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March 7,1974 PHOENIX Page 13Leone Bicentennial Program:Something for EveryoneBorough President SebastianLeone this week announced aunique program under whichevery ethnic group in theBorough will be honored duringthe Bicentennial Celebration of1976.Noting that Brooklyn has oneof the most varied ethnicmosaics in the United States,Leone said he had written torepresentatives of thediplomatic corps in Washington,D. C., asking the collaboration oftheir governments as a way ofhonoring the m ulti-culturalheritage of the Borough in thelong-awaited Centennial.Italy is being asked to send itsfamous Carabinieri Band tomarch in the July 4,1976 paradeand to include 17 of the internationally famed flag hurlersof Siena. This request wasforwarded to the Hon. Egiio Ortona, Italian Ambassador tothe U. S.The Hon. Simcha Dinitz,Ambassador to the U. S. fromIsrael, was asked if a portion ofthe historic Dead Sea Scrollscould be loaned for exhibition atthe beautiful Brooklyn Museumduring the months of Junethrough November of 1976.The Hon. John G. Mol toy, IrishAmbassador to the U. S., wasasked to request of hisGovernment a one-vear loan forexhibition at the BrooklynMuseum, beginning in June of76, Ireland%u2019s great nationaltreasure, the Book of Kells. Thish a n d s o m e ly illu m in a te dmanuscript of the gospels,completed by monks in the 8thand 9th centuries, is currentlyon exhibition at Trinity Collegein Dublin.Norway, through its Ambassador, the Hon. Soren Chr.Sommerfelt, has asked for theloan and exhibition of itsbeautiful m erchant trainingvessel, the square rigger,Stratsraad Lemkuhl.In his letters the BoroughPresident stressed thatBrooklyn, as site of the firstbattle of the Revolutionary War,.is understandably concernedwith its responsible role in theForthcoming celebration.\is our feeling,%u201d he continued, \as we Are about to undertakecannot simply reflect a militaryand political aspect but mustalso fulfill itself through a stresson the cultural and religiouscomponents of individualcommunities. Hence, our stresson an ethnic contribution ofuniversal significance and appeal.%u201dSimilar letters requestingcontributions for celebrating theBicentennial are being preparedfor embassies of other countrieswith sigmfican ethnicrepresentation in the Borough.THE PLIG HT O F CATHERINE REIDCivics Detail Shifting SagaThe plight of Catherine Reid, a 75-year-old invalid, has been a topic of much concern among several Park Slope civic groups. Miss Reid is a former tenant at two buildings owned by Methodist Hospital that have since been demolished. She was first evicted from 531 8th Avenue in 1970 and relocated to 541 6th Street. Last August she was evicted from the second location, and is presently housed at the Hospital%u2019s Nurses Residence. Late in January Ms. Reid received notice from the Hospital that now she must leave the Nurses Residence. The PHOENIX received the following report on the situation from the Methodist Hospital Expansion Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council. Their findings are excerpted beloThe findings of this inquiry are based on statements by Mr. Robert Queen, Public Information Officer, and Mr. George Wright, Director of Planning of Methodist Hospital (to whom Mr. Queen reports). The findings also rely on documents received from Methodist Hospital. Based on the Hospital%u2019s own statements and documents provided by it, the following critical admissions by the Hospital are revealed concerning its relationship with Ms. Reid:1. Ms. Reid was a statutory tenant in the Hospital owned rent controlled building located at 541 Sixth Street. This building was demolished by Methodist Hospital about four years ago and is now a parking lot.2. According to George Wright, Director of Planning of Methodist tiospuai, Ms. Reid vacated ner apartment at 541 Sixth Street after a boiler failure (due to alleged vandalism). She was at the time one of a handful of tenants still remaining in this Hospital-owned building.3. After temporarily being housed at the nurse%u2019s residence,Methodist Hospital relocated Ms.r3 * - *u -%u2022 M ;'l c o i CStreet, also owned by the Hospital. This was an exception, according to Mr. Wright, to Hospital policy. Since the Hospital knew at the time that Ms. Reid was disabled, she was provided a ground floor apartment (reportedly at twice the rental of her previous apartment),4. After a %u201cnumber of inspections,%u201d Methodist Hospital%u2019s consulting engineers reported on May 8, 1973, that 531 Sixth Street was in hazardous condition and should be demolished. On July 6, 1973, the Executive Director of Methodist Hospital requested a Department of Buildings inspection to determine whether 531 Sixth Street and adjacent buildings %u201c. . . can continue to be used for human habitation.%u201d5. According to Mr. Queen, the Hospital%u2019s Public Information Officer, Ms. Reid, an elderly disabled woman, was not notified that she was in a building in hazardous condition until August, 1973.6. On August 13, 1973, the Department of Buildings issued a peremptory vacate order because 531 Sixth Street was in %u201cimminent danger of collapse.%u201d Ms. Reid was evicted by a City Marshall and her second home with Methodist Hospital was demolished. Since that time, she has again been temporarily living in the nurse%u2019s residence at Methodist Hospital.7. According to the Hospital%u2019s consulting engineers%u2019 report of May 8, 1973, extensive termite infestation resulted in serious damage to ground floor joists at 531 Sixth Street (Ms. Reid%u2019s apartment was on the ground floor). The later Building Department inspection found, among other things, %u201cNumerous woodjfloor beams are rotted along east foundations wall . . . . thus endangering the safety and life of the occupants.%u201d No efforts were ever made by Methodist Hospital to correct these defects or to prevent such serious/!%u2022> n iO f f A . v t t u a u ^ v .8. Ms. Reid was without representation by counsel during all of her dealings with Methodist Hospital. She was apparently not advised of her rights when she vacated her rent controlled apartment at 541 Sixth Street or when she was evicted from 531 Sixth Street. The Hospital obtained an outside lawyer who sent a letter to Ms. Reid in January requesting her to vacate by February 1, 1974.As of this date, we understand that the Legal Aid Society is now representing Ms. Reid, and we expect that her attorney will lake all necessary action.9. Ms. Reid has never received any settlement or offer of settlement from Methodist Hospital despite her surrender of a rent controlled apartment in a Hospitalowned building and her subsequent eviction from another Hospitalowned building known to be in dangerously unsafe condition (due in part to termite infestation) for several months prior to the time she was so notified by the Hospital.10. Neither Mr. Wright or Mr. Queen, the latter of whom released an extensive public statement about Ms. Reid%u2019s refusals to accept apartments, has ever seen or talked to Ms. Reid. None of the apartments allegedly offered to or located for Ms. Reid from September, 1973 through January, 1974 were in Park Slope, where she has lived continuously for at least thirty years. Ms. Reid has no income other than social security paying a little over two hundred dollars per month.Insofar as we can determine, Methodist Hospital refuses to acknuwieuge iiiai ii iias ui iias iiauany legal or moral obligation to this elderly disabled woman who is now in a wheelchair.Yet, on the apparent facts based on documentary evidence and conversations with Hospital officials, it seems clear that Ms. Reid suffered successive material worsenings of her position at theShe vacated her rent controlled apartment under circumstances which tend to suggest coercion (e.g.. no working boiler in the largely vacant Hospital-owned apartment building). She was relocated to another Hospitalowned building which, several years later, was determined to be in danger of collapse resulting in part from conditions (e.g., extensive termite infestation) which should have been observed and corrected by a prudent landlordEven when its own experts warned it of the danger, the Hospital did not bother to notify this elderly, disabled woman that she was living in an unsafe building for at least three months.Concerning the Hospital%u2019s commitment to the Park Slope Civic Council to %u201c lair andequitable\and proper maintenance and repair of its tenant-occupied buildings-the record speaks for itself in this case.The Committee calls upon the Hospital%u2019s Board of Trustees for a lull investigation to determine who was responsible for the above actions or failures to act as disclosed by Hospital officials and documents provided by them. We also request elected officials and appropriate agencies to investigate such apparent negligent building management and apparent indifference and report their findings to the community. Finally, Methodist Hospital should do more for Ms. Reid than make attempts to evict her from the small room she is paying rent for in its Nurse's Residence.1903] BR O O K LY N H A L L S 591BROOKLYN ART ASSOCIATIONHeating C ap acity, GtX)N-%u00bbs %u2019 ; 2 And i: i M ontag ue Stre.-t Telephone, 1654 M umu T T n N V , t'V 5 I %u2018 %u2018 i i b C ,:^lX 7 !%u2019T v %u2019cr4orr%u2022%u00ab r.TTnrosKT/-%u00bbur-a1 g h ih h etim :\\ai zt%u2019t .yt:\rmssmmmQmini d|urnTOTrmviTTgij as(mBnHEmE33. ; ; v , . .. v y-%u25a0 o..j , -c[ %u25a0%u2022 y r - .v r v %u2022%u2022 %u2022 r y %u2022 , ,.. . . -a.' f ,...........%u2022' r v %u25a0 fr%u201e . , %u25a0_F 'T T c Y . r y %u00bb*.p r , v i ;%u2022 *%u00bb , r vC L T 'E ili iG r ? L%u2019l M '13: - r r . ; w * .1prvi-UFti'*WAf %u25a0 . %u2022: K i dr ^ ' i r r 7 r r Fr vk -v t *; y - f r )m .1E iM E S S S T aLT3 FT -I?r5 3 v s m w i& ik H a a f - i s a j )l _i____ 1 .%u2014 --------I- . .Uildi'.l !K,'4Hr 111, ..nnrnitKl 1H30Che BrooRlyn Instituteof Jins and Sciences%u00abCourse# of L ectu re* n r t . hI %u2022 at %u2019 f A ' !. S< :<%u2022!;. . I.if%u00abTa!uri*lit*-1 H l-tof) SlX%u2019 V !.!>%u00ab %u2022, ,,f! i I' r 'C ourse* of C on cert* and of D ramatic Heading vC o llectio n * u < a. h I **-jmrfm<>nt of S u'li iu. I Art A n n u il F ih lb ltlo n * f I'.dlnr 11<%u2022 i*4 in Weograph) . i f d-.gy, Min rra lo g ), A r e hit w t ur < 1 t ru tty .i t. f \\ the IiiMwirttm-ni Public A n niversary Addresaeaon National Holt ia\\ s Lib ra ry o f t h e Arta andScience*. vffi.tiOO Volumes.The Initiation Fees $5,00A N D T H EAnnual Dues are $ 5.00A M em ber* year liegiii* on th%u00ab first day of the month nearest the date w h fu th - applied! ion for mem Iwtrulnti im %u2022*%u00bb*/%u00bb%u00ab%u2022 11 Att,| ,wcn*lm,%u00abafor tw elve month*C opies o f the Y*-ar-Book a.x1Proajwetus o f the Inatitule m ay beobtained at the ofTV*- ..f the Institute, 50vf Fulton Street, or will bn mailed on reo d p t of |M>st*g%u00ab-; for l%u2019 roK|**otus, 4 cents. for Yrar-B/iok, 19 1 %u2019t%u2018iiLa.TT1B HISTORICAL H A L L , T F u \Iva artl at the rule of |:v j**r night EMPIRE STATE SORETY CO.FR O M ' THE 1903 BROOKLYN FAGLF A L M A N A C