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PHOENIX PROFILE: Steven SolarzIi - 6 y [ %u00ab ^ f f u i i / (Sees Himself AsPoliticalBY COHKINE COLEMANState Assemblyman Steven Solarz, Reform Democratic candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, presents himself as the activist contender in the three-way primary race on June 4,The former Brooklyn College political science teacher who gave up that career to work full-time in the Legislature is now ready to leave the Albany scene. %u201cI can accomplish more for Brooklyn as one of eight in the City%u2019s Board of Estimate, than I can in the 150- member State Assembly,%u201d he explains.Describing the last decade as the time of the Borough%u2019s most rapid deterioration, Solarz points to a 334 per cent increase in the number of abandoned housing units and a 120 per cent increase in the number of Brooklyn people on welfare. During those last ten years, he adds, we developed the highest unemployment rate of any area in the state, while at the same time one-half million people, most of them middle class, moved out of the Borough. The schools too, were allowed to fall apart, he says, with 73 per cent of the high school%u2019s becoming over-utilized while the reading level of 79 per cent of the pupils at the intermediate andActivistjunior high schools fell below grade level.Answering opponent Ruth Lerner%u2019s charge that in his negativism he compares Brooklyn to Berlin after World War II, Solarz suggests that the Councilwoman stand in the middle of 10 acres in East New York and then say that it doesn%u2019t look bombed out. %u201cParts of Williamsburg and Brownsville are in a state of decay as well,%u201d he says.While admitting that the rundown conditions in much of the Borough are not essentially attributable to the incumbent, Sebastian Leone, and acknowledging that the cure was not in his hands alone, the candidate (who is backed by the Kings County Democratic Coalition; including the Central and West Brooklyn Democrats and the Ind e p e n d e n t N eig h b o rh o o d Democrats of Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens) believes that the situation could have been bettered with %u201c independent, creative leadership from Borough Hall.%u201dSolarz feels that Leone has not moved the Board of Estimate towards sufficient consideration of Brooklyn, %u201cbecause of his commitment to the regular machine through which patronage is tunneled. %u201dThe candidate, considering remedies for the school situation, suggests the adoption of a community school district by each of the Borough%u2019s colleges; with their research assistants working with the Community Boards. To reverse the trend of deteriorating neighborhoods, he would push a program encouraging low income co-ops, neglected buildings which would be foreclosed by the City would then be turned over to tenants for a nominal sum. The tenants would thus have an economic stake in the upgrading of the houses. A believer in neighborhood organizations Solarz would assist in forming block and tenant associations throughout the Borough he says.Borough Hall, a setup he considers central to the affairs ofBrooklyn, would be utilized differently if he were in power, Solarz promised. The 100 person staff now occupying the landmark building %u2014 %u201cappointed because of political connections%u201d %u2014 would be ousted and replaced with legitimate representatives of all the Brooklyn neighborhoods. To change %u201cthe Mason Dixon line which has moved to the East River,%u201d he would particularly place members of the black and Puerto Rican communities in the Borough center. %u201cThe people of those areas have been ignored by the incumbent, who also refuses to take stands on issues important to other neighborhoods like Gowanus, Shore Hill and Canarsie,%u201d he charges.To further expand the Hall into a true community facility, Solarz, a proponent of universal day care,would turn the basement into a day care center for children of mothers working in the area.Citing his activist credentials, Solarz recalls his organization of rent strikes, his walking tours, his talks on public issues during his five years in the Assembly.Answering the Borough President%u2019s charge that he never passed a bill in Albany, the threeterm Assemblyman notes that he was one of the original sponsors of the State%u2019s Abortion law. Although, he says, legislation introduced by him was co-opted by the Republicans, he was indeed behind such acts as the extension of primary voting hours, the rotation of names on the ballot, and the continuation of free tuition in the'Continued on Page 13Wittich ForGay RightsRobert Wittich, candidate for City Council here in the Democratic Primary, denounced the action of the New York City Council in defeating Intro 475, legislation designed to bar discrimination in employment,DumaineOn ExhibitFrancois Dumaine, whose work appears regularly in the PHOENIX, will be exhibiting some of his works, at the annual Brooklyn Heights Promenade Art Show, which begins Sat., May 12.Dumaine, a graduate of the Germain School of Photography, where he studied under the direction of Michael Field, and the School of Modern Photography, has won numerous prizes for his Photography, including the distinguished Bronze Medal award from the Germain School for Photographic Excellence.Although known locally primarily for his extensive photojournalist work, Dumaine spends most of his time handling advertising and fashion photo assignments for major national firms. A brief sketch of his career, will be appearing in the August issue of Popular Photography.housing and public accommodations on the account of sexual orientation.At an April 28 press conference, Wittich said that Intro 475 was nothing more than civil rights legislature and was not even controversial. He attributed the defeat of the bill to the strong-arm tactics of Thomas Cuite, Brooklyn Councilman and Council Majority Leader, and to the fact that Cuite was able to pressure Councilwoman Aileen Ryan to not show up for the vote on the matter and Councilman Thomas Manton to abstain.Wittich said: %u201cThe defeat of Intro 475 by a committee of the New York City Council on Friday,%u2022 e_%u00abun %u2022 H E I G H T SP L A Y E R SG a p W ty ^ le156.112 W 8t920 830PM $3RESERVATION2372752K 1 Y N H E I G H T S C m e i r n o *^ HELD OVER thru Tues.May 15uric ur me t'cahS ucST.'Hr, N Y Da w News Wmsien N Y PosiJ O A N N E WOOOWAROTHt EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN-IN-THE-MOONNewmanx P ro d u c tio n of the * 1971 P u litz e r P riz ewinning play? 0 l4 'l 5 ^ 7 :1 0 -8 :05-10nm70 HENRY ST ol ORftNGF ST%u2014 %u2014 Tel 596-7070--------WecMhru Tues. May 9-15in Hours m snare melore 111 a lifetime.PETER FONDA LINDSAY WAGNER ESTELLE PARSONS 2:506:25 10:00mosi a,r.n,| S L A U G H T E R S r \H O U S E fascinating . p i \\ / pr pictures ever 1 * v____ of: 1:25 Si IO d.t,in rflH n -in -m c -iw w n am ^mammamammmmaammuaaaammmtmomamamam^.:ARflG (f%u00a7)LM f J C T w o P e o p le %u201d )- r ThePaul I rv,.. .ii,.. .\April 27, was a discredit to the people of this City. This is an instance wherein the attitude and belief of the governed is far in advance of the laws which govern them. There is very little support in New York City for denying people their civil rights on the account of sexual orientation. Only the prejudices of Brooklyn Councilman Thomas Cuite, the shadow Mayor of New York, andthose under his control can be blamed for the defeat of the bill.%u201c I urge reconsideration of and passage of Intro 475, or a similar bill, as promptly as possible, and I urge all citizens to use their influence and their votes to help assure that no individual in this City is discriminated against on the irrational and unreasonable grounds of race, creed, sex or sexual orientation.%u201dSee- *JueCOiC Co., One.8 5 5 D E A N S T R E E TBROOKLYN. NEW YORK 11238Joseph M. Scorcia, P residentInvites you toM USIC TO THE PSALMSSaturday, May 19,19738:DO P,M.at theBROOKLYN ACADEMYOF MUSIC30 L a fa ye tte A ve n ue B rooklyn,N .Y . Perform ed by theBrooklyn PhtlharmoniaLUKAS FOSS - ConductorFree P arkingPROGRAM:MAY 12 For Children at 2 pmFrabjous Friends and A> (original musicallFor Adults at 8 pmBrownsville LaboratoryTheatre/Festival Repertory Company/The AlonzoPlayers/The Boerum Hill TheatreA L L SPATS $1 'B rooklyn Academy of Mus't 3 0 L a f a y e t te A v e B k ly n \\ NBox Office 783-6700Attended Parking A vailableau