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%u2018Perceptual%u2019 Study Says Urban Elderly,Minorities Being Displaced byMore Affluent RenovatorsBY JUDY LIN SCO TTA just-published National Urban C oalition survey, based on telephone interviews with neighborhood representatives and %u201c perceptual%u201d responses from city housing officials across the nation, says that elderly and minority residents are being displaced in renovated neighborhoods in m ajor cities including New York.%u201c Displacement: City Neighborhoods in Transition,%u201d which looks at 65 neighborhoods in 44 U .S. cities, includes three B rooklyn neighborhoods as representative o f rehabilitated areas in New York City, with some 15 interviews providing the bulk o f that local data.%u201c It%u2019 s really a study o f people%u2019 s perceptions,%u201d according to Sandra Solom on, National Urban Coalition Research Director.The New York neighborhoods studied %u2014 Park Slope, Fort Greene and Boeum Hill %u2014 were chosen on the basis o f initial questionaire response from New York City H ousing officials, according to Solom on. F ollow -u p telephone interviews, consisting o f questions from an %u201c abbreviated version %u201d o f a 14- point questionaire, were conducted with a total o f some 15 representatives from the three neighborhoods.Solom on said that the Coalition has made it a policy not to release the names o f officials or representatives interviewed, but said that they were n eigh borh ood organization members and realtors.N o statistical or neighborhoodspecific data was compiled, according to Solom on, who said that the survey was %u201c done on a case study basis, and is really a picture o f trend s.%u201dThe stated purpose o f the twoyear study was to %u201c determine the scale, rate, cost, and social implications o f the neighborhood revitalization movement and to identify those urban areas in which there is need for public policy intervention.%u201dThe study%u2019 s reported findings include that:%u2022 incomes o f households moving into neighborhoods under privatemarket rehabilitation are higher than those o f the previous residents %u2014 but not always;%u2022 professionals and white collar workers tend to displace blue collar workers and the unem ployed;%u2022 both singles and couples without children as well as families with children are moving into rehabilitated n eigh borh oods in significant numbers;%u2022 the elderly are most often displaced;%u2022there appear to be more minorities living in neighborhoods before rehabilitation than after, although %u201c a num ber o f n eig h b orh ood s report a racial / ethnic mix is maintained.%u201dThe study concludes that private market housing rehabilitation is occuring in neighborhoods across the country and where it occurs, displacement o f low to moderate income residents %u201c is a com m on, if little understood problem .%u201dThe survey%u2019 s questionaire sent out to respondents says that %u201c it is often difficult to acquire precise statistics. We are interested in your broad appraisal o f the situation, so please estimate if you have no readily available data and feel free to provide us with your educated impressions.%u201dSolom on said that the follow -up telephone interview done by the coalition tried to decipher %u201c what%u2019 s happening%u201d with the elderly, ow ners, m inorities and others and %u201c that%u2019 s a descriptive thing, and pretty much how we handled it in the study.%u201d S olom on also noted that in those discussions o f displacement %u201c people may not want to call it that, but under close scrutiny, there is a point where they will admit that it exists.%u201dThe survey recommends the development o f a %u201c massive urban reinvestm ent%u201d p o licy based on a variety o f low cost grants and loans. %u201c We are not saying we%u2019 re against relocation per se at all,%u201d Solom on said. %u201c We are saying that it%u2019 s going on and the problem needs public policy attention.%u201dThe Coalition itself, according to Solom on, is continuing its efforts with plans for counseling centers to %u201c let people know what their options are,%u201d a series o f conferences on displacement and %u201c how to booklets describing strategies to minimize the problem .%u201dIThieves Turn The Bridge Into Yet AnotherBY TOM RAFERTYThe Brooklyn Bridge, that gem o f 19th century engineering, is proving to be a present day theives%u2019 market for m uggers. The mute stones and steel cables o f the n ation al landm ark b rid g e b ea r witness to' so many m uggings, that it was declared a high crim e area this summer and received specialpolice attention.\about as many crimes committed during that month as had been committed since the first o f the y e a r ,%u201d said D e te ctiv e Bob Ferrentino o f the 84th Precinct. He estimated that the 15 reported muggings in July resulted in 10 arrests.Ferrentino said that the crime rate plum m eted to virtually nothing this month, due to a combination o f a temporary concentration o f police manpower on the bridge and heavy publicity.W hether crim e will stay down d e p e n d s on sev era l fa cto rs , Ferrentino said. One major factor is gettin g city , state and fed era lPark Slope Study ConfirmsThe Obvious: Service StinksBy DAVID H A BE N STRE ITA Park Slope com m unity group has just conducted a study of Slope mail service and con firm ed what they%u2019d all thought for a long tim e: th eir lo ca l m a il s e r v ic e is %u201c inadequate.%u201dF ro m Ju ly 11 th rou gh 13, m em bers of the P ark Slope Civic Council sent (Hit 289 first class letters, all m ailed before 8:30 a.m . They found that only 55 per cent of the letters m ailed in 11215 to locations in the sam e district w ere received the next day, as w ere only 49 per cent of the letters sent out of the zone to other city zones. This casts som e aspersions on the P ost O ffice claim that any first class, zip coded letter m ailed b efore 10 a.m . w ill be delivered anyw here in the city by the next business day.A C ivic COUIldi spokesm an aaiu that he was %u201c con vin ced %u201d that the problem was not with the entire postal system , but was %u201c sp ecific in nature.%u201d He cited the study%u2019s finding that 82 per cent of the letters m ailed from outside zip code 11215 w ere delivered on the next business day. The study alsoshowed that ten letters in the 11215 district w ere postm arked one to three days after they w ere mailed, in d ica tin g that p ick -u p s w ere skipped on those days.Postal district 11217, which also covers B oerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn, as well as parts of Park Slope, didn%u2019t fare quite as badly, with 75 per cent of the letters mailed between locations in that district and 65 per cent o f outgoing mail arriving the next day. None took m o re than th re e d a y s, w hereas in the 11215 area, 9 per cent took six days or m ore to arrive.C h a rles S te in b e rg , a ctin g m anager o f the 11.217 P ost O ffice, term ed the study %u201c in accu rate.%u201d He claim s that his d istrict%u2019s service is %u201c as good as anyw here in the c ity ,\and that 95 per cen t o f the first class letters m ailed early in the day in uie d isirici a rriv e at their destination the next day. Steinberg abruptly halted the interview after he w a s %u201c in fo rm e d by h ig h er a u th o ritie s %u201d that h e w as not supposed to talk to rep orters.\V in cen t O e s te rle , m a n a g e r o f district 11215, also said that he w as not allow ed to talk to the press andso, would m ake no com m ent at all.M urray Stein, also said that he doubted the accu racy of the study. Although he had little to say about the two districts in question, Stein repeatedly asserted that Federal studies had shown that the nextday delivery rate has %u201c never gone below 95 per cent%u201d except during C h ristm as sea son an d the blackout. He added that with such a %u201c high level of serv ice%u201d city-w ide it would be %u201c very unlikely%u201d that any two local districts could be as deficient as the study indicates. Stein did say that he would be willing to have m em bers of his staff g o over the study with the C ivic Council to see w here im %u00adprovem ents can be m ade. P eter Altschuler, who w orked on the C ivic Council project, sees the results as %u201c am m unitiaa fo r a series of phone calls and letters d em a n d in g |mnrnvi>ii nnstal services for P ark Slope residents. Altschuler said that he sent copies of the stqdy to Stein and has so far received no response. He believes that the study %u201c doesn%u2019t allow anything new. It just proves what the people of P ark Slope have known for a long tim e.\legislators to get behind a safety program for the bridge,Ferrentino hopes to have a ramp built over the stairs leading to the bridge from the Brooklyn side.F erren tin o e x p la in e d how a single scooter cop would be able to charge onto the bridge and zip o ff in pursuit o f any criminals.%u201c Just to show the uniform would be a deterrent,%u201d he noted. He estim ated that about 80 percent o f crimes committed on the bridge could be eliminated by the use o f the ramp and the im provem ent of existing ones.Ferrentino said that there is a growing interest in the bridge, which could result in appropriate action being taken.A sp ecia l in d e p e n d e n t c o m %u00adm unity co m m itte e , ca lled the Brooklyn Bridge Com m ittee, is now form ed and looking to improve safety and increase use o f the historic span.Jim Smith o f Brooklyn%u2019 s Boerum Hill, a committee m em ber said, that while a beefed up police presence had scared o ff many w ould-be m uggers, it now was time for im proved safety features, such as better lighting and the use o f e m e rg e n cy re p o rtin g system b o x e s ..Smith believes that most m uggings on the bridge are crimes o f opportunity. %u201c They are usually com m itted by Brooklyn youths on th e B rooklyn sid e and m ostly against those who are alone,%u201d he said.amiin, who 15 doling uiaiipviScn for the comm ittee, said that it is m ade up o f w a lk ers, jo g g e r s , bicycle riders and persons who are just plain fed up with losing one o f the wonders o f modern engineering to thugs.%u201c W e want everyone who uses the Brooklyn Bridge to know thatBad Areathere are interested citizens watchin g ,%u201d Smith said. %u201c This in itself will reduce crim e.%u201dThe 15 m em bers o f the com %u00admittee hope to increase their ranks by publishing a monthly broadside, to be posted in areas on the bridge itself.%u201c S in ce m ost crim e s are com m itted against lone cyclists or pedestrians,%u201d he said, %u201c we hope to have joggers and others find other people they can join with, so they need not be alone while on the brid ge.%u201dJim M asters o f the Brooklyn H eigh ts A ssocia tion n oted that there is a feeling o f being %u201c cut o ff and isolated \accosted on the bridge.A recent community meeting focusing on crime on the Brooklyn B ridge d rew a crow d o f 100, indicating public concern. One o f the su b je cts d iscu sse d at that m eeting concerned the five police call boxes now located on the bridge which are often system atically r ip p e d ou t, p rob a b ly by would-be m uggers.The ERS b o x e s , w hich can summon either the fire department or police and are more vandal proof, would be an im provem ent, Masters suggested.M eanwhile, legislators, such as C ou n cilm an A be G e r g e s , State Sen. Martin Connor and Assem blyman Mike Pesce, are lining up in support o f a safer bridge.G erges noted that a safer bridge would be a boon to tourism. W hileO U l - O i - i u w i i c i a m a y n G iG H g C t b e%u201c sold%u201d the bridge, everybody buys the idea o f maxing it safer.Det. Ferrentino agrees. %u201c She%u2019 s a grand old lad y, and d eserv es better,%u201d he said.Page 8, TH E PHOENIX, August 22,1978