June 21, 1974

NYC Mayor Beame announces program to speed emergency repairs to dilapidated West Side Hwy; alternative permanent solutions involving extensive new construction are hotly debated at NYS public hearing attended by community groups and other interested parties; Beame plan seeks to get traffic rolling again by mid-Sept on 2 of 6 pkwy lanes now closed between 72d and 79th Sts and to ease traffic jams on Riverside Drive; he directs Hwys Comr Anthony Ameruso to 'invoke emergency repair procedures' to get lanes open; community planning leaders and politicians who have accused city of dawdling on repair work are on hand at hearing to assail 5 alternative plans for permanent solution, which was prepared over last 2 yrs by West Side Hwy Project; about 350 people attend meeting in Manhattan Center, 1st in series of 4 conducted before special state hearing officer Dr Emanuel Bund; State Sen Manfred Ohrenstein contends that project is pressing for construction of 6-lane truck-carrying Interstate System hwy; NY Chamber of Commerce and Indus, joined by over 24 business groups, including NY C of C, supports construction of outboard' Interstate hwy, most expensive of 5 plans, which would cost $1.3-billion; NYS Transportation Comr Raymond T Schuler favors Interstate 'designation' for entire corridor to George Washington Bridge; Mrs Rita Aid and Robert Kagan, speaking for Combo, alliance of community planning bds, oppose Interstate proposals; 5 plans for West Side Hwy detailed (L)

financially-plagued Franklin Natl Bank discloses that SEC, Currency Controller and FBI are conducting investigations of bank's foreign-exch div and other matters (S)

House Judiciary Com transcripts of some Watergate tapes differ extensively, and in many cases significantly, from edited transcripts made public by White House; memos prepared by com atty William P Dixon point out that com transcript of conversation between Nixon and John W Dean would indicate that Nixon knew of planting of sec in hq of then-Dem Pres aspirant Edmund S Muskie, that he knew E Howard Hunt had been dispatched by Charles W Colson to persuade ITT lobbyist Dita D Beard to deny authorship of corp memo linking settlement of antitrust action against ITT with pledge to underwrite '72 Repub Natl Conv, and that he knew of Fed grand jury investigation into alleged obstruction of justice by John N Mitchell and Maurice H Stans; in each instance, White House-edited versions of tapes would indicate Nixon knew little or nothing of these matters (L)

Israeli planes on June 20 strike at Palestinian camps in south Lebanon for 3d day, reptdly killing at least 20 people and injuring scores; Lebanese Defense Ministry says planes were fired at but does not say whether any were hit; unconfirmed repts say 2 jets were shot down; Lebanon calls for urgent blood donations; in 3 days, Israeli planes reptdly bombed and rocketed more than dozen camps and settlements of Palestinian refugees, which are strongholds of militant Palestinian guerrilla groups that have claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks on Israeli settlements near Lebanese border; illus of Palestinian guerrilla at one of 4 refugee camps bombed by Israeli planes; map (M)

Washington officials rept that Sec Kissinger told Sens Javits, Jackson and Ribicoff that USSR is prepared to guarantee in writing that it will permit emigration of 45,000 Jews a yr, which would be 10,000 more than '73 level; quote Kissinger as having said that Soviet reprs had told him that they will deal with 'harassment' of those of seek to emigrate and that they are prepared to state that harassment is 'inconsistent with Soviet laws'; Kissinger is said to have passed on statements on June 6 to Sens who are leading proponents of legis that would deny equal trading status and econ credits to any Communist country that does not allow unrestricted emigration; officials rept that Sens told Kissinger that he 'would have to come back with something more'; say Sens believe that Soviet pledge to deal with harassment is full of loopholes and ambiguities; recent Moscow dispatches have reptd 25% decline in emigration level from '73 as bureaucratic restrictions have been tightened and inevitable dismissal from jobs deters some would-be applicants; sources rept that Sens told Kissinger that they want improvements in 'quality, extent and of form' of Soviet assurances and that they are dissatisfied with proposed emigration level (L)