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Page 8, PHOENIX, May 2, 1974.Editorials ,What's the Story?^ No one will ever know if the tragedy in Cobble Hill%u2019sColumbia Street Park in late April could have been prevented ifan ambulance had been dispatched from the hospital that is onlya block away. Hospital officials appear to be operating underthe impression that they are forbidden to respond to anemergency call; the City Health and Hospitals Corporation saysthis is not so.Long Island College Hospital has often displayed what manycharacterize as an insensitivity to its relationships with itsneighbors. But only some far-out detractors have argued aboutits approach to health care; most observers were willing toconcede the hospital%u2019s professional approach to its work. Thisincident certainly raises doubts in this latter area. The hospitaloperates an emergency room and ambulance service for thepublic benefit. From the facts we see, and the statement ofgovernment officials, either the hospital%u2019s policy is wrong or theofficials are wrong. The public deserves a complete and fullexplanation of the actions of the hospital and the laws governingits services. Someone is wrong here.The police officers in this case certainly appear to have actedin a less than professional manner, as well. The thought thatpolice officers who are supposed to be trained to cope withemergencies would respond with less than full speed andconcern is frightening. If we have policemen patroling thestreets who are not trained to administer the kind of first aid thissituation called for, then there is something seriously wrongwith the kind of preparation our officers are getting for theirjobs.i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i iii iiiii iiiii iiu i iiiii iiiii iiiiii iiiii iiim iii iiiiu iiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiiig iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiiii iiiii iiiiH , 'WAY BACK WHEN: The nostalgia of this 1950%u2019s view of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, justwest of Brooklyn Heights, may be of lesser magnitude for those who have sat on this very spotduring many a traffic jam.EIt's Wilson'sNew Jersey%u2019s Governor Byrne has signed his half of thelegislation required to end the ridiculous prohibition of the PortAuthority from involvement in mass transit, as he promised hewould do during elections there last year. Now, it%u2019s time forNew York and Governor Wilson to act; but the signs don%u2019t lookgood,- %u201e%u25a0 ....In a typically narrow-viewed statement, one conservativeNew York City banker has scored this action and called onWilson to resist the move to guide this public authority%u2019sactivities into channels the public wants tended.New York City is a great commercial, financial and culturalcenter because of the unique network of transportation facilitiesit has, many of which were the results of efforts of the PortAuthority. If the public will is that the energies, finances andintegrity of the Port Authority be turned to the delivery andsupport of mass transit, elected New York officials have theduty to see that this is accomplished.W e urge Governor Wilson to follow through on his publiccommitment to repeal the self-imposed covenant that forbidstransit activities, so that the agency can begin to deal with theNew York region%u2019s number-one problem.A Public JournalThe PHOENIX is a public journal whose pagesare open to its readers. We welcome and invitereactions and comment about both our views andour coverage. We are also interested in hearingabout the views of our readers on subjects of localinterest. Send your letters and longer commentsto: Editor, PHOENIX, 155 Atlantic Ave. Brooklyn11201. We reserve the right to edit all materialreceived. Please include a stamped self-addressedenvelope if you wish your material returned.Flu- PHOENIX is mihlisht'ri SI) times a year In Advocate Press, Iiic .. 155 Atlantic A ve nue , Brooklyn, NewYork 11201. Single copy price is 15 cents, annual subscription by mail in New York State, effective July 1,I!I7:I is $5: outside New York, $t>.Michael A. A rmstrong, Publisher155 Atlantic Avenueld ^ I, i.,-. m m U> t W/ I \\ I y I I ITel. 643-1032r^yS YORK(Sfa [Mm\\ijLocal Hospital InactionUpsetting and UnacceptableFollowing is the text of a letter to John Wingate, President, Long Island College Hospital, regarding the subject of news stories last week and this in The PHOENIX:Dear Mr. Wingate:A matter concerning your hospital%u2019s callous disregard of its moral obligations toward the community it ostensibly serves has been brought to the attention of the Cobble Hill Association. The circumstances seem to indicate so serious a dereliction of duty on the part of the emergency room staff that we are writing you in hope that some administrative action can be taken to forestall any future recurrences.On Saturday, April 20, in the small park just across the Expressway from your emergency room, a man collapsed. Another man, Shawn Thompson, immediately ran to the emergency room and asked someone to come with a respirator or with some equipment to take care of someone suffering an (apparent) heart attack. His plea was refused. Someone in the emergency room did dial the police 911 number, but that is all they would do. A squad car (!) finally came, but as it turned out, neither of the policemen in it knew anything about artificial respiration. Finally another squad car errae, and one of the policemen in it finally did attempt to administer artificial respiration. The police did finally send for an ambulance, but by the time it arrived the man was dead.No doubt you can easily hedge such appalling lack of concern for a fellow human being%u2019s life with legalistic gobbledegook. The fact remains that a roomful of people L c iiu c u in m e s a v in g ieehniques refused to attend an emergency case not just in their own service area, but practically on their own doorstep, wrapping themselves in bureaucratic red tape instead. There is something seriously amiss with a hospital%u2019s priorities when such a thing can happen. A hospital that shows so little regard for the people in its own community surely does not deserve and cannot expect to receive any support from that community. .As I said above, it is too late to tragedy. Perhaps %u201c Do unto others save Saturday%u2019s victim of staff as you would have others do onto negligence and indifference, but you%u201d might do for a starter, surely some sort of administrative Alice Van Boltpolicy could be instituted to President, Cobble Hill Assn,prevent a recurrence of such aDo You Know YourQualified Candidates ?To the Editor:Once again this year, bewildered voters in the primary and general elections will be asked to make choices in judicial contests about which they have received little information. The political setting in which the candidates are chosen is not conducive to a high quality, independent judiciary, and tends to dilute confidence in our courts - and rightly so.Last year, Charlie Monaghan and I encouraged reform Democratic clubs in all of Brooklyn to field slates of delegates to the Judicial Convention who would vote to nominate only those candidates found qualified by an independent screening panel. In the 51st Assembly District, Joe Ferris headed such a slate on behalf of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, \\lthough the Ferris slate won here, its success was not matched in other districts, and it was unable to get the screening panel concept adopted by politically-minded organization delegates at the convention.This year, vacancies in the New York Court of Appeals, the State Supreme Court and the New York City Civil Court will be filled by the voters. Once again, an impartial screening panel ot non-political groups will review the qualifications of all Brooklyn judicial candidates and make a public report. Once again C.B.I.D. will run a slate of judicial delegates pledged to this screening pane! concept. Voters who want to upgrade the quality of the courts in this borough and in this state should determine which candidates for delegate are pledged to abide by the findings of the panel and which candidates for judgeshipshave agreed to appear before the panel and have been found qualified by it.Paul H. Asofsky 617 Eighth AvenueThe G reat TennisDebate ContinuesGentlemen:On March 25, 1974 at a meeting of the Orange Street Block Association, the body of our organization voted on the question of tennis courts in Cadman Plaza Memorial Park. After some thirty minutes of heated debate on the issue a vote was taken and twenty one (21) members voted against the proposal with five (5) for and nine (9) abstaining.The consensus of those voting against the proposal was that such a change in the park would hurt the community of Brooklyn Heights environmentally and cosmetically. Suggestions were made that those favoring tennis courts in Brooklyn Heights explore the area surrounding the waterfront under the Brooklyn Bridge and at the foot of Fulton Street.Albert Tomei, President Orange Street Block Assn.SuperPhoenixDear Editor,Congratulations on a %u201cSuper%u201d issue of the Phoenix (April 26). Keep up the good work.Yonr %u201c nan cr%u201d ic hpanm ina nr %u2018 1 , , .... ......o - r %u2014 -of my must reading habit.H. Zimmerman 63 Montaque St.