* the Development and Services Corporation (D & S), composed of Kennedy, Javits, a Lindsay representative, some of the most prominent corporate chiefs in the city--Thomas Watson Jr. (I.B.M.), William Paley (CBS)--former Treasury Secy. Douglas Dillon, former Deputy Defense Secy. Roswell Gilpatrick, and a number of others perfectly wiling to do Kennedy or Javits a favor. D & S will supervise overall planning; members were picked who would have the contacts to persuade banks to give loans and convince businesses to move in, the expertise to help residents set up their own enterprises, and the political clout to see that the community gets what it wants.

Foundations have so far given D & S well over $1 million, and money for R & R is waiting in the wings. About $300,000 went for the abandoned Sheffield Farms dairy in the heart of the community; once renovated--at a cost that may run as high as $750,000-it will be used as headquarters for both corporations, a job training center, and whatever other services seem like a good idea.

Remodeling the dairy is in itself the sort of thing the program is all about: providing jobs. Although D & S is weeks away from parcelling out contracts for Sheffield Farms, the assumption by men heavily involved in the project is that virtually all of the work will be done by people from the community.

As one consultant puts it, "If they get a white architect in there, and then bring in a construction crew with about two Negroes on it, I'll go down there and picket the place myself."

Whatever construction is to be done in the course of the project -- and there is supposed to be a lot -- will be done by local men, trained, if need be, on the job. By one estimate, 7-8,000 construction jobs can be created that way. There are hopes that some sort of understanding can be reached with trade unions to allow newcomers to do the work. Talks with union leaders have barely begun, but insiders are optimistic, and they insist that local Negroes are going to get the jobs no matter what the unions say.

Much of the construction is expected to involve rehabilitation--paid for by the residents themselves. For the first time, government-insured, low-interest bank loans may be made available in a ghetto area. One idea is to aid groups in setting up non-profit corporations to buy apartment houses; instead of paying rent to a landlord, a resident would pay a pro-rated share of the mortgage (plus a charge for maintenance services) and would wind up own apartment. The corporation could also seek money for rehabilitation, and split the payments on the loan among residents. Planners figure that the cost to residents would be roughly the same as the rent they are now paying.

To kick off the idea, architects are now seeking sites for two "superblocks." The name, conjuring up images of massive new construction is misleading; the plans are modest. Two or three blocks will be joined together by closing a street or two to through traffic. Abandoned buildings will be demolished for vest-pocket parks, and the parks will be connected to form walkways through the superblock. The closed off streets will be used in part for parking, in part as malls, with benches, fountains, sandboxes or whatever residents recommend. A building in the middle of the area will be purchased to house such facilities as day-care centers for toddlers. Ideas for a staff: A maintenance man to keep the area clean and help residents with minor carpentry projects, and an advisor to field questions about loans and the like, or channel complaints to proper agencies.

In the superblocks there will be an intensive effort to encourage residents to get loans for just about anything they want in the way of renovation. The idea is to talk with block clubs in the immediate area, following their suggestions in the detailed planning and hiring, local people to do the work. Ground-breaking on the first superblock could begin as early as this summer. Planners figure that once they have a couple of blocks to point to, money and community enthusiasm for more of them won't be any problem.

A young architect in I.M.Pei's firm has since November been working full time dreaming up design ideas for the neighborhood (one far-out possibility: enclosing a mile of elevated line inside a high-rise commercial complex, burying the heavily traveled truck route that runs under it, and turning the ground level into a pedestrian mall).

Raymond and May, a White Plains planning firm, has been commissioned by D & S to develop a master plan for the area. The architectural schemes will be accommodated to the plan, and then D & S can look around for financing. Much will come from the government. Edward J. Logue's chief value to the operation, say those involved in it, is his knowledge of federal aid programs; he is the recognized expert in getting for a project every penny to which it's legally entitled.

Planners are hoping for $8 million under the recent Kennedy-Javits amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act; it provides incentives to businesses which set up on-the-job training programs. Even without that money, a small metal-working firm, providing 30 or 40 jobs, has agreed to locate in the neighborhood, and five other companies of about that size are considering the idea.

Lindsay Backs It

The Lindsay administration is heavily committed to the project. Declares one city official, "We're ready to put a lot of money in there," and Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of the three neighborhoods for which New Yorks has applied for Model Cities funds. In addition, Lindsay and such top aides as Mitchell Sviridoff, head of the Human Resources Administration, favor the kind of local autonomy that Kennedy wants to see. Says Sviridoff, "Things should be organized out there, planned out there, and run out there."

But there are undercurrents of ill-feeling despite the bipartisan support. The city administration is clearly miffed that Kennedy gets top billing in all the publicity, and one very high official dismisses the Kennedy corporations. "He's done the easiest part," says that official. "It'll all get swallowed up by the Model Cities program."

Nevertheless, the corporations are largely Kennedy's creations, and he will get the lion's share of the credit if the Bedford-Stuyvesant project succeeds. He met with members of the community in February of last year. They told him they had seen a good many politicians drop in and make promises and that they wanted some results. He said he agreed, and he assigned aides in his Manhattan office to begin working with them on a structure for a massive program. He approached Javits and Lindsay--insiders point out that Logue and a good many other big names would never have agreed to work had Kennedy gone it alone-but Kennedy men did most of the legal work on the corporations and much of the recruiting. Kennedy now has three top aides, including the head of his New York office Thomas Johnston, working on the program.