Daily News from New York, New York • 45

GENERAL MOTORS L'oMa cuts sales forecast as cell phone slump lingers Page 42 MICRON CITIGROUP DISNEY IBM JOHNSON TECHNOLOGY JOHNSON -133 $18.40 $40.49 $19.56 $71.58 $55.04 $53.75 in 7 American Craft tops Trump By ERIC HERMAN I OAliy NEWS BUSINESS WRITER After seven years of weighing options for 2 Columbus Circle, the city has decided to sell the distinctive, nine-story building to the I American Craft Museum. Sil'5 museum failed to catch on with the public, and the city later took over the building. The Cultural Affairs Department moved in but departed in 1998. The building has been vacant ever since. Fans of the building supported a bid by the Dahesh Museum, which planned to restore the building and keep the facade.

The Giuliani administration was said to have favored Trump's tear-down plan. The American Craft Museum has charted a middle course. It won't tear the entire building down, officials said, but will tear off the unusual front and replace it with a "transparent" one. It has never been landmarked. "If you make the building more transparent, you can really imagine being inside the museum looking at the park," Alper said.

Holly Hotchner, the museum's director, said an architect would soon be selected to develop a plan for the building, and that the redesign would be submitted for public review. "We're in celebration mode," Hotchner said. "I think we can bring a lot of people and interest to Columbus Circle." Trump called the city's pick "a terrible waste of a very good asset" Alper countered that "we already have two hotels around the Circle. And our view was that a third hotel would have added less than a cultural institution." The city chose the American Craft Mu- seum over a higher bid from Donald Trump, who wanted to tear the building down and erect a luxury hotel. The museum bid between $15 million and $20 million, a source said, "slightly I less" than Trump.

I The museum also will spend about $10 million to give the building a new facade and renovate its interior. It will be the latest step in a renewal of Columbus Circle led by AOL Time-Warn-' er's new headquarters rising next door. "It's a good deal for the city, because we think this helps the continued revital-ization of Columbus Circle," said Andrew Alper, president of the city's Economic Development Corp. The selection marks a new phase for a building that evokes strong reactions in New Yorkers. With a windowless white facade and columns that resemble lollipops, it has its admirers and its critics.

Some, like architect Robert A. M. Stern, say 2 Columbus Circle is a masterpiece that should be landmarked. Others, like developer Douglas Durst, call the building "ugly as hell." "If I put in a bid, it would be to tear it down," Durst told the Daily News. Noted architect Edward Durell Stone designed 2 Columbus Circle, which opened in 1964 as the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art.

Hartford's TXOMAS MONASTER DAJDT NEWS 1 2 Columbus Circle's windowless facade with columns re sembling lollipops wiH give way to what officials call a "transparent" look. sail ecQGD oneus (fmpfTTEn) ffaoHs to save PROFITS 2nd quarter $563 million REVENUES 2nd quarter $3.85 billion STOCK PRICE $72.70 By DANEL DUNAEF DARY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER Investors were little impressed by yesterday's index of leading economic indicators, which rose twice as much as expected, in one more suggestion the economy may be recovering. The markets was pulled down by violence in the Middle East, profit warnings and an analyst warning about auto sector profits hurt stocks. The Dow plunged to its lowest point in nearly eight months, winding up it biggest two-day fall since last October, despite indications the economy is poised to move forward. The Dow fell 129.80 to 9,431.77, while the Nasdaq decline 32U8 1 Ford dropped 75 cents to $15.73, and General Motors declined $2.59 to $53.75.

Jobless claims nationwide fell to 393,000 last week, down 2,000 from the week before. Separately, the Commerce Department said the trade deficit grew to a record $35.9 billion in April, as the domestic economy continued its recovery. Imports of consumer good such as clothing, televisions, and toys rose 5.4 to a record $24.9 billion, outpacing the 2.2 increase in exports of chemicals, industrial machinery and semiconductors. Rising oil prices were a key factor in boosting imports, with the price of crude posting the largest monthly gamin 12 years. By 0ANEL DUNAEF I DAUy NEWS BUSINESS WRITER sii' Goldman Sachs cut 991 jobs, or 4.4 of its employees, in the past three months the latest Wall Street firm to disclose a new round of layoffs.

The cuts came throughout the company as profits in investment banking sagged, officials said, and weren't concentrated in any particular area. At the end of May, Goldman had 21,145 employees 8 fewer than a year ago. Goldman's chief financial officer, David Viniar, said the brokerage firm has no additional layoff plans for 2002, provided its. business improves late this ryear or early in 2003. The uncertain sM4ev fmd economy have kept some companies from issuing stock or making acquisitions among the most profitable areas for investment banks.

With their profits pinched, Wall Street firms have been slowly cutting the number of jobs, trying to keep costs down as revenues shrink. Executives at Goldman, Lehman and Morgan Stanley three brokers that reported falling profits this week have said investment banking prospects remained dim for at least the next three months, if not the rest of the year. Viniar cited an ongoing weak environment in new stock issuance and mergers because of an uncertain market and an inward focus for corporate clienHi111 Wall Street firms may have to cut anywhere from 17,000 to 35,000 jobs this year, analysts said, to cope with lower business activity. Yesterday, Goldman said its quarterly profit fell 2.4 to $563 million, as revenues fell 3.5 to ti tx tvaa.