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Scalping: A Hard-Core OccupationBY GARY FREDERICKThe advertisements said %u201c Sold Out.%u2019%u2019 Every ticket was gone for Bruce Springsteen%u2019s three-night engagement at Madison Square Garden last week. But if one had the money%u2014and plenty of it%u2014 orchestra, mezzanine and every other type of ticket could be bought from sidewalk scalpers.Inconspicuously nestled among the thousands of people lining the street outside the Garden, scalpers walk past a potential buyer, ask if a ticket is needed, and move on if there is no response%u2014disappearing among the throngs of concert-goers.Scalping, the illegal selling of tickets, often at hugely inflated prices, is big business before %u201c sold out\Before the Springsteen concert, scalpers began their sales pitches in the train stations and kept up a steady barrage right to the front door, often under the noses of foot patrolmen and mounted police. Tickets which normally sold for $9.50 and $8.50 went for as high as $40 and $50.Because of the large number of events it holds, Madison Square Garden is a particular trouble spot for scalping. George Cree, house manager at Carnegie Hall, said they do not have much of a problem there, however. He said they place %u201c a local security force and police spot check in front of the building before the shows.%u201dA police spokesman from the Midtown North Precinct said that Carnegie Hall encounters few scalping problems and that most of the activity is by the Garden.Likewise, scalping is practically nonexistant at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. %u201c People who are going to come here have already gotten tickets,%u201d said Leonard Natman, assistant theater manager. He added that for some shows, the Academy sells tickets the same day as performance, which also helps to alleviate scalping.Tony Avollon, vice-president of Operations at the Garden, admitted scalping was a big problem, but that it was common. %u201c Scalping is a problem no matter where you are,%u201d he said. %u201c Broadway, even at theLike jock itch and athlete%u2019s foot, ticket scalping appears to be more an annoying situation than a major problem. After all, if caught it is just a violation with a $50 to $250 fine. This is only slightly more serious than getting caught not cleaning up after your dog. And the police in charge of the Madison Square Garden area have given out only 97 summonses since January 1, 61 coming the last two nights of the Springsteen concerts.How does a major promotOlympics%u2014it%u2019s a way of life.%u201dWhile he knew of 10 to 12 scalpers in 1968, the number has grown to 20 to 30 now. These %u201c hard-core scalpers%u2019%u2019 employ %u201c diggers%u201d %u2014people who will buy tickets for the scalper and then get paid a percentage. These diggers range from 10-year-old kids to taxi cab drivers, Avallon said.He admitted that catching scalpers was not easy. %u201c Proving it is hard,%u201d he said, %u201c because people don%u2019t want to get involved or take the time to press charges.%u201dThe Garden does have its own security force to watch for scalpers and Avallon said they do occasionally lock people up. The Garden enforces the law out to the property line, at which point theing organization like Ron Delsener, which handled the Springsteen concerts, feel about scalping? Stan Faig, an associate of Delsener, said it is %u201cnot a great problem, no way. The police are generally cooperative moving scalpers from the area.%u201dAlthough he would like to see more summonses issued Faig understands that %u201c unfortunately, there are higher priorities.%u201dRon Delsener does take some steps to prevent scalppolice take over. At the first night%u2019s Springsteen concert, neither the security force nor the police made any arrests.Scalping was heavy though, and aside from the posters, T-shirts, albums, drugs, buttons, photographs, and bumper stickers being peddled, tickets were the hottest item.One scalper, who wanted to be known as %u201c West Side Johnny,%u201d said that he expects to make $800 for the three concerts. This is his second time scalping, and the first time was just to get rid of excess tickets. %u201c I just happened to have six extra tickets for a Grateful Dead concert,%u201d he said.Since the tickets for the Springsteen concert were sold throughing. For example, some tickets are sold directly through the mail and others, said Faig, are given to Ticketron to be released at the same time with a specified limit to be sold per person.But Faig doesn%u2019t seem too worried, possibly because Ron Delsener makes its money whether the tickets are sold legitimately or through scalpers. %u201c All we try and do is distribute tickets,%u201d said Faig.mail orders, Johnny sent out a bunch of letters. Through certain connections he was able to learn of the concert before most other people. He then used the names of his %u201c aunts, uncles, girlfriend, dead grandmother, anyone who had a name.%u201d He acquired 40 tickets this way.The police were no bother, he said. %u201c I don%u2019t think they%u2019re really looking for anyone. One even asked me how I was doing. %u2019 %u2019However, while no summonses were issued the first night of the concert, police report that 61 were handed out the following two nights. Sylvia Kletzkin, who works in the Summons Office at the Midtown South Precinct, attributed the large increase in summonsesthe last two nights to %u201cthe large increase in concerts this time of the year.%u201d Since January 1, there had only been 36 summonses issued until the Springsteen concerts.Scalping is considered a violation under law with fines ranging from a minimum $50 to a maximum $250. But aside from the fines, scalping has another risk%u2014not being able to sell the tickets. As concert time approaches, prices usually drop since the need to sell quickly increases. Over-priced tickets sometimes return to face value and even less if panic sets in. Since the ticket is no longer selling for $1.25 over face value, this is no longer scalping.Before Monday%u2019s Springsteen concert, one young male buyer approached a scalper five minutes before showtime, asking how much a ticket was.%u201c $40,%u201d was the answer.%u201c You gotta be crazy.%u201d%u201c All right,%u201d the scalper said hurriedly as the potential buyer walked away. %u201c How much do you want to spend?%u201dNot surprisingly, Nassau Coliseum has a scalping problem also. But, according to William W olfenstein, acting box office manager, the problem is not as big as it used to be. %u201c It%u2019s a little better now,%u201d he said. %u201c We%u2019re advertising later and sometimes don%u2019t announce when the numbers will be given out.%u201dThese numbers are given out ahead of ticket sales on a first-come first-serve basis, and guarantee the buyer a specified place on line. At the Coliseum, tickets are sold in maximum groups of 8 to 10, or 4 to 6 tickets, depending on the popularity of the show.But even the scalpers have to make a living. Wolfenstein said that %u201c security pretty well knows all the scalpers. They%u2019ve already been thrown out, but they keep coming back. Would you believe we%u2019ve had complaints from the scalpers who say their business is being cut?%u201dSo why does Johnny scalp?%u201c I just got out of college recently,%u201d he said. %u201c I%u2019m a writer and it%u2019s tough making money. I don%u2019t think I%u2019ll do it again, though.%u201dN.Y.P.DLONG TRIP FOR A PURSE: OnAugust 15 at 1 a.m. a purse snatching took place at 17th Street and 11th Avenue. The perpetrator fled in a car. A witness saw the license plate on the car and was also able to describe the purse snatcher. Officers Thomas O%u2019Brien and Mary Morrissey of the 66th Precinct tracked down the licensed plate and found out that the car belonged to Carl D%u2019Amico, 22, 5022 Nineteenth Avenue. When the officers went to D%u2019Amico%u2019s house they saw the pocketbook in, his car. After seeing D%u2019Amico and believing he matched the description, they arrested him for larceny at 3 a.m.THREATENED WIFE: OnAugust 22, Henry Molinari, 25, of 66 4th Avenue, was arrested and charged with menacing and criminal possession of a knife. Officer Louis Petrella of the 78th Precinct made the arrest at 10:20 p.m. after Molinari supposedly threatened to stab his wife, Isabel, with a kitchen knife.TRIES CAR THEFT: Rudolph3^!! 39, WSiS ?.!*%u2019* 9nH ^tfppt and 8th Avenue after allegedly trying to break into a 1969 Ford car, 1 New Jersey registration. Officer Michael Moloney, 78th Precinct, caught Ball at 4 a.m. on August 23, with possession of a black screwdriver with which police say heattempted to break-in and subsequently damaged the right car window. He was charged with attempted grand larceny of the car, possession of burglar%u2019s tools and criminal mischief.CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Two men were arrested August 22 while reportedly burglarizing 89 Garfield Place. The pair, Hector Castillo, 21, of 367 5th Avenue, and Phillip Ortiz, 21, of 204 14th Street, were nabbed by Officer Robert Zurzolo, 78th Precinct at 2:25 a.m. Caught with knives, police say they entered the building by removing a metal screen protecting a wooden window which was then forced up with the knives. They were charged with attempted burglary, possession of burglar%u2019s tools, and criminal mischief.ACTING TOGETHER: On Aug ust 23 at 5:20 a.m. Officer Braun of the 78th Precinct arrested Anthony Richmond, 22, 661 Carroll Street and Wilfred Quinton, 18, 821 52nd Street, after they allegedly acted together to steal $1.76 from the pocket of 32 year-old David Levi.rTV%u00bb o o r 'l i o r a p r l u / iff i l a r r p n v- %u201c ~ j %u2022* - %u2014 * %u2014 o %u2014 %u2022%u2022 %u2014 %u201c %u25a0* jand possession of stolen property.CHARGED WITH ASSAULT: 17year-old Martin Richberg of 487 Carlton Avenue was arrested by Officer Failla of the 78th Precinct Investigations Unit and charged with robbery and assault in theAugust 12 robbery of Willie Terrell, 55, at 3:15 a.m. Police say Richberg took $125 from Terrell and caused injury to him.THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Police say 2 youths grabbed a 13-year-old by the throat and took $13 from him on August 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Bergen Street and Vanderbilt Avenue. One week later, Officer Sindone of the 78th Precinct Investigations Unit arrested Derek Edey, 17, 164 St. Marks Avenue, and charged him with robbery and assault. The other assailant was not captured.TRAILER BREAK-IN: On August 24 at 10 a.m., after they allegedly broke into a trailer parked at Atlantic and Vanderbilt Avenues and removed property worth over $250, Herbert Curie, 19, 41 Underhill Street and Jerome Mitchell, 17, 202 St. Marks Avenue were arrested by Officer %u00a3kryzpek of the 78tn Precinct. Tney were charged with burglary, possession of stolen property, and criminal mischief.NO PAY DAY: On August 17 Noel Davila, 19, 6 West 9th Street,wcis fc*\r t-ii o4-place at 10:35 a.m. on August 11. Detective Eppolito of the 76th Precinct, who made the arrest, says Davila held two men at gunpoint and took from them the payroll of Yale Surgical Supply Co., 405 44th Street.Richmond, GiffordDebate The%u2019 IssuesA weekend, televised debate between Congressman Fred Richmond and former Deputy Schools Chancellor Bernard Gifford, opponents in the Democratic primary for Brooklyn%u2019s 14th C.D., again raised what has become the two major %u201c issues%u201d of th e c a m p a ig n --R ic h m o n d %u2019s admitted sexual solicitation of a black youth and Gifford%u2019s charges that Richmond was %u201cbuying%u201d the district.When the millionaire industrialist congressman and his black challenger met of NBC%u2019s %u201c Here and Now%u2019%u2019 Sunday, Richmond responded to questioning about the sex charge by describing it as %u201c one isolated incident.%u201d %u201cThat was just one incident,%u201d said Richmond. %u201c What I must do is to match my 20 years in public office to that one incident.%u201dGifford claimed Richmond%u2019s campaign expenditures were, in effect, %u201c buying%u201d the election for the two-term Congressman. Richmond said that he had spent $202,050 as of last Thursday of which he had raised $89,000 from outside sources. Gifford said he raised $52,000 and hoped for %u201c $50 to 75,000%u2019%u2019 more before thecampaign was over.Gifford also charged that Richmond in a meeting with then Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns and then Secretary of Treasury William Simon, recommended that the federal government let the city go bankrupt. He referred to Simon%u2019s book, %u201c A Time for Truth%u201d as the source of these disclosures. Richmond responded to the point by asking, %u201c Do you believe a Nixon Republican who is now head of an arch-conservative group?%u201dMayor FillsLibrary PostMayor Koch has appointed Joseph A. English, President of a mechanical contracting firm, to a five year term on the unsalaried Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Public Library. Koch also reappointed three members of the Board of Trustees for their second five year terms. The three are William J. Ehrlinger, Jr., Daphne Sheppard and City Councilman-atLarge from Brooklyn, Robert Steingut...PHOENIX. August 29,1978