Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 7

Rothenberg Linked to Mob By Michael Alexander -Paul Rothenberg, the SUSpected pornographer who was found murdered Sunday in the alley of a Roslyn office building, was believed to be an associate of the reputed No. 2 man in the Carlo Gambino crime family, a source close to the murder investigation said yesterdav. The source said that Rothenberg, 42, of Old House Lane, Sands Point, was understood to have "friends in organized crime and was close to Ettore Zappi," listed by federal authorities as heir apparent in the crime family of his next-door neighbor in Massapequa, Carlo Gambino. The 69-yearold Zappi is currently awaiting trial in California where he has been indicted for violation of a state law banning the advertising and sale of pornographic materials. Rothenberg's body was found by an unidentified passerby in an alley alongside the Flower Hill Office Building at 1025 Northern Blvd.

He had been shot twice in the back of the head. No weapon has been found. Earlier this month, New York City police seized $500,000 worth of allegedly obscene films in raids on two film-processing firms owned by Rothenberg in lower Manhattan. After the raid, police said that the firms had been infiltrated by organized crime. While the investigation of Rothenberg's murder has thus far failed to produce any solid leads, Capt.

Kenneth Gussman of the public morals division of the New York City Police Department suggested Rothenberg may have been killed to silence him. "Maybe," he said, "somebody thinks he was turning state's witness. If there was organized crime in the lab, people behind the scenes may think he would cooperate." Gussman, however, said that he had no information that Rothenberg planned to cooperate with authorities. In their initial report of the murder, police said Rothenberg had gone to a diner near the spot where his body was later found for a casual cup of coffee. Nassau Deputy Police Insp.

Albert Owens said yesterday that police learned that for more than a year Rothenberg regularly breakfasted away from home on Sunday mornings and then attended a "business meeting." According to Rothenberg's wife, Barbara, he left home shortly before 10 AM Sunday "to get a cup of coffee" at the Landmark Diner, located next to the office building. His body was found about an hour later. Employes of the diner told police that Rothenberg occasionally met there with other persons on Sunday mornings, but they said he had not appeared at the diner last Sunday. The autopsy showed traces of food in the slain man's stomach and police now believe he made a stop at some other restaurant beore being shot. Owens said that police have interviewed more than 40 of his friends and relatives and people in the area of the diner, seeking to determine Rothenberg's whereabouts between 9 AM and 11 AM.

Zappi Fewer Bids to Supply LI's Beef By Henry Gilgoff, Mike Quinn and James Bernstein Long Island officials who buy beef products for hospitals, jails and other public institutions said yesterday that the number of bids from suppliers has fallen and may continue to drop at least until Sept. 12, when restrictions on beef prices are to be lifted. Nassau and Suffolk officials said their supplies for municipal facilities are adequate for August and said they anticipate no meat shortages. But James Baker, deputy commissioner for Nassau County's department of general services, said that one of four companies asked that its supply of meat for August be withdrawn. Olive Wilson, a buyer for Suffolk County's department of purchasing, said the department recently received only one bid for a beef hindquarter instead of the usual two or three.

One of the major difficulties in obtaining bids is that companies fear that their own suppliers, the slaughterhouses, are closing, and that they will not be able to fulfill their promised deliveries of beef. (Editorial 'Holding Up Page 40.) The trends on Long Island and in New York State were reflected else. where in the nation as prices continued to rise and supplies tended to drop. Glen Nelson, an official of the U.S. Cost of Living Council, said there was a sharp drop yesterday in the daily slaughter of cattle, but cautioned that one day's figures could not be the basis of an adequate assessment.

Nelson said the department of Agriculture estimated the daily slaughter yesterday at 79.000 head of cattle, the lowest since early April, when the meat industry was boycotted by consumers. "It's the first really concrete indication in the slaughter data of a significent cutback," Nelson said. The American Meat Institute, A trade group, has been warning that supplies will tighten drastically as beet is withheld in anticipation of higher prices after Sept. 12, the cutoff date for the price freeze on that product. Reduced beef supplies were also reflected in New York City, where Mayor Lindsay said that the usual competition for bids to supply beef products to city institutions was absent for the Aug.

6-to-18 contract. Baker, whose department serves 6,000 meals daily at the county jail, the Nassau Medical Center and other facilities, said the department expects higher prices for beef when controls on the product are lifted. He said county dieticians would substitute poultry or other products if beef supplies become depleted. He said the department was watching the situation closely and said he could not predict what suppliers would do in September. "It's a very critical problem," he said.

Baker said the withdrawal of one of the four bids "has not materially affected" the department's ability to supply food. "At this moment we have a contract for the month of August. In September, if the situation worsens, we might go to a two-week basis for the contract rather than once a month. This could possibly make it more palatable to suppliers and help to induce them to bid," he said. Suffolk County conducts bids once a week for its infirmary in Yaphank and once a month for the county jail and honor farm.

However, asked if she felt suppliers were reluctant to enter into contracts with Suffolk County, Mrs. Wilson said, "Apparently not." Dr. Henry K. Brill, director of Pilgrim State Hospital, Long Island's largest mental institution, said yesterday he had heard nothing officially about shortages and indicated the hospital had sufficient supplies on hand. James Dunne, a spokesman for the state office of general services in Albany, said yesterday that two of 17 meat suppliers have asked to be relieved of their August-September contracts with the state, apparently because of difficulties in obtaining beef.

He said that he could not recall another time when a supplier requested a bid withdrawn due to a lack of supply. Dunne did not identify the two suppliers, but said, "this is a very fluid situation. We can't tell whether anyone is going to run out of meat. The contracts were entered into in all good faith and conscience by both sides." He said the state had not yet decided whether to abide by the suppliers' request. On Long Island, a spot check of delicatessens showed rising prices on types of meat not covered by the freeze.

Michael McDonough, a worker at the Amity Deli in Amityville, said that ham is now $2.99 a pound, up from $2.59 a month ago. keep buying, but they keep complaining," he said, Bruce Anderson, owner of Delicatessen in Bay Shore, said bologna was up 40 cents and ham 30 cents a pound. "If it keeps on going, I think we're going to have another crash," he said. Photo Three butchers have plenty of time to spare in a Manhattan meat freezer that is bare because shipments have not arrived from midwestern suppliers..