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EditorialsWe Wouldn%u2019tTradeIn this age that places such great virtue oncaustic wit and clever cynicism, it isn%u2019tfasiliuiic u jie tu siny of iiie mure irauiiiuikii iueaisof home and hearth and families and friendsgathering over the feast of harvest celebration.But we do it here anyway. Even the most cynicalamong us need the humanizing celebrations ofsoul and sharing that seasons like the weeksahead bring. Whether solitary or communal, joyis something that everyone can use a little of.We%u2019re glad to be in this place and in this time andwe wouldn%u2019t trade it for a single other thing weknow.Penalty or Reward?The Phoenix analysis this week of currentproperty tax arrears in Brooklyn suggests that thecity%u2019s new policy of one-year foreclosure onproperty in arrears may create as many problemsas it solves. With $63 million in past due taxes onthe books for 11,000 different properties, thedimension of the problem takes on Goliathproportions this year as the city is faced withassuming ownership of more properties than ithas ever taken by foreclosure in a single year.Whether the new policy will hasten abandonm ent-som ething its critics insisted wouldhappen when fighting the City Council ordinancethat established it%u2014still remains to be seen.ix .xit u ic v ia iu i i u i literally hundreds of propertiesbeing taken away from their unworthy owners is adisturbing sign of a breakdown of confidence inthe city, the view of the city as a more benevolentlandlord is equally bothersome. Wholesaleforeclosures by a city government which is notstaffed to manage, repair or even to dispose of theproperties to responsible buyers seems to us to beshortsighted. The city as an enforcement agentfor building and health codes hasn%u2019t performedwith much distinction. To think of that same citygovernment taking over, for example, JosephKay%u2019s three St. John%u2019s Place buildings%u2014whichhave literally hundreds of building violations%u2014performing as a responsible landlord seemsfarfetched. Yet that%u2019s the future this foreclosurepolicy foreshadows. And without planning, thefuture may be worse than the present.Businesses that flee New York City, leavingabandoned property in their wake, are atestimony to two problems%u2014out-of-work men andempty buildings. Rheingold Brewery, whichseems to have stiffed the city for more than $1million, ranked first in our survey of the 100biggest tax scofflaws. Bankrupt companies don%u2019thelp anybody, but neither do those businesseswhich calculatingly walk away for the greenerpastures of Jersey and beyond.ii seems tu us iiiat distinguishing between thereal estate speculators who let the taxes build upon %u201c investment%u201d properties deserve a differentkind of treatment than those %u201c working%u201d landlordswho are trying to operate a residential orcommercial building. The motivations of a LeoStrauss seem to be different than, for example,those of Leonard Grossen of Grossen Properties.Making a distinction at the end of the legalprocess and keeping Strauss %u201c alive%u201d , andmaking the Grossens among tax scofflaws pay up,can make the difference in whether or notmany blocks of our city will have a future. Willthe city be able to exercise this kind of wisdom?Not as things stand now.One thing is certain: very few owners lose theirproperty through foreclosure unless they want to.Many interviewed by PHOENIX writers werecandid about their goals and aims%u2014and their totalwillingness to walk away and let the city take overtheir headaches. The attitude of some suggeststhat the penalty is more a reward than apunishment.Sound O ff Feedback from Readers%u25a0Thank You AgainWe were pleased and delighted to see our Thanksgiving Festival featured in the November 16th issue on the Phoenix Focus page. Thank you for including our important news in your paper.The Phoenix is such an excellent community newspaper and each issue is a major contribution to the Brooklyn Community.Thank you again.%u2014Doris Toolan, Registrar, Montessori School of Brooklyn.Incomplete DataIt is a pity that your reporter, Martha Doggett, did not stay at the meeting of the Park Slope Civic Council on 11/02 until its conclusion. Because she left two hours before it adjourned, she had to call various members to determine what happened. Unfortunately, she somehow gained the mistaken impression that I, as Secretary of the Civic Council, called an Executive Committee Meeting the following night to alter the resolution passed by the trustees in the Greater New York Savings Bank%u2014 AID controversy over %u201credlining.\Nothing of this sort was intended, and nothing of this sort took place. It is my job to communicate trustee resolutions to interested parties. Rather than summing up a complex and heated four-hour discussion in a single sentance, 1 asked those responsible for the motion to help me put our resolution into a letter that would be comprehensible to the FDIC, to Greater New York Savings Bank, and to AID. Of all those present when the vote was taken, only one had any quarrel with the wording of the resolution as forwarded to those parties. Your reporter talked to most of those present%u2014it is a pity she didn%u2019t listen to what was told her. For the record, let me also correct the spelling of two names thereporter got wrong in her reporting: Greater New York's Community Relation Officer is Ann Orgera, not O%u2019Gira, and their Administrative Assistant is Mark Nelson, not Morton Nelson, as your reporter stated.%u2014Nancy MacGregor, Secretary For The Board of Trustees, ParkSlope Civic CouncilWrong CountessThe Phoenix printed a review of the Brooklyn Opera Society%u2019s November 4th production of Mozart%u2019s %u201c The Marriage of Figaro.%u201d I performed the role of the Countess Almaviva on that evening; however, in Mr. C. Frederick John%u2019s review' credit was given to Patricia lacobazzo who is playing the Countess in the second cast. I have enclosed a copy of the cast list from the program showing the correct performance dates. As you can see I performed on both November 3rd and 4th.I would greatly appreciate it if the paper could print a correction of the review.%u2014 Sandra C. McClain, West End Ave., NYC.Bell Logo No GoOne of the pleasures of living in Brooklyn (as opposed to Manhattan) is the relative \space, people and autos. Having lived here all my life, I%u2019ve always treasured those particular spaces in the borough which are uniquely Brooklyn. BAM, A & S, Prospect Park, Fulton%u2019s Ferry slip - all among my favorite places. It%u2019s about the latter, Fulton%u2019s Ferry, that is this letter%u2019s subject.That place beneath the Brooklyn Bridge is special to me as a personal meditative locale. At night one can go there, observe the tremulous flutterings that are Manhattan and the East River, and be recharged. The many levels of activity, the hum of the bridge and the soft texture of the water ona cool fall evening create an energy that%u2019s very special. Anytime I%u2019m with someone very special I%u2019ll take them there to share it. I%u2019pi pleased that others have also discovered this place via the River Cafe and the National Maritime Museum.Above all, Fulton%u2019s Ferry has a sense of order that is always reassuring. The rectilinear buildings, with hundreds of glimmering slits, ebb with brilliance to form a permanent composition that can be relied on. Other cities have their natural phenomenon - ours is man-made, but just as much a spectacle. The presence of these structures all seemed very right until recently.There has been placed within this vista.an imposter - or more accurately - an interloper. The structure itself is blandly uninteresting and the planners probably have realized this also. I%u2019m speaking of the new Bell Telephone building on Pearl Street in Manhattan. They%u2019ve placed an awful Bell logo atop, to bring attentionwhere it wasn%u2019t before. (Surely, most people have been looking at the landmark bridge!) This sign is highly recognizable - probably the most identifiable corporate symbol in the world - but in this setting, it looks like a prostitute at a debutante ball. One cannot view the Brooklyn Bridge any longer without catching it within sight lines. Not only is it overly bright, but its circular form is totally incongruous with the other skyline forms. It is an ugly blot on the cityscape.I understand that by catching my attention so, the sign could be viewed as successfully fulfilling its purpose. To this person, the image it projects is a negative one. As a lighting designer I object to it as visual pollution. As a life long New Yorker,I am saddened by the passing of yet another urban pleasantry.%u2014Jeff Miller,Seventh AvenuePlease Remedy!Your recent issue of the Arts Vvhile providing broad coverage borough and city-wide failed, I think, to examine sufficiently our own neighborhood performing groups.We would all look forward, I am sure, in future issues of the paper to a more comprehensive survey of what is happening and what exciting programs are being planned by the various arts groups in our local communities.I hope you can remedy this oversight soon%u2014L. Smith, Clinton Street.Another Article?The last sentence in Peter Haley%u2019s article tells it all: %u201c Don%u2019t tel! me that somebody got killed and nobody is responsible.%u201d How about another article as the investigation into Arthur Miller%u2019s death continues?%u2014Mally Ramos, Dean StreetInklings By Gene Sue lira aNOW TRS NOT T O BE. SO UP%u00a3%u00a3T.\\YS 3 \\j$ T e w e OF TUGS & MID-LIFE OTISES...V0U ...TH C e * T L . 8 u T H%u20acs n o b s %u00a3U rr o p o S u r n _ eI'L L GsTSOME Hope CHEESE DIP-,urnPoon.GvY%u00bb. X TH IN K - H 6 's SoFFG fciNFROM \t> G p %u00a3 e S 5 !0 d .-. vPage 8, THE PHOENIX, November 23,1978