October 10, 1998

This wealthy village has long fancied its main thoroughfare, Franklin Avenue, as the Fifth Avenue of Long Island. Long Island's first department store, Loeser's, opened here in the 1930's. Seeking the lucrative local carriage trade, other high-end retailers from Manhattan soon followed, like Best & Company and Peck & Peck. They sold luxury clothes, jewelry, furs and crystal. Bridal shops abounded. In fact, Garden City owes its very existence to the man who invented the department store.

Federal District Judge Dickinson R Debevoise, in decision that could change way asylum seekers are treated in immigration detention centers, rules that immigration officials can be sued for violating human rights of detainees at Elizabeth, NJ, center; ruling is first major decision in lawsuit filed in 1997 on behalf of 19 asylum seekers who were held at detention center in 1995, when violent uprising led to temporary closing of center and review of way Immigration and Naturalization Service handled detainees; photo (M)

Jury verdict awarding Wendell Williamson, killer acquitted by reason of insanity, $500,000 because of alleged shortcomings of psychiatrist, Dr Myron B Liptzin, has provoked furor in North Carolina and beyond; Williamson charged Liptzin, who saw him just half dozen times, made incorrect diagnosis, had not explained how seriously ill he was and had not followed up after their sessions ended, eight months before he randomly shot two men in Chapel Hill; photos (M)

Japanese yen's sudden rise against US dollar threatens to take momentum out of Japan's exports by making it more costly for America and other foreign markets to buy Japanese products; economists say if yen's strength lasts, it could even prolong Japna's worst postwar recession (M)/

Philadelphia Flyers defeat New York Rangers, 1-0, in season opener; photo (M)7