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Fulton Street Talks Near Settlement;Demonstrations OffBY IRVING LIEBERMANTalks between Fulton Street merchants and the Coalition of Concerned Leaders and Citizens are proceeding toward a settlement. say informed sources, ending the threat of further demonstrations this summer by the Coalition outside downtown%u2019s largest department stores.Principals on both sides describe negotiations as %u201c delicate,\but A&S Senior Vice President Robert McMillan said Monday, %u201cThe talks have been positive. 1 really think things will be resolved in the next few weeks.\The Coalition has demanded that Fulton Stt^et merchants increase their patronage of minority banks and advertising media, and hiremore minority employees. But the main point of contention between the two sides has been the Coalition's demand that 50% of the stores%u2019 annual philanthropic donations be channeled into the creation of a Randy Evans Memorial Scholarship Fund, named for the East New York boy shot dead by a policeman last December, and a Community Crisis Fund.Sources close to the negotiations said that as matters stand now, the stores will voluntarily increase their business with minority firms, but no dollar amounts will be specified. A subcommittee composed of members from both sides will be set up to monitor affirmative action and job training programs for major Fulton Street employers,but no new jobs will be created to comply with the Coalition%u2019s demands that more jobs be funneled to members of the minority community.The stores have agreed to contribute $15,000 annually toward scholarships for minority students, said one reliable source, but the first scholarships will not be awarded umil next June.Finally, a compromise on the Crisis Fund is still being worked out, but sources said the merchants will try to have substantial contributions to the United Way earmarked for distribution to the Brooklyn community chapter of the New York Urban League.One proposal being discussed calls for the creation of a specialDoehler Die Convert Hearing HeldBY IRVING LIEBERMANPlans to convert the Doehler Die factory building in Carroll Gardens into i 19 cooperative apartments moved smoothly through a Community Board 6 public hearing on July 19.%u201cThe public response was so overwhelmingly positive, it was almost embarassing,%u201d said developer Jeff Bliss after the hearing.Bliss and architect Bernard Rothzeid of the Recycling for Housing Partnership presented detailed plans of the $5 million project to justify their request for a zoning variance for the 505 Court Street site from its current industrial manufacturing designation to a residential classification.More than 20 people testified at the hearing, with the only community opposition voiced against the use of federal Section 8 subsidies for the project. Bliss noted that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has already refused to grant the subsidy.Plans call for the development ofone, two, and three-bedroom cooperative apartments with a central courtyard. A Community Development Participation Loan for $1.6 million will bridge the gap between private bank financing and total development costs. Under a unique agreement with HPD, co-op sales revenues will be used to repay the CD loan when the project is completed. Customarily, the program provides long-term mortgage financing for the rehabilitation of smaller dwellings. The developers will invest $.4 million to $1 million in the project.Bliss said a private appraisal of the building should be completed within two weeks to speed HPD approval of their CD grant application.At the hearing some of the building%u2019s remaining industrial tenants complained of delapidated building conditions, but they also voiced concern over the difficulty and expense of moving. Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce representative Barbara Kramer said the Chamber%u2019s Economic DevelopmentDepartment would help the firms locate alternative sites in the area, which would also save local jobs.Community concern over building security was allayed by the proposed closed-circuit TV system, and Bliss said discussions are in progress with the owners of vacant lots nearby to secure adequate parking facilities.The apartments have already been designed, Bliss said, and several %u201cfirm\estimates have been obtained from interested companies. The Recycling for Housing Partnership will take title to the property this fall, but the group must have the necessary zoning variance by then for work to begin.Pat Zedalis, Chairperson of Board 6%u2019s Land Use Committee said the group will vote on the zoning change proposal within two weeks, after which the Board will make its recommendation to the City Planning Commission. Final Approval from the Board of Estimate is required before construction can begin.committee within the Urban League to direct these funds to local community organizations. The committee would be composed of representatives of the merchants, the Coalition, community groups, and the Urban League itself. Varying figures for the committee expenditures range as high as $50,000 per year, though both sides are quick to point out that a final sum must still be negotiated.In addition, both the United Way and the Urban League have yet to be consulted for their views on the plan, but Brooklyn Urban League head Leon Modeste was present at the most recent negotiating session held on July 7. At press time, Modeste could not be reached for comment.There have been no discussions since Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Ed Towns brought together the disputing parties and community representatives three weeks ago. Since then, Deputy Mayor Basil Paterson has been mentioned by several sources as a potential mediator to bring about more detailed negotiations and a final settlement. Representatives for both sides said they would welcome Patterson%u2019s involvement, but they also praised Towns%u2019 efforts to this point as %u201ccompetent\mendable.\No subsequent session has been scheduled to date, but both sides expect to meet within the next two weeks to finalize an agreement.The Doehler Die factory on Court StGreater New York Bank Branch Opening Tabled Until FallBY PETER HALEYPlans for the Greater New York Savings Bank to open a branch office in Manhattan received a temporary setback when the state banking board decided to table the G reater%u2019s proposal for a new branch.The July 25 decision was in part based on board members%u2019 requests for further information about the Greater%u2019s compliance with a November agreement reached with the Park Slope-based group, South Brooklyn Against Investment Discrimination (AID). AID head and Park Slope resident Herb Steiner called the tabling %u201c a victory%u201d for anti-redlining forces.Board member Owen Haig, financial consultant for the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, voted in favor of tabling the decision on the Greater%u2019s move to Manhattan%u2019s 74th Street because it was %u201cthe best we (the public members) could do%u201d to check the Greater in lieu of a denial. Haig indicated that the AID agreement had influenced his decision and said it appeared the Greater was %u201creneging on its commitments%u201d made with AID. He cited the%u00ab i T il %u2022 . ... i tp i c u g c to m a n e m i m o u a v a n -able in metropolitan New York for mortgages as a specific example. I hope we can postpone the approval for the Greater until some kind of track record on the Greater can be studied,%u201d said Haig.Officially, the reaction at the Greater was that the tabling is not a setback and that in fact the bank%u2022jL-sc %u201c r r w ad u i u m t a ^ v u m w i m v i> uu -------------- %u2022 * \king Department had presented the motion for approval.The basic agreement with AID called for a lowering of mortgage downpayments to %u201ccompetitive%u201d rates from 50% for a larger than 4-family home and from 25% for a 4-family home or smaller. The Greater also pledged to offer $25 million in mortgages in metropolitan New York, to increase rehabilitation and home improvement loans, to offer private mortgage insurance, and to publicize their new policies in local newspapers.AID head Herb Steiner called the decision a %u201cbig, big thing.%u201d %u201c Now the burden of proof is on the bank,%u201d Steiner said.But a Greater New York spokesman denied that the Greater had retreated from its November commitments. %u201c We signed an agreement and we feel we have lived up to it, that we have complied >n every way,%u201d said Paul Mcv Greater New York Director of Marketing.Messing said that the Greater took a survey from all New York banks and determined that their existing mortgage down-payment/snw im A fiittrA O *1A A t A t lM 1 UIVU *%u00bb V4V vhave to be lowered. Home improvement loans %u201c were not a substantial issue,%u201d according to MessingGreater New York officials said that they had either %u201ccommitted or expected to commit 276 mortgage loans to the metro area %u201ctotalling nearly $9 million,%u201d which was contrasted with $2 million committ *->%u25a0 A i n 1Q 7*7 A r tr x n c i f l i p c a m p *** * ^ ' * - - * * * * & *%u2022%u00bb*-' -----------January to July period.%u201c We accepted $25 million as a goal. According to the demand that is out there we will respond, whether it means $5, $10, $25 or $50 million,%u201d said a Greater New York mortgage official.Steiner claimed that the demand for Greater New York mortgages was limited by their refusal to lower their rates for mortgage down-payments. %u201c If they have highdown-payments, then naturally they don%u2019t have to worry about $50 million of their $1.6 billion in assets being tied up in mortgages, because many homeowners will go elsewhere,%u201d he said.Steiner refused to be impressed with the Greater New York mortgage figures. %u201c All that means is that they%u2019re feeling the heat,%u201d said Steiner, who pointed out that the much smaller Brooklyn SavingsBank ($80-$90 million in assets) made %u201c 300 loans%u201d last year and that two years ago the Greater was making less than 100 per year.The next scheduled meeting of the Banking Board is set for September. It is expected that the Greater will present its progress report on mortgage loan increases then.Heights House Gets New RevisionsBY IRVING LIEBERMANThe Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) last Tuesday approved Bruce Eichner%u2019s revised plan for his proposed residence at 222 Columbia Heights with the stipulation that he return to the Commission after resolving the unsatisfactory front bay design. The Commission also denied a Certificate of Appropriateness for the proposed installation of a picture window and two air conditioners in a top floor apartment at 1n :--------C4.%u00ab.%u201e%u201e4.Eichner and his architect Alfredo DeVido have incorporated several modifications in the design originally approved by the LPC on May 9. Many of the double-hung windows have been changed to an eight-pane upper section from the previous %u201c 1 over 1%u201d design, and stone lintels, window sills andhorjynntal sash e s have been addedto accent the facade. The cornice and skylight were lowered to comply with the Building Department%u2019s 50-foot height limitation, and the southwest corner tower fronting the Heights promenade was lowered 9 feet to create a smoother roofline profile.The sojid-panel design of the street-level bay drew criticism from Brooklyn Heights architect Joseph Merz, who felt that the %u201cforeboding%u201d quality of solid metal panels would not bring the %u201copen,i w /i n r - L m n n i U i V i n K o i ri l U t l i J I U W l i l V U U lW V v w l v i v o w u m jdown to ground level. %u201c It becomes an'obstruction, rather than a pleasing passageway,%u201d he said later.Commissioners Conklin and Fitch concurred and recommended that the new plan be granted a Certificate of Appropriateness on the condition that Eichner resolve the fro n t bay d e sig n to theCommission%u2019s satisfaction, which he agreed to do.Commissioner Conklin called Eichner%u2019s continuing design development and willingness to come before the commission again %u201c a distinct act of courage,%u201d and he praised the %u201c enriched texture%u201d of the new design.In a separate matter, the Commission denied Heights resident Connie Roosevelt authorization to replace three double-hung corner windows with a picture window in1 T + L _ X. A *%u2018v * V W p v iU U f V a t XPierrepont Street. It aiso turned down her proposal to install two air conditioner sleeves in the facade of the building.Roosevelt told the commission the three leaking, drafty windows had to be replaced, and a picture window would furnish a better view of the river. Her proposal picturedcontinued on Pane 2.1Page 20, TH E PHOENIX, July 27,1978