Daily News from New York, New York • 75

luaJj By KEITH MOORE operation," Jared Lebow, a spokesman for the TA, said. Lebow said the the agency is "convinced that skip-stop is an improvement over the present system." Key stops skipped The TA has maintained that the proposal would speed travel for almost half of the riders north of 96th St, with faster running times and shorter waiting times. But opposition, particular express or faster service on theBroadway local line." Cites 'confusion' But TA President David Gunn said he decided last September to defer the plan because of some apparent "confusion" over it "We need additional community input and more time to communicate our proposal," he said. City Councilman Stanley Michels (D-Washington Heights-Inwood) told Gunn that the "confusion" would not have been created had the TA decided to involve the affected communities in the planning process. Lebow said he hoped to begin to talk to some of the community boards and politicians as early as next month.

In addition, he said, he would target an advertising campaign, advising riders of the change, for January or February next year. Daily News Staff Writer The Transit Authority is set to again talk up its skip-stop subway operation after it was panned in most areas of upper Manhattan where -it was to go into effect. The TA has notified local political and community board officials that it hopes to put the plan into effect next spring. "We will talk to as many people as possible to sell this 1 Swag ly in Washington Heights-In-wood, built around the fact that some key stops were to be skipped. Under the plan, four stops would be skipped on the No.

1 Broadway line: 125th, 157th, 207th, and 225th Sts. A new No. 9 train would make those stops, skipping 238th St, 215th St, Dyckman 181st St and 145th St The net effect, according to the TA, "is to provide semi- IB Ik v-1 i I A '-f in 1 1 rinnr rri i mii sml i nt tm friWWiawi-raitf r.if- YOUNQ RI1KE STAHL 8 months, helps his older neighbors, Reiner Pabst, 4, and Jenna Pabst, 7, decorate pumpkins for Halloween. Painting is not only easier on the finger than carving, its also easier and prettier. The young artists live in Boonton, N.J.

wm By DJ. SAUNDERS OaMy News Staff Wmar An association of more than a dozen community antidrug groups will hold a candlelight rally at City Hall at 5 this evening to demonstrate a "united front" in demanding a "comprehensive" citywide approach to the drug problem. "The current situation is out of control," said Carlos Cortes, a Manhattan civil engineer who last August founded New Yorkers Against Drugs (NY AD.) NYAD is made up of block associations, churches and labor organizations. Members, who are from every borough, "have very straightforward questions to ask about the drug problem because we have heard it all on the federal, state and local level," Carols said. Spreading blame And, what they have heard, he said, are politicians blaming each other.

The only action they have seen, he asserted, are "stopgap measures" where the police sweep onto one street and push the dealers onto another street "This is not sufficient" he said. "We need something comprehensive that covers all the neighborhoods and boroughs in New York City. "We want something from City Hall saying we are instituting a citywide program. We want answers. We want results." The questions, he said, include: "When are we going to get more police walking the streets? When are we going to get more drug education, prevention and rehabilitation programs? When are the people going to get their streets and neighborhoods back?" Marvin Gentile, a leader of midtown Manhattan's 31st St Citizens Committee, said that NYAD's battle plan is to get results by having the organizations bond together.

"Splintered groups are not as effective," he said. "Everybody has to stand together. This rally is a show of strength that the people of New York are together." umbrella group for 37 local partners. Request for proposals James Campbell, director of Leake and Watts Children's Home couldn't have been happier with the emerging shift Campbell had been unable to get government funding for a new program his Yonkers-based child-welfare agency wanted to create that would place children with AIDS in foster homes. But United Way of New York City provided an opportunity for the 157-year-old agency when it issued a general request for proposals in 1985.

The proposal from the foster-care group won it a $30,000 grant to begin the project the next year. Issuing such grants is only one of the ways local United Way affiliates disburse the funds they raise. The affiliates also bring organizations that receive regular United Way funding into the fold. Funding was provided for services like those offered at By WATAUS P. BYFIELD Daily News Staff Writer Cutbacks in government spending for the poor, criticism from minority groups, and emerging social problems are forcing local affiliates of the United Way to alter the ways they raise and distribute charitable funds.

New United Way TV commercials now being aired in the metropolitan area focus on issues, such as rape-crisis counseling, that reflect innovative thinking about United Way's public image. The 200-year-old charity found that it was not adequately addressing some relatively recent social crises, such as homelessness and AIDS. But during the last three years, local United Way affiliates have addressed that problem, providing "higher-than-average funding" to agencies dealing with AIDS patients, domestic violence, homelessness and working" parents, said Dennis Murphy, executive vice president at United Way of Tri-State, an that has reduced the pool from which donors are recruited. During the last three years, many companies have shrunk in size due to the slashing of middle-management ranks. That has also affected donations, Murphy said.

The United Way has responded by broadening its base to include more midsize and small companies, said Murpny- 1 Ads have dramatic effect This fall's fund-raising campaign, which includes TV ads about homelessness, is the greatest departure yet from its milktoast reputation. Other dramatic ads highlight the importance of CPR training and rape-crisis counselingsome of which have been made possible by programs funded by the United Way. The area's United Way groups want to make sure donors are aware of the changing priorities. Leake and Watts precisely because the United Way changed its policy to make sure that such programs were not turned away. Murphy said.

Last year, United Way of Tri-State, in conjunction with the local groups, raised $170 million that was distributed to approximately 1,800 health and human-care agencies. Sixty percent of the funds came from workers who donated through payroll-deduction plans, 30 from corporate donations, and the remainder through bequests and other gifts, said Janet Weinstein, a spokeswoman for United Way of Tri-State. Donor pool reduced However, fund-raising has become more difficult during the past year's leaner economic times, which led to layoffs at many major corporations. Last October's stock market crash forced some Wall Street firms that have been generous in the past to cut staffers, said Murphy, and.