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Page Two, PHOENIXJo h n J a y H . $., ru n n in g a t 1 6 7 % o v e r c a p a c ity , o n s p lit se ssio n ,w ith 13 c la s s p e rio d s p e r d a y .Push H.S. On CanalBY CORRINE COLEMANThe Coalition to Relieve Overcrowding at John Jay High Schoolis definitely in favor of theGowanus-Gasworks site for a newSouth Brooklyn upper school,according to Rosemary Merola,P.T.A. President of John Jay andex-officio member of the CoalitionExecutive Committee.%u201cThough our minds are notclosed to other suggestions, we stillfeel that the 7 and one-half acresleft at the Gasworks is still the bestlocation for the school,%u201d Mrs.Merola said, adding that itscloseness to the F train stationrenders the site convenient for allSouth Brooklyn children, teachersand other personnel.Referring to a P.T.A. meetingheld last week at John Jay, Mrs.Merola expressed surprise at thesmall, but still vocal, opposition tothe location between 5th and 9thSts. on the west bank of the canal.%u201cThey suggested office buildings,the old bay site which is park landand far from transportation,everything but the Gowanus.%u201dHowever, when pressed, she said,they revealed their fear of %u201cthosepeople%u201d entering their neighborhood. %u201cThey seem to preferliving next to the rats and garbagethat are now covering the site,%u201dshe added.The pressure for a new schoolwas started in 1967 with theawareness of the overcrowdedconditions at John Jay. At thattime, the Gowanus site became themain focus, but the opposition tothat location by people in thenearby area stopped the move for atime. The plan was revived threeyears ago when conditions at JohnJay, running on split session,became even more difficult. At aseries of public meetings beforethe new District 15 School Board atthat time, the opposing viewpointswere aired. The board finally votedagainst utilization of the site,because, they claimed, theywanted to avoid communityconfrontation.However, John Jay is now 167per cent over capacity, still on splitsession, with 13 rather than theusual eight periods per day. Inaddition, the threatened closing offour parochial schools will add tothe difficulties.At this time the local schoolboard is re-evaluating thesituation, and some immediaterelief will occur with the conversion of Sarah J. Hale HighSchool to a comprehensive setup,and the utilization of the 500 PacificSt. location (now an alternativeschool) by part of Sarah Hale.Construction of the North KingsHigh School to be located onSeventh Ave. and 39th St. is alsoreceiving top priority.However, the coalition (whichwas formed on Dec. 19, and isheaded by Ellen Michener, P.T.A.President of I.S. 293) insists thatthese measures are insufficient.And after a meeting with Joseph L.Brennan, assistant superintendentof the Board of Education incharge of Brooklyn high schools,an airing of the Gowanus situationwas arranged. This will take placeon Feb. 10 at Board headquarters,110 Livingston St. at an openmeeting.Co-ops Set Stage 1The community sponsor of 2000new units of housing in Brooklyn%u2019sAtlantic Terminal Urban RenewalArea, the Fort Greene Non-ProfitImprovement Corp., will presentthe final plans for Stage Idevelopment to the Board ofEstimate, during the regularpublic session, on Thursday, Jan.25. Once the Board of Estimateapproves the plans, which havealready won the unanimous approval of the City PlanningCommission, the communitysponsor expects to begin construction of the first 500cooperative apartments for lowand moderate income familiesalmost immediately.Stage I development of AtlanticTerminal will be financed throughmortgages, totaling over $24million, from the city%u2019s MitchellLama housing program, which willbe coupled with 236 FederalHousing Interest Subsidies. HUDapproved funding for AtlanticTerminal Stage I before its freezeon housing monies went into effect.%u201cAtlantic Terminal housing isunique,%u201d said Paul Kerrigan, .chairman of the community group.%u201c We began working on thisprogram more than six vears ago.and raised over $250,000 fromprivate seed money sources inorder to meet our expenses. Whenwe began this housing program wepromised that we would buiid thebest quality housing for the mostreasonable rents possible, and wehave succeeded. Under ourarrangement with the city,apartments will be purchased foran average of $350 per apartment, -.and carrying charges, including,%u2022utilities, will range between $40%u201442.50 per room per month.%u201cUnlike many urban renewalprograms, Atlantic Terminalenjoys strong support fromcommunity residents. Themajority of the Fort Greene NonProfit Improvement Corporation%u2019sboard members are residents ofthe Atlantic Terminal Area orrepresent institutions which arelocated on the renewal site. Theremaining board members live inthe brownstone area of FortGreene immediately adjacent tothe site. Furthermore, manyorganizations that are connectedwith the Fort Greene area, including The Brooklyn Academy ofMusic, Brooklyn Hospital, theDiocese of Brooklyn, CommunityPlanning Board No. 2, theLafayette Ave. PresbyterianChurch, the Hanson Place SeventhDay Adventist Church, the Community Liaison Committee forAtlantic Terminal (advisory boardto HD A) have all recently gone onrecord as strongly supportingAtlantic Terminal housing'%u201dIn addition to the 500 cooperativeapartments sponsored by thecommunity, Stage I developmentwill include a 300 unit buildingwhich will be built by the New YorkCity Housing Authority, a child daycare center and a separate familyservice center, to be operated byBrookwood Child Care, Inc., andcommercial space for a local retailshopping center. P.S. 35K hasalready been built and is operatingon the renewal site.The Atlantic Terminal UrbanRenewal Area is bounded byA tlantic.,Ave., Flatbush ,Ave.yCorps SaysMay DredgeBY CORRINE COLEMANThe United States Army Corps ofEngineers will not undertakedredging of the Gowanus Canal atthis tim e according to JohnZammit, Chief, Rivers and Harbors Section of the Corps. Zammitexplains that the economics of thesituation do not warrant dredgingof the canal under the interests ofnavigation and commerce. Theycould neither dredge or recommend dredging because of this lackof economic justification, he adds.However, under the 1972 FederalWater Quality Act as amended, theoperation could be placed underthe jurisdiction of the FederalEnvironmental Protection Agencyand eventual dredging of the canalcould be undertaken for environmental reasons. Zammitadvises that the Federal EPA hasbeen already asked to consider thepossibility. The question nowbecomes one of priority he says.Who and how many will benefitfrom the ecological effort, compared to the amount ofbeneficiaries of a similar undertaking at a larger waterway,for instance.In addition, dredging could notbegin until the Red Hook SewageTreatment Plant is completed.Though the plant has received toppriority from the state, it is still notcertain when construction willbegin. The job will take at leastthree or four years to complete,according to estimates. At thatthe navigational and commercialiirU i/tU tirrt! ll rl a m I it /tA trA t9 f Uat i i u v u u v u i u J w f V 4 v t t varea up to Sackett St.During the time of considerationof dredging for navigationalreasons, the Corps made an extensive study of the Gowanus. Areport of May 1972 states: Thecanal at present is an open sewerMeeting TonightOn January 25, 1973, the Ad Hex; Committee to Clean the Gowanus Canal will hold a public meeting to discuss the future of the canal.The meeting will be held at 8 p.m. on January 25, at the Carroll Park Community Library, 396 Clinton St. atUnion St. All are invited.Hanson Pl.-Fulton St. and Vanderbilt Ave. Stage I developmentwill take place simultaneously attwo sites within the area. Site 2C isa mid-block location on So. ElliottPI. and So. Portland Ave., betweenHanson PI. and Atlantic Ave. Heretwo buildings, containing 200apartments and the child day carecenter, will be built. At site 4A, thelarger of the two building sites,located at Fulton St. and CarltonAve., three buildings, totaling 304Continued on Pago tIND ForHook PlanC an al H.S.The Independent NeighborhoodDemocrats (IND) went on recordlast week supporting the Red HookContainerport proposal and thelocation of a mini high school at theGowanus site.In supporting the containerportplans which come before the Boardof Estimate January 25 for finalconsideration, IND, a reformn %u00ab m ( V > r j i i ( < n liiV tfrom the South Brooklyn waterfront community and surroundingareas, made it clear that theirsupport hinged on three specificconditions: %u201c (1) No housingdisplacement be effected untilthere is adequate relocation withinthe community; (2) Adequatecompensation for property owners,both rpsidpntial anrt commercialor of tenants; (3) No truck traffic%u00bbV %u2019 V %u00bb V V Cominued ,0(1-Page 15time if dredging is undertaken bythe epa, the Army Corps ofEngineers could assume the effort.According to Buddy Scotto, thisdecision makes sense. He believesthat the Army Corps is sensitive tothe environmental issue and willassist in expediting the cleaning ofthe Gowanus. Eileen Dugan agreesalso with the emphasis on theecological, and believes that thedredging when undertaken willinclude the entire canal. This shesays, would not be possible underCanal filthwith black water bubbling from thedecomposition of sewage. As aresult of these conditions, areducint, or deoxidizing, environment exists in the canal andthe waters can support onlyanaerobic life forms: it is of novalue as a resource for fish andwildlife.%u201dIn addition the report advises:%u201cAlthough long-term residents ofthe area may have become inuredto the stench, the canal is a factorin inhibiting new development inthe area. Without improvement,the condition of this waterway willcontinue to deteriorate. Navigationwill become more difficult if notimpossible as accumulations ofsediments and refuse continue.The increasingly unsanitarycondition of the canal will have adeleterious effect on the health andwell being of the area%u2019sinhabitants.Hospital PleadsThe Methodist Hospital ofBrooklyn last week presented itscase for expansion of the facility.Heading a group of consultants andstaff, Executive Director VernonStutzman appeared beforePlanning Board 6 and emotionallypointed out that the institution wasanxious to continue to provideexcellent health care to thecommunity. %u201c Since 1881, TheMethodist Hospital has stood forservice to the community and wewant to continue that service,%u201d hesaid.Executive Director Stutzmanindicated that the expansion wouldhelp the institution to expandambulatory care services that arevital to all working n r liv in c in tHoarea. One of the services involvedincludes the Emergency Department.He invited community leadersand others interested in thedelivery of proper health careservices to personally view theEmergency Department where lifeand death are always momentsa w a y fr o m g 2 Ch O th er %u2019J*'-'cramped quarters, he advised,mast be expanded immediately tocope with the ever mountingvolume of patients. Plans for theexpansion of the entire facility callfor a new service area of threetimes the current space available.Speaker after speaker from theinstitution stressed the need fordoing away with the obsolete bedarea that do not meet the modernstate codes so that the hospitalcould provide for the present andfuture needs of the Park Slopearea.According to architects fromRogers, Butler, Bergun & Bradbury, the first phase of the contemplated expansion plan wouldinvolve the site that includes thefollowing addresses: 249 through %u00ab V . ) W i l U 4W V USixth St.; 488 through 510 on FifthSt.The area, after construction, isexpected to contain several different types of hospital facilities:parking for doctors and the public;hospitaL departments that have astrong orientation to the im %u00admediate community; the beginning phase of the Ambulatory CareUnit; a number of , ser-* ConUrrtiitf on P 14