Page 300 - Demo

%u25a0Ml ' 1 A W 4 AU) A / l t -BackyardWatergateNews this week of court action over tactics used byopponents in the 14th Congressional District of Brooklynsadly fits the pattern being unraveled in Washington andNew York over matters related to the 1972 Nixon re-electioncampaign.Two opponents of Congressman John Rooney have filedsuit in U.S. District Court, charging the Congressman andthe Federal Bureau of Investigation with illegal investigationof their backgrounds for use in the election campaign byRooney supporters. Another newspaper earlier this weekrevealed that the Brooklyn District Attorney%u2019s office isinvestigating the actions of a State Supreme Court Justiceduring the 1972 campaign on behalf of Congressman Rooney.Those active in the local political scene have long believedthat the administration of local elections in our part ofBrooklyn regularly leaves something to be desired, but as therevelations unfold of improper and illegal activities on behalfof one candidate by a justice of the Supreme Court and by anagency of the Federal Government, we may begin to find thepressure for our own Watergate-style purging begin to build.DowntownU m illlH H IIIM Ii W AY-BACK-W HEN DEPARTM ENT: This 1910 view o! the intersection ofFlatbush and Fourth Avenues is a far cry from today%u2019s busy auto scene.Williamsburgh Bank Tower is now in spot in center of photo, Just beyond theelevated platform . [Long Island Historical Society Photo]..............On Way Up;Next week we will publish a special issue of the PHOENIXdevoted to downtown Brooklyn, the center of our universe ofhistoric brownstone neighborhoods.The PHOENIX has been working with the leaders andmembers of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Association over recent weeks to put together an issue that will givea comprehensive view of the dynamic changes that havealready taken place downtown, and those that are coming.The spirit of renewal, both physical and psychological, thathas lifted up downtown Brooklyn is the same one that isresponsible for the renaissance of our residential neighborhoods, and we hope our readers will look forward to thisspecial report in next week%u2019s paper.Do You Have Something to Say?W e w elco m e your contributionsto th e Phoenix C om m unity Forum Page.5 0 0 -7 5 0 w ord length p re fe re d .Send your material to:The Editor, Phoenix,155 A tla n tic A ve B ro o k ly n , N .Y.11201T h e P H O E N IX is p u b lis h e d 5(1 tim e s a y e a r by A d %u00advo cate P re s s . Inc.', 155 Atlantic Avenue I, B ro o k ly n , NevrY o rk 11201. S in g le copy p ric e is 15 cen ts, a n n u a l subs c rip tio n by m a il in N e w Y o rk S ta te , e ffe c tiv e J u ly 1,107:! is $5; outsid e N ew Y o rk , $6.M ich ael A . A rm stro n g , Publisher155 Atlantic AvenueBrooklyn 11201Tel. 6 4 3 -1 0 3 2Claims SignaturesInept ForgeriesTo the Editor:A small group of self-styled %u201c outraged homeowners%u201d are raising a loud public clamor in support of the proposed Pathmark shopping center on the remaining six acres of vacant land along the Gowanus Canal. I think the public is entitled to know who among them are being paid by Pathmark for this service, and how much.The social and political leadership of Carroll Gardens and other neighborhoods dose to the area in question is united as seldom in the past behind the proposal to have this area designated a %u201c public place%u201d so that it can eventually be developed for the recreational use of the whole community.Home owners in the area (those not being subsidized by Pathmark, or misled by its creatures) are appalled by the truck and car traffic which has resulted from a cement plant%u2019s operations on contiguous land. They are furious at the prospect of a 6-day, 24-hour shopping center with a 500-cai parking lot being added to bring more trucks and cars into theii narrow streets, endanger their children and add all the noise and congestion of such a facility to their area. The impact on the thriving commercial areas like Court and Smith streets could be to turn them on the downhill road to deterioration.The hectic handful of %u201coutraged homeowners%u201d who would have us sell the birthright of ourselves and our children for a mess ot Pathmark pottage are circulating documents which purport to contain signatures of %u201c thousands%u201d of residents in support of the monster market. These petitions exhibit a startling sociological phenomenon: whole blocks of Carroll Gardens residents, men, women and children of widely different backgrounds, have identic a l handwriting! W H A T m u mexplain rr? %u00b0Perhaps a foundation grant should be sought for a scholarly examination into the causes of thisamazing similarity? But perhaps there is a simple explanation: the signatures have been written by the same hand. Should this turn out to be the case, a sad conclusion must be reached. Pathmark didn%u2019t even get its money%u2019s worth of service: inept forgeries instead of evidence of community support. They were short-changed!But let us not permit the whole community to be short-changed inthis important matter. The last six acres of vacant land, in an area which will one day again be a showplace in our neighborhood due to the efforts of dedicated citizens to restore the Gowanus - that land must be saved for public use. Let%u2019s tell the Board of Estimate that this is the united will of our community.Gordon Haskell487 Henry St.Congress Tem pts HimBut Pesce isn%u2019t SureDear Editor:I would appreciate your printing this letter as an open letter to my friends and constituents.Last Saturday, April 13th, the New York Daily News ran a story stating that I had %u201c announced%u201d my candidacy for the congressional seat now held by Congressman Hugh Carey who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor.I was amused to read that article since it seems that the Daily News or its unnamed %u201cregular (Democratic) Party sources%u201d knows something that I do not know. Did someone forget to invite me to my own announcement ceremony?No one at this point of time knows whether we are to have new congressional district lines this year and, if so, what they may be. The question ot reappomonment is still locked in confusion somewhere between the federal courts in Washington D.C. and the Republican leadership councils in Albany, N.Y. Therefore, I would not be expected to take the formal step of %u201cannouncing%u201d for a District that may not exist or at least may not retain its present boundaries for th is y e a r %u2019s elections.As a public figure who has done his best to stay %u201c up front%u201d on community and legislative issues, I can understand and appreciatespeculation about my movements. I am certainly looking very seriously at a congressional race in the area of the Assembly District which I now represent. My friends and I have been seeking to raise money for such a race. That arduous chore cannot await final determination on redistricting if we are expected to make a credible attempt to get humane and progressive representation in Washington D.C. But I have not %u201cannounced%u2019 %u2019 as of yet and when I am ready to do so, I will inform my friends and constituents directly, rather than thru an article in the Daily News. Thank you very much.Michael L. Pesce Member of Assembly 52nd A.D.358 Court 5t.E d i t o r 'arooKtVP^C%u20191^ 1W e w an t tohear from y o u !