Daily News from New York, New York • 409

2 XQL THE NEWS A TD VCXf? HuSBAfJt NJVY -m STEAKS BVERy A1ALV SlilI to fdf not By GUS DALLAS In Queens HOLD 4 IN CABBY SLAYING Two young men and two teenage girls were held without bail by Kew Gardens Criminal Court Judge Michael Corriero in the shooting death last Sunday of cabby Chet Solinsky, 32, of Kew Gardens. The suspects planned and executed the crime to raise some spending money, police said. The suspects were identifed as Helena Damashek, 16, of Brooklyn, and John Pabon, 21, Michael Greengrass, 21, and Julie Weiss, 16, all of Kew Gardens Hills. Pabon is accused of firing the four shots that killed Solinsky at 73d Terrace near Park Drive East in Kew Gardens. In addition, police arrested Sarkis Desteoglu of Flushing and charged him with supplying the .38 caliber pistol used in the crime.

The murder and arrests were recounted by reporters James Peters, Edward Fay, Thomas Raftery, Gus Dallas and Don Singleton. HEAT HITS JAMAICA WATER CO. As temperatures climbed into the 90s last week, water pressure went into reverse for customers of the Jamaica Water Supply Co. Officials jof the private utility said the heat wave precipitated an increased demand for water that led to a drop in pressure throughout the system that supplies 650,000 people in southeast Queens and southwest Nassau. Over the past two years, Jamaica has closed 14 of its wells because of contamination, officials said.

To supplement remaining supplies, the firm has an agreement to tap into the city's system during summer shortages. By week's end, work was being completed on a hookup at 233d St. and South Conduit Ave. which was expected to alleviate the situation. Jamaica also called on its customers, most of whom live in Queens, to conserve water.

The reasons for the emergency were revealed to readers by reporter Jack Leahy. SAY NO NUDES IS BAD NEWS There are 8 million stories in the Naked City, or so they say. But on the naked beaches of Queens and the rest of the metropolitan area, there is only one tale people are talking about these days the new state ban on nude sunbathing and skinny-dipping. The ban signed into law by Gov. Cuomo goes into effect July 3.

This weekend, members of the Tri-State Metro Naturalists said they would distribute leaflets at Riis Park, encouraging people to ignore the law. Bernard Loibl, president of the group, said they would fight the law through civil disobedience, hoping that authorities will get tired of issuing summonses and flooding the courts with cases. This naked story was uncovered by reporters Bernard Rabin and Larry Sutton. ASK TOTTEN TRANSFER TO CITY Bills to transfer surplus federal land at Fort Totten to New York City at no charge were introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives by New York legislators.

The move is aimed at blocking a plan by the General Services Administration to auction off the land to raise funds for the federal treasury. Reporter Gus Dallas is keeping on top of the city's efforts to save the site for park and recreation use. THE (POLICE) FORCE IS WITH US Queens residents welcomed the addition of 227 police officers, newly graduated from the Police Academy, to the borough's street patrols. The officers, including 32 women, have been assigned to Neighborhood Stabilization Units for training with experienced cops. And 166 seasoned officers have been transferred to Queens from various commands and precincts in Manhattan and the Bronx, Queens Borough Commander William Fitzpatrick told reporter Bernard Rabin.

UNVEIL PLAN FOR $10.5 HOTEL A Florida based company plans to build a $10.5 million, 300-room Hilton Hotel near LaGuardia Airport The U-shaped structure with a sky-lit atrium is to be erected on a six-acre site at Ditmars Blvd. and 102d St in East Elmhurst The plans also call for an adjoining three-level, 350-car public parking facility. Reporter James Peters revealed details of the proposal. SCHOOLS GET 20G BOOSTS Three Queens high schools were among 50 urban high schools around the country that won $20,000 grants for education projects from the Ford Foundation. The borough schools were William Cullen Bryant in Astoria, Franklin K.

Lane on the Woodhaven-Brooklyn border and Far Rockaway High School. The good news was recounted by reporter Gus Dallas. TENNIS TRYOUTS TODAY FOR KIDS The Urban Tennis Academy, established to provide city youngsters with an opportunity to learn the game through free year-round instruction and tournament experience, will hold tryouts for boys and girls aged 8 to 18 from 3 to 7 p.m. today at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Officials told reporter James Peters that they intend to fill 25 to 30 spots in the academy's roster.

Compiled by JACK LEAHY thought it more prudent not to ask too many questions about the 10th horse, though some may have felt there was more there than meats the eye. A lethal problem surfaced soon after the bridge was built, an early example of the unforeseen consequences of technology. "Surfaced" is an appropriate word. The bridge roadway was paved with large wooden blocks, that became as slippery as a waxed parquet floor when it rained. That was no problem when most of the traffic was pulled by horses, but automobiles skidded out of control.

In 1936, the Queensboro Bridge was labeled the most dangerous place for vehicles in the city after two people were killed and 14 injured. The Police Department backed up the tag with a report that 13 persons had been killed and 679 hurt on the bridge in the preceding three years. A list of each day's accidents was posted on the Queens side, as a warning to Queens drivers. WHILE POLITICIANS squabbled over the cost of repaving, lanes were sanded on rainy days and engineers vainly experimented with chemicals that might stop the sliding. In 1935, repaving started and it took two years to lay a nonskid surface.

Accidents decreased, especially serious accidents, but there were still occasional freak mishaps. In 1939, the Long Island Daily Press reported that a car on the upper level bounced over the guard curb and dropped to the lower level, clipping a passing car. The clipped car raced off and vanished. The flying driver straightened his car and drove it off the bridge under its own power. The motorist, the "Press reported, was The news last week that Mayor Koch was going to close the pedestrian and bikers' lane on the Queens-boro Bridge next month appended an ironic footnote to the bridge's history.

When the bridge was opened on March 30, 1909, only pedestrians were allowed on it, no vehicles. The opening was reminiscent of the Oklahoma land rush or crossing of the Verrazano Bridge during the New York City marathon. Thousands of firsters hustled across the bridge after a champagne bottle was cracked against a girder, the kind of folks who want to be the first to cross a new bridge, first through a new tunnel or first in line for five days and nights until Roll: ing Stones concert tickets go on sale. It wasn't until June 10, 1909 that vehicles were allowed on the bridge. People were allowed to cross free, but operators of gasoline and horse-drawn contraptions paid 10 cents each.

But dime took its toll, and the fee was killed a year later. THE PEDESTRIAN lane is being closed next month so that vehicles can use it while traffic lanes are being rebuilt Most of the traffic around the time the bridge was built was horse-drawn. In 1935, a city traffic study reported that an average of 10 horses a day crossed from Manhattan to Queens. "Mysteriously, only nine horses returned to Manhattan every day. The statistic amused people for a while, but no one ever came up with a reasonable explanation.

Possibly, with butcher shops mushrooming around the foot of the new bridge on the Queens side, the increasing Queens population DAILY NEWS Queens treated for a small cut on the forehead. Thomas Pugh. Queens Borough Editor. Queens editorial offices. 116-16 Queens Forest Hills, 11375.

TeL (212jj793-7272.