Daily News from New York, New York • 109

ML7' Four Trapped on East River Drive City-Bought Fo In a Price Lea DAILY NEWS, WEDNESDAY," JANUARY 30, 1974 is Store Mikes Seen By BRUCE DRAKE The wholesale prices that the city pays for food used in its operations ha3 jumped for a fourth straight time ''CI. in two months, foreshadowing a continued rise in the 4 A4 culture and Markets In the new wholesale prices quoted in bids by the city, beef was up to 91.2 cents a pound on Friday, eotnpared to 90 cents on Jan. 11; lamb rose from 72.6 cents to 73.9 cents and pork jumped from 84.8 cents to 90.9 cents. Poultry increased from 42.9 cents to 48.7 a pound; fish was up from 72.2 cents to 77.8, and a dozen eggs increased from 60.7 cents to 65.1. Produce showed an increase to 15.6 cents a pound from 13.7.

Produce has shown the largest jump since the Nov. 30 low, rising in price by about 4-V'r. That is followed by beef price hikes of "In terms of the direction the prices are taking," said Larry Summers of the U.S. Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service, "the trend experienced by the city seems to hold with what we see around the country. But the magnitude of those increases sounds a little steep compared to elsewhere." The city buys about $20 million of food annually for use in correctional centers, hospitals and other municipal complexes.

retail cost of groceries. In releasing figures on bids re ceived Friday, Purchase Commissioner Robert Cohen blamed the increase in part on transportation costs that have risen because of lower speed limits for trucks and hikes in fuel prices. In the latest bids, involving food that will be arriving 10 days to three weeks from now, prices rose in all seven fresh food categories quoted by the department: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, eggs and produce. The total price index for all the food items was higher than the index based on the Jan. 11 bids.

The latest increase continued a trend which has seen that index jump by 2.9 and higher in each purchasing period since the Nov. 30 bids, when the index last declined. Purchase officials feel "that more often than not" the wholesale prices they pay are a "barometer" for cost trends that will show up in retail markets. And those retail prices have been showing a steady rate of increase in the city since early December in supermarket surveys taken by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the state Agri Ask Public News photo by Carmine Donofno Firemen and police gather around overturned car on southbound lane of East River Drive under Willis Ave. bridge early yesterday.

Police said that car, driven by Alex Rivera, 20, of Manhattan, with three passengers, struck a divider, overturned and trapped all four for about a half hour. Occupants were taken to Harlem Hospital. Meeds Periled Court Officers By JAMES DUDDY Responding to warnings of Bronx Supreme Court officers that its layout leaves them open to daily abuse by militant hordes trailing the defendants through the building, Presiding Justice Owen McGivern said he had given Mayor Beame "my shopping list and I'm hopeful and optimistic." The officers demanded more staff and structural changes for the place, described as "ready to explode at any moment." McGivern, who this month was named to head the First Department of the Appellate Division, which covers Manhattan- and the Bronx, said he was sympathetic On Island Tramway By SYBIL BAKER The Army Corps of Engineers called on the public yesterday for comments on a proposed aerial tramway linking Roosevelt Island with Manhattan at COth St. to the problems facing court officers. He sa'd there was a good chance that Beame would lift the job freeze that halted the hiring of court personnel.

The freeze was instituted by Mayor Lindsay. The grievances of the Bronx officers were outlined to were assembled by use of special montage synthesizer which reproduces composite pictures from photographs of various people. Slaying Suspect Hunt Shifts to M.J., Conn. By JOHN RANDAZZO The hunt for the knife slayer of 41-year-old Mrs. El-friede Bernhardt shifted yesterday to New Jersey and Connecticut, where a bearded suspect sought for questioning has relatives, the Westchester sheriff's office disclosed McGivern in a letter from Sal- vatore A.

Bonfiglio, president of the Supreme Court Officers Association. Bonfiglio said pris oners in the ancient courthouse had to be escorted through public corridors to make court appear ances. The court officers, he said, are often confronted by militant and vociferous followers" and face "the daily risk of physical injury and verbal abuse, turning a normal procedure into a difficult chore." Trials on Three Floors Bonfiglio called for the necessary structural changes in the building so that defendants can be moved from place to place by court officers "with just the defendant to cope with and not the horde of followers, to boot." Criminal trials are held on three different floors in the courthouse, at 161st St. and Grand Concourse. McGivern was invited to tour the courthouse by Vincent Di-Martino, vice president of the court officers association, but he has not replied as yet.

companies were not living up Commen the tramway on the public interest. The Army said that any criticism of the proposed work should be sent in writing to the Army Engineers at 26 Federal Plaza, N.Y. 10007, before Feb. 25. The tramway would be built on the north side of the Queens-boro Bridge at the same height as the bridge with a landing on Second Ave.

The Urban Development Corp. estimates that two electrically powered cable cars, each designed to carry 123 persons, would lend substance to one of its catchier marketing slogans for its new housing: "Only 3 minutes by air from Bloomingdale's." The first occupants of Roosevelt Island's 5,000 housing units under construction are expected to move in late this fall. The 500 units of housing for the elderly and the 1,000 units of low-income family housing will rent for up to $25 a room per month; 1,250 units of moderate income, $40 t.i $45 per room; 1,000 units middle income, $95 to $115 per room. As cooperatives, the middle income housing carrying charges would be the same as the rent, witli a down payment of $1,200 per room. The 1,250 units of fully taxed housing are projected to command $140 to $150 a room per month.

As cooperatives, the carrying charge would be the same, with a down payment of $3,500 per room. The corporation said it has received more than 6,000 inquiries about living on the 147-acre island, Church Reviews Oil Stocks By WILLIAM REEL The Archdiocese of New York is reviewing its $23 million investment portfolio to determine whether it is If the Urban Development Corporation, developer of Roosevelt Island, gets the Army permit plus permits from the Board of Estimate and the City Planning Commission, the tramway could start operating in January of next year. The Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over navigable waterways, i3 required by federal law to evaluate the impact of Cardinal Cooke I Vv MM.T" MM III III If tfcW-j benefiting from energy-crisis profiteering, a spokesman for Cardinal Cooke said vesterdav. The spokesman said yesterday. Thi sneoific areas in New Jer sey and Connecticut where sheriff's men were concentrating t'-eir efforts were not disclosed by Sheriff Thomas A.

Delaney. Police have been combing the suspect's hangouts in Mamaro-neck, Larchmont, New Kochelle and Mount Vernon since the attractive mother of two young sons was found slain on Jan. 17 in the driveway of her Irvington home. Cops Shift Hunt The scene shifted to the neigh- boring states after police learned that the suspect had relatives in those areas. Authorities also learned that the wanted man drove a light blue Volkswagen with a canvas sun roof last summer and fall.

The vehicle was involved in an accident late last year and the driver possibly was hospitalized. After the slaying on Jan. 17, the suspect was said to have been driving a bright yellow foreign or compact car. Hundreds of photographs showing the suspect with a beard and without it were distributed to lawmen in Connecticut and New Jersey. The pictures are also being shown to doctors and nurses in metropolitan area hos pitals in hopes that they may recognize the face, whose' fea-' that the portfolio includes oil company stocks.

In a speech on the energy crisis to the priests of the 10-county archdiocese, Cardinal Cooke deplored "any circumstance where a person or a corporation reaps an exorbitant profit from the suffering of the poor." Priests Urge Study Two weeks ago, the senate of priests of the archdiocese, a body elected by the priests to advise the cardinal, urged him to comment on the energy crisis and to evaluate the portfolio of -the archdiocese "to be sure that it's not sharing in the profits companies have earned as a result of this shortage." The cardinal's spokesman said yesterday that if the investment review undertaken by the archdiocese shows that oil companies are prospering via practices it deems unethical, the archdiocese will exercise one of three options: Sell the stock it owns in them, apply moral persuasion with management, or vote proxies in such a way as to reform the unethical practices. The archdiocese regularly reviews all its holdings "to meet its moral responsibility as an investor," and has in the past disposed of stocks after determining that to its ethical standards, the spokesniaa said..