracy in the beating of Gregory Richardson, 29. "They were like a pack of wild dogs," Richardson said at a hearing before Judge Michael J. Conroy.

He said that Clayton Tyler "slammed" his face in a mirror and hit him "50 or more times" with his fists in a bathroom at the 18th District station, 55th and Pine Streets. "I was still handcuffed. It was impossible to strike out, he said." Clayton Tyler, who joined the Police Department in 1990, also was ordered to stand trial on charges that he filed false reports about the incident. A third brother, Clayton Tyler's twin, Clinton Tyler, also is charged in the beating, but his hearing was postponed yesterday because his attorney was unavailable. Richardson was initially arrested in the incident, and charged with trying to rob Clayton Tyler at gunpoint.

Tyler was off duty at the time. The District Attorney's Office dropped those charges after a grand jury in July recommended that the arresting officer, Clayton Tyler, and his brothers be charged with crimes in connection with beating Richardson in the men's room. Richardson required 20 stitches to his face, and testified yesterday that he still suffers "extreme" headaches and blackouts. Richardson who is serving time in Graterford Prison on a parole violation stemming from an earlier conviction for a robbery, burglary and rape testified that, in the men's room, Clinton and Cornell Tyler joined Clayton Tyler in repeatedly kicking and hitting him in the chest, back and face "all over," he said. Richardson said he had known the three Tylers since childhood, and a week before the incident he said that his brother, Dennis, had had a dispute with Clinton Tyler in a About 11:30 p.m.

on April 3, Richardson testified, he was standing at 40th and Market Streets, talking to a friend, when Clayton Tyler, who was not in uniform, got out of his car and made a derogatory comment to him. Richardson said the two exchanged words and Clayton Tyler punched him in the face. Richardson said when he struck back, Clayton Tyler reached for his gun. Richardson testified that he did not have a weapon. Bystanders separated the two men.

Richardson testified that he had walked away when Clayton and Cornell Tyler came up behind him wfth guns. Clayton Tyler pointed a gun'at his head and told him he was "under arrest for armed robbery." After he was taken to the district station, Richardson testified, he was handcuffed to a bench in a receiving area. A short time later, Richardson said, Clayton Tyler said he wanted to take Richardson "in the back" to the bathroom. At that point, he said, one of the Tyler brothers remarked, 'Get some gloves' to the off-duty officer. 'Don't get no blood on your Richardson said Clayton Tyler topk him in the bathroom and repeatedly struck him about the face and head.

Attorney Jeffrey P. Minehart, representing Clayton Tyler, contended that Richardson was the aggressor, and that his client was assaulted while "doing his job" trying to frisk the prisoner in the bathroom, "We're not contesting that he was handcuffed initially, but not in the bathroom," said Minehart. "It just doesn't make sense that an assault of this magnitude would take place in front of a number of uniform officers who would stand by." CATHOLIC SCHOOLS from B1 35 percent in the previous five years. Tuition rose by 69.5 percent during that same period, but officials project a $4 million deficit by the end of this school year alone. "My commitment to Catholic schools is stronger now than it has ever been," Cardinal Bevilacqua said during a meeting last week related to the study.

"I continue to believe that Catholic schools are the most effective way to assist parents in transmitting the teachings of our faith to young people." The study was conducted for the Catholic Board of Education by the Coopers Lybrand consulting firm. Yesterday's edition of the Catholic Standard and Times, the archdioce-san newspaper, reported that the proposed strategies include: phasing in open enrollment at the remaining high schools, embarking on a reinvestment program to improve the schools' financial base, and scrapping the current centralized bureaucracy in favor of "a decentralized federation of schools, most of which over time will be expected to achieve economic self-sufficiency." Under the federation plan, schools would be largely self-managed and would conduct their own recruiting. The archdiocese would continue to oversee the religious curriculum. Schools considered least likely to survive on their own would be the most likely targets for closing or merger. But the consultants have also recommended continued financial support for "special mission" schools that serve low-income or minority students.

Under the suggested open-enrollment plan, students currently attending archdiocesan high schools would remain at their present schools. Beginning with the 1993-94 school year, entering freshmen would be able to attend the diocesan schools of their choice. Most high schools now draw students from nearby parishes, although Roman Catholic High School for Boys in Center City is permitted to recruit students from throughout the archdiocese. Coopers Lybrand urged the archdiocese to retain whenever possible some single-sex schools so that parents and students would continue to have that option. The consultants also have called for revitalizing the Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS) fund-raising program to raise at least $10 million for the schools by the year 2000.

The study suggests, as well, that the archdiocese explore opening new high schools in burgeoning areas of the archdiocese where Catholic high schools are lacking. down over wages. According to John P. Morris, secretary-treasurer of Local 115 and president of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters, a maintenance worker at Drexel typically earns $13.90 an hour. The union is seeking wage increases comparable to those won by the university's operating engineers in their latest contract.

The engineers got an hourly increase of 68 cents six months ago, 67 cents this week, and are due to receive a 70-cent raise next year. University officials have said the engineers' contract was signed before the board of trustees froze salaries in the spring for fiscal 1992-93. According to the Teamsters, the university's offer to the maintenance workers calls for a wage freeze in the first year and a 42-cent hourly increase the next. "That," said Morris, "is not going to go anywhere." University officials declined yesterday to confirm either the contents of their offer or the wage increases the engineers have received. However, in an open letter in the Sept.

25 issue of the Triangle student newspaper, Drexel president Richard D. Breslin defended the freeze: "This difficult but necessary measure was taken to hold down costs in order to keep tuition affordable for our students and their families during these tough economic times." He said the decision also was prompted by the loss of Drexel's $5.8 million appropriation from the state in this fiscal year. "Clearly, it would be unfair to justify Local 115's demand for a pay raise," he wrote, "when all other Drexel employees are going without one." DREXEL Irom B1 very bearable and the students have not complained," said Jonathan Awerbach, chairman of the Faculty Senate. "They have rolled up their sleeves and helped." Last weekend, students chipped in to pick up litter on campus, with another cleanup scheduled for Saturday. Jason Gart, of Northeast Philadelphia, a resident assistant in Kelly Hall, said students moving to the first floor Sept.

17 were stunned to discover their new wood and metal beds had not been assembled. Workers had started putting the new beds together on the top floor and were working their way down when the strike started. "A lot ol my floor met each other when they were borrowing tools to put together beds," he said. "It was a little hassle, but they made the best of it." Gart said students on his floor also had climbed on chairs to replace burned-out fluorescent lights rather than wait for a maintenance supervisor. "Half are going to be engineers," he said with a laugh, "and they are trying to figure out how to put in fluorescent lights." Karen David, an accounting major from Perkasie, is a resident assistant in Calhoun Hall, where some carpeting has yet to be installed and elevator lobbies tiled.

"The students are not complaining all that much about it," she said. "There's not too much tension. People are handling it very well." The maintenance employees, whose contract ran out June 30, struck Sept. 14 after talks broke In the same issue of the Triangle, the Teamsters charged that the strike was "caused by Breslin's refusal to negotiate" and that the cost of hiring outside security guards to keep the peace on campus during the first two weeks of the strike had exceeded the cost of the two-year contract. (The university agreed to begin phasing out the guards beginning Sept.

25.) An informal group of about a dozen faculty members representing all the university's colleges began meeting Wednesday to discuss the strike. Douglas Porpora, a sociology professor, said the group wanted more information on the issues and talked about raising money for other Local 115 members who are striking in sympathy with maintenance workers but are not entitled to strike benefits. "There is a feeling that both sides should bargain in good faith, that the strike is not in anybody's interest," he said. "There is certainly sympathy for the strike among a significant number of faculty, but there is opposition as well. The faculty is not unified on that." Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Police Department's Civil Affairs Unit is investigating two accidents in which strikers were reportedly struck by nonunion delivery drivers.

Officials said no serious student mishaps have been reported. "I think everyone is surprised it is not affecting us more," Karen David said. "We are able to live here. Things are not that bad." "It has been a unique experience," said Gart, a history major. "It will be something to look back on." Talks are scheduled to resume Monday.

A father charged in plot SEPTA ends RaflWorks' 1st phase Leader of drug ring is sentence of 12 years in agents reported that meetings were held at E. Newbold Smith's Radnor home to discuss the details of the abduction. Federal agents also intercepted telephone calls between E. Newbold Smith and Moore during which the kidnapping was discussed. On Wednesday, the FBI searched E.

Newbold Smith's home for documents, phone numbers, phone records, bank statements and canceled checks reflecting appointments with, payments to and phone conversations with the other alleged conspirators. Nothing was taken, they said. given prison ring was so successful that he was forced to create a dummy corporation, Franklin Management, through which he laundered money, enabling him to obtain a Porsche and two BMWs, a Main Line home and season tickets to Phillies, 76ers ahd Eagles games. Forlano told Buckwalter that his decision-making had been clouded by drugs and by his "cocoon" of friends all drug users and all eager to convince him to keep the drug ring operating. Forlano said it was Eisman, hjs attorney when he was first arrested for drugs in 1973, who convinced him that he could stay in the business without fear of further consequences.

Accountants and other professionals convinced him he could handle any problems with the Internal Revenue Service caused by the large amounts of cash the drug ring generated. "I knew it was against the law, but I didn't realize that it was morally wrong," Forlano added. "And you have to realize that most of the people who were members of this conspiracy were people I grew up with!" Forlano's 15-year-old drug ring began unraveling in December 1988 when he and a group of others trying to make a marijuana purchase in Arizona were stopped by federal agents and local police. Although he was freed at the time, the incident started the investigation that resulted in the indictment of Forlano and nine others in November 1990. CONSPIRACY from B1 ming abductions in Washington, D.C., and New York.

According to an FBI affidavit, the alleged conspirators planned to have a female lure Lewis Smith, who is living in the Philadelphia area, to a hotel room where he was to have been sedated. Then, Lewis Smith was to have been transported to his father's yacht, the 44-foot powerboat Reindeer, and taken 60 miles offshore to be deprogrammed. During the FBI's investigation of the kidnapping plot this summer, sentencing guidelines, which have eliminated parole. Carroll referred to Forlano's reformation after more than 15 years of almost daily drug use and his cooperation with prosecutors. "Mr.

Forlano was lucky he got arrested and lucky he got indicted," Carroll added. "Otherwise, he probably would have been dead and if not, it would have been a certainty that he would be living a dysfunctional life that has been described for you." Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul A. Sar-mousakis also recommended that Forlano be treated leniently because of his cooperation, although he said Forlano should still get a "significant prison sentence" because he was the "fulcrum" of the drug ring. Although Buckwalter concurred with the leniency recommendation, he questioned Forlano for almost 30 minutes over the contradictory portraits of a "dysfunctional" person who started every day on drugs and the criminal mastermind who jetted nationwide to conduct his drug trafficking business.

"I just don't understand how, with the dysfunctional existence you had from 1972 to 1988, you did function as a person who was able to make appropriate decisions to create a fair amount of wealth for yourself," Buckwalter said. Forlano has already forfeited to the government personal assets valued at about $400,000. The government contended that Forlano's drug New rail schedules set New schedules will go into effect Sunday for all SEPTA Regional Rail Division routes, with significant changes to weekday and weekend service. Starting Sunday, all six RailWorks routes R2 Warminster, R3 West Trenton, R5 Lansdale-Doylestown, R6 Norristown, R7 Chestnut Hill East and R8 Fox Chase will operate train service through to Center City. Most schedules will be similar to pre-RailWorks timetables, but there will be separate weekday and weekend schedules for all 13 route segments.

Schedules are available at Center City railroad stations. With the return of through service on the six former Reading Lines, SEPTA is suspending its Service Guarantee Program. Also being eliminated are the Route R6 express buses serving Norristown and Conshohocken-Spring Mill; the shuttle buses linking East Falls and Queen Lane Stations, and the shuttles serving stations between Routes R7 Chestnut Hill East and R8 Chestnut Hill West. Beginning Monday, suburban riders using Fern Rock Transportation Center will resume paying intermediate fares transferring between trains and the subway because Fern Rock will become a Zone 2 station instead of a Center City station. Other RailWorks-connected changes include the termination of all express service on bus Route 24, and the elimination of six inbound and six outbound trips on bus Route 61.

Reaching Center City destinations east of City Hall should be simplified with the resumption of service on the Broad-Ridge Spur. Trains will operate every 7.5 minutes during peak periods, making all local stops between Erie Station and Eighth and Market Streets. Scheduling will be coordinated with Broad Street express trains for riders transferring from one subway service to another. Other SEPTA changes include: Beginning Sunday, trains will no longer stop at the Andalusia, Frankford Junction, Logan and Mogees Stations. Most Route R1 Airport Line trains will start at Glenside.

Route R3 West Trenton trains will make fewer station stops. For more information, call SEPTA at 580-7800. SEPTA from B1 schedules; sometimes their lives. "Once is enough," said Tom Bor-awski, of the Delaware Valley Association of Railroad Passengers, an advocacy group for riders. "We don't want to go through it again." Six regional rail lines the R2 Warminster, R3 West Trenton, R5 Lansdale-Doylestown, R6 Norris-town, R7 Chestnut Hill East and R8 Fox Chase were affected during the six-month shutdown, forcing about 17,000 commuters to find other ways to get to and from Center City.

SEPTA tried its utmost to keep those customers, providing shuttle buses and other alternate services. But many stopped using the system and some may never come back. And it is that impact that has SEPTA executives wondering and worrying. Several estimates at the transit au-' thority show that ridership dropped significantly since the project began in April, with 4,000 to 5,000 fewer passengers using the system today. More than $4 million in passenger revenue was lost.

Through August, SEPTA said it retained about 73 percent of its riders. They had predicted 81 percent would stay through the first construction period. Officials cautioned that this estimate is preliminary. They remain concerned. "The big question is, will these people come back," said John F.

McGee SEPTA'S director of revenue development. He said SEPTA hopes to recapture those lost riders by December. At SEPTA, any permanent loss would hurt. By Joseph A. Slobodzlan INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Frank J.

Forlano, the leader of a group of young suburban professionals whose business skills created one of the region's largest, long-lived and most lucrative drug rings, was sentenced to 12 years in prison without parole yesterday by a federal judge. Forlano, 44, of Bryn Mawr, told U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter of a personal rise and fall that could have been a metaphor for the U.S. drug culture of the 1970s and '80s.

It was the story of a group of friends who began using drugs in high school, continued using them together as they entered the working world and used business techniques to create an organization that federal prosecutors said sold 300 pounds of cocaine and five tons of marijuana between 1974 and 1988. Yesterday his money gone, his friends facing similar sentences and his former attorney, Dennis H. Eis-man, a suicide on the eve of an indictment that resulted from Forlano's belated cooperation with authorities Forlano told Buckwalter he was a lucky man. He was alive and he has been sober for three years, he said. "In a perverse way, I'm glad to be here," Forlano said.

"I'm just hopeful that some day I'll be able to go on and contribute to society." Forlano's attorney, John Rogers Carroll, urged Buckwalter to be lenient and sentence Forlano below the 22- to 27-year sentence recommended for him under the federal project in the first place, officials said. "It's a short-term pain for hopefully a longer-term gain," said Robert T. "Rick" Wooten, SEPTA'S assistant general manager. "That's why we made this kind of investment It's not only to recapture those riders Host to RailWorks 1 but it's to increase ridership above the pre-RailWorks level." Ridership has been dropping steadily for three years at the transit authority, eroding its passenger base and, thus, its income. With subsidies from state, local and federal governments also falling, SEPTA'S financial picture is bleak, leaving a $65 million budget deficit this year and an uncertain future.

Falling ridership was one reason SEPTA undertook the RailWorks rtBii. i IV.