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Halt Navy Yard SewerConstruction ToStudy Impact on Housingby Peler HaleyConstruction on a multi-million dollar sewage treatment plant at the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been halted while city officials plan a structural survey of the site%u2019s adjacent residential housing to determine what effect demolition blasting has had on these structures.Work on the Red Hook Sewage Control Plant, part of the $127.5 million pollution control project, stopped in mid-July following community criticism that demolition work undertaken by the contractors was endangering the neighborhood. The future site of the actual sewage control plant is within the old Navy Yard site and neighborhood complaints concerning the blasting, including one blast which showered concrete on the residential area, convinced the city%u2019s Environmental Protection Agency to stop the blasting the week of June 12-16 and since that time it has not resumed.Residents%u2019 arguments that the blasting had undermined several foundations and structures of the neighborhood%u2019s 100-year old buildings grew louder as city Buildings Department inspectors vacated 48 Hudson Street because of structural damage. Eighty-three year-old Della Auchnas was relocated because the Hudson Street structure%u2019s rotting beams, bulging walls, and the abscence of a foundation under an %u201c illegal extension%u201d made building inspectors declare it unsafe.Brooklyn Buildings DepartmentSuperintendent George Berger stated that the Environmental Protection Agency would have to determine whether the blasting caused or accelerated the bulging walls. Berger indicated that the rotting beam and no foundation violations %u201c definitely%u201d were not involved with these damage claims.While a city EPA spokesman said that the agency would conduct a survey before any work in the Navy Yard area is resumed, it was not believed that damage was done to area residences. Any findings and future work would still entail explosives, said the spokesman, because their is %u201c no other cost feasible way%u201d to remove concrete ways used in the past to lower ships into the water from the plant site.%u201c The city is finally inspecting the buildings,%u201d said Roy Vanasco, community board member,%u201d and this should prove our point, that the explosions and also the excavations along Plymouth Street are damaging these structures, and the city is responsible for a house like Mrs. Auchnas%u2019 for being unsafe.%u201dThe Red Hook Sewage Treatment Project includes the building of a pumping station, force main, and intercepting sewers and tunnel as well as the treatment plant, and Governor Hugh Carey recently announced the approval of an $8.75 million state grant for this phase of the Red Hook Project construction. The work began in February and it is expected to conclude in May 1981.CROSS SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE V IE W OFT H E PROPOSED NEW FLATBUSH AVENUETER M IN A L OF TH E LONG ISLAND RAILROAD. The top level is at street grade andbelow are the LIRR train platforms. A t thelowest level is the LIRR concourse leading tointerconnecting adjacent Transit Authoritysubway passages. A t both sides of the terminalare large open escalator and stair wellsextending from the street level down to theLIRR concourse. Topped by skylights, thesewells bring daylight to all levels of theterm inal. Windows on the wall of the well tothe left are at street level and the level of theIRT platform. This subway platform w ill be oneof the few in the city w ith direct daylightpenetration. Plans for terminal renovationwere unveiled Monday by Mayor Koch.NewsbriefsAssembly Hopefuls GetTogether in Boerum HillBY PETER HALEYNo one can say that Brooklyn%u2019s 57th Assembly Democratic primary doesn%u2019t offer the voters a choice.A Jew, a black, an Hispanic, and a gay activist are running for the Assembly seat in this Williamsburg -Greenpoint - Fort Greene - Boerum Hill district, and all four%u2014incumbent Assemblyman Harvey Strelzin, District 13 school board head Velmanette Montgomery, taxi union official Alexis Miranda, and college teacher Virginia Apuzzo%u2014were seeking the support of Boerum Hill%u2019s Neighborhood Action Coalition at last Monday%u2019s candidate night meeting yesterday.%u201c I like being Assemblyman, I prefer it to sitting in my office,%u201d said incumbent Strelzin, who claimed to have stopped several %u201c special interest%u201d bills during the current season. Strelzin%u2019s chief fight however, is with the banks%u2019 looby to increase mortgage interest rates from 8 Vi to 9Vi%, which he characterized as %u201c subsidizing redlining.%u201d Boerum Hill has many brownstone and rowhouse home owners and Strelzin called for a mandatory percentage of deposits to be invested by community savings banks in their own neighborhoods.Not surprisingly, all Strelzin%u2019s opponents objected to the fact that Strelzin%u2019s law office is in Manhattan instead of in the 57th Assembly District. All three contenders for Strelzin%u2019s seat promised a heavy dose of activism as well as relocating the community office from M anhattan to the 57th Assembly uisirici.Montgomery, who attacked Strelzin for %u201c doing nothing%u201d for consumers, said she would provide %u201c active leadership%u201d in education in the district, particularly in daycare, which she said needs %u201c expansion%u201dalong with youth and mental health services.Apuzzo said a little %u201c sweat, pride, CETA and Community Development funds%u201d are needed if the district is to continue the housing redevelopment that has begun in Boerum Hill and other areas of the district.NAC was formed to oppose the low and moderate income housing project planned for the neighborhood%u2019s Schermerhom-Pacific urban renewal site and candidate Alexis Miranda, who is active in a Williamsburg tenant-housing group and president of the rentsubsidized Clemente Plaza in Williamsburg, met the issue head on.Questioned about the project, which is scheduled to be built on vacant land, Miranda responded, %u201c It%u2019s a parking lot now and I%u2019m infavor of building new housing because that%u2019s what the district needs.%u201dStrelzin said he was %u201c in favor of subsidies for those who need it,%u201d while Apuzzo said, %u201c This will cost me votes here but my support for the GBA (mixed income) project is in writing and I haven%u2019t changed my position.%u201dCandidatesNight ComingThe public will have an opportunity to address political primary candidates face-to-face Thursday, August 17 when the Black Women%u2019s Caucus Social Action Committee will sponsor a %u201cCandidate Night.\candidates for congress, senate, assembly, district leader and county committee. The session will be held at 7:30 p.m., at NAB #2, 214 Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn.Appraisal forBlock 207Block 207, an empty lot on Middagh Street, between Hicks and Henry Streets, in Brooklyn Heights, is currently awaiting appraisal from the Housing Preservation Development Association (HPD). Richard Rosenthal of HPD said that he expects that the appraisals, based on %u2018%u2018certain constraints within the neighborhoods,%u201d should be in by %u201cthe middle of September.%u201dOnce .IjPD has received the appraisals, announcements publicizing the potential uses of the lot will be made, and invitations for proposals will be taken. It is %u201c uncertain%u201d when the decision for the future use of the plot will be made, Rosenthal said.Boro PrezSays Clean UpBrooklyn Borough President Howard Golden has called upon the federal, state and local environmental protection agencies to develop a program to preyent situations like the July 31 oil spill that closed three Brooklyn beaches through Saturday the following weekend.Golden described the affected oeaches, Coney Island, Manhattan and Brighton, as %u2018%u2018the family playground for millions of hardworking Brooklynites and other New Yorkers who remain in the city during the heat of the summer.%u201d He expressed dismay over the fact that there have been several similar incidents in recent years, yet no measures have been taken to prevent closed beaches in the future.Garden GetsAwards (Again)Brooklyn%u2019s Botanic Garden has once again this year received official All-American Selection Display Garden status, with the several 1979 AAS flower and decorative plant winners currently on display throughout the Garden.The flowers include the Dwarf French %u201c Queen Sophia%u201d marigold, in the fragrance garden for the Blind; the %u201c Orange Prince%u201d pansy hybrid in the perennial border by the lily pool; the ornamental pepper, %u201c Holiday Cheer%u201d in the pepper bed north of the herb garden; and the zinnias %u201c Peter Pan Gold%u201d hybrid and %u201c Gold Sun%u201d hybrid and the nicotiana %u201c NickiRed%u201d hybrid, all in the annual border by the lily pools.City As School InterviewingCity-As-School, the New York City High School without walls, is now interviewing candidates for September 1978 admission., CityAs-School offers its students the opportunity to receive academic credit for first hand learning and job . experiences %u201c in the field.%u201d Students %u201c learn by doing%u201d at over 400 participating business and professional organizations, including Newspapers, television and radio stations, clinics, hospitals, theaters and courts. Students who complete their required credits receive a regular high school diploma, and college and career guidance is provided for all students. Any student of high school age who lives in New York City and who has completed at least the tenth grade is eligible. The program is free. For further information, call 596-3430 or visit City-As-School, 59 Schermerhorn Street, any Wednesday in August.Daughtry: %u2018WeProved Our Point%u2019Reverend Herbert Daughtry, leader of the Black United Front, said last Wednesday that he feels the group%u2019s demonstrations for human rights in the United States during President Carter%u2019s New York visit %u201cproved our point.%u201dThe united Front, complaining of a %u201clack of responsiveness%u201d from the Carter adm inistration on human rights matters concerning the black community, protestednear the City Hall signing of the Federal loan guarantee bill on Tuesday afternoon and then staged an evening demonstration in front of the Longacre Theater on West 48th Street, which is currently featuring %u201c,Ain%u2019t M isbehavin.%u201d Over 200 dem onstrators were within 20 feet of the President as he left the theater, emphasizing their presence. Daughtry expressed hope that the United Front%u2019s demonstrations would inspire Carter to %u201clook at the facts in our issue%u201d and said that the attempt by mounted police to prevent the m archers from crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to protest at Tuesday afternoon%u2019s event*was %u201can example of the human rights violations that we%u2019ve been talking about.%u201dLocal GroupsGet Parks GrantsSeventeen neighborhood groups in Brooklyn have received grants ranging from $65 to $150 as part of the ongoing Parks Preservation Program, now in its third year. The program is sponsored by the Citizen%u2019s Committee for New York, Inc., and is open to community groups with specific locations for their projects.Among the local groups awarded grants in Brooklyn were: Club Heraldo Hispano, Inc., 35 Lafayette Avenue, $90 to buy tools and supplies to clean out a vacant lot and plant shrubs and flowers; the Committee to restore the Third Street Playground, 186 Eighth Avenue, $100for wood preservative stain to repair playground facilities in Prospect Park; Friends of Prospect Park, 94 Park Place, $100 for the purchase of rhododendrons as part of the %u201c renaissance%u201d movement to restore the Vale of Cashmere in Prospect Park; Nuestro Ninos Day Care Center, 384 South 4th Street, $65 for tools and supplies to expand a vegetable garden on the roof of a local school; and the Warren St. Bw lr Association, 314 Warren Street, $75 for materials to clear and plant a privately owned lot with the help of neighborhood children.Thursday, August 17, 1978

