Page 105 - Demo

Koch, Wagner Present City PlanningCommission's South Brooklyn %u2018Action%u2019 ProposalBY PETER HALEYMayor Ed Koch, City Planning Commissioner Robert Wagner, Jr., and a squad of high-ranked city agency officials publicly unveiled the city%u2019s five-point, $62 million %u201c action program%u201d for the redevelopment of the South Brooklyn waterfront and Columbia Street area last week in a neighborhood presentation marked by optimism%u2014 and a little dissatisfaction.Community residents crowded Carroll Gardens' Saint Stephen%u2019s school auditorium on July 27 as Wagner announced the Planning Commission%u2019s recommendations: 1an immediate commitment of $17 million as part of the first step in the three-phased $54 million containerport construction;1a Columbia Street restoration project to include the construction of 100-160 low-rise housing units on sites along Columbia at Summit, Carroll, and President Streets with an adjoining halfacre park in addition to the availability of federal rehabilitation loans for both multi-family and one and two family homes also in the area;Icompletion of the long-delayed President Street leg of the Red Hook Interceptor Sewer;Ithe establishment of additional plans safeguarding residential areas from damage due to the rerouting of traffic during the fall-scheduled BrooklynQueens Expressway reconstruction;Ithe amendment of the former urban renewal pian to change boundaries of containerport development and to provide rehabilitation and relocation for those businesses and homes affected by the re-designation.Koch credited Borough President Howard Golden and City Council Majority Leader Thomas Cuite forspurring the plan by convincing him last winter to visit the area, which has been devasted by poorly planned sewer construction and other urban ills. Area decline had been already accelerated by the city%u2019s designating a substantial portion of the waterfront for urban renewal which has yet to be implemented. Koch, who said he had been %u201c shocked\decay and %u201c surprised%u201d to find residents still holding on strongly, told the audience that the city would do its utmost to restore the area.Referring to the 1975 Columbia Street sewer excavatiuons and other city mis-planning episodes, Koch said, %u201c I wasn%u2019t mayor then. I am mayor now, and I assure you the city will do all that is reasonably expected to make good the damage done to this area and area residents by the city itself.%u201dThe sweltering atmosphere of St. Stephen%u2019s wasn%u2019t conducive to long speeches, which Koch and other officials realized. They spoke accordingly. Temporary malfunction of the public address system allowed Koch to be overwhelmed by two hecklers representing different view points and different parts of the hall, but the Mayor kept cool. %u201c Do you want to listen to me or do you want to listen to him ?%u201d he asked the audience. Both times he was rewarded with the crowd%u2019s support.Soon after, Koch left for Bushwick %u201c where they have four feet of water%u201d thanks to the breaking of a major main. Once Koch left, city officials removed their jackets as they sat down at the front of the stage to answer the questions that were more inhibited since the TV cameras left when his Honor departed also. Many praised the new housing plan, which drew an appreciative and collective %u201c aah%u201d from the crowd. And many called the planned construction of thecontainerport a godsend.%u201cThe Containerport means the return of jobs to the waterfront,%u201d said Sal DiOrio, saluting the Commission%u2019s work.Opponents of the BQE reconstruction called attention to the Commission%u2019s intention that thereMayor Koch listens to audience questions.be an alternative truck route to Columbia Street and asked %u201cwhy not now.%u201d%u201c We suggest that postponement of the BQE reconstruction until the Action Program%u2019s alternative truck route can be developed,%u201d said Selma Abramowitz, vice chairwoman of the Cobble Hill Association.Not everyone was pleased. In addition to the two hecklers, some Red Hook residents complained that the Waterfront was getting more attention that the Hook. %u201cHow come when something is bad we%u2019reRed Hook and this is the Waterfront and when something is good everything is Red Hook?%u201d quizzed Nancy Gooding, president of Red Hook%u2019s RAC Gardens Tenants Association, referring to the frequent lumping of Red Hook and the Waterfront together.Most residents seemed satisfied, though, and when Wagner called the plan an answer to the %u2018 %u2018systematic destruction%u201d of the Waterfront area over the past 15 years and pledged, %u201c We will work together to reverse the decline and to come up with a plan worthy of the community that chose to stay,%u201d the community residents cheered.Both Koch and Wagner stressed that various aspects of the plan are not finalized and that considerable community input was expected. Following the presentation, city officials received their first community reactions as a steady stream of citizens filed up in line to address the redevelopment game plan. The building of the containerporet and new housing was praised, while some residents asked that the BQE reconstruction be postponed in favor of implementing an alternative truck route to Columbia Street now, instead of at some future date as recommended in the action plan.The housing proposed by the Commission along Columbia would include from 50 to 80 two-story houses and, as well as attracting new residents to the area, would serve as a relocation source for families whose property will become part of the containerport development. Included within the Columbia Street revitalization project is an already funded commercial redevelopment plan for Union Street between Hicks and Columbia Streets and a feasibility study of decking the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at Union to link the Columbia Street side with CarrollGardens.The long-awaited containerport development was first announced in 1964, but according to the Commission report, construction could begin in 1980 if the city could commit $5 million to match the already committed $12 million put up by the state. Phase 1 involves filling in the northern portion of Atlantic Basin and the construction of one container berth, loading cranes, and storage space.The completion of the Red Hook Interceptor%u2019s President Street leg was given a boost by a July 20 decision by the Board of Estimate to authorize the purchase of seven remaining structures on President Street for $400,000. The buildings must be cleared for the interceptor sewer project to proceed. Once acquisition is resolved, construction on President Street will begin and is expected to finish by the end of 1978.Safety features for residents upset with the traffic plans and detours to accompany the upcoming BQE reconstruction include the requirement that a %u201c private consulta n t%u201d be hired to survey the structural conditions of Hicks Street buildings between Hamilton and Atlantic Avenues and to establish a system of monitoring building conditions during this period.Some lands previously included in the Red Hook urban renewal plan, including all the land south of Atlantic Basin, will be left out of the new project, while boundaries will be extended along Van Brunt Street, at Ferry Point, and along Columbia from Kane to DeGraw Streets. In addition, the removal of urban renewal designation and the availability of housing rehabilitation assistance is expected to encourage considerable housing renovations in the Red Hook and Columbia Street area.Gifford Gets Some Hasidic Support In14th Congress RaceBY PETER HALEYThe tall, slim black man together with the shorter and stouter white man with a beard made an odd couple shaking hands and mugging for the cameras on the steps of City Hall. Congressional candidate Bernard Gifford and Hasidic Rabbi Chaim Stauber together indeed make strange bedfellows.The occasion was a political event, and as political events go, it was a significant occasion%u2014Stauber, one of the Williamsburg Hasidim%u2019s prominent leaders and a member of the City Commision on Human Rights, was endorsing former Deputy Chancellor Bernard Gifford in his bid to beat incumbent Congressman Fred Richmond in the 14th Congressional District race. Considering the current, publicized racial tensions between Hasidim and blacks in Crown Heights, a portion of which belongs in the N th%u2014as well as the Hasidic tradition of supporting the incumbent, Stauber%u2019s support gives Gifford a real boost.Stauber said Gifford possesses a %u201c very attractive human rights record%u201d and then stated, %u201cThe people of the 14th C.D. are truly colorblind and should not hesitate for a moment to throw their support behind Gifford.%u201dThat raised a few eyebrows among the handful of reporters and photographers who were the only ones on the City Hall steps to hearit, and uttered in Greenpaint, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant or Crown Heights%u2014all ethnic and geographic sections of the 14 C.D.%u2014Stauber might have had trouble with it. But on the steps of City Hall, he continued in the vein of Gilford%u2019s candidacy marking %u201cthe dawning of a new era,%u201d and Gifford possessing the %u201ctrue leadership%u201d capable of speaking %u201cto and for both sides%u201d in Crown Heights.Gifford, like most underdog and underknown political candidates, welcomed Stauber%u2019s support as the coup it is and railed against the incumbent Richmond for running a campaign %u201cby press release%u201d and for %u201c ducking%u201d him at various candidates%u2019 forums. While admitting that Richmond would win easily if the election were held today, Gifford said Richmond was losing %u2018 %u2018momentum%u2019 %u2019 and he listed some of his own recent supporters: Bronx Congressman Robert Garcia; former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; former State Schools Chancellor Kenneth Clark; and, black business leader Bruce Llewellyn. He also noted an upcoming fundraiser to be sponsored bv former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and big-time developer and power broker Richard Ravitch (another odd political couple).The Gifford campaign is not well-organized nor well-funded, compared to Richmond%u2019s but in Stauber it has an important ally andan inroad to the solid Hasidic voting block. Just why that is is not hard to discern. While Stauber had nothing but glowing words for Gifford, he called upon Richmond to bow out and %u201cto stop twisting arms and conducting an invisible campaign.%u201d Stauber also said that he had made attempts to convince Richmond to bow out %u201c privately%u201d following the Congressman%u2019s celebrated sex charge (admitted solicitation of a black youth). Despite his Human Rights Commission post, Stauber has gone on record in opposition to gay rights.%u201c Iam the first Hasidic leader to back Dr. Gifford, but you will see many more, %u2019 %u2019 Stauber predicted.Stauber knows what he is talking about. He arrived m Williamsburg in 1958 when there were few Hasidim there and through the years, as editor of the Yiddishweekly, \community activist, he operated as one of the principal architects in the development of political power in the Hasidic community. He%u2019s the sort of power broker who brings political candidates wearing yamulkas and seeking votes into temples along Williamsburg%u2019s Lee Avenue.Gifford claimed that he has been doing some %u201c bridge building%u201d between the Crown Heights Hasidim and blacks. \in speaking to both sides and serving in a mediator role, quietly working to bring these people to a common ground,%u201d he said.Gifford said his determination and ability to forego coalitions among the disparate voting groups spells an upset victory for him. A Richmond spokesman indicated that the Stauber part of the coalition against Richmond was composed of%u201c Stauber worked for the Congressman%u2019s community office from June 1, 1976 until December 31, 1976 and was released because of unsatisfactory work performance,%u201d said the spokesman, %u201c His support of Gifford is nothing more than a case of sour grapes.%u201dStauber was declined to comment but sour grapes or no, he is in Gifford%u2019s corner. If he can bring the Hasidic leadership with him, it could spell trouble for Richmond. Stauber stressed that Hasidic support would come to Gifford because he is the %u201cfirst attractive black candidate%u201d they have had a chance to vote for. The significant point is that while the Hasidim may like Gifford, what they have always liked since they first gained political clout, is winners.Discuss Brooklyn Bridge Safety MeasuresBY DAVID HABENSTREITOver 50 people gathered last Tuesday, July 31 at a public meeting to discuss methods for making the Brooklyn Bridge safer for pedestrians and bikers. Jim Smith of Bicycle Commuters of New York, Detective Robert Ferrentino of the 84th Police Precinct and Jim Fox of the Police Department%u2019s Communications Division led the discussion%u2014intended, Smith said at the outset, to be %u201cnot just a gripe session.%u201dFor the most part it wasn%u2019t. While the audience did participate a great deal, suggestions were mainly constructive; unfortunately several original suggestions were infeasible. Discussion centered on methods of dealing with vandalism of police emergency boxes; many bridge criminals rip the receivers out of these boxes, making communication impossible. Police describe vandalism of that sort as \least a weekly event,%u201d which they may combat by installing Emergency Reporting Systems (ERS), similar to fire boxes. Also discussed was the possibility of adding more boxes to supplement the present five.The speakers stressed that security would improve if people who used the bridge reported broken boxes. Another improvement the speakers said they are supporting is the installation of bridge stairway ramps, which would eliminate the need tor bicyclists to dismount and would allow police to patrol the bridge on motor scooters. This, police feel, would cut the bridge crime rate by 80%. They also discussed the possibility of extending the walkway to Tillary and Adams Streets, eliminating the%u201c dangerous%u201d stairway at the Brooklyn end. These are financially feasible measures, using part of a $23 million State allocation for structural work on the bridge.Other suggestions at the meeting included the possibility that because of its national monument status the bridge could perhaps receive federal rangers and the possibility of television or microphone surveillance, dismissed by Detective Ferrentino as too extravagant. Many in the crowd also felt that added police coverage of the bridge is the answer, but again rerreniino was ihe b e a r e r u( g r i m facts: he said that the police simply do not have enough personpower to beef up the patrols there.The meeting was a gathering to discuss a problem with no easy answers. Leaders insisted the best solutions were long-term.August 3,1978, TH E PHOENIX, Page 17