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PHOENIX. Pag* Flft**nIIIIIIIMA A A A A A AA A A A A A AALBANY REPORTA Report On Activities of O u r State Legislators%u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605liBY CAROL BELLAMYFebruary is said to be Albany%u2019s coldest month, and frigid sub-zero temperatures are not uncharacteristic. As my first February in the capital city drew to a close, however, I was struck by the fact that no matter the weather, the Senate seems often at a boiling point. Every issue is hotly debated on both sides of the aisle. And I find myself quickly abandoning a certain first term timidity and rising to my feet to speak my mind. These are some of the issues I felt were important during the past month:NEW LEGISLATION: I ampleased to report on three pieces of legislation that I have sponsored in the Senate this month. The first, an act to prohibit the possession, sale or manufacture of firearms, provides that possession of a handgun by anyone other than a police officer or authorized guard, is a Class D felony.The second is a bill to provide for the organization, financing and operation of community owned health care corporations that would provide prepaid comprehensive health care plans. The third bill provides for a state panel to review children%u2019s products and to prohibit the sale of those toys and articles that it finds psychologically, physically or otherwise damaging to children.THE GOVERNOR%u2019 S DRUG BILL: Governor Rockefeller hasasked us as state legislators to enact the means to imprison for life, without right of parole, anyone over the age of 21 selling any amount of hard drugs and any drug addict who commits a violent crime. Now I understand the frustration which led the Governor to call for such a drastic measure. And I agree that penalties for drug pushers should be severe. Still, I find the Rockefeller proposals quite disturbing on two counts:First, the imposition of an absolute arbitrary penalty of life imprisonment may be appropriate retribution for the big-time hardened pusher%u2014but what about the 22-year-old addict who sells some dope to support his own habit? This too id deplorable you may say. But can we really equate the two cases and make them subject to the same devastating punishment?Second, the proposal to incarcerate for life any addict convicted of a violent crime raises constitutional questions concerning the %u201c equal protection of the laws.%u201d It means, for example, that a mugger who is not an addict may be arrested and sentenced to only a few years in jail, while the mugger who is labeled an addict will automatically be imprisoned for life without parole. Surely this is a grotesque double standard of justice.Cracking down .on addicts and pushers is a good idea %u2014 but so is preserving a system of justice thatContinued on Page 16State Senator Carol Bellamy at the recent West Brooklyn Independent Democrats dinner in her honor with Paul O%u2019Dwyer,just announced candidate for City Council President.ran m mEditors Note: A letter to the editor in the March 1 PHOENIX signed by %u201c W.S.%u201d describing the Civic Action Committee resolution on design limitations for Long Island College Hospital as having been passed by a vote of 30 to 15, was answered by us with the information that the count was actuaiij 27-26, anti with nit suggestion that such questions be dealt with in the future by the addition of a writer%u2019s name and address.PH O E N IX correspondent William Shahwan subsequently came forward and explained that both of us were correct. While he was referring to the original resolution passed by the CAC, we were relating to a later vote on an amendment presented to the LICH Community Planning Committee.' CO y fonu jvj !Urban Mortgage Situation NowIn State of Flux; Some BanksWill Finance BrownstonesBernd H. AllenTHE URBAN mortgagepicture is currently in astate of flux. Conventionalmortgages are available at 7to 7V2 per cent annual interest from many banks;the best sources seem to beChase Manhattan andBankers Trust, both stilllending at 7 per cent, andboth relatively sympatheticto and knowledgeable aboutbrownstone financing. Somesavings banks also will makeconventional mortgageloans, but often at higherinterest rates and withhigher closing costs.Unfortunately, ChaseManhattan%u2019s ambitiousprogram to make FHAmortgages and conventionalmortgages with construction loans available toall qualified borrowers incertain target areas hasbeen suspended pending reevaluation. A small part ofthe gap is being filled by theBedford StuyvesantRestoration Corporationmortgage pool, financed byseveral banks, which makessome FHA and VA purchasemoney available within the boundaries of their area. BSRC is also working with Bankers Trust and Chemical to grant construction loans in the nature of conventional mortgage advances for buildings n e e d in g s u b s ta n tia l renovation. Completed renovations must qualify forProblem No. 3: HomeImprovement Loans. Giventhe steep rise in renovationFHA or VA insurance.The urban home buyer isstill plagued with threeprime financing difficulties:Problem No. 1; The(Reprinted From Brown stoner)TheDollar Limitation. FHAinsured loans are limited to$35,750 for a two-familyhome; VA-insured loans aregranted to a maximum' of$40,000. And most banks have a maximum residential loan they are willing to grant (for example, Chase, $45,000; Bankers Trust, ($50,000). The $50,000 maximum conventional loan requires a cash down payment of over 25 per cent of any purchase price above $67,000%u2014rather unreasonable in today%u2019s inflated brownstone market.Problem No. 2: TheNature of the Property.Most commercial banks willgrant mortgage loans onlyon one- or two-family homes(First National City lends onone-family homes only).Thus buyers of multiplefamily homes areautomatically limited totrying their local savingsbanks. Many such banksconsider these commercialloans, require the buyer totake title in a corporatename, and charge him 8 Vi oreven 8V2 per cent annualinterest.costs in the past few years,the maximums are too low.And surely the interestrates are too high. FHAhome improvement loans,with an interest rate of 5Viper cent on the first $2,500and 5Vz per cent un thesecond $2,500 discounted,are limited to $2,500 perapartment. Some banks willnow make conventionalhome improvement loans ofup to $10,000, but at personal-loan interest ratesand for short periods oftime. The low maximumamount available combinedwith the high interest ratemakes the search forrenovation money bleak,and there is little hope of relief in the near future.Mortgage money will never be amply available for all situations, but many banks have shown a willingness to initiate new policies to make brownstone purchases possible. Certainly the brownstone mortgage market has improved over the past two years, but new mortgage policies are needed to make loans available to the broadest scope of potential brownstone purchasers.'Don%u2019t Quote Me, ButBY SCORPIOHowever, as we said before, earlier identification would have resulted in quicker clarification.Have A HeartTo the Editor:T u m n f fn o%u00bb-%u00bblr xtaii irn rir m iinV i a %u00abbehalf of myself and the New York Heart Association Board of Directors for the public service space you allotted our Heart Fund Campaign ads during the month of February. Each year, as the number of people affected by heart disease increases, the need to inform the public about reducing their risk becomes even more important.Thank you again for your helpContinued on Page 16The Brooklyn Academy of Music by any other name may just be trying to live down its heritage in exchange for larger audiences. The move to use of the initials %u201c BAM\and promotion this year was a tentative step toward a possible name change for the venerable institution. The next step %u2014 presumably to submerge the %u201c Brooklyn%u201d part of the name %u2014 may come in tne tan it public reaction doesn%u2019t derail the idea.%u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605At least one local reform legislator leaned over backwards to represent her constituency in voting at the convention of the Npw Democratic Coalition last weekend to pick a choice for Mayor. On early ballots, State Senator Carol Bellamy split the vote to whichshe was entitled in balloting among the candidates in proportion to the endorsements made by reform Democratic clubs in her district, with half a vote going to Albert Blumenthal (the eventual winner), and a quarter each going to Herman Badillo and Jerome Kretchmer. Two of the four clubs in her district, Independent Democrats of Flatbush and the Central Brooklyn independent Democrats, had endorsed Blumenthal; South Brooklyn's Independent Neighborhood Democrats endorsed Kretchmer; and the Heights-based West Brooklyn Independent Democrats opted for Badillo.%u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605Borough President Sam Leone is getting some handy supportfrom reform legislators who have decided that fellowreformer Steve Solarz in Borough Hall is either more than they can bear, or just plain undesirable. Assemblyman Brian Sharoff, in private life a skilled professional campaign organizer, is probably going to end up heading the Leone reelection bid. Assemblyman Mel Miller is one of those who has been saying privately he will end up in Leone%u2019s corner before things are over.The M iller candidacy for Borough Presidency, announced last week, is regarded as by most serious politicos around the borough as un-serious, and at'A llA F'li AA %u2022 V%u00ab* I ICO UUI 1 rst KJI %u2666 U aII 1C iviimci a i rtagonisms with Solarz. Look for him to drop by the wayside and end up with Leone.Continued on Fage 20