P.M. BRIEFING : N.Y. Vandals Clip Phone Cables, Disrupting Service to 361,000

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Vandals sliced two telephone cables today, leaving up to 361,000 customers with limited service in the biggest such incident in the 3-month-old strike against NYNEX, the company said.

Repair crews hoped to have service restored by noon in the four counties north of New York City, said Peter Muller, a spokesman for NYNEX subsidiary New York Telephone.

More than 520 cases of vandalism to company lines have been reported since 40,000 members of the Communication Workers union walked off the job Aug. 6 in a dispute over health benefits, Muller said.

Two other phone lines were cut Wednesday night in Hyde Park and Poughkeepsie, disrupting service to about 800 customers, phone company officials said. That service was expected to be restored by tonight.