Page 327 - Demo
P. 327


                                    Thousands Help to %u2018Boost%u2019 Flatbush At the FairBY DAVID HABENSTREITOver 75.000 frolickers packed Corlelyou Road between Coney Island Avenue and Easl 16th Si reel las! Sunday afternoon. September 17, on a magnificent sunny day. They were there to \Flatbush\in the third annual \The street was filled with small stands selling antiques, food, and crafts, most of which were run by community and religious groups. Edward Parker, President of the Ditmas Park Association said his group's \\the Frolic as a %u201cboost for Flatbush.\reported great success, too.There were plenty of activities and entertainment at the Frolic, as well. The performers were varied, and included such diverse elements as a magician, a steel band, clowns, a barbershop quartet, a puppet show, and the Ditmas Junior High School Jazz Band, which performed for its third straight year at the frolic. The jazz band features not only current members, but each year several graduates of Ditmas join the band in a reunion with their teacher, Walter K. Davis. Thisyear it was a graduate, Claudia Fields, who stole the show with her outstanding trumpet solos.The thing that made the Frolic different from most street fairs was not the items on sale or the entertainment, but the neighborly feel of the event. Many people appeared to regard the Frolic as a large party rather than a typical street fair.This was particularly true among the younger people at the fair; the Frolic has been described as a \of that Junior High School. One woman summed up the situation best when she said \here to socialize, really.%u201dThe Frolic was created largely because %u201cwe wanted people to see Flatbush as it really is%u2014a residential neighborhood with good shopping and excellent cultural facilities, such as Brooklyn College,%u201d explained Frolic coordinator Joyce Coward. Political officials including Mayor Ed Koch, City Council President Carol Bellamy and Borough President Howard Golden echoed Coward%u2019s views. Visitors to the neighborhood seemed impressed, and neighborhood residents agreed that the people of Flatbush now have moreThe weather was fine and the food was filling...[Floyd &O%u2019Callaghan Photo]pride in their community, as illustrated In many T-shirts proclaiming Flatbush as \heart of Brooklyn.\When it was all over, people packed up the items they had bought, like Yiddish T-shirts, old books, obscure records and assorted bric-a-brac, and went home Left in their wake were ecstatic members ot the Flatbush Development Corp. the major sponsor o| the Frolic and a driving force behind the \Flatbush \This year's Frolic was described as he most successful ever, due in large part to the beautiful weather, after earlier fears of rain.(>1 course, no fair goes by without some problems, and this one was no exception. Several entrepreneurs complained that extremely loud music deterred customers from their tables and eventually caused them to close their stands early, rather than continue to be subjected to the noise. Others said that children's rides blocked access to their stands.For the most part, however, vendors were raving about the fair, and people are already looking forward to next year%u2019s Frolic.Man Charged In Carroll Gardens July Ax MurdersBY PETER HALEYA Carroll Gardens resident has been charged with the July ax murders of two local men.After an intensive investigation involving numerous man-hours and over 50 detectives including a longtime friend of one murder victim, police arrested Eddie Diaz, 23, of 480 Smith Street, on September 13 for the murders of Daniel Meehan, 57, 96 First Place, and Frank Andersen, 56. The bodies of the two victims were found on July 6 in a vacant lot along Garnet Street between Smith and Court Streets. Both men were sprawled amidst some automobile wreckage with multiple wounds about the head and face with a note propped up against one victim%u2019s face that read, %u201c The Ax Man (2 Down and 9 to Go).%u201dMeehan and Anderson were said to be wine alcoholics who spent time around Carroll Park and the Garnett Street lot with a group of neighborhood men. The message left by the murderer was believed to be intended for thed rest of the group of %u201c derelicts%u201d who were in the area. Police speculated that the considerable attention attracted by the two deaths intimidated the murderer from further slayhings.One of the detectives involved with the case and the man police authorities grant most ot the crtedit for solving the case is Frank Essex, who has known Meehan %u201c very well for 45 years.%u201d Irionically, he and Meehan grew up on the same Garnet Street block where the murders took place. Essex, a 25-year veteran on the police force, also served in Korea with Meehan, a Marine Corps hero who served in both World War II and the Korean War. The murder case %u201c never died out,%u201d according to Essex, who credited police and neighborhood cooperation for Diaz%u2019 apprehension.%u201c We had a lot of police manpower in the beginning and even now still have 15 men on the case,%u201d said Essex. %u201c We got a lot of cooperation from the neighborhood and we dug and talked to all kinds of people to arrest the suspect.%u201dDiaz had lived in the neighborhood for only %u201cfive, six months%u201d according to a representative of Russo%u2019s Real Estate, which rented the 480 Smith Street apartment toDiaz, his mother, brothers, and sisters. Most residents said that they didn%u2019t know him because he hadn%u2019t been in the neighborhood very iong, but they said they were %u201c shocked%u201d that he was a suspect in the killings.%u201c I never thought that much about the murders,%u201d admitted an older man inside the Russo real estate office, with offices a few doors down from the accused%u2019s apartment. %u201c I would have thought a lot more about it if I knew he livednext door.%u201dDiaz lived just a block away from the Garnet Street lot where the bodies were found. According to Norma Figueroa, a Garnet Street resident, he was a frequent visitor to nearby Carroll Park, where M eehan, Andersen, and their cronies spent time. Figueroa%u2019sbrother, Jose, said that Diaz himself was not a drinker but was often in the park.Diaz worked as a stock boy for B & A Furniture Discount Center,655 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn. B&A%u2019s management refused to comment on Diaz.The Carroll Park crowd that hung out with Meehan and Andersen didn%u2019t forsake the Park. Last Sunday afternoon, a small group played cards at the Park%u2019s northeastern corner at President and Smith Streets. None of them wished to discuss Diaz or the recent deaths of their two buddies.%u201c WeTe not the only ones in the park with a bottle of beer, youknow,%u201d said one, who was upset over the sudden media attention they are getting.According to police reports, \and hang out was all that Meehan and Andersen were guilty of, and while some newspaper accounts indicated that Diaz %u201c hated%u201d the Carroll Park drinking crowd, police in charge of the investigation declined to comment on how Diaz was singled out as a suspect or why he may have done it.Housing Tenants OrganizeIn Concern Over Complex SecurityBY VALERIE LEVYJn the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn, any passer-by can%u2019t help but notice the three 21-story buildings, which constitute the bulk of Wyckoff Gardens, a city housing project on Wyckoff Street extending from Nevins Street to Third Avenue. The unlit walkways and entrances of the project are accessible to any stranger.In Wyckoff Gardens on Monday, July 3 at 8:10a.m., a woman in her early twenties and a resident of one of the complex buildings, 272 Wyckoff Street, was raped in her own building and brought to the roof. Exactly six weeks later, on August H at 7:45p.m., a 15year old girl was raped in the stairwell of the thirteenth floor at another building in Wyckoff Gardens, 130 Third Avenue. The girl is a resident of this building. According to Lieutenant Fish of the 78th Precinct, %u201cThe descriptions wouldn't indicate that it%u2019s the same person.%u201dNo matter who it is, the Wyckoff tenants are upset, and they are trying to do something about what they consider to be an increasingly dangerous security prob!em\through the back entrances,%u201d said Floyd McEaehern, Chairman of the Wyckoff Gardens Security Force, who said that even with 3 patrols, an auxiliary police force in the works and the assistance of the 78th Precinct, tenants remainapprehensive. At least one rear entrance of each building is open at all times with the aid of tissues or garbage stuffed into the locks to prevent them from actually locking, maintaining the appearance of being closed. Some doors are simply left ajar, facilitating entering and exiting the building without having to use a key. Access to the buildings through the front doors is almost as simple for non-residents as it is for residents.With malfunctioning intercoms and constant traffic in and out of each building, security guards aren%u2019t able to observe every person in the complex. \coverage as possible. We have six security guards but they%u2019re not all working at the same tim e,%u201d McEaehern said. \enough man power to cover the inside of the buildings all of the time. Our officers work a six day week from 10 a.m. to about 12 or 2.\the easy access to the inside of the buildings. %u201cAt 272, the back door%u2019s wide open, so what good is that? The tenants should have keys to the Kn rlArtre %u201d %u00abV%u00abV-lk V%u00bbUIn addition to the Wyckoff security guards, the city%u2019s Housing Authority Police have jurisdiction over the Wyckoff, Gowanus and Atlantic Term inal complexes. Although Officer John Delafrio of the Housing Authority Police at the Brooklyn West headquarterscouldn%u2019t give an exact number of officers who patrol the three separate locations, he said %u201cThere are between one and three officers on a shift. 90 per cent of them are on a foot basis. Coverage often depends on man power availability, but we have a 24-hour policy.%u201dOn the nights of both rapt's, Wyckoff security called in the 78th Precinct which according to M cEaehern %u201c responded immediately.\long with the Housing Authority officers that we call the 78th right off the bat. We have a close relationship with the 78th and no relationship at all with the Housing Authority police. I'm only speaking the truth. On the night of the first rape, there was one housing officer on duty at his station in the 185 Baltic Street recreation room. He said he was %u2018only one man%u2019.Manager of Wyckoff Gardens, Jack Lee, said he was unaware of the two recent incidents. %u201cWe've had one reported rape about five months ago . . that%u2019s all I know about,%u201d he said. %u201cWe have no confirmation of any recent rapes i ~ n _ ____ * %u201e wuu * *V,V_V,iVV. Uil puiivv ttp m loacross my desk.%u201d Referring to a sign posted outside of his office advising tenants lo be wary of strangers in the complex, Lee said, \sign. I didn%u2019t put it up.%u201dLee commented on the situation of unlocked doors in his buildings.\systems. We do all that we can do . . . From time to time we don%u2019t have a lock on the door.%u201dWyckoff Gardens now has its own tenants patrol supervised and organized by the President of the Tenants Association, Eager Smith. The patrol, which prim arily patrols the lobbies of the buildings to report any unusual people or situations, is comprised mainly of senior citizens. According to one tenant of 272 Wyckoff, %u201c The tenants are active from 4 p.m. to midnight. They%u2019re more on guard now on who goes in and out of the buildings since the rapes.%u201dAfter an August 21 tenants meeting concerning the two rapes in the complex, an auxiliary police force was recommended and classes have already begun for officer training. \45 to 50 people signed up for the classes, and we hope to get even more,\the ages of 17 and 55 are eligible to train for the force.Although the addition of the auxiliary police force will help the conditions at Wyckoff Gardens, the%u201e %u201e L. I . i %u2019ll %u2022 r i i ip i u u i c n i a i m i f i i u m i a i n u u i u c t v e udoors and poor lighting. McEaehern noted that the fault lies with the management. %u201cThere is a lack of cooperation with the manager. The man never delivers.%u201dPage 5, TH E rH G E riiX , September 21, 1976
                                
   321   322   323   324   325   326   327   328   329   330   331