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CITY:Back On the Campaign Trail, Assembly-StyleBY PETER HALEYOne of the tougher parts of being New York State assemblyman is that, like State Senators and Congressmen, assemblymen must run for re-election every two years, and in downtown area Assembly Districts incumbents are back on the campaign trails, making the stops and the handshakes they hope will help defeat new and old foes alike.In the 57th A.D. neighborhoods of Boerum Hill-Fort Green and Williamsburg voters will have to choose between incumbent Assemblyman Harvey Strelzin and his %u201976 opponent, taxi union official Alexis Mirands, with two political newcomers-school board president Velmanett Montgomery and college teacher Virginia Apuzzoalso vying for the assembly seat.Strelzin, who has held the post for five terms, is only too happy to tell voters and the press alike what the issues are. %u201cThe issues are whether to send a dedicated and responsible legislator who has been considered by the New York Times, the United Federation of Teachers, the local AFL-CIO, the Citizens Union, and other groups back in Albany,%u201d said Strelzin who added that his active role in various community issues and disputes such as the recent Navy Yard blasting which threatened the adjacent Vinegar Hill neighborhood are showing his communityactivism as well.Although the other candidates don%u2019t define him in such flattering terms, they agree that Strelzin is one of the issues and insist that the fact he doesn%u2019t have a neighborhood office is indicative of his low profile in his district.%u201cOne of the issues is having an active and present representative in the district with a staff to provide assistance,%u201d said Montgomery who characterized her campaign to be for a %u201c consistent, strong district%u201d for area residents by solving housing problems and fighting the scheduled removal of Cumberland Hospital by the city%u2019s Health and Hospitals Corporation.Gay activist Virginia Apuzzo, who already has the Liberal Party nominations, argues for a community office, too, but adds that regardless of where Strelzin%u2019s office is (it%u2019s in Manhattan near City Hall) or will be he hasn%u2019t been active enough in Brooklyn.%u201c Even granting that Strelzin has been an active legislator which I don%u2019t anyways, Albany is only half the job,%u201d said Apuzzo, %u201c and the fact that he still doesn%u2019t intend to open a neighborhood office means he hasn%u2019t any consciousness about the community end of his job.%u201dThe community end for Apuzzo means, in part, turning around the district%u2019s %u201chousing shortage%u201d by using the Assembly post as a %u201cpolitical post%u201d to prod the cityinto releasing some of an estimated %u201c350 million out of an allocated $400 million%u201d in federal Community Development funds to rehabilitate local housing.Miranda, secretary of the Los Sures Tenant-Housing Group, said he would use his experience to lobby for %u201cbetter housing%u201d and to fund more block association and tenant auxilaries to fight crime.In B e d fo rd -S tn y v e s a n t%u2019s adjacent 56th A.D. old foes Calvin Williams, a taxi fleet magnate, and former two-term Assemblyman, and incumbent Assemblyman .41 Vann, head of the state legislature%u2019s Black and Puerto RicanCaucus, are at it again. Vann beat Williams in 1974 following Williams%u2019 conviction on a bribery charge, and this year is attempting a double play by running against incumbent Carl Butler as district leader as well as for re-election to the Assembly.Williams has attacked Vann for being totally incompetent and negligent %u201c in letting city programs such as Model Cities, Youth in Action, and other community service cutbacks occur while %u201c fighting for personal gain.%u201d%u201c Vann works for personal gain, fighting A&S and for Arthur Miller which were more publicized than central Brooklyn community programs closings,%u201d said Williams, referring to the Fulton Street fight for black jobs undertaken by Vannand other black leaders and to the Crown Heights racial crisis. %u201c He's more interested in publicity than results,%u201d says Williams.Vann labelled Williams%u2019 charges %u201c distortions,%u201d insisting substantial job gains would result from the Fulton Street negotiations and that he was %u201cproud%u201d of his role in Crown heights, pushing for %u201ccivil rights.%u201d Furthermore, he ridiculed Williams%u2019 idea of Vann%u2019s responsibility for letting city programs leave the BedfordStuyvesant community.%u201c These are city programs, which 1 as a state legislator am not directly connected w ith,%u201d said Vann. \I have been responsible for some $150 million state programs in Medicaid, social services, housing code enforcement. If I win district leadership I will be able to fight for the city jobs Williams speaks of,%u201d says Vann.Williams is aligned with Congressman Fred Richmond, whom Vann has actively opposed because of his sexual solicitation charge. Williams insisted that Vann was running a %u201c dirty campaign%u201d to maligh Richmond and his black supporters.Vann scoffed at Williams%u2019 objections and said, %u201c It is common knowledge among community residents that Williams is without principles and morals which is whyhe misjudged the situation and backed Richmond,%u201d said Vann.THE PARK SLOPE AND SUNSET PARK 51st Democratic primary has Assembly Speaker staff member Beatrice DeSapio taking on incumbent Assemblyman Joe Ferris whom she characterized as %u201c basically ineffective.%u201d%u201c Ferris has done little in the legislature and in the community that few outside Park Slope know him,%u201d said DeSapio listing the failure to support the death penalty and to fight to rid the neighborhood of a 21st and Third Avenue methadone clinic as among his neglect of community concerns.Woodrow Lewis in the 53rd A.D. of Crown Heights appears to be the only incumbent with an easy race on his hands. Both opponents James Mills and Marion Jeffries have been knocked off the ballot by the Board of Elections and 1978 may prove to be even easier for Lewis than his substantial 1976 victory over Simon Levine even if Jeffries re-enters the fray by a court decision. Lewis is campaigning on a record that includes the $250,000 in state funds he brought to the Nostrand Avenue Community Association to build up Crown Heights and he indicated he was meeting with Utica Avenue Merchants Association head Rabbi Aron Rosenfeld to extend the area%u2019s economic revival.Street Peddlers Produce Problems Their Own PeculiarContinuedNevins Street claims.Peddlers throughout the city frequently cite unemployment as the impetus for turning to peddling. Once the street career begins, however, many stick with peddling. While it is usually not considered a lucrative operation, peddlers say they earn enough money to live.%u201c On a good day we make an easy $50 to $100 a day,%u201d says Dawud Abdullah, another Nevins Street peddler. %u201c I%u2019ve been doing this on a full scale basis with my brother for the last five years,%u201d Abdullah continued. %u201c I have three children and they%u2019re all well-fed and healthy.%u201dABDULLAH COMPLAINS OF LICENSING PROBLEMS. Licenses are required of all general merchandise peddlers, and cost $25 for one year. There are no specific criteria for licensing; anyone who has the $25 is granted one. Since police enforcement is erratic, however, it is not always necessary or even advantageous for peddlers to hold licenses, despite the law.Rene Hunter, a woman who was peddling leather goods on Sixth Avenue this week, says, %u201c If I were going to do it for the whole summer, it might be worth it to get a license. But I%u2019m just here for ten days.%u201dI was working as a management consultant,%u201d she says, \company ran out of work for me to do. After collecting unemployment for part of the year I decided to try it. The winter is a good time for me to make things. I make them in the winter and sell them in the summer.In Brooklyn, businesses have strong feelings about peddlers. Barbara Kramer, director of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Association, said that her office receives complaints about peddlers from downtown merchants nearly every day. %u201c We really think that the situation as it exists now is unfair,%u201d said Kramer. %u201c The merchants who are paying rent and paying city sales tax really shouldn%u2019t be faced with competition that doesn%u2019t have those restraints.%u201c We have sympathy with the peddlers,%u201d Kramer added, %u201cbut they are detrimental to others. They detract from the street scape in addition to providing unfair competition. We%u2019d love to find a place for the peddlers, but on Fulton Street we don%u2019t have the space for a peddlers%u2019 market. And no spot is as lucrative as the area in front of Abraham and Straus.%u201dKramer was referring to the popular sidewalk strip in front of Uie major rtiuuii Siicci auuppmg store, which any weekday or Saturday afternoon is jammed with peddlers selling jewelry, hair accessories, leather goods and just about ny other merchandise that is moveable%u2014in bulk. Other popularPeddler%u2019swaresdon%u2019t stopat begs,beach andbaubles.downtown Brooklyn spots include the strip in front of the AT&T building near the Flatbush /Fulton junction and the corner of Court and Joralemon Streets. Each of those points is a high traffic sector; if crowds gathered at the %u201c stands%u201d are any indication, the peddlers in each spot do a lively business.On M anhattan%u2019s East 86th Street, the problem has been cleared up by special Neighborhood Stabilization Units, assigned to the neighborhood by the police department.%u201c We have had a stabilization team assigned since May,%u201d says Caroi riper of uie ouiii StreetAssociation. %u201c It has made just a tremendous amount of difference on 86th Street. We%u2019re not completely rid of them yet, but there%u2019s been a dramatic improvement.%u201dOn 86th Street, residents tryingto purge peddlers from their neighborhood have an advantage over those in the Village, since 86th Street is not zoned for peddlers. Lower Sixth Avenue, however, is not a %u201c restricted%u201d area for peddlers. Residents of the neighborhood are now considering seeking a variance prohibiting the peddlers, who residents say make life very unpleasant and add a %u201c honkytonk%u201d atmosphere to the neighborhood.The Fifth Avenue Association in Manhattan is also concerned with the peddler problem. The Fifth Avenue Association has about 1,000 members, including many large businesses. %u201c The biggest problem in this issue is the lack of cooperation between the Department of Consumer Affairs and the local police department,%u201d according to Michael B. Grosso, Executive Vice President of the organization. %u201cThe police should report to the Department of Consumer Affairs when peddlers are issued summons. The Department of Consumer Affairs should revoke or suspend licenses.%u201dALTHOUGH CONSUMER AFFAIRS HAS THE POWER to more closely regulate licenses, licenses have been revoked or suspended to date. The laxity is considered by members of many organizations opposed to peddlers to be the major flaw in the present system. Others cite the City Council bill as being an %u201c un-enforceable,%u201d badly written bill.%u201cWe%u2019re a little disappointed, generally speaking,%u201d says Grasso, who is also Secretary of the Council of Midtown Associations. %u201c We feel the administration could do more in keeping our streets free of peddlers. Merchants are paying $75 to $100 a square foot in this area and %u2022*-- J %u2014 ---- x %u2014j j i_____U i C J f U U U i w i w h p v u u i v u v u i o m vtheir doors.%u201dMartin Burlow, Chairman of the Pedestrian Affairs Committee of Community Board 8 says, %u201cThis city has never planned for pedestrians. It has planned for autos,mass transit, and everything else, but it has done absolutely nothing in regard to pedestrians. Pedestrians have no representation anywhere and they get nothing. Peddlers are just one among many problems.%u201dBurlow, whose committee has jurisdiction over the area around Bloomingdale%u2019s and Alexander%u2019s on 59th Street, says, %u201c Whether it is the old law, or the new law enforcement has always been the problem.%u201dPeddlers see the furor over their use of the sidewalks as unfair. They feel their rights are abridged in many ways. %u201c I pay taxes, but I don%u2019t get any income in winter,%u201d says Lydia Odunsi, a 34-year-old peddler. %u201c If they%u2019d give us a chance to make little stands like news stands we could have a business in winter. How are we supposed to pay taxes when we have no jobs in winter?%u201dOdunsi, a heavy-set black woman who is a regular on Sixth Avenue, has been a peddler for two years. She sells shirts, belts, shoes, electrical appliances%u2014%u201c anything I can get from the factory outlet,%u201d she says. She has lived in New York for five years, and is originally from Nigeria, Africa. %u201c I have five children,%u201d Odunsi says, %u201cand I started peddling because I lacked a job. Now I make as much as people who work in offices.%u201dThe assortment of peddlers in the Village is ablend of those who sell regular clothing items and such, like Odunsi, and others who sell home-made crafts and consider themselves to be artists of sorts. The %u201cartsy%u201d type peddlers look down on those who sell \stuff. %u201cIt didn%u2019t used to be this way,%u201d one craftsman-peddler reminisces.Pcddlf!*^ epoolr rtf o rtA%u00ab4oin A 'of \will watch your stuff if you want to run across the street and get a drink or use the bathroom,%u201d says one peddler. %u201cIt%u2019s real friendly here.%u201dAugust 24,1978, TH E PHOENIX, Page 3