Daily News from New York, New York • 4

4 DAILY NEWS Sunday, January 26, 1992 Q)MJ DQp(pOI07: THE ASSOCIATED WtESS By DEAN CHANG ifaft Mm Ate MB- if i ffiJlr'i TOKYO Amid increasing U.S-Japan economic tensions, a Japanese lawmaker called American business managers "inferior" and charged U.S. leaders didn't understand either their own country or Japan, a report said yesterday. "The quality of American business executives is poor, although the productivity of American workers is comparatively high," said Shintaro Ishihara. a former transportation minister. Ishihara, a member of parliament from the governing Liberal Democratic Party, said the U.S.

economy could make a rapid recovery with better management, according to the Kyodo News Service. The comments come a week after House Speaker Yoshio Sakurauchi said American workers were lazy and illiterate. Those remarks sparked a storm of criticism in the U.S. Ishihara said Sakurauchi's remarks about American workers were "half correct and half wrong," according to the news service. Blasts pols too "He should have said the quality of American business managers is inferior," said Ishihara.

"U.S. management is no good. I guess it is the cultural difference." Ishihara also took aim at U.S. politicians, saying, "The White House and the U.S. Congress are unable to understand Japan, as well as their own country.

Even if suggestions for economic re Oaity News Staff Wmer Snaking past the factories and docks of Brooklyn from Red Hook to the old bets Field site the B-33 bus is nearing its last run. For the Transit Authority, whose budget woes have led to fare hikes and drastic cuts, the move will save $73,000 a year barely a fraction of its operating expenses. But to the 100 or so people who depend on the bus each day, the B-33's death means much more. To Mae Price and her neighbors at Rose Gardens Apartments, a senior citizens' complex in Park Slope, it means no more easy trips to the bank and supermarket To Linda Kusuma and her co-workers at All-Ways Transportation in Red Hook, it will turn a 20-minute trip home into a one-hour adventure on two or more buses. TA: It's a money drain And to the two regular drivers and their passengers, it means the end of a close-knit relationship that belies the city's cold reputation.

"It's not fair," said Jeanette Weir, her arms filled with clean laundry. "This bus would get more customers if they advertised it and ran it more often." TA officials said the line, which will be eliminated in March, is a money drain that attracts few passengers. Serv-, ice has been cut to a mini- mum; the bus runs every 40 minutes on weekdays only, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

to 5 p.m. "We don't make cuts in a haphazard manner," said Norman Silverman, the TA's director of routes and system planning. "But this is one of the poorest-performing routes in Brooklyn. It has been for a number of years, and there's nothing there that will reverse the trend." It wasn't always that way. In the 1930s, the line was created to replace the Third Ave.

trolley and served' the Hamilton Ave. ferry at one end and Ebbets Field at the other. "It used to be a real popular route," said Gerald O'Bri- Ljr BROOKLYN VY M1 lC Pari yEbbeot? Pas sen- gers wait to board B-33 bus in Brooklyn. The line will soon ride into sunset and TA history book in a budget cutting move, Map at left shows B-33's route. ANTNONV KSCMORE OMLV NEWS Red Hook.

And when the Gowanus and Prospect ex pressways were built, more families were uprooted. "The route lost its genera tors at each end," said Silver man. "The ferry site disap peared 40 years ago. The ballpark hasn't been there for 30 years. How can we justify keeping it?" Barely a whimper Yet, many of the TA's 200-plus bus routes lose money; a new Staten Island express route, for example, costs the TA $28.77 per passenger.

i But cutting Staten Island service would provoke strong opposition. In contrast, the B-33 elimination drew barely a whimper from Community Board 6. "A lot of us depend on that bus," said Price, 66. "A lot of the women here take it to get to the bank, the supermarket and Holy Name Church." For many, the death of the B-33 is not just an inconve-' nience; it is a complete disruption of their lives. The closest subway stop is at Smith and Ninth Sts.

on the and lines, a station many people avoid because of crime. Most passengers said they would continue to use buses, paying a double fare when necessary. "If they've made up their minds, there's nothing we can do about it," said. Price. "We'll just have to do some-thine -1 1 STOPPED TOM LYNN DAILY NEWS very quiet ride home." Trouble for the B-33 began in 1942, when the Hamilton Ave.

ferry stopped operating because of the new Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. When the Dodgers left for Los Angeles, ridership dropped further. Gradually, the thriving docks lost business, -and dockworkers moved from -and won covery are proposed, they don't even try." Ishihara is coauthor of the book "The Japan That Can Say No," which says Japan should sometimes resist trade demands from the U.S. President Bush visited Japan earlier this month to try to open Japanese markets to more American products. Ishihara could not be reached for comment In another development a Tokyo newspaper said that the big three U.S.

auto companies planned to sharply re duce their purchases of Japa nese steel. But officials at the auto companies and several Japanese steelmakers would not confirm the report The Shimbun newspaper quoted unidentified U.S. and Japanese steel industry officials in Washington as saying General Motors Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. had notified Japanese steel makers they would reduce the i i ports of th i n-steel panels by 50 from the current 240,000 tons a year, effective immediately.

The steel is used mainly to en, who drove the bus in the 1960s. "When I was a kid, I remember taking the bus to Ebbets Field." Marty Adler, founder of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame, said: "You have to envision the bus ride. Everyone was a Dodger fan. Everyone wore a Dodgers cap. If the Dodgers lost, it would be a route was saved.

"It was ourlifeblood," said Stern, a cosmetics-marketing consultant "We had to save it" Collected signatures Stern and others collected more than 3,000 signatures on a petition, conducted their own ridershrp" o'iz CUoiv one rider fought TA Renee Stern had heard it before. "You can't fight the Transit Authority," she was told. But Stern proved the nay-sayers wrong. Three years ago, the M-30 cross town bus was slated for the TA's chopping block. But largely because of Stem's efforts, the bus surveys and lobbied politicians to get the TA to change its plan.

"People can fight back," said Trudy Mason, a former TA executive. "Get some press. Demand a public hearing. Get elected public officials to listen. That's the only way to get the TA's Dean Chang" I T-' ft.fr.-i JAvseS fcY y-jc..