Daily News from New York, New York • 371

1 tr x. sawmw I I i 1 1 By PETER GRANT 1 yps'Oenf ff Broadway's "Rent" a story of survival on the funky lower East Side, is going Hollywood. Movie rights to the i Tony and Pulitzer Prize- winning musical were ac-r quired Friday by a trio of production companies: Disney-owned Miramax Films, Tribeca Produc- tions and Cappa Produc tions. Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Jane Rosenthal will pro- duce the film. "Rent" was written by Jonathan Larson, who died in January at the age of 35.

Inspired by the opera "La Boheme," "Rent'4 transports Puccini's characters to the end of the 20th century and I transforms them. Ro-, 5 dolfo becomes Roger, an 3 HIV-positive rock musi- cian in love with a drug-addicted Mimi, also suf- fering from AIDS. Marcello, the painter5; is rechristened Mark, a video maker, who must choose between commer- i cial success and artistic integrity. And Musetta is now a lesbian perfor--mance artist Miramax and the other i production companies are remaining mum about how the musical will be handled on film. ri TODDMAISEL ONE of three X-rated stores still doing business on the stnp of 42d St between Sixth Ave.

and Broadway. Daily News Business Writer The Times Square area is booming in every direction except one. To the north, south and west, retailers and restaurants are grabbing up all available space to be a part of the city's hottest new entertainment district But to the east: zip. The strip of 42d St between Sixth Ave. and Broadway is being left behind as construction crews reshape the rest of the Times Square.

Leasing activity is anemic even as such marquee tenants as Disney, Madame Tussaud's and RKO bid up prices to more than $200 a square foot nearby. In stark contrast, the neglected stretch of 42d St offers three X-rated stores, a closed Herman's Sporting Goods, a handful of discount stores and some fast-food joints. "The redevelopment project has left us out," said Nicholas Ghattas, president of American Properties, owner of two sites in the area. Officials involved in the redevelopment effort predict that tenants eventually will begin migrating east Some owners and brokers are not so sure. They warn the strip could remain seedy for years because of a stand-off between developers and owners who won't sell.

Real estate experts warn that the stretch could end up Today only! 'I nullify the law or, at least delay it "It's going to go all the way to the Court of Appeals and that could take years," said Herald Fahringer, a lawyer for the Coalition for Free Expression, a group of 75 sex-related businesses. The strip also is being prevented from joining the Times Square shopping and entertainment party by its lack of blocks of space large enough to attract national retailers. Several developers have been stymied in their efforts to assemble such blocks. The Durst Organization owns most of the buildings on the north side of the street beside its office tower site. But it cannot move ahead with other development because it has been unwilling to pay the amounts demanded by the last remaining owners who control key parcels.

"There's no other development that can take place until we get it assembled," said Douglas Durst, the president of the company. On the south side of 42d, American Properties has for years wanted to develop a vacant lot it owns near its landmark Bush Tower. But it has been blocked by its inability to buy the building that houses the X-rated business next door, "I can't buy him out for the money he wants," Ghattas said. "I need the city and state to do here what they did over there." djjtfpi life? SALE PRiCEO FOR 1 mEK DHLf. mmtnrtaMa IllfWC.

I v- being the Achilles heel of the Times Square redevelopment "Imagine parents taking their kids through this area on their way to the Disney show," said Ghattas. 7 The state and city cleared the way for the boom on 42d St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves. by condemning all the property. But no such steps are contemplated between Sixth Ave.

and Broadway except for the Sunday, August 18th Jffi0 I -S(f1W? i northeast corner of 42d and Broadway, where the Durst Organization is building an office tower. Indeed, two of the sex shops that were closed on the western end of 42d St. simply moved east a few blocks. Two of the three pornography stores along the stretch would be closed by the city's sex-related business law, which goes into effect Oct 25. But court challenges could NDN top-aram ft I learner tSPECtALLY fnr mncf Th Associated Praaa NCE 1979.

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