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                                    Page 16 PHUtNiX February 2i, i9/4Speak onEthics andIs NetGameBestUse forCadmanP l a z aP a r kA r e aEight tennis courts here???ANN MANOELBAUM PHOTOBY JOHN BLACKMOREFor a community as large and as vital as Brooklyn Heights, the neighborhood is seriously lacking in recreational facilities. In recent months, residents have organized two committees in order to help remedy this situation. One group has been actively working for the construction of a community ice skating rink. Because of the economic profile of the neighborhood, and thus the difficulty of obtaining public funds for such a project, they have turned to the private sector in order to curry enthusiasm for the building of a rink at the base of .Joralemon Street. They have located an interested developer, and are now hopeful that the project will become a reality.On another front, tennis afficionados are casting about for a suitable location for the building of tennis courts somewhere in the neighborhood. Currently, tennis players in the neighborhood are treking as far afield as the Prospect Park parade grounds to keep their game from going rusty. The other options in the neighborhood are the Heights Casino, a private tennis club on Montague Street, the outdoor courts off Atlantic Avenue near the waterfront, and the courts which are now being resurfaced in Ft. Greene Park.Tennis is indeed enjoying a renaissance throughout the city. Facilities everywhere are either overcrowded or prohibitively distant. Last December, a group of players contacted Assemblyman Mike Pesce, who promised to support their efforts to promote the building of convenient facilities in the neighborhood. Soon after a committee was formed, and petitions for new courts distributed. %u2018%u2018We%u2019ve gotten an overwhelmingly positive response, nearly 400 names have been submitted in support of the project,%u201d reported Pete Drago, Special Assistant to the Assemblyman, \Recreation, who said that the only feasible spot for the courts was Cadman Plaza. The committee decided to follow up on this suggestion.%u201dThe plan tentatively calls for the building of 8 courts on the south side of the War Memorial at the Plaza. This is the grassy meadow that extends from the monument to Tillary Street. Miss Greenbaum, a spokeswoman for the committee, reported that the construction of these courts would fill the entire space. Bernard Seiden, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Tennis Courts Association, contacted Jerry Demers, the city's Director of Recreation, mentioning the Cadman Plaza site as well as Squibb Park at the north end of Columbia Heights, as possible locations. Demers has responded that his department is currently reviewing the two possibilities.Not all Heights residents are entirely happy about the prospect of restricting the entire South side of Cadman Plaza Park to tennis. One resident commented that the space should be left open to a variety of recreational activities, such as summer concerts, community fairs, and ball playing. %u201d 1 could see the space transformed into something like the Tuilerries in Paris, with boating pond, refreshmentkiosks, a carousel. This would attract more people to come to the park for many different amusements,%u201d she said. Another community resident, Michael Fitzgerald of State Street, plays touch football there every Sunday afternoon in the fall. \our game,%u201d said Fitzgerald, \We%u2019ve been playing touch football there longer than there's been speculation about tennis courts.%u201dResidents such as Dr. Harlow Fischman of Clark Street disagree. \many sitting parks in the neighborhood. We need something for adult recreation.\the organizer of the \in 1969 after he and his son were ejected from the park by the police for playing ball. At that time the park was reserved for \deference to the war dead. \said Fischman.And what are your opinions? Cadman Plaza Park has been termed %u201c one of the most underutilized parks in Brooklyn\your game, or are there other improvements you could suggest? Write the Parks Probe, and let your views be known.<$QZ
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