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Page Two, PHOENIXRent Law :Tenants UnionSays It FailsA last look at The 300-year- old Great American Elm of Prospect Park.Elm Tree StudiedBY CORINNE COLEMANThe tree that grew in Prospect Park and watched over 300 years of Brooklyn%u2019s history will soon be revealing the secrets it contained since the days of the fleeing Indians, to horticulturists, botanists, and historians.Overturned by a violent November storm this year, the 102- foot elm, that reached its full dimensions 50 years ago, has been segmented and 10 feet of its base now lies at the X-ray laboratory, in readiness for revelation.Lately shading early audiences at Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera concerts in the Park%u2019s Nethermead, the tree grew tall when the land was a forest, and stood when a century old, over the Battle of Long Island. A witness to the building of Prospect Park at the end of its second century, the elm lived its last 100 years as a revered giant, creating a special aura at summer sunset amidst thesounds of music from the nearby bandstand.The tree that reached a height unusual in the borough began to deteriorate in recent years. Attempts at resuscitation were begun in 1967 by The Friends of Prospect Park and priming was continued up until its last. But the elm was too far gone; its base weakened by fungus in the roots, and the raging autumn wind and rain brought it to its end.Now, according to Donald Simon, the park%u2019s curator, the 10- foot piece will be cut into six-inch slices, which will be sanded smooth and coated with varnish, in preparation for the count of its annual rings.The rings, one a year for each year of its life, grew large or small, soft or hard, depending upon the weather conditions of the year. As Simon says, an accurate account of climatic conditions can thus be made for each year of the three centuries (Weather Bureau statistics go back only 100 years).Cyclical trends can be determined as well. By coordinating the weather information with prices during a period of years, for instance, the background of booms and busts can be better understood.Historians will also be checking for any metal that shows up under the ultra violet, in an effort to discover in bullets, information about the battle of Long Island.A bees nest with a 30-year production of natural honey which was found in a hollow portion of the elm%u2019s base, is also being examined. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn College, The Museum of Natural History, The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and the National Park Service are all involved in the studies.Meanwhile, branches and pieces of the tree that remain at the location of its fall (between a lamp post and a water fountain) are being taken by sculptors, and others, as souvenirs of the majestic elm.Calling the City%u2019s Maximum Base Rent law a %u201cobvious failure%u201d the Brooklyn Tenants Union a new group of rent-striking and non-rent striking local tenants has called the 7V2 per cent rent increases for most rent controlled apartments on January 1 %u201canother indication that the City administration and landlords have no concern for tenants.%u201dJoan Brown, an organizer for the Brooklyn Tenants Union, stated that %u201calthough the City and landlords claim that the Maximum Base Rent program will improve maintenance of buildings, it is obvious that the law does not ensure that repairs will be made or services continued.%u201d Ms. Brown also reported that %u201c tenants throughout Brooklyn have reported continued deteriorating conditions even after they paid the MBR increases last year.%u201dThe City, which has been unable to process over 400,000 regular MBR forms, has added to the confusion facing tenants. There are now three different types of rent controlled tenants. Those whose rent will increase by l\\h. per cent on January 1, 1973 because their rents have not reached the socalled %u201cmaximum base rent,%u201d those whose rents will increase by less than 7V2 per cent to bring them to the %u201cmaximum,%u201d and those who have not received the regular MBR forms, but only an Interim form, their rents should temporarily be decreased.The real confusion, according to%u2022Ms. Brown, results from the Interim orders which over 400,000 rent controlled enants received. As the City was not able to process the rent increases as quickly as they had planned, landlord groups sued the City last May and obtained %u201cInterim%u201d Maximum Base Rent orders to collect increases before the processing was completed. These %u201cinterim%u201d orders expired December 31, and all tenants are to wait for new %u201corders%u201d from the City before paying any new increase. Landlord groups are threatening to sue the City for new interim increases or pressure the City to issue increases by cutting off services to their buildings.The Brooklyn Tenants Union stated that %u201ctenants will challenge all increases both through the City%u2019s Rent Office and in the courts. The MBR program grants increases without regard to the tenants ability to pay, the real condition of buildings, and together with Vacancy Decontrol squeezes tenants into an impossible situation. The apartments they are living in are quickly becoming too expensive for them and any apartment they attempt to move into will be decontrolled and after a year of Vacancy Decontrol rents in decontrolled apartments rose an average of 90 per cent in the City.%u201dThe Union also reported that they will increase its lobbying efforts to have both the Maximum Base Rent and Vacancy Decontrol law repealed. First Meeting Today:Group FightsSchool CrowdingLocal parents, civic leaders and educators have joined together to fight for a new high school in South Brooklyn on the heels of continued overcrowding at John Jay High and other factors which are expected to make the need for a new facility even more pressing in the months ahead.At an emotion-packed open meeting of the John Jay PTA on Dec. 19, a motion was passed and given loud support by nonmembers to create a new coalition to press conversion of Sarah J. Hale High School on Pacific St. for use as a comprehensive high school and work toward construction of a brand new school in the South Brooklyn area.The first meeting of the group is set for Thursday, January 4 at 8 p.m. in the teachers lounge at John Jay.President Rosemary Merola and Principal Abraham'Venit both said at the pre-Christmas meeting that the information they had all pointed toward the %u201con target%u201d conversion of Sarah J. Hale as a comprehensive high school as scheduled for September 1973. City Councilman Thomas Cuite was among those leaders who pledged ibeii auppuri for the speedy conversion. He said he had just spoken to Assistant Superintendent Joseph Brennan and had seen a memorandum to Hilary Thome affirming the fact that as of September 1973 Sarah J. Hale Vocational School will be a comprehensive high school with a zone of its own. He further assured the p a r e n t s that the rezoning draft will be ready for their inspection byFebruary of 1973.Commissioner Sam Azadian echoed Mr. Cuite%u2019s confidence in the upcoming renovation of Hale by reporting that $2 million has been allocated in the New York City Board of Estimate Budget for 1972-3 for the long-awaited conver=*''Ti.Assemblyman Mel Miller and John Jay alumnus James Mangano urged the group to look beyond temporary relief and toward the choice of a site for a new high school in South Brooklyn.However, some parents and teachers stood up to voice disbelief in the optimism of the forthcoming conversion. John Jay teacher Julius Grill addressed Cuite: %u201cThe Board has been lying to us for six years; why should they break that record now?%u201d Former PTA Vice President Angie Corley echoed Grill%u2019s lack of confidence in the politicians%u2019 optimism being expressed. %u201cI%u2019ve been waiting for eight years and hearing aboutbimon-aollar allocations. But nothing ever happens.%u201dFather Boylan of St. Mary%u2019s Parish pointed out that four diocesan schools are closing this June, with more closings to come.nun- _i.- ___________ %u2022 n %u00ab *n u a t c v c i yvu g a in in o a ia u a .Hale, you have lost already,%u201d Father Boylan said in urging work toward a brand new school.Newly-elected State Senator Carol Bellamy and District 15 Board President Philip Kaplan reiterated support for the school%u2019s plight and offered to join the assembled group in a coalition to achieve a new high school for South Brooklyn.M a p shows ta r g e t a re a .Daily Paper PickupIs AnnouncedEnvironmental Protection Adm inistrator Jerome Kretchmer today announced that newspaper recycling in South Brooklyn will undergo a major expansion starting January 8 when newspapers will begin to be picked up for recycling by Sanitation trucks as they make their normal Monday* throughCol I Itrl %u00ab~*w oaI I A/4I/MO O V M I U I W W Jf V /V IIV V /U l/ll% %u00bb>The target area for the Environmental Protection Administration%u2019s program includes areas which received once-aweek recycling collections (Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, part of Carroll Gardens) plus the rest of Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, and parts of Fort Greene and Park Slope. Newspapers throughoutthe ai6a Will be picked up sixContinued on Page uLocals onHospitalBoardBY JOHN BLACKMOREResidents of the Fort Greene Area went to the polls last month to elect 17 members of the new Cumberland Hospital Community Board. The December 18 election followed the mandate by the City%u2019s Health and Hospital Corporation which instructed municipal hospitals to include community representatives in policy making decisions.The new community members, representing the %u201cconsumers%u201d of the hospital%u2019s services, include: Jacqueline Brock, of Fleet Walk; Nathaniel Brown, Hudson Walk; Mary Fowler, Hudson Walk; Annie Gines, Fleet Walk ; Beatrice Jones, Washington Ave.; Helen Lynch, Myrtle Ave.; Luther Mae Lytel, St. Edwards St.; Clarence D. Miller, Oscar G. Lorat, N. Elliot PL; John Rivero, N. Oxford Walk; Robert Santiago, Fleet Walk; Oliviett Thonson, St. Edwards St.; Alfred Townsend, Clinton Ave.; John Welcher, Waverly Ave.; Percy Williams, St. Edwards St.; Naomi Willis, Mayview 'Walk; and Mildred Zapata, Myrtle Ave.In addition, three hospital representatives w ac defied iu ihe board by Cumberland%u2019s staff, representing different service areas at the hospital. They were: Mrs. Vera Williams, representing the nursing staff ; Mrs. Ruth Ellis, of social services; and Mr. Robert Polite, from the non-professional staff.The new board which will work closely with Cumberland%u2019sContinued on Page u