Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 41

wf I 4000 3800 10-DAY DOW TREND NEWS DAY MARKETUNE: CaH (516) 843-5454 for late prices Instructions are on PageA47 Yesterday 380113 Down: 4576 nnnnnflmnn TFMTWTFMT Turnaround Specialist Has Eye on Long Island Minskoff wants to rescue Roosevelt Raceway By David Henry 8TAFF WRITER Most real estate developers stubborn enough to dig for hidden values at Roosevelt Raceway the dosed harness racing track mired for years in political and legal disputes and now shackled by more than $100 million of defaulted debt Manhattan-based developer Edward Minskoff pressing to take control of the 172-acre raceway site is an exception Tenacious as a bulldog opportunistic in the manner of a vulture Minskoff is a charmless not very likable guy who made his name and fortune helping well-heeled investors buy and build skyscrapers in the aftermath of New York fiscal crisis in the 1970s Minskoff declined to be interviewed yesterday sending word through a spokesman that he was too intent on sealing the raceway deal to talk But last spring he reluctantly consented to a rare interview after he led investors from Odyssey Partners to buy 43-stoiy office tower at 57th Street and Madison Avenue a skyscraper that will be left two-thirds empty by the shrinking of corporate America Minskoff explained then an intense desire to only win They have no compassion for losers My desire in everything I do is to If his last name sounds familiar don't assume he inherited his status in the real estate business True his grandfather was Sam Minskoff immigrant founder of a family real estate firm that built apartment and office buildings across New York City But he never worked for the firm started by his grandfather and later operated by his uncles best known for building the Minskoff Theatre and a tower in Times Square Minskoff 53 began circling the debacle at Roosevelt Raceway more than a year ago according to real estate sources What he found was a massive tract in the heart of Nassau County zoned for stores hotels exhibition halls and housing He also found a bunch of unhappy BUSINESS NEWSDAY WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 6 199 Sw4i Ain lUn Edward Minskoff has plans for troubled Roosevelt Raceway property investors The original developers who closed the raceway in 1988 had defaulted on debts after deafs with various office and retail tenants fell through The site is now used for a twice-weeklv flea market Minskoff sees the potential for something better: GM Draws Saturn Into Closer Orbit By Tom Incantalupo STAFF WRITER Trade magazine writer Hal Glatzer recalls the time his Saturn salesman rode a subway to Manhattan home and then drove station wagon to his dealership in Queens to take care of a recall He returned the car that night I gotta hand it to Glatzer said Barbara Ingoglia of Northport recalls her Saturn dealer in Smithtown repairing a windshield wiper problem that plainly was not fault were very nice about Ingoglia said Kid-glove treatment like that is considered greatest strength So it is probably reassuring to car owners that experts think it will diminish as the result of a reorganization announced yesterday by General Motors Corp under which Saturn will lose some of its independence Although its cars will continue to be built by Saturn in Spring Hill Tenn their design and engineering will be done by a new group that also will design Bmall cars for other GM divisions The idea said GM is to save product development costs Saturn has earned lots of good press but very little money A second group will design mid-sized and luxury cars But while Saturn says its extensively redesigned 1996 and 1997 models are too far along to be affected by this reorganization some outside experts said that in the long term the reorganization could worsen most serious problem: a limited range of cars that are rapidly becoming outdated The change they said means Saturn will compete more directly with other divisions such as the much larger Chevrolet for resources to develop new models interests will tend to take greater said industry consultant Susan Jacobs She said the change makes it less likely that when Saturn owners are ready to move up to a larger car or perhaps a van they'll find it in a Saturn showroom will slow down growth and evolution and perhaps limit Saturn more to the small car Jacobs said The new Small Car Group will be headed by president Richard LeFauve who said in a statement will remain a separate subsidiaiy with its unique labor agreement organizational structure marketing approach and the freedom to continue to innovate in those Saturn owner Ingoglia hopes that sales practices and service at least remain unchanged different there is a personal she mid would be a shame if it became like every other Please see DEVELOPER on Page AI3 Carter-Wallace Cutbacks Problems with two products bring down research division selling Organidin because studies showed it may not work and might cause cancer The medication was taken off the market in June Carter-Wallace founded in 1839 said it will its pharmaceutical division's internal research and development operations in Cranbury NJ near Princeton It will farm out its research on other drugs to independent laboratories The layoffs will affect about 630 workers company faced numerous regulatory and marketing barriers over the last 12 months especially with Felbatol and said Jason Seltzer an analyst with Vector Securities International in Deerfield 111 company is now going to de-emphasize pharmaceuticals and concentrate more on consumer products From a shareholder point of view a positive From a high of $33 a share in August 1993 Carter-Wallace's stock plunged to below $10 Yesterday it gained 50 cents on the New York Stock Exchange to dose at $13871-2 Carter-Wallace said it will take a one-time pretax charge of $49 million in the quarter that ended Sept 30 to cover the costs of plant closings and layoffs By Michael Unger STAFF WRITER Manhattan-based Carter-Wallace Inc better known for its little liver pills than for prescription drugs said yesterday it will cut its domestic work force by 23 percent and gut its New Jersey production and research operations because of serious problems with two important products The actions were prompted by the forced discontinuance of its Organidin prescription cough expectorant and government-mandated restrictions on its newly approved Felbatol epilepsy drug Carter-Wallace also makes popular over-the-counter consumer health products such as Little Liver Pills Trojan condoms Arrid deodorant and several pregnancy test kits In August the Food and Drug Administration advised the company to tell doctors to stop prescribing Felbatol for most patients after 10 people taking the drug contracted aplastic anemia a life-threatening blood disorder At least two deaths were attributed to the drug The FDA last month said Felbatol could remain on the market with a package insert warning it can cause blood disorder The number of patients taking the drug has plummeted Last year the FDA asked Carter-Wallace to stop a.