Page 375 - Demo

Possible Site In Dispute:Sports Stadium SuggestedF o r A t l a n t i c T e r m i n aBY DAN IC0LAR1%u201c Brooklyn is a big-league town.%u201d So said Borough President Sebastian Leone at the annual luncheon of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Association, held at Towers Hotel May 6. Leone talked about the need for a Brooklyn sports facility that would serve several functions, acting as a home for intercollegiate and intramural sports as well as home to professional baseball, basketball and football teams.Sources close to the Borough President%u2019s office report Leone is in active negotiation with owners of existing basketball and hockey franchises as well as those who could put together franchises once explorations and plans become more formalized. According to Richard Rosan of the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development, his office is now studying a number of possible sites for the sports facility, which is currently conceived as an indoor space.One location under consideration is a site currently slated for low-density, moderate income housing development within the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area; it fronts on Hanson Place and is bounded by Ashland Place on the west and Fort Greene Place on the east. The housing project is sponsored by the Fort Greene Non-Profit Improvement Corporation, whose first phase of development is now underway elsewhere in the renewal area.%u2018%u2018When ODBD asked us to give up our other sites so that Baruch College could locate there, we acquiesced gladly,%u2019%u2019 said Paul Kerrigan, a spokesman for the Fort Greene group, %u201c but we%u2019re prepared to go to court rather, than sacrifice another 400 housing units to a sports facility.%u201dBut in an interview, Rosan insisted the site is only one of several under consideration. %u201cThere are three alternate sites,%u201d he says, %u201c and in each case we%u2019ve got to do studies on size, cost and impact. It couldn%u2019t be more tentative.%u201dPossible sports center sitenow designated for housing.In this site plan of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area,shaded sections denote housing either under construction orproposed by the Fort Greene Non-Profit ImprovementCorporation. Slanted lines indicate area to be occupied byBaruch College of the City University. Arrow points to areaunder study by the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown BrooklynDevelopment as one of several possible sites for new sportsfacility.But pressed for a comment on the objections voiced by members of the Fort Greene Non-Profit Improvement Corporation, Rosan added, %u201c There%u2019s just no way they%u2019ll be able to get that housing built-there%u2019s no money available for subsidized housing; the federal program (known as %u2018236%u2019 was phased out by Nixon early in 1973--without 236, nobody can bring in housing for $42 a room, which is what they%u2019re talking about.%u201dbut Mr. Kerrigan of the Fort Greene group insists there are alternatives; his group has made formal application to the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, which administers the Mitchell-Lama program on the state level.Meanwhile, two candidates forthe Democratic primary in the 14th Congressional District have expressed strong disapproval of the facility%u2019s location on the Hanson Place site.Ms. Priscilla Rassin argued, %u201c We don%u2019t need a sports stadium. There is a critical shortage ofmoderately-priced housing in the Borough of Brooklyn, and in downtown Brooklyn in particular. The Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Plan is designed to provide this type of housing. 1 support the efforts of the Fort Green Non-Profit Improvement Corporation. \Sam Beard has charged that the Fort Greene community has not been consulted about the sports facility. %u201c The Atlantic Terminal Project had to be okayed by the neighborhood originally, and so we can assume that any addition would require the same approval,\Factory Demolition, ElderlyHousing for Hts. Block 207Resident Finds Himself UpAgainst Bureaucratic WallUp against the bureaucratic wall. That%u2019s where Congress Street resident William Shahwan found himself after frustrating efforts to clear up the several summonses issued against his stolen car.Shahwan%u2019s car was stolen in Cobble Hill on March 11, and he notified the 76th Precinct that same day. Three weeks later, he received a summons for two violations on the stolen vehicle. The Traffic Violations Bureau on Court Street told Shahwan he needed proof his car was stolen to get the summonses voided. The 76th Precinct provided verification and the summonses were dismissed.Late in April, Shahwan received two additional summonses againsthis stolen car. The 76th%u2019s records confirmed his car still stolen. So Shahwan went to the Violations Bureau to try and learn where the violations (totalling nine for all three summonses) had been issued. The Bureau advised him he could have information on three at no charge, but he%u2019d have to pay $1 for 03ch 0? the others.The idea of paying the City for information that might help solve a crime left Shahwan extremely angry. He spoke with Tony Caraciolla of Councilman Tom Cuite%u2019s office, but was unable to get any help.Captain Peters of the 76th Precinct offered to help in any way he could, but admitted there is little or no liaison between the Police Department and the Parking Violations Bureau.In a May 6 letter to Mayor Beame, Shahwan writes, %u201c It only proves to me that the City is not functioning correctly because of the bureaucracy surrounding all the official departments of the City. I feel very sorry for a lot of peoplewnu uu nui nave liiy jpcucvciaiiCcand persistence. I feel that the odds are against honest working people of this City. At this time, I still do not know where the summonses were issued or where my car is.%u201dShahwan has sent Councilman Cuite a copy of his letter to Mayor Beame, and nos is awaiting a reply.w .v ;v .v .v .v .v a v . v .*.v .v .vBY DAN ICOLARISpeaking of the last remaining piece of undeveloped land within the Cadman Urban Renewal AreaBlock 207 in Brooklyn Heights, bounded by Poplar Street, Cadman Plaza West and Hicks Street-jay Lustig, Deputy Director of the Brooklyn Office of the Housing and D evelopm ent A d m in istratio n (HDA), dsif, %u201c We finally seem to have reached a consensus on how Block 207 is to be used.%u201dThat should be welcome news indeed to many Heights residents who have been concerned about vacant buildings at the northern tip of the area. Particularly vexing has been the Lekas & Drivas Building, a one-story commercial structure on Cadman Plaza West, which has provided refuge for derelicts, despite repeated attempts to keep them out by erecting tin sheeting over doors and windows. Many feel this may be the major factor responsible for a fire that occurred in the building several weeks ago.%u201c Lwant to let people know we%u2019ve awarded a contract for demolition of that building,%u2019%u2019 said Janet Gallagher, also of Brooklyn HDA, %u201c and that work will begin some time this month.%u201dHDA%u2019s Lustig told The PHOENIX that after much controversy. 275 housine units for the elderly will be constructed on the site, augmented by open space for use by students at P.S. 8, on Hicks Street. (Other proposals, he said, had called for a new intermediate school; for use of the site as an exclusively recreational space; and for le restoration of the existing buildings.)%u201c But housing for the elderly is the use approved by the major community organizations,%u201d Lustigsaid, %u201c the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Heights and Hill Community Council, and Community Planning Board 6.%u201dLustig indicated that his office is currently exploring the feasibilityof a renovation of the former orphanage on Poplar Street He%u2019s received preliminary feelers from private renovators, and conversion to office space seems the most likely eventual use.No Hearing Date Set On GowanusA spokesman for the calendar clerk%u2019s office at the Board of Estimate stated this week that a hearing date on a designation for the controversial former gas company site in Carroll Gardens still has not been assigned. The spokesman said the Board is still awaiting a report from the Director of the Budget which must be reviewed before a hearing date can be scheduled.The site bordering the GowanusCanal was accorded public-place designation last April 4 by the City Planning Commission; two com munity groups, one favoring retention of such designation for recreational use, and one favoring the installation of a supermarket complex on the site, having been wooing support from Carroll Gardens residents. Both groups will present their cases before the Board, which has final say on how the vacant six-acre tract will be used.%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605%u2605 NOTICE TO OUR READERSThe application o f The PHOENIX foe Second d a te Mail Pri vile get hat been accepted bythe U.S. Pott Office. This means that our mail subscribers should receive their newspapersas priority mail. We mad subscriber copies every Thursday evening, and deliver them to theGeneral Post Office at Cadman Plate. They are parceled out to heal substations from there.I f you receive your copy later than ordinary first-class mail should take, please notify yourlocal post office about the deiey. and let us know. too. We work hard to create a newspaperevery week that contains newt of interest to our neighborhoods. We want you to get it whileit is still news.%u25a0n-nit-n'nnwn'K-nnyr-K-K-prm'KTririr'kwirkirwir w w w wm & m m155 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn. New York 11201 Tel 640-1032A community newspaper published weekly, except the first week of Juiy and the last week of August by Advocate Press, Inc .serving the neighborhoods surrounding Downtown Brooklyn, including Boer urn Hill. Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene and Park SlopeSubscription rate is $5.00 per yearThe entire contents of THE PHOENIX are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without express permissionApplication to Mad at Second C'as? Postage Ratos is Pending at Brooklyn, NewMay 9, 1974, PHOENIX, Page