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Page 2, PHOENIX, May 16, 1974fSt.George TowerClosing TiedToEnergy CrisisBY LYNNE GRIFOThe recently-announced closing of the Tower Building in the St. George Hotel complex is attributable largely to the fuel crisis and its apparent %u201c solution%u201d through higher prices, says Hotel Owner Edmund Margulies. %u201c Over the past four or five years, oil has gone up 60 per cent,%u201d he said, \dollars a year on fuel; we expect the closing of the Towers will cut our costs in half.\The Towers Building, containing 1,048 rooms, is the third building in the St. George to be closed. Its location and spectacular views of the New York Harbor would seem to warrant conversion to apartments, but Margulies, who has owned the hotel for the past six years, says no such conversion is planned. His major effort at this point is directed toward relocating tenants of the 400 occupied rooms in the building.%u201c We wrote each tenant a very nice letter explaining our situation and requested they choose rooms in another section. So far, the response has been very favorable. We had a big meeting with about 100 people, and tenants are in and out of my office all the time to arrange for new accommodations. Rooms in the Towers Building are very inexpensive because they lack private baths; we%u2019ve made rooms available at a similar price for those who cannot afford increases.%u201dMargulies feels that consolidation of his tenancy in fewer buildings will go a long way toward improving security. He said too that many of his undesirable tenants will be leaving once the Towers is closed.In his letter to the tenants, Margulies wrote, \alternatives. The first was to give up and close the hotel. If we did this, we realized what a hardshipthis would mean to the people who have been here for so many years and have called it their home. The same applies to the employees. What it would do to the neighborhood and the surrounding area would be a catastrophe.%u201dWhen asked if revenues saved through reduced fuel and maintenance costs will be used for improvements in other parts of the hotel, Margulies said, %u201cthe debts have to be paid. Then, what is left over will be used to improve the other buildings.%u201dOne tenant not relocating is the Heights and Hill Community Council, which has its offices in the Weller Building of the hotel complex, at the corner of Henry and Clark Streets. Council Director Patricia Molloy, who works with many of the Towers Building%u2019s elderly residents, is optimistic overall.%u201c A lot of the elderly tenants are upset about losing the rooms they%u2019ve lived in for many years. Others don%u2019t want to give up the beautiful view of the Harbor. But they do agree that the closing of the Towers Building is a good idea for security reasons, and many of them wll have rooms as good as or better than they now occupy. I%u2019ve seen some being redecorated, and they%u2019re attractive. Some of the residents are even pleased about the change,%u201d she said.When asked about the crime problem at the St. George, Ms. Molloy said the Heights and Hill Community Council keeps records of incidents reported by tenants. According to those records, the rate seems to have declined somewhat as compared to last year, when the hotel was plagued with a series of robberies and murders.%u201c I feel the closing of the Towers Building should make the hotel a lot more manageable,%u201d Ms. Molloy continued.* %u201c W e%u2019ve had onemeeting already which Margulies attended, during which he answered tenants' questions. Another one is planned for May 21. If Margulies does all the things he%u2019s promised, everyone will be much happier living at the St. George.%u201dBut Ms. Molloy is not quite as optimistic about the future of the Heights and Hill Community Council. Unless foundation funding applied for is not received shortly, the Council-which provides various services to the elderly in the Heights-may have to close its doors. When contacted, a spokesman for Councilman Fred Richmond said various sources of interim funding are being explored which may help to keep those doors open.Second Annual Carroll Gardens Day on SaturdayThe Second Annual Carroll Gardens Day is set for Saturday May18, announced Anthony Gambale, President of the Carroll Gardens Assn., the sponsor. Festivities will take place op Carroll Street between Smith and Court Streets and in Carroll Park on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rain date is May19.Events will include a flea market, plant sale, refreshments, sale of hand made reproductions and crafts, mobile units and a band.%u201c Last year Carroll Gardens Day was such a success and helped to make the residents of Carroll Gardens and neighboring areas aware of the strong community feelings and involvement of the Carroll Gardens Association,%u201d said Gambale.This year%u2019s event is co-chaired by Maryann Gambale and Adelle Levine.Hospital Probe Findings ConflictWith Eyewitness Testimony:New Investigation DemandedJohn B. Wingate, Associate Administrator of LongIsland College Hospital, hascompleted his investigationof the possible negligence onthe part of emergency roompersonnel in responding to arequest to aid Sidney Sinrvkovsky, a Heights residentwho collapsed and later diedat Columbia Street Playground, two blocks from thehospital.The man on duty at theemergency room allegedlyrefused to dispatch an ambulance or send medicai care toaid Simkovsky. According toV A /innatp a n a m h u la n o p vx/ncdispatched upon the requestfor help, citing evidencegleaned from intensive interviews with the personnelinvolved. According to hisinformation, the ambulancewas already on its way whenthe police subsequentlymade a similar request,vv'inqate said that he issatisfied with this explanation. Wingate%u2019s account,however, still doesn%u2019t fit withreports by eyewitnesseswhich indicate the LICHambulance did not arriveuntil considerably after therequest for help was madeand after a police radio carand oxygen unit had alreadyarrived at the scene.Assemblyman MichaelPesce has joined CouncilmanRichmond in calling for a fullinvestigation of the matter,both of the hospital%u2019s and thepolice handling of the case.C o m m u n ity w itnesseshauo nhornoH thM %u25a0**%u201c *' %u00bb' %u00bb%u2022 IVrf puu Wlman from the 76th Precinct,who firs t arrived at thescene, refused to administerartificial respiration or anyform of first aid to Simkovsky, who at that time wasstill alive. In response toRichmond%u2019s and Pesce%u2019s request, NYPD CommissionerMicnaei uodd has promiseda complete departmental investigation of the patrolman%u2019s actions.Wingate responded to theCouncilman%u2019s request lastweek, saying that he hadreviewed the incident withLICH personnel and community witnesses. In his letterhe said that it was his%u201c personal intuition to sidewith Thompson. Cobble Hillresident Shawn Thompsonwas the witness who madethe request to LICH for help.Wingate deplored the incident, reiterating his promisefor a thorough investigation.U a x_ :_: a : _ _ i ig u u u wi i iiow u iw it ii u c u e aregular review of emergencyprocedures with hospital personnel. With his investigation now complete, Wingatehad praise for the emergencyroom personnel, saying%u201c Last year they responded to9500 ambulance calls, and 'ithink they do a damned goodjob.%u201dThe Tower Building of the St. George Hotel complex in BrooklynHeights is being closed by the management to cut costs. The Heightsand Hill Community Council sees it as a move to make the hotel saferfor its elderly residents.Planning Board 2Approves WastePlant ConstructionBY DAN ICOLARIFort Greene residents were surprised and in some cases angered last week by a sudden turn-around in Community Planning Board 2%u2019s position on the construction of a solid waste plant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Board split down the middle and ended up approving the proposal 7 to 6, with one abstention.But last March 18, when Devco M anagement, Inc. subm itted a proposal to Community Planning Board 2 (Fort Greene/Clinton Hill) for the construction of a pyrolysis plant to handle commercial waste collected by private cartmen, the Board voted down the proposal, saying it had insufficient information on which to base a decision. The most vocal community group in opposition was the Farragut Tenants Association, representing 10,000 people who are the proposed facility%u2019s nearest neighbors.When the Board met in executive session on May 8 to reconsider the Devco proposal, remarks in support of the facility were heard from members of CLICK%u2019S marketing board (the organization charged with finding industrial tenants for the old Navy Yard); from Mrs. Viola Ford, president of the Farragut Tenants Association, who reversed her organization%u2019s previous position because of Devco%u2019s promise to hire guards from the community to deal with the proje c ts iiiCiCasc ill aiicci traffic; and from Devco officials.Representatives of community groups opposing the facility, such as the Washington-Willoughby Neighborhood Association and the Pratt Area Community Council (PACC) were discouraged from speaking because, said Board chairman Failla, it was an executivc session, not a public h e a rin g behind closed doors, the Board approved the facility 7 to 6.Says Phil Bilancia, chairman of the W ashington-W illoughby group, \way the Board conducted that meeting. They may think the Farragut Tenants Association represents the entire community, but it doesn%u2019t. Just because they%u2019ve been promised jobs by Devco doesn%u2019t mean the issue has changed. We want a traffic impact study now - before construction starts.%u201dThe substance of opposition centers around this issue rather than on environmental considerations. Devco and a representative of the City%u2019s Bureau of Engineering explained at the May 8 meeting that the pyrolysis method gives off a smaller amount of pollutant than any other process now available. The plant would recycle corrugated and mixed paper, ferrous metals, aluminum and carbon; inert residue could be made into building brick.This is a lot different from the 1950%u2019s Sanitation Department proposal to build an incinerator in the Navy Yard larger than any in the City; while other incinerators were burning about 1,000 tons of garbage daily, the planned facility would have burned 6,000 tons per day. But in the 1960%u2019s, heightened ecological consciousness and stringent environmental codes ruled out a facility that would have emitted large quantities of particulate matter (soot) into the air. The inen-newiy-created Environmental Protection Administration scrapped the plans in 1968.Responding to Bilancia%u2019s demand, Joseph Bostic of Devco made it clear his firm would not consider doing a traffic impact study until after a lease has been signed with CLICK.Devco%u2019s literature tends to playH m v n (h r* in in a o t c u k c la n l in l lo \k. O U I/J IM IIIIU IIJincreased truck traffic: %u201c TrafficCONTINUED ON PAGE (>t. .. bi