April 4, 1994

Spurred by a strengthening economy and low interest rates, New York City's commercial real estate market is beginning to come out of its long recession, real estate brokers say. Vacant office space in Midtown is diminishing for the first time in a decade and the value of concession packages offered by landlords is starting to drop. New York City and Washington D.C. are the only markets in the country where landlord effective rents -- the tenant's rent less operating expenses, real estate taxes and electricity costs -- are on the rise.

"Thunder Alley," a new comedy on ABC, may not yet be the biggest hit of the television season, but it is certainly the biggest target. The series, which stars Ed Asner and was harshly dismissed by most critics, has achieved high ratings in the four weeks it has been on the air.

Dominick Bruno Jr. says he first took a razor to his scalp when he was 15, submitting to the rites of a neo-Nazi skinhead gang that prowled the mall-encrusted landscape of suburban New Jersey. Soon he was preaching bigotry in the schoolyard and flooding increasingly diverse neighborhoods with fliers that said, "Deport Niggers, Spiks, Jews!" But recently, something snapped in Mr. Bruno, a leader of the S.S. Action Group, one of the more virulent skinhead gangs. He said he began to feel repulsed by the subculture he had embraced: the bristling hostility to nonwhites, the throbbing racist music from Germany and Britain called oi, the violent teen-agers who seemed little more than small-town losers hungry for attention.

The Economy The Clinton Administration is concerned that another increase in interest rates could slow the economic recovery. The recent run-up in long-term rates, to 7.26 percent on Friday, has exceeded top economic advisers' expectations. These officials see the economy moving from very strong growth to slower growth. They fear if rates rise another notch, fewer new jobs will be created. [ Page A1. ]

Trying to reduce the number of cars squeezing into Manhattan each morning, the city plans to reserve two lanes of the Queensboro Bridge for vehicles with at least two occupants to induce solo drivers to double up. If the lanes are successful, the city may convert lanes of other bridges and tunnels for car pool use. The lanes being created on the Queensboro Bridge, which may save 10 minutes of travel time for commuters who use them, are to be the first car pool lanes in the city.