N.Y. mayor seeks camps for city-blight offenders

Street gamblers, graffiti artists, and unscrupulous landlords could end up in work camps making 50 cents a day in a plan proposed by Mayor Edward Koch.

The $3 million program would send men convicted of what the mayor calls ''quality of life'' misdemeanors to two islands in the East River, where they would clean up an old paupers' cemetery, tear down buildings, and make cinder blocks.

Mayor Koch, a gubernatorial candidate, said the work camps, if approved, would open in July.