Daily News from New York, New York • 98

One of the safest bets in N.Y. By BELLA ENGLISH A tables, two crap tables and a poker table. Baccarat is to come. Menick's dealersinstructors were students at the now-defunct New York School of Gambling. They were working in Vegas but headed back fo New York because they believed legalized gambling was on the way in the Big Apple.

"The usual rule in gambling is 'Never give a sucker a break," Menick. said, conceding that his father, who was in the business for 50 years, probably wouldn't approve of the Club Casino concept "We'll get a lot of newcomers to the game here, and then we'll get a lot of old-timers who lose a lot of money gambling and want to practice up -here and see where they went wrong. DDED vice-president Tony Perry: "They'll leave here awwl and go to Vegas and Atlantic City. We can't guarantee they'll win, but they won't lose as much." Perry, who manufactures belts in the garment district by day and prowls his new club at night, claims to have gambled away $50,000 over the years. "When I lost, I never had a place to practice.

I can sit here and practice my systems now and then if I want, get on a plane and fly to Over at the blackjack tables, Anita Starr of Hicksville, L.I., admittedly a greenhorn, was putting her money, er, chips, down with abandon. "Hit me," she told the dealer, trying to sound like a pro. The dealer tried to teach her the hand signals. It was no use. "I'm getting poorer by the moment," Starr, who works for a celebrity contact service, said.

"But I'm having a great time. I've learned a lot, like never to gamble again because I'm awfuL" As the night wore on, the club lost some of its spit-polished image while the newcomers broke it in. Smoke curled up to the ceiling, sweat formed on flushes on cheeks. Chips clinked and dealers called, "Make your bets now," and "Play the field." Pauline Battschinger, 77, was sitting around a blackjack table, raking in a sizeable pile of red, gold, blue, and white chips. It was her first time and she was winning big.

"It's very interesting, I must say. But I just wish it was real money," she said. lnilEY ARRIVED with uncertain look on their faces, half-fool-Ll ish grins, half furrowed brows, as if Ihey had arrived for a party at the wrong address. But enter trays full of hors d'ouevres, bottomless glasses of champagne and an endless supply of gambling chips and within an hour, the place took on the look of Atlantic City in full swing. Except that during a night full of blackjack, roulette, craps and poker, not one red penny changed hands.

At the Club Casino, at 18 E.38th you can gamble the night away and never lose. Of course, you never win, either. The club, which bills itself as the first legal casino In New York, allows you to blow it out without blowing your wad. To some of the more gung ho gamblers, this la a dubious idea at best, sort of like kissing your sister. "It's not quite the real thing," groused one hard-core gambler, who surveyed the tables with skepticism.

Dut most of the crowd on the recent preview night seemed to love the pleasure of gambling without the pain of losing. "It's a fantastic Idea," said Dottle Cornelius, who has gambled and lostin Las Vegas, Atlantic City and the Caribbean. "Why -haven't 1 been back to Atlantic City? Because it's too expensive." The club Is the "brainchild of Dennis Pappas, a Greek-born Australian who moved to New York nearly five years ago and never quite got the hang of Atlantic City. "I've been to Atlantic City and to Vegas, but 1 never really learned how to play," Pappas, 38, said. "It's hard to pick up unless you have someone showing you what to do, and then you can spend $100 or $500 Just learning.

I wanted to create a place where people can come and enjoy themselves and get the gambling fever out of their system," DUT LIKE DIAMONDS and hearts, gambling and money go hand In hand don't they? "I don't believe it is all about money," Pappas (aid. "I believe It is In the excitement of trying to beat the system. I want to take that pressure of winning or losing money out of it" If you don't know your center field nine from your hard six, the club will V1 mklL ST AMI. Jfl DAJtV NEWS The owners of the Club Casino: (I to Alex Ulrich, Tony Perry and Dennis Pappas. Playing at the table Is actor Vincent Gardenia.

image, the Club Casino offers only fruit juice and soft drinks, along with snacks. (The champagne was for openers only). "We prefer not to mix alcohol with gambling," Pappas says, adding In the next breath that he might apply for a liquor license at a later date. Mitchell Menick, 30, is a second-generation gambler. Born and reared in Las Vegas, Menick has worked as a dealer, a boxman and now, as casino manager at Club Casino, presiding over 13 blackjack tables, two roulette teach you to gamble: $50 for two hours' worth of roulette instructions; $60 for craps and $75 for three hours of blackjack.

If you already know the games, you can play for $10 an hour. When you enter the club, a hostess hands you $200 worth of chips to start with and a punched time card. When you leave, your time at the tables is added up and you pay up. You may be $20 or $30 poorer but you'll probably still have change to spare for a cab. In keeping with its Boy' Scout cDotfeGQ Qew P3Ma Ave.

Sf By BRUCE C1IADW1CK We think this plan, merging the old with the new, works nicely." The retention of the Knox building also keeps the neighborhood of the Public Library intact "We didn't want to do anything to the Knox building and we very strongly opposed anything that i would look garish across the street from the library," said Weiner. "This nlan iu th trirV is not an official landmark will be stripped and replaced with new windows and a granite exterior designed to blend with the new glass and aluminum building. The plans were made public yesterday at an informal session of the City Planning Commission, which is being asked to grant a waiver which would allow the new building to be built flush with the Fifth Avenue building line. "We're very Interested in this project because we have for several years urged businesses to build either south of 4 2d St or on the West Side. This building thousand! of construction Jobs and even more cus, counsel for the Planning Commission.

"We're also very interested in any structure which will save the Knox Building." The Commission will hold a public hearing on the waiver Oct The Republic Bank initially opposed landmark designation for the Knox Building, a status granted in 1880 that bars alteration of the buil- ding without special But, officials say, bank never intended to demolish the building. "We have been working on the plans since 197o and in every i architectural version the wr pK ta keep the lafJF J' intcl," said bank spokesman Plans for the first major develop-" ment on Fifth Avenue below 4 2d St since the Empire State Building was 3 built in 1934 were unveiled yesterday I by the Republic National Eank, which plans to erect its world headquarters between 39th and 40th 1 Streets. Plans call for the 27-story, $118-J millioo structure to be built in an L-ihspe around the bank's current headquarters, the landmark 13-story Knox Building at the corner of 40th, '4m a way which bnfc.fk-1! say- wjlli 'Jr showcase the Olde I The facade of the Knox Building's Marcus said Community Board 5 has given tentative approval to the proposed building. The Landmarks, Commission also bacs IiThat area of Manhattan TBasU- 1 id. seen a oroueriv oroDosai line mis in fyinwanew Jet, i efbef7tTfeiatoriirtficlr.