Throughout the long battle that the Cerro Wire Coalition has waged against the proposed mega-mall on the former Cerro Wire property in Syosset, Long Island's only daily newspaper, Newsday, has continually voiced its strong support of the project while downplaying the fact that the land that this mall could be built on is owned by the Tribune Company, which happens to be the parent company of Newsday. Recent comments by Morton Weber, the attorney for the project developer, the Taubman Company, suggest that this relationship may be deeper than what Newsday has revealed.

On a recent edition of Radio Station WLIE's (540-AM) "Seniors on the Move" program, Mr. Weber stated that the Cerro Wire Mall Project was a joint venture between Taubman and the Chicago Times Mirror, also owned by the Tribune Company. If that is indeed true, and we would certainly expect that Mr. Weber would be familiar with these arrangements, then Newsday's disclaimer is insufficiently vague and clearly misleading.

The phrase joint venture suggests a much stronger bond between the newspaper, its parent company and the developer, which might also explain Newsday's unprecedented chain of editorials in favor of the project.

It's time to ask just what is the real relationship between Newsday and this project? Newsday is always the first to demand full disclosure among companies, officials and projects. Now let's see how good they are at abiding by their own editorial edicts.

Todd Fabricant

Chairman of the Cerro Wire Coalition