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Community ForumCoping by Judy LinscottMaking Sense Out of RehabilitationBY DAVID FEINGOLDHundreds of abandoned buildings now exist in many brownstone communities such as Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Prospect H eights and Gowanus. Vacant properties . can be found even in thriving communities such as Park Slope, Cobble Hill and, yes, even in Brooklyn Heights (42 Schermerhorn Street). Due to Financial problems and a terribly cumbersome legal and administrative city bureaucratic process, very few of these abandoned buildings are sealed and even fewer are sold to new owners.The debilitating effect of these unsafe abandoned buildings on a block has been well documented: abandoned structures attract gangs, derelicts, and arsonists; if no repairs are made visible deterioration can soon be seen on the block.In New York City today, there are more than 10,000 designated unsafe buildings (U.B.s) with more than 2,000 new ones added in Brooklyn alone last year.Brick sealing or demolition by the City usually takes eight months to a year. The long delays arc due to a time consuming Court process, countless administrative steps, an inadequate num ber ofDavid F. Feingold is a Cobble Hillresident and works for the City Office ofNeighborhood Preservationcontractors, and a shortage of City staff.At best, the City tin seals a building within fourteen days; unfortunately, a vacant building is often stripped and vandalized within a day or two, and the tin used by the City has been compared to tinfoil. Only when local residents keep a constant watch can a building be protected from total devastation.Under current law, it is alm ost impossible for an individual or group to acquire a vacant building for the purpose of rehabilitation. The law states that an owner continues to own property until it is directly sold, taken by the City for back taxes, which takes two years, or foreclosed by the bank or mortgageeIn most cases, an owner will take no responsibility for a building he has abandoned. Liens and back taxes are placed against the property - not the owner - so that prospective buyers become legally responsible for all these costs. (Liens can be placed on a building by many City agencies, including the Emergency Repair Program, Sanitation, Pest Control, and even the Parking Violations Bureau for traffic tickets accumulated by the owner.When a building .is finally taken by the City and put up for public auction, it is usually so badly deteriorated that only a huge amount of money can salvage it. And, as residents of Dean Street in Boerum Hill can testify, an owner has the legal right to redeem property up until the date ofauction. (Described in a recent Phoenix article).What is needed is a simple, quick method of City acquisition of vacant properties and transfer to a non-profit group or responsible owner who is able to repair and reoccupy the building.Three ingredients are necessary for success. First - a building should be brick sealed as soon as possible after notification that a building is abandoned and vacant. Second - the owner should have a minimum amount of time to take corrective action. Failure to act should constitute legal abandonment. The new owner not the building should be responsible for existing liens an d.taxes, as they are often an intolerable burden to the new owner. Third, the property should then be eligible for transfer to a non-profit, community based housing corporation or to an individual who has the backing of such a group.The new owner or non-profit group should be given top priority for City or private funds and should remain in City ownership and under City protection until rehabilitation begins. City assistance and guidance must be provided to the new owner in meeting the requirements of the many City codes and regulations.These suggestions will obviously require refinement and legislative change. Their importance, however, is absolutely vital to the future of not only our brownstone communities but to the entire City as well.There is one very good reason to escape the city on summer weekends: heat. There is one very good reason to escape the city on autumn weekends: block parties.The city is rapidly developing into a Monday-Friday only gig; the hapless resident isn't safe during the weekend here until the city is three feet under snow and ice.I am quite aware of the fact that there is nothing so earnest and well intentioned as a block party, whether it be staged on M anhattan's upper E ast Side or in Brooklyn's Bensonhurst. But good intentions seldom make for good entertainment and in tact are much more likely %u2014 particularly in combination with brownstones and a revitalization mentality %u2014 to produce a near lethal dose of boredom and guilt.By definition, the average block party is a pretty provincial affair, which I suppose is purported to be one of its charms. But one might pose the obvious question: why, pray tell, do we dwell in the world's most cosmopolitan %u2014 some might say most sophisticated %u2014 city, if, in order to while away our Saturday afternoons throwing darts at balloons and eating our neighbor%u2019s chocolate chip cookies?I have nothing at all against the basic block party ingredients; in fact, myself a home town type (after a fashion) I take great pleasure in neighbors, blocks,brow nstones, cheerful greetings, balloons, darts, pecan sandies, children, dogs and embarrassingly bad cardboard%u2018By definition, theaverage block partyis a prettyprovincial a ffa ir.. .purported to beone of its charms.%u2019signs. We should all show our human frailties now and then; I assume that it%u2019s good for the character.But, for God%u2019s sake, everything has its place, and none of the above, as far as I%u2019m concerned, belong en masse outsideone%u2019s front door on an otherwise blazingly beautiful and delightfully open-ended Saturday afternoon.With great anticipation, let us say, you have arisen around noon from a depressingly typical and debilitating Friday evening; you have decided, let us say, after staggering through several cups of coffee and a pack of cigarettes, that this is a New Day. Within a 20 minute subway ride, you have convinced yourself, lie museums, art galleries, libraries, book stores and cultural events which will only enrich your outlook, raise your spirits, fire your soul and kindle your passion once again. Life, as they say, is waiting, and should all else fail, there are more comfortable bars per corner in New York City than there are (or so I%u2019m told) potatoes in Idaho.So there you are, young and filled with the effervescence of Life, ready (or so you have fooled yourself into thinking) to slay all the dragons in your asphalt path. The front stoop, as you approach it, fairly glistens with the rich autumnal sun, which has miraculously broken out from the city%u2019s smog. But ho. W hat%u2019s this? Hearty laughter and the distinct sound of balloons popping. Before you've opened the door you hear the chocolate chips crunching while the smell of some ethnic dish wafts upward, permeating even this oh so solid brick and mortar.You are, of course, trapped. And left with two options; to stay inside, or, tobrave it. (A third %u2014 to clamber down the fire escape %u2014 is doomed before it%u2019s planned. These damn brownstoners are always watching out for one another, and you%u2019ll be collared by the local precinct patrolman before you%u2019ve hit the ground.) Neither option is viable. They both ruin your day. Metaphorical dragons are one thing: confronting falafel at high noon quite another. You haven%u2019t the courage nor the talent to whisk through the crowd as if on the way to an unfortunate but vital errand (like a funeral). They will see through it immediately. On the other hand, if you never appear, they may think you are away on sabatical or sick in bed (with any luck, it will not occur to anyone that you are watching %u201c Father Knows Best%u201d upstairs).The day is damned, the soul is damned, the future is damned and there is nothing to do about it but take your guilt back to bed and concoct solutions that are not meant to be. Wrapping yourself in the blanket and posing as a shepherd, for instance,, will never go in this neighborhood.W hat you really need to do, you decide while opening a new pack of cigarettes and launching into the third re-run sit com, is to move to Springfield, Massachusetts where they never heard of block parties and in fact probably never heard of blocks.On the other hand, it%u2019s hard to get your hands on good falafel in Springfield.Inklings By Oene SuchmaTH%u00a3 CAMP DAVID SVMHlT 1$ s t il l u w D e n A u e u j s BLAC^oi/r p esp ire p c r i o d i c ^ e p o p t sBY \a . ,mWHAT'S 6 - 0 1D6 OnJ IKJ TH%u00a3S%u00a3 HK*H%u00a3ST OF L%u00a3V %u00a3L A/%u00a3&0TiAT(0N$ IW JH i5 S B T riN C r^ .)iIS STILL \\j c r y m u c hA M VST6R-V...X & W . . LET'S Y %u00a3A H '. l&v 's c w oAKPWD \\Tk& Fl/iB a. r * f /~Y'\* H o w %u2018 0<3uT*Th %u20185 u w 0 li Yt?OR tA N D ..1 1H' iLAK>0^ T u j. O bL %u25ba FaPag%u00a910, TH E P H O E N IX , September 14,1978