Newsday from New York, New York • 69

BUSINESS Move the West Side Hwy? Civic groups float plans for Trump City The hi hway proposals Jure, interesting? amitsingj -7 5 but totally imprapcaU Tony Gltodman, a Trump Organization oxocuthro Ik -s' -I Three prestigious civic groups will float a trial balloon over Trump City today. They don't want much: just to re-route the West Side Highway and scale down the vast project Donald Trump proposes to build. Sources said the Parks Council, Municipal Arts Society and Regional Plan Association want the elevated highway between 59th and 72nd Streets lowered to ground level and moved to the eastern edge of the old Penn Central rail yards, where Trump wants to erect his city, including the worlds tallest building and a regional mall. Trump could then create a 19-acre park right along the Hudson River. And they want the city to adopt planning guidelines for the 76-acre Bite, including a street grid, building density comparable to what exists on the Upper West Side, affordable housing and stores geared to local Behind this mornings press conference is a simple good-government motivation: nudge the incoming Dinkins administration toward activist planning.

Civic groups often complain that the citys planners dont set the agenda for waterfront development, but merely react to proposals as they arise. A spokeswoman for the planning department said the city has had guidelines for the rail yards for years. The city charter mandates public review of private developments, she added, and we dont just work in a vacuum. As to moving the highway, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, which plans to begin repairing the badly deteriorated viaduct in 1991, said a new road would mean years of environmental reviews. Postponing repairs would be a serious con- ft cern.

The highway proposals are interesting, amusing but totally impractical, said Tony Gliedman, a Trump Organization executive. We have taken a look at that and its just not doable. Negotiations are back on track between Solomon Equities, which is building two towers north of Times Square, and Rupert Murdochs News America which wants to consolidate its diverse media operations in a one-million-square-foot home. Broker Kenneth D. Laub, who has represented Murdoch throughout the 14-month search, says that the two sides are far from a deal but are working together.

Selvin GNPGrewAt 2.7 Rate In 3rd Quarter Washington (Reuter) The economy grew at a revised 2.7 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said yesterday, but the slightly higher-than -expected estimate did little to dispel fears of an impending fourth-quarter slump. It looks right now like the economy has stalled, said economist Donald Ratqjczak at Georgia State University. All of the third-quarter growth occurred in July, and since then the economy has been flat. The revision in third-quarter gross national product from a previously reported 2.5-percent rate was due to a downward adjustment in the U.S. trade deficit, which helped boost overall growth in the economy.

But in a disturbing sign for business, the department also said that third quarter after-tax corporate profits fell by 7.2 percent, the same rate as the second quarter, and the third consecutive quarterly decline. The Federal Reserve may find disturbing a corporate profit drop of 7.2 percent, said managing director Thom Brown of Rutherford Brown and Catherwood. I think the Fed has to do something about bringing down interest rates in the next week or two. The economy will now have to grow by 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter to achieve the Bush administrations projection of 2.7 percent growth over the fourth quarter a year ago. But analysts said such a goal appears difficult.

Economist Allen Sinai of the Boston Co. this week predicted the economy will be flat or contract by as much as 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, potentially ending the seven-year peacetime record of uninterrupted The implicit price deflator, an inflation gauge of price changes on goods and services, was revised to a 3.2-percent rate in the third quarter from a previous estimate of 2.9 percent. But economists agree inflation is moderating, leaving room for the Fed to stave ofT a full-blown recession by lowering interest rates. Yesterday, however, Southwest Bank of St. Louis, a regional bank that often sets the trend on commercial interest rates, said it was raising its prime rate to 10.5 percent from 10 percent, reversing an action it took earlier this month.

Other mqjor banks had not followed Southwests move and recent signs that the Fed has not eased credit have made them even more reluctant to cut their prime rates, economists said. The Commerce Department said the rise in third quarter GNP was supported by a downward revision in the size of the trade deficit to $63.6 billion, $10.5 billion less than initially estimated. A slight rise in exports and a sharp drop in imports produced the change. The department also said consumer spending jumped by a revised 6.2 percent, the largest increase since the first quarter of 1988. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of demand for the economys goods and services.

But incentive-driven car sales fed the rise, and since then, auto sales have slumped. Previously, the real estate grapevine had the Solo-mon-Murdoch deal sewn up, but talks broke off and Laub began discussions with other developers. Laub said hes negotiating solely with Solomon now and only for Solomons 1.4-million-square-foot tower at 1585 Broadway. Laub added that a law firms lease for 400,000 square feet there wont hinder the deal. Developer Ian Bruce Eichner isn't fazed by the lack of a lead tenant for his 44-story tower at Broadway and 45th Street, just three months short of its completion.

As he Bees the office market, its a game of musical chairs, with new buildings as the chairs, and big companies that need or want to move as the players. The music is still playing and people are still walking around the chairs, Eichner said, dismissing the persistent scuttlebutt that lack of a tenant at what he calls 1 Broadway Place (an odd name it's miles from 1 Broadway and theres no such thing as Broadway Place) must be hurting his financial position. And he has a tenant, Hahn for the seven-level retail atrium. Hahn starts paying rent in about 60 days, and the revenue equals that of a office tenant, Eichner said. If he were in trouble, he added, hed hardly be plunging into two new projects.

Its too early for details, but one involves a West Side landmark and the other would provide affordable housing along the Brooklyn waterfront in Greenpoint. Eichner knows that few such waterfront projects have come to fruition, but thinks the time is ripe. The city has proven it can attract manufacturers to places like the Brooklyn Army Terminal and has identified vacant waterfront sites suitable for redevelopment. Also, he said, the lengthy government effort to build a huge project at Hunters Point may give waterfront development the same boost that the endless Times Square prqject gave construction in west Midtown. While the Times Square project drags on, private builders have put up a dozen towers nearby including 1 Broadway Place.

NJ Issues VDT Safety Rules ing complaints from the workplace indicate people who spend much of their day tapping keys and staring at a monitor are prone to a variety of ailments, Coye said. Among them are eye strain, muscle discomfort, stress and a form of wrist nerve damage called carpal tunnel syndrome. Employers can largely prevent the problems, Coye said, by redesigning the work station with low-glare monitors and with desks and -Trenton (AP) The video display terminal has revolutionized occupational hazards as well as office routines. New Jersey Health Commissioner Molly Coye said Tuesday as she issued worker safety guidelines aimed at preventing VDT injuries. There are a lot of workers who are suffering from the effects of VDTs, Coye said at a news conference.

Occupational studies and mount chairs that can be adjusted for ideal typing comfort. The guidelines issued Tuesday apply only to New Jerseys public employees an estimated 250,000 are heavy terminal users but would serve well in the private sector, Coye said. There are no federal guidelines or standards on VDT use, and New Jerseys new guidelines are believed to be the most comprehensive in the country, Coye said. NEWSDAY. THURSDAY.

NOVEMBER 30, 1989 NY BUSINESS59 Study: Programs for Older Workers Lacking Washington (AP) American employers value the dependability and loyalty of older workers, but most do little to recruit or retain these employees or to help them adapt to new technologies, according to a private report released yesterday. The study of executives at 400 businesses, commissioned by the American Association of Retired Persons, found a real gap between the positive attitudes being expressed. the actual mechanisms and practices that are now in place to utilize older workers, said David Meer of the Daniel Yankelovich Group, a re search company. Many older workers said they see themselves as an untapped resource and feel frustrated about the scarcity of programs to help them contribute to the job. The study found that businesses give older workers high ratings on characteristics such as attendance, punctuality, reliability, commitment to quality and loyalty, but they got their lowest marks on feeling comfortable with new technologies.

The study found that skills-training programs for older workers had been adopted by just three in 10 companies surveyed. AARP Executive Director Horace Deets said the report indicates businesses are shedding stereotypes uf older people as being afraid of change, and unable to learn new tasks, but many companies have not translated that into action by hiring and retraining older workers. Deets said the message for older workers was, You have to take the initiative to seek training and maintain needed skills. An older worker cant wait for an employer to make the first move..