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ra g e iz PHOENIX March 14,1974E d ito rials ,Irresponsibilityto a Public Trust...We have commented in this column before about the meaningfulness of public hearings, but never have we seen such a vile example of uselessness as that displayed in the hearing held in Borough Hall last Thursday by the District Six Community Planning Board.To begin with, there appeared to be no legal call of a meeting; certainly there was no public notice. There was a half-page public advertisement, however, in the New York Daily News by an opponent of the issue under consideration, inviting the public to come and hear about \outrageous posture for any public or semi-official body to be caught in.According to the chairman at the start of the meeting, the hearing was ostensibly called to hear \and against the designation of a six-acre site on the Gowanus| WAY BACK WHEN DEPARTMENT: This is a 1919 spring view of beach| activity at Coney Island when going to the beach was as much social| as recreational.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiitmiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiirCanal as a public place (which would mean the city would acquire the land for some future public use). But that is certainly neither what the advertisement in the News promised, nor was that exactly what happened. What did happen was a verbal abuse and the most obnoxious badgering of most of the speakers who spoke for the designation, and a fawning, pandering sweetness in questioning most of those who spoke in favor of the supermarket proposal. It leads you to wonder about motives.There was some genuine questioning by a couple of the members of the board, but the transparent, obsequious manner of at least a few members of the board, tied to the manner in which the meeting was announced, makes the whole effort appear to be a set-up, pure and simple, for the developer who had already opposed the issue under consideration at the City Planning Commission hearing.Which brings us to a third point: Why this meeting now? The City Planning Commission held a public hearing on this matter during the last week in February. The legal basis for any power of this body is that it is to consider matters that are to come before the Planning Commission and make recommendations concerning them. The Board did not act prior to the public hearing of the Planning Commission, even though that hearing was widely publicized, and a Commission spokesman assures us that official notification was given to the board well in advance. The official, legal hearing was held by the Commission and closed. The matter goes to the Board of Estimate if the Planning Commission rules that a public place designation is in the best interests of the city and the community. So where is the role for the local community board, and where were they when they should have been meeting.Those at the hearing, including elected public officials, a City Councilman, an Assemblyman and a State Senator, were embarrassed and angry about the process they appear to have been caught up in. It is to the credit of these three that they stood firm in the face of vocal, but obviously irresponsible opposition to the public use of this open space along the Gowanus. We hope, now, however, they will join us in a plea to Borough President Sam Leone, who appoints the local board, in getting an accounting of the incredible action of this local board at this hearing. We believe that the citizens who were at this meeting deserve an accounting for this unusual manner in which this meeting happened and the extraordinary treatment that these public representatives of our neighborhoods dished out to their fellow citizens.We are outraged at what we saw, and we would like to hear an explanation. If it is the obvious one, we would expect official action to be taken by the Borough President.Ihc PHOENIX is published SI) times ;%u00bb year by Advocate Press. Inc., 155 Atlantic Avenue, Hrooklvn. N ew York I ICO) Single copy price is 15 cents, annual subscription by mail in New York State, effective July 1. M)7;t is $5; outside New York, $(!.Michael A. Arm strong, Publishe1 30 Clinton Street Brooklyn 11201 Tei. 643-1032rCharges Planning Bd With Hostility & BiasTo the Editor:Community Planning Board 6and especially the chairman,Gerard Carey recently conducted ahearing at Borough Hall on March7 that was an outrageous assault onthe whole concept of communityparticipation and local input in theplanning process.The issue was the fate of sixacres of the original Union Gas Siteon the Gowanus Canal %u2014 is this siteto be a Pathmark shopping centerwith eight stores, open 24 hours aday, parking for 400 cars, or is it tobe condemned by the city anddesignated as a public place? Thelatter choice would prohibit anycommercial use of this site andpermit the community to choosewhich use was most desirable %u2014recreational, park, sports, softball,etc. have all been mentioned asneeded in the area.Mr. Carey announced that thediscussion would alternate between speakers for and against thePathmark complex. He then gavethe floor to Mr. Rosenberg,developer, who proceeded to talkfor 45 minutes with no interruptions and no questions fromthe Board. Other Pathmarkspokesmen were alternated whomade the most unbelievableremarks %u2014 sample: although theyhave indicated they expect 80 percent of their trade to be from thelocal area, they do not believe theywill have an adverse effect at all onCourt Street and Smith Streetstores! When asked about thetraffic and truck problems, theanswer again unquestioned by ourcommunity planning board wasthat only two trucks every otherday were all they would need, andthat there would be no trafficproblem because they had done atraffic survey. Again no questionsfrom the board. What organizationyour survey? How long was it? Atwhat times did they survey? Etc.In great contrast to this___iu iik j|u v .o u u u u u a u L C p i a u t c u i t cU Jl*mark spokesmen, we, therepresentatives of communitygroups, churches and merchantswere insulted, shut off, interruptedconstantly and had almost everystatement challenged. Sample:when I said I represent anorganization of homeowners andcommunity oriented people Mr.Carey said: %u201cYou are from CobbleHiii. I don t know why you areconcerned with this at all.\attempted to explain my involvement, in the entire CourtStreet area, from Atlantic Ave. toHamilton through the Court StreetClean-up Committee, my concernfor the continued vitality andprosperity of the Court St. merchants, Mr. Carey snarled, %u201cI don%u2019tknow what Atlantic Avenue has todo with this.%u201dThe hostile and really uninformed nature of the severe andintense questioning of bonafidecommunity people against thePathmark Shopping Center leavesgrave questions in my mind and inmany others as to their being acreditable community planningboard which is supposed to beconducting an impartial hearing inan attempt to find the communityneeds and wishes.This is my first appearancebefore the Board No. 6 and I wasquite honestly shocked at thehostile treatment I was accorded,since in my ignorance I reallythought they wanted to know howcommunity spokesmen felt.Rachel Haskel487 Henry StreetTennis-Yes,400Times Yes!Gentlemen:There is a tremendous interest intennis in the downtown Bklyn Htsarea. We had well over 400signatures by local residents,asking the Parks Dept, for tenniscourts. All these petitions are onf l I n u n f k A e e n m h lii* v \\ < v %u00ab n \l l i i l t VPesce, who is pursuing this withvigor.Frankly I don%u2019t understand yournewspaper inquiries about tennisin Cadman Park, because you%u2019llalways get some who will be offered to anything. CadmanMemorial Park is for all practicalpurposes unused at the moment.All you see there might be an occassional dog and master, or avery few adults sitting on thebenches. The central area, inwhich the tennis courts would belocated, is just not used. It seems tome that you should be doingeverything in your power to bringtennis to our neighborhood. I hopeyou will.Very truly yours,Bernard SeidenDowntown Bklyn Hts. TennisCommittee101B Clark St. Apt. 22CPut Courts in our Own BackyardDear Sirs:My husband and I are both tennisplayers. We have lived in theHeights for ten years. From Aprilthrough November, every weekend(weather allowing) we have had todrive out of the neighborhood toindulge in our sport. Once in ourcar, we more often than not aretempted to shop, not in the neighborhood but at stores en route toContinued on . Page 16ft