January 29, 1972

Nixon creates new office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement in Justice Dept to press attack on st‐level heroin pusher; names Customs Comr Ambrose special Asst Atty Gen and dir of new office

Rent and Housing Maintenance Dept deputy comr J Silver concedes East Side Dem leader M Bloom received special treatment in awarding of $300,000 contract under city's Emergency Repair Program; acknowledges he discussed contract with Bloom before it was advertised and admits that Eastern Diversified Corp, with which Bloom is associated, was permitted to negotiate waiver on part of contract after submitting bid, City Council Com on Character and Govt Operations Com hearing; com chmn Councilman Sadowsky calls actions 'very favored treatment,' asks if rival bidder, Steam Boiler Rental Corp, was accorded similar treatment; Comr Altman also testifies; defends repair program; Councilman Gelfand renews charge that program spent $7.5‐million in repairs in last 2 yrs and recd less than $1‐million in repayment

Sen Ribicoff, in move that stuns both Nixon Adm and Sen Dem leaders, announces that he is abandoning his drive for enactment this yr of a guaranteed annual income for the poor; cautions Cong to go slow by setting up relatively modest testing program 'to see if this kind of scheme really works'; surprise announcement causes near consternation within ranks of those who had expected him to lead Sen fight in '72 for an income floor as part of an over‐all welfare reform plan; some view Ribicoff's decision not to push for an income floor as prompted, at least in part, by pique at Nixon Adm; Ribicoff charges that Nixon 'doesn't really believe in' his own program of welfare reform; asserts that he had recd no support from 'downtown' in attempting to bring welfare bill out of largely hostile Sen Finance Com; Adm spokesman denies charge that Nixon does not want program; says Adm strategy has been to keep 'low profile' during welfare reform hearings; Ribicoff por

$1‐a‐gal rise in NYS liquor tax to go into effect at wholesale level, causing greater price rises because tax is included when wholesalers and retailers figure markups; effects of tax rise on various brands detailed; Met Pkg Store Assn exec dir Ullman sees drop in sales; other indus figures comment

M Schumach comments on background of NYC Ptl G Foster and R Laurie, both slain on Lower E Side of Manhattan; Detectives Chief Seedman, heading investigation into slayings, disparages repts that policemen were ambushed or that 3 black men sought in killings were members of militant group; says that he believes slain policemen were not picked out, but that attack was just instance of opportunity to kill policemen; Laurie and Foster pors; sketch of suspect