Page 315 - Demo

June 7, 1973, PHOENIX, Page 9Lindsay's Interest Hard to Replaced i DGRGiiiY EVAN%u2019SBROOKLYN, June 3 -Tomorrow is Primary Day and I, like a dutiful citizen, along with my Brooklyn neighbors will go to cast a vote meant to show my approval of a replacement for Mayor John Lindsay. This has given me reason for a good deal of soul searching since I learned that our Mayor had definitely decided not to run for another term of office.What has Mayor Lindsay meant to me. I came to Brooklyn to visit my children the New Year%u2019s Eve of the great transit strike. A friend and I sat on the dock on Front Street all that warm night %u2014 we walked the bridge and returned home at dawn. John Lindsay had become Mayor. His years of great difficulties, of unsurmountable obstacles had begun.t _ ...i%u2014 _ t i. w u u i a again ic u u u c u wBrooklyn, this time to stay, I believed in this man and all that he stood for. A follower of Senator Kennedy, an early participant in anti-poverty programs bjoth upstate and in New York, I saw that Mayor Lindsay really cared about %u201cthe people.%u201d One could not have followed those early days of the Mayor%u2019s Task Force and not realize that Lindsay%u2019s ideologies in housing and the rise of people from public welfare, to mention just two of the areas in which he tried to make strides, would be subject to unbelievable controversy; But accomplishments did come about. New public housing did replace slums in many areas. There are many sides to many coins.I had heard of Joseph Papp and his theater in Central Park years before I ever knew there was aJohn Lindsay. One of thepleasantest things to come out of this great city%u2019s image has been Lincoln Center and a kind of unification of ideals of both Joseph Papp and Mayor Lindsay; For creativity must be the outlet for human expression.Like many way out liberals, knowledge of the city has somewhat tempered my enthusiasm for living here, at least so I thought T will admit that it has not always been easy to stand behind the things I have fought for over the years, especially each time I am robbed, vandalized, or compromised in the. numerous ways that we must be, if we are to live in this city I am tempted to leave, 1 had never intended to stay. 1 only came while deciding where else to go.But then Watergate happened. Ithas been m any yearc sinrp T have cast a Republican vote. For a long time I didn%u2019t know what political party 1 was, and I suppose I am no different from other people. Watergate hurt. I felt a deep sorrow in the fact that our government should be put in a position of attack from outside sources. It%u2019s one thing for a family to disagree, but another to have the strength of our national family subject to destruction. It hurt because one of my strongest convictions is that the youth of our country needs leadership. What leadership now?From all of this I saw that perhaps this is the time when all of us must fall back on our own strengths. This past year we lost two presidents, Johnson and Truman. It%u2019s as if all the old warriors are disappearing %u2014 andall that is le ft is the neonle.I know that Mayor Lindsay cares about the people %u2014 in spite of all his presssures, he does care about the people. I think the people know this too. His leadership has brought city government close to the people, perhaps closer than ever before.That%u2019s what has been on my mind %u2014 and I%u2019m sorry but I can%u2019t think any further ahead than just today %u2014 except that tomorrow morning, just for old times sake I guess I%u2019ll write in the name of Mayor John Lindsay, even though I know that just now it won%u2019t do any good. And I guess I%u2019ll hang around for awhile and keep an eye on Brooklyn, just to make sure it%u2019s ok. I%u2019ve gone and come back before %u2014Bath Could BeBY JOHN BLACKMOREIt was not so long ago that Fourth Avenue, themain thoroughfare connecting South Brooklyn withBay Ridge and Sunset Park, was lined with elm andoak. But traffic considerations again pre-emptedaesthetics, and the great trees were felled, and theboulevard was widened into the semi-dividedspeedway it is today. Thus the character of theneighborhood was indelibly changed; and now theavenue, along with the Gowanus mire, stands as avirtual chasm between the developing neighborhoods that flank them.A monument to better days stands at the cornerof President St. and Fourth Ave., the Public Bathsbuilding. Public Baths are now an anachronism inNew York; the last operating one was closed downin 1970. Once, they were neighborhoodrecreational facilities, with gyms and sportsfacilities, as well as bathing facilities for those wholived in cold water flats. The Fourth Ave. building istypical of the Victorian Baths of the era, decoratedwith friezes in honro of Neptune and other ersatzVenetian friiis. Now with its windows broken, thedoors bolted, and the exterior strewn with litterand garbage, it stands as a monument to neglect.In this day and age, when middle class neighhnrhnnds are demanding %u2014 and getting %u2014 vestpocket parks and such innovations as \Playgrounds%u201d (see the story on the Third St. playlotin this issue), what%u2019s being done for those neighborhoods not blessed with such resources?Perhaps some new playgrounds, and the inevitablecemented lots, but many neighborhood kids findrubble-strewn vacant lots as their mainSports Centerrecreational sites. Why not refurbish publicbuildings such as the Public Baths as modernrecreational facilities?Ms. Genevieve Carr brought the conditions atthe Public Baths to our attention, complaining ofthe filth and garbage collecting about the building.She was under the impression that it was stilloperating under the Parks Department (as thesign on the door proclaims), but we found that thiswas no longer the case. As far as we can tell, theBaths, after they were closed down, were turnedover to the city%u2019s Department of Buildings and RealEstate. A maintenance official there registered Ms.Carr's complaint, and promised to get the buildingproperly sealed and maintained. We will be watching to see if the city keeps to its word.At press time, we were still checking with variouscity agencies to discover what long-range plans andpossibilities for the building have been discussed.Several years ago a neighborhood group did leasethe building for a community center, and someinterior work was done at that time. Apparently thebuilding is in reasonably good shape, though itwould take a good amount of money to execute athorough renovation. It seems to us that theperfect solution for the building is to convert it intoa community sports center, as the facility includeda well-equipped gym and paddleball courts. We willreport on our investigations in tne near Tuture.We continue to get a heartening response withthe Parks Probe, both from our readership and theParks Department. If you have a parks problem inyour neighborhood, please write the PHOENIXParks Probe, and perhaps you can effect a changefor the better in your community.-< --o%u00a7%u201c o r-t- O %u00ab= %CD o-5o-o%u2014iocrcx>3 i\\8IQ-o'3%u00bb=3CLsa>