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In Clinton HillRejected Mohawk KehabBY PETER HALEYThe controversial plans to rehabilitate Clinton Hill%u2019s Mohawk Hotel and its adjoining properties under a special federal program was rejected this past Spring by city%u2019s Planning Commission and the city Board of Estimate after considerable community pressure. Ironically, due to the city%u2019s own rehabilitation program, the same previously rejected project seems likely to be approved by the city and federal housing agencies despite the official opposition of these city planning and funding agencies and the continued opposition of Clinton Hill residents.Community critics had argued from the start that Blitman Construction Company, the site%u2019s proposed developer, would create a development of transient tenants with little guarantee of long-term stability. Blitman%u2019s plans include federal rent subsidies worth $700,000 a year and federal mortgage subsidies. In negotiations between community leaders and local elected officials and Blitman, the comm unity%u2019s demands were that Blitman change the style and the density of his planned rehabilitation and that Blitman create a cooperative venture.Blitman%u2019s modifications, which reduced the project size from 146 to 121 units, failed to satisfy the community, Community Board Two, the Planning Commission, first, and finally, the Board of Estimate decided against Blitman. Now, due to the city%u2019s J-51 plan for tax abatem ent for residential redevelopment, Blitman may have h is' thrice-rejected 121 unitrehabilitation project supported by the city%u2019s Housing Preservation and Development Agency (HPD) and the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) without the mandated approval of local and city planning groups.Clinton Hill activists who have been negotiating with Blitman for almost a year now are angered by the possibility that the strongly opposed development may now be done anyway with or without their blessing.%u201c The guy has said to us, %u2018Go screw yourself,%u2019 and we%u2019re going to do it any way we please,%u201d claimed Howard Weiss, chairman of the Pratt Area Community Council. Weiss said that attempts to resolve the differences between the community and Blitman have been ineffective because Blitman always had the prospect of a J-51 rehabilitation without keeping the land review procedure under the City Charter in mind. Weiss added that the Clinton Hill group was considering a law suit against Blitman and either HPD or HUD.Blitman spokeswoman Pat Hanrahan said Blitman had met with the Clinton Hill group during the summer together with HUD officials in an effort to reach some agreement, but that the proposed cooperative ventures outlined by HUD were unacceptable to Blitman. One proposal was for a %u201clease-back%u201d arrangement calling for tenants to give up an unspecified amount of their down payment towards the future purchase of their apartm ents. According to Hanrahan %u201c This couldn%u2019t fly taxwise%u201d since the maximum %u201c fu tu re%u201d allowed under thisarrangement was five years while Blitman would have to wait almost 17 years before selling the properties to tenants or else suffer a capital gains tax. The other proposal calling for a limited partnership would be %u201c illegal%u201d since the maximum number of partners under this arrangement is 35 and the developments future partners include 121 fam ilies. Hanrahan indicated that the J-51 proposal by Blitman was now under consideration by HUD and once HUD approved the project they would receive the same subsidies under the Neighborhood Developers grant.A HUD spokesman indicated that while HUD attempted to get both sides to negotiate a settlement, they were not officially' %u201c involved%u201d in the co-op dispute and that the federally-backed rehabilitation of the Mohawk Hotel and its related properties were now %u201c in review.%u201d%u201c As long as developers show site-control and its construction and management plans fall within our guidelines, we d o n %u2019t get involved,%u201d said Ed Lopes, press officer for HUD.Under J-51, the city%u2019s counterpart to HUD, HPD does not have the option of reviewing a J-51 proposal until the work is completed. The majority of J-51 projects require community review either due to local zoning or to comply with similar regulations. Blitman%u2019s case will require no such review, and this situation was described by an HPD spokeswoman as part of a %u201c small but real number%u201d of the total amount of J-51 applications.Project RebornThe Mohawk Hotel, as it appears todayWoodhull Report Fuels ControversyBY GARY FREDERICKWhen a new hospital opens, it is usually cause for celebration and hope that health care in the community will improve. But in the case of Woodhull Hospital, still dark and unused, plans to start operation have sparked controversy and fear that much of Brooklyn%u2019s northwest residents will be without proper medical care.Woodhull is a hugh, awesome structure towering over the %u201c el%u201d tracks on Broadway near Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg. It w as' conceived in 1967 by the New York City Department of Health, which was iooking to replace Greenpoint Hosptial with a new 750 bed facility. Though the size has been cut to 640 beds, plans to close Greenpoint and now Cumberland Hospitals seem final.A six-member mayoral comm ittee completed a report in mid-September with recommendations on Woodhull. That report will be the focus of a meeting on October 30 by the Health Systems Agency of the city at 189 Montague Street. The report was also discussed October 12 by board members of the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC).Basically, the report called for an opening date of the already built hospital for either January 1 or July 1, 1980. An originally proposed opening date of July 1, 1979 was termed %u201c doubtful.%u201dBut the HHC board members rejected a July l, jytju opening date and said January 1, 1980 would be the latest.The HHC also made no commitment to a %u201c consortium %u201d idea proposed by the report. The consortium would be comprised of%u201cToo many of our friends andneighbors have died atGreenpoint. The hospital can%u2019tdo all the things necessary withthe old eauipment... %u201dMildred TudyWoodhull Hosptial, Kings County Hosptial, State University H o sp ital-D o w n state M edical center, Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and possibly Brooklyn Hospital.An HHC spokesman said there are still questions about what a consortium really is and what financial considerations have to be made.The only dissenting member of the committee questioned the consortium proposal in a 12-page minority statem ent because of uncertainties whether Woodhull would be a minicipal or private facility.Dr. Gerald Thomson, director of medicine at Harlem Hospital, said, %u201c Municipal Hospitals accept all patients in need, regardless of the ability to pay. The inclusion of HHC facilities in a consortium may remove such assurances and provide opportunities for %u2018adjustments%u2019 of the patient populations, in favor of reimbursable patients.%u201dFears have spread among the community that Woodhull will be too expensive for their income levels. This fear led Assemblyman Harvey Strelzin to label Woodhull %u201c a white elephant. If you%u2019ve got to spend over $430 a day,%u201d he said, %u2018%u2018the rate is so prohibitive, it%u2019s unjustified.%u201dCommunity reaction to the planned closing of Cumberland and Greenpoint--which would affect close to 500,000 people-seemed most vehement before the HHC promised to develop ambulatory services for the community. The mayoral report said 20 meetings were held with various community groups. Assurances were given for the service, estim ated to cost between SI.3 and $2.0 million yearly. But feelings still are mixed about the new facility.Abraham Stern is manager of Raymond Ingersoll Houses, which is next to Cum berland. %u201c My tenants having a hospital so close is great,%u201d he said. %u201c But it%u2019s so old it%u2019s practically falling apart. Woodhull will be more up to date, the equipment will be more modern. However, it%u2019s a long distance away and certainly in an emergency it%u2019s too far.%u201dAnd Robert Marra, manager of Walt Whitman Houses, which is across the street from Cumberland, is outright opposed to its closing. %u201cThe hospital performs a vital service to the community,%u201d he said. %u201c Without this hospital people would die. People like the very sick and pregnant need instantaneous service.%u201dStrelzin suggested modernizing Greenpoint and Cumberland and keeping Woodhull closed, but this seems unlikely.%u201c If you did renovate the two hospitals, what would you do with Woodhull?%u201d said Thomson. He said it would cost $20 million a year to keep the hospital closed. Amortization costs would be $14 million a year alone. The latest cost estimate for building Woodhull is around $217,000,000.Another problem is that Greenpoint and Cumberland are old and rundown facilities, a far cry from the modern care to be provided atWoodhull. Greenpoint, a 174 bed hospital, was built in 1913 as a limited com m unity' hospital. According to rran cin a G D eii, director of community affairs, it is antiquated with open wards. She feels a modern facility like Woodhull might be able to do a more adequate job. %u201c Better care would be possible in a large hospital,%u201d hesaid.Cumberland is not code compliant, according to Robert Santiago, executive assistant of the Cumberland Hospital Advisory Board. He said it would take about $10 million to bring it up to modem standards. Its yearly budget is approximately $20 million.But Santiago expressed concern over Cumberland%u2019s proposed closing. %u201c Cumberland Hospital is a municipal facility. The only hospital left will be Brooklyn,%u201d he said. %u201c It wouldn%u2019t be immediately able to handle in-patient flow if Cumberland is abruptly closed. And transportation is going to be a problem. It would take 30 or 45 minutes to get to another municipal hospital,%u201d possibly W oodhull. %u201c There is an immediate concern for health care in northw est Brooklyn.%u201dBut there are those who are satisfied with the new hospital.%u201cToo many of our friends and neighbors have died at Greenpoint,%u201d said Mildred Tudy, director of Christmas Addicts Community Center, an anti-poverty organization. %u201cThe hospital can%u2019t do all the things necessary with the old equipment,%u201d she said, adding that the notion that costs at Woodhull will be high %u201c is a myth circulating through the community. We%u2019ve waited too long for Woodhull and it won%u2019t be outpriced.%u201dStill, the issue of Woodhull is far from over. Councilman Abe Gerges has introduced legislation in City Council to investigate health care in the Greenpoint-W illiam sburg and Fort Greene areas, and some community leaders have promised a hard fight.Page 10, THE PHOENIX, October 19,1978