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June 28,1973 PHOENIX Page ThreePacific Street Library Rescued;Carroll Gardens Library ClosesBoro HallMeetingSuceedsBY LYNNE GR1FOThe voices of forty Park Slope and Boerum Hill community representatives rang out loud and clear in opposition to the proposed demolition of the Pacific St. branch [of the Brooklyn Public Library at a jJune 20 Borough Hall meeting held to determine the future of the jthree-story landmark building at Fourth Ave.II It appears that the City ad1 ministration has duly noted the *jjcommunity sentiment and has decided in favor of renovation. Councilman Thomas J. Cuite, who has himself come out in favor of %u201cimmediate rehabilitation,%u201d has advised the PHOENIX that Mayor Lindsay has decided to support repair instead of replacement, after consideration of community wishes.The Borough Hall meeting was organized after Robert Snyder, a leader of the Save the Library Committee, was informed that the Department of Public Works and the Budget Bureau had recon sidered their original decision to renovate the building. Instead, Snyder was told, the agencies planned to proceed with plans to tear down the present structure and build a new but much smaller, one-story facility.Sebastian ~Scavo, a capital budget examiner, represented the City at the meeting and he was %u201csubjected to intense questioning and cross-examination,%u201d as Snyder put it, by area residents who sought to obtain hard facts and statistics as to the cost of renovation as compared to building a new structure. They were disappointed by Scavo%u2019s (inability to supply them with the information they wanted.E arlier, the Public Works Department and Budget Bureau had claimed that damage due to vandalism, the addition of $240,000 originally awarded along with a 12 per cent contingency fund all contributed to a total cost of $556,000 for renovation while the construction of a new 7500 square foot library would cost $444,000.Several local political leaders declared that they also favored renovation at the Borough Hall meeting: Councilman Fred Richmond sent a representative as did Councilman Cuite and Borough President Leone. Assemblymen Harvey Strelzin and Michael Pesce, State Senator Carol Bellamy, 57 A.D. Democratic district leader Abe Gerges, and 57 A.D. Republican district leader Maria Terabosso all come to lend their support to the community stand. Paul O%u2019Dwyer sent a telegram to City Hall to back the community group.On June 22, Snyder sent a telegram to Deputy Mayor Edward Hamilton descrying the proposeda i i m i i i i i H i m i i i i m i m i i i i i H i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ;I 55Next weekis vacation timef for PHOENIX staffers.\\| Next regular issue 1 on July II.Happy 4th of July |demolition as evidencing %u201ccallous disregard of importance of structure to fabric of surrounding, self-renovating communities. . .%u201d The telegram goes on to say %u201cAdditional costs of architectural fees for present plans, work already performed and loss of profits under contracts and for new plans offset supposed economic advantages of new construction.%u201d Councilman Cuite this week issued a statement saying that hehad asked the Brooklyn Public Library to support the rehabilitation plan as the one that %u201cwould represent the sentiment of the community served by this facility.%u201d Cuite has arranged several of the meetings held in thepast years between the city agencies and the community groups involved in the issue.Councilman Fred Richmond issued a release before last week%u2019s meeting in which he came out in favor of renovation. Borough President lx'one was unavailable for comment.Robert Snyder, who lives on Dean Street in Boerum Hill, is optimistic about the library%u2019s future in light of the Mayor%u2019s support for the community position. He notes, however, that %u201cnothing is in writing vet%u201d and that no final, formal decision has been made. In the meantime, Snyder says, a guard will again be stationed at the Pacific branch to prevent further, costly vandalism.Officials Say BranchMay Be Closed MonthsDuring Surprise Work;No Temporary SiteiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiimiitiMiigiiiuHtiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiSee Letter and Editorialon Library Crisis, Page EightllllmillllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIIimilllllllllHHllitiiiiiiiiiiiiiH,,BY WILLIAM GOLDENCarroll Gardens will not have a library for at least two months. Renovation of the existing facility at 2% Clinton Street will consume twelve to eighteen months, but the branch hopes to relocate in temporary housing by September. These are the facts that emerge following an earlier, incomplete story published here earlier in June.No definite plans for relocationLarge Turnout for RunoffVote Despite Calm PollingPlaces; Local Results on 12RegularDemocratsPull VotersBY WILLIAM LYONSh o lid a y to all.in illlllH IIIIIH IIIIIIIIIIilllllM IIIIIIIIIIIH IIIIIIItlfThe cop watching the polling place is bored, the voters are few, the women poll-workers are enjoying the beginnings of a marathon kaffee klatch-it%u2019s 10 o%u2019clock on the morning of June 10 and in the gymnasium of PS 22 on Union St. in Carroll Gardens, at the primal level of the democratic process, things move exceedingly slow.A man enters and moves toward one of the voting booths %u201c 1 come to vote.%u201d %u201cWhere do you live?\answers, is cleared, and enters the booth. His elderly friend, not voting, stays by the door quiet and still. Respectful? Scared? The cop chews his thumbnail, the coffee pot sizzles, steams, and democracy lumbers on.Voters are few but it%u2019s early yet and Ross Piazza, regular Democratic captain of district 26 of the 52nd. Assembly District, expects a good turnout. He is proven right. By the end of the day more people will have voted in the runoff than did in the primary.That, of course, is most unusual. Runoffs are generally the victims of voter apathy. People feel they%u2019ve voted once and done their citizenly duty, that should be enough.But here, today, something has%u00ab i *%u00bb%u2014 * .. , 4 ! %u2014 : J - J - r \\pl U i l l c u m a t u u u u i i u p o i u c u u w n . \\ / icourse the party workers will take the credit, perhaps not altogether undeservedly. But there is much more in this unusual event than can be accounted for by more concentrated vote hustling by Ross and his fellows. Maybe Abe Beame grows on you?Another voter enters. Two%u00a3 minutes m e Spent at the uOOrwayregistration card. While his eyes roam the great empty spaces of the gym. Second thoughts on entering unfriendly terrain? But no. Seconds later he%u2019s voted and is striding toward the exit and freedom.Ross excuses himself. %u201c Be back in five minutes. Make yourself at home.%u201dThe five minutes stretch into an hour and a half. Ross reappears and has time for a few questions. What%u2019s the make-up of the district, lie%u2019s sure of the numbers, about 2200. Ethnic make up? He doesn%u2019t know, he says.Ross excuses himself for a minute. A half hour later, still noRoss.If Ross is an example, regular Democrats don%u2019t care much for conversation but they do their jobsContinued on Page 12RegularsTacticsIrk PesceBY WILLIAM GOLDENMike Pesce, State Assembly for the 52nd district, entered his storefront office on Court Street Tuesday storming. His annoyance stemmed from the report that the Regular Democrats in the area had been calling voters to gain support for Beame and to remind them that his opponent was a Puerto Rican.%u201c It seems that the Regulars are going to use scare tactics as aContinued on Page 12'had been made before the closing of the regular building last week Although library officials claim that the Department of Public Works gave short notice of the construction date, Lawrence Brandwein, an official of the Brooklyn Public Library system admitted that the library knew of the June closing months in advance.Plans for the substitution of service include the use of a minibookmobile in front of the closed facility one morning a week to distribute popular reading material. Several sites are being considered for relocation, but nothing has been definitely decided. Once the decision has been made, approximately two months will be required to modify the new building and move books. The temporary setting will house about half the volumes of the established site, the Library now' says.Information concerning the closing was inaccurately reported in the June 14th issue of the PHOENIX. Despite the scale of the renovation program, the Carroll Gardens area w'as not properly informed of the extent of the shutdown.Initial reports implied that the main building would be out of service for one month and then facilities would revert to routine. Library official A1 Gallo sympathized with the area%u2019s residents and advised that in the meantime library seekers should use a bus to visit a neighboring area%u2019s facility.At least one Carroll Gardens resident, David Feingold of Tompkins Place, is up in arms over the closing, and says that despite assurances of concern over community views, %u201cthe Library%u2019s concern with the community is far better show'n by their latest actions with this branch.%u201d9 .i 1= looking through his wallet for theMayor John V. Lindsay; Brooklyn Borough President Sebastian Leone; and Thomas J. Cuite, Majority Leader of the City Council, presented the first Community Planning Handbook, a unique 200 page collection of community information, for Community Planning Board No. 6, to its Chairman, Gerald Carey, at a meeting at Borough Hall, June 15. In photo, L-R are: John Z. Zuccotti, Planning Commissioner Chairman and member of the Community Board; Borough President Sebastian Leone; Mayor John Lindsay; Thomas Cuite and Gerard Carey. (Photo by Neil DeAngel is)