Daily News from New York, New York • 7

4 I -f I I' rC I A bulldozer clears away I rubble during demolition of -f fii Jr I V' a row of buildings on 44th -1 Tt i '1 IttxiV'-- St between Sixth and II 1vCi5. SevnthAvea. iff 1 i CHARLES HUPPMANN CWULT NEWS Mm By ALTON SLAGLE according to Ha Ton, manager of the China Bowl Restaurant across the street at 152 W. 44th. The crane arrived, he said, about 7:10 p.m.

and demolition continued. No barricades or protection for pedestrians were erected, and water in the buildings had not been shut off. As portions of the buildings fell into the street which had been sealed at Seventh Ave. by a small rust-colored Toyota with its license plates covered-water spewed from broken pipes. City water crews were summoned to shut off the water before more damage could be done "I asked the foreman, 'Is it legal to do Ton said.

"He said, 'Yes. I said I had never seen it done this way, and he told me, 'Where have you Police halted the demolition quickly but not. before considerable damage had been done to two of the buildings. According to one officer on the scene, the destruction was major and the city probably will have to award a contract for emergency demolition. He said the demolition team had no permit for the work.

One man who appeared to be a foreman told a Daily News reporter. "They stopped it" when asked to explain the demolition. He pointed to a police car parked in mid-street but he refused to offer further information. Except for the crane, which was lowered to the street the heavy demolition equipment quickly disappeared. Some of the buildings had been empty for up to 10 years, but others had been vacated only about two weeks ago.

Ton said. A demolition crew with bulldozers, dump trucks and a large crane but apparently no permits descended on a W. 44th St block off Times Square last night and partially demolished four buildings before police ordered a halt The structures, including the former Hotel Lenox at 153 W. 44th St, were vacant and sealed. The four-building parcel at 147 to 153 W.

44th reportedly had been assembled by builder Harry Macklowe for development He could not be reached for comment The demolition started at 6:42 p.m., when the first bulldozer attacked one of the buildings. CM dl EflS OT01 Development Department budget for the inspectors. HE ALSO asked for $3 million for intercoms and locks in the 3,000 city-owned apartment buildings. The budget approval could come as early as next month, a housing department spokesman said. Koch also asked the Coun publicized of which was the slaying of actress Caroline Isenberg last month.

"This particular action is not related to a particular case," Koch said at a City Hall news conference. Koch asked the City Council and Board of Estimate to approve an additional $2.2 million in the Housing Preservation. and from $100 to $150 per apartment for an intercom system. Landlords can recover the cost by applying for a rent increase under rent laws covering capital improvements. They also are eligible for low-interest loans to pay for the devices if they can prove that they cannot afford them.

Initial response by landlords was positive. cil to approve a law requiring private landlords to install the locks and intercoms. Housing Commissioner Anthony Gliedman said that between 12.000 and 20,000 apartments do not have the devices. Gliedman said it would cost landlords an average of $1,000 for door locks and By SUZANNE GOLUBSKI and LARRY SUTTON Apartment buildings would be required to beef up security under a $5.2 million proposal introduced by Mayor Koch yesterday. The mayor wants locked front doors and intercom systems on all buildings with eight or more apartments.

He also wants a 50-person inspection squad to insure that landlords install and maintain the security devices. -City regulations have required locked outer doors in all apartment buildings constructed since 1968. The new proposal is aimed primarily-at older buidings. THE MAYOR said the devices should help reduce the number of such crimes as "push-in muggings," where a criminal follows a victim and pushes his way past an apartment door. He denied that i the proposal was a result of a specific incident the 'most (D-Queens), to stop the shipments from Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, L.L The Energy Department boss also, said he had agreed to Koch's request that the mayor travel with the first shipment Koch had asked to be permitted to go along to see if his fears about the dangers of carting the waste were reasonable.

i DECISION marked the end of several1 years of controversy that began when the city banned the transport of nuclear material on its streets in the mid-1970s. The federal government eventually overturned the local prohibition. City officials asked last month that the shipments which are expected to start in two or three weeks be delayed for six months while new storage facilities were built at the lab or until the casks of radioactive waste could be transported by barge. By HARRISON RAINIE Washington (News Bureau U.S. Energy Secretary Donald Hodel told New York officials yesterday he had given final approval for the shipment of nuclear waste over city roads.

Hodel informed Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-Bronx) by phone that he had rejected appeals from Mayor Koch and the city's congressional delegation, led by Biaggi and Rep. James Scheuer.