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%u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605COUNCILMAN'SCuRNfcKA Report on Activities of Our City Council* %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605 %u2605iiimiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiniiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiHiiiHiiUHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiBY CITY COUNCILMANFRED RICHMONDLast week Mayor Lindsay%u2019s Single Room, Occupancy HOtel Task Force announced that it is beginning an experimental program designed to upgrade Brooklyn%u2019s Pierrepont Hotel and nine other hotels it considers the worst in the City. This program was the result of an inspection of an inspection of 101 SRO%u2019s in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx and according to the Mayor%u2019s office the survey focused upon health, building and fire violations.I applaud the Mayor for initiating such a survey into an area of City life which has for too long been neglected. The residents of these hotels have consistently been victimized by the unscrupulous owners who do little to maintain their hotels and provide the bare minimum in services. It is obvious that the Mayor has decided to follow the lead of the %u201cBrooklyn Heights Ad-Hoc-Committee to Save the Pierrepont%u201d and my office in getting the various fire and health building codes enforced.Just recently the Fire Department at my request conducted an inspection of the Franklin Arms in the Heights and found 21 violations. You all know how successful the community has been in getting the management of the Pierrepont to repaint many of the rooms and clear up some of their fire violations.However there remain many instances where SRO managements are taking advantage of their residents. The Mayor%u2019s new program will concentrate on code enforcement making certain that these SRO%u2019s eliminate fire, building and health violations. In addition the Task Force says it will try to use economic leverage, such as refusing to place people on public assistance at hotels if their owners don%u2019t adhere to the different City codes.Now the Mayor has taken the first step in the long road toward upgrading New York%u2019s SRO hotels and making them livable. However the Task Force is neglecting the number one problem confronting the residents of Single Room Occupancy hotels that is: security.Most of Brooklyn%u2019s SRO%u2019s arefilled with senior citizens and other vulnerable defenseless people who are forced to live on extremely low fixed incomes. The SRO tenant%u2019s mobility is restricted by their economic means and their self reliance is reduced to the point that they are easy marks. Moreover the managements of many SRO hotels have made no attempt whatsoever to provide any reasonable security measures for their residents.What exists is not a hotel but a high rise muggers park, and elevated paradise of crim inal activity. The SRO%u2019s are magnets for cheap crooks, pimps and prostitutes. They are prisons to the aged and pariahs to the surrounding community.It is obvious that the SRO managements have no intention of cleaning their own houses. Therefore I have introduced a c o m p re h e n siv e le g is la tiv e package into the City Council which if passed will provide increased security to the residents of the SRO hotels. One measure requires every hotel with more than 100 rooms to provide 24 hour on-the-premises bonded security service. The second is an amendment of the Administrative Code of the City which forces SRO owners to employ a 24 hour switchboard, a T.V. surveillance of all hallways, elevators and public spaces and break away fire doors at all secondary exits. These are important bills which hopefully will force the SRO managements to supply their tenants with at least this minimum in protection.For the SRO hotels must not only provide a bed but also a safe place to sleep. I urge you to write the Mayor%u2019s Task Force on Single Room Occupancy Hotels, 51 Chambers Street, New York, New York. Help me enlist his support for this vital legislation.Dear Editor:I have been reading the programs of candidates in the forthcoming primaries and have had difficulty in getting definitive positions on those items of importance to me and other Heights residents.I would like to know where do thewould-be council persons, Boro presidents, mayors, council presidents, as well as our present* %u00bb %u2022 * i .%u00bbl c j j i c a c u ic u iv c a s ic u iu u n u icfollowing issues which I advocate.1. Policemen on the beat and an increase in income tax to pay for 10,000 more police.2. A free heroin maintenence program to cut crime in half (less dangerous then alcohol inbibers).3. Low rent housing on block 207 in Brooklyn Heights for senior citizens and Vietnam warveterans, as well as scatter site housing in middle income areas, all over the city-whether the communities approve or not.4. Busing to schools to achieve integration and quality education for all children (safer today than children walking to school).5. Forcing all car owners who use New York streets to equip their cars within 6 months with antipollutant devices.C *%u2022%u00bbvnr> n o / t ln n n UiT V . a^ v q %u00bb u%u00bb%u00bbu v%u00bb v i v u u V>|/ vjiowners of dog droppings. (Somestreets stink for hours in theevening after invasions offoreigners with their pets).7. A parking garage in Pierrepont Street lot and at north end of Heights under block 207. Sincerely,Ken Boss Sidney PlacePHOENIX, May 24,1973, Page 9Lot At Smith And Second Streetsj The PHOENIX Probes Park Problems:IGood News And New ProblemsBY JOHN BLACKMORE| Three weeks ago we reported on the complaint of Mrs. Rosa | Nigro concerning the rubble-strewn lot on the corner of Kane St.; and Strong PI. The PHOENIX contacted at that time the owners of j the lot, and exacted a commitment from them that the lot would j be cleaned \I Following up on their promise, we called Mrs. Nigro last week, j She was happy to report that the owners, the Zerbo Construction j Co., had indeed cleared the lot and repaired the fence ; surrounding it. This success underscores the importance of j community people taking responsibility for problems of this kind j in their neighborhood.I A similar problem was reported to us last week on the heels of i the announcement of Carroll Garden's historical designation.; Sam Bumbaca of 2nd St. called us in regard to a lotful of junk and j rubble sitting just adjacent to the historic area. On the corner of j Smith St. and 2nd PI. is a two acre lot, complete with all the \\ trappings of neglect%u2014garbage, broken glass, the residue of j recent fires, and rats.j The lot was once a parking area, but when the city began i construction of the new District 15 School Board Headquarters, j they dumped all the fill and rubble from the excavation into the j lot. Mounds of stone and dirt were piled six feet high, and after \\ two years, a layer of glass, litter, and junk has accumulated over it.I Recently rats have been reported in the area where the conj struction company had had their portojohns. \j in broad daylight,%u201d one neighbor exclaimed, \i ran right over my feet.%u201dI To add to their concern, neighborhood children use the lot as a j playground. Pressure from local residents finally resulted in the j installation of a make-shift fence, but it is inadequate in keeping I the children from climbing over.\\ When the PHOENIX visited the lot, there were a half-dozen j youngsters clambering over the mounds of rubble. One kid tossed 1 a bottle over the fence crashing on a neighboring stoop. \I Balzone had been there she would have been clobbered,%u201dI remarked Mr. Bumbaca, %u201c she usually sits right at that spot.\\\ children also contribute to the fire hazard. %u201c Last week they built a j clubhouse with the junk in the tot,%u201d reported Mr. Frank Balzone, j %u201c then they burned it down.\\\ Naturally this state of affairs has caused the neighbors no little I concern. At least five different residents and organizations have ! called the owners to complain of the condition of the lot. All have | been rebuffed. \j neighbors,%u201d said Mr. Bolzone, %u2018%u2018but they refuse to do anything j about it. They say they're going to build a new parking lot there.%u201d j What would the community like to see on the lot? Sam Bum- : baca said he%u2019d like to see a mini-park there. \I people to congregate,%u201d he said. Sal Bassolino, also of 2nd St.: added, \1 like Cobble Hiii Park. We pay enough taxes, but what do we see j for it?%u201d; We contacted one of the owners of the property, Robert Berj nhardt, who runs a building firm on Long Island. He reported j plans for building a parking lot there, but claimed that local i residents were responsible for the lot%u2019s condition. He did say that j the property will be cleaned up in the near future, but when j pressed for a time, he said he really didn't know when, j After our conversation with Mr. Bernhardt, we talked to Tony I ! Gambale, Chairman of the Carrol! Gardens Association. Gambale mj had made further contact with the owners, and had made some l headway, \| Gambale said, %u201c And they said they'd be willing to let the coms munity use the space in front of the lot as a mini-park with trees I, and benches. Gambale%u2019s organization has also contacted the city%u2019s rat control people, who promised to deal with the vermin problem in the near future.So never let it be said that one voice is not enough to bring about the changes we need in our neighborhoods. Wnat are the park and lot problems in your neighborhood? Write the PHOENIXLet UsHear AboutLocal ParkProblems/i1iI1II1IIIIIiIIIIIIIIIsio= 3=ez eT> SS= r qj O =3=3CD 111o>S 'HCDCOOO3 %u2018S %u2019 =3GOr-f*CD%u00a7hoO03 X%u00a7f %u201cCD o ' %u2014iooZTCD3=3Q .03\\%u25a0aaaaaaaai-aaa a aiaa!iaa%u25a0I!T3O=3%u2014i%u2014 I uuu,si>4 8 *-*4* %u25a0 ir> L,/vl%u00ab %u25a0 u ret uo i rcip i lukc your * **\U a o i '/J V U IL L I IV U I U.%u00bb%u25a0%u25a0%u2022%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u2022%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0%u25a0 %u25a0paaBiaaaaaudlii%u00bbm