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Contrast: myrtle, Fiaibush Aves.Street Repair Work Goes Poorly Without Community InputBY DAN ICOLARIOver the summer, residents of several downtown Brooklyn communities will witness major work being done by the Department of Highways on their main commercial streets. In Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, repaving and repair of the sidewalk and roadbeds on Court Street should begin shortly. In Park Slope, repair and repaving of Flatbush Avenue has begun. In Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, the Department%u2019s ambitious project of roadbed widening and recurbing of Myrtle Avenue is already well underway.In a letter to Michael Lazar, City Transportation Administrator, Council Tom Cuite has asked that the scheduled repaving of Court Street within his district proceed inan orderly fashion: %u201c In the event any additional signal lights are contemplated for the future or are in the pipeline now, we request installation of cable for same prior to repaving.%u201dBuddy Scotto of the Court Street Board of Trade emphasized that while the Board has yet to take a position on the repaving, he feels the majority of its membership is in favor. %u201c Some of the property owners are a bit disturbed about being reassessed, but they recognize the repaving as a good thing. The potholes will be eliminated, new trees will be planted, and the sidewalks will be repaired. All in all it should make Court Street a much more attractive place, which is what we want.%u201dThe repaving of the roadbed,This is not a %u201c Way Back When%u201d photo of a turn of the centurycarriage trail. It%u2019s Myrtle Ave. today in the process of getting anew roadbed. Catch-as-catch can scheduling has caused anumber of repercussions among Ft. Greene residents andmerchants. [Richard Solomon Photo]repair of the sidewalks and recurbing of Flatbush Avenue has proceeded with a minimum of dislocation and loss of business largely because of the efforts of the Triangle Parks Committee, a resident-merchant community group responsible for the creation of minitriangle parks along Flatbush Avenue from Lafayette to Eighth Avenues.Because of its work with Triangle Parks, when the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development heard Flatbush would be repaved, it passed on the information to the Committee. The Committee in turn contacted merchants along Flatbush and sponsored a Merchants Breakfast at Michel%u2019s Restaurant, at which officials of the various city departments concerned explained the entire process to the community, answered questions, and were able to measure community feeling.Because merchants were concerned about a loss of business during the Christmas season, theCON I INI ID ON I%u2019AOI I 'Segments of Flatbush Avenue sport new sidewalks andcurbstones as part of the ongoing refurbishing,Red Cross Park GetsTennis Court VoteBY JOHN BLACKMOREA group of Brooklyn Heights residents interested in the establishment of tennis courts in the community attended a public meeting Thursday, May 23 to discuss the various alternative sites available and express their opinions on the issue at large. The meeting was called by Assemblyman Michael Pesce in hopes of coming to some resolution over the site selection problem. A number of community groups, including Committee for Downtown Brooklyn Tennis courts and the West Brooklyn Independent Democrats, have officially supported the building of tennis courts in Cadman Plaza Park south of the War Memorial there.Assemblyman Pesce has repeatedly asserted that he would support the construction of such courts at whatever site the community supports. Besides the Cadman Plaza site, Squibb Park and the so-called %u201c Red Cross%u201d park have been suggested as possible sites. There was opposition to the Cadman Plaza site by certain members of the community, as well as from the Parks and Cultural Affairs Department. This opposition was reflected in a PHOENIX readers poll conducted two months ago, where 33 of the 62 respondents rejected CadmanPlaza as the appropriate site. Pesce, in order to insure that all sides were represented at the meeting, made special invitations to those who participated in the poll.After some discussion of the various alternatives, and a report by the Recreation Committee of the Brooklyn Heights Association, the group voted to support %u201c Red Cross Park\tennis courts. According to Heightsk resident Howard Simmermam, the group had the fewest reservations concerning this site in contrast to the others proposed. (In March The PHOENIX supported this particular site as the optimum one in an editorial) %u201c Red Cross Park%u201d is an under-utilized sitting park just east of Cadman Plaza Park, situated between Caduutu i id/.a c a a i anu u ic /AuaiiibStreet approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.The vote approving the %u201c Red Cross%u201d location was 31 %u201c for\%u201cagainst%u201d and came after the group was advised that the Parks Dept, had also offered a site under the Manhattan Bridge near the East River at Washington and Plymouth Sts. Also. Donald Moore, head of the Downtown Brooklyn Development Committee, informed the group that a previousCity Nixes AtlanticAve. Building Salesuggestion made by the Parks Dept, that tennis courts could possibly be placed on the vacant block opposite the Long Island Rail Road Station at the juncture of Flatbush, Atlantic and 4th Aves. was completely invalid as the site is scheduled for urban renewal.Assemblyman Pesce promised to actively pursue the group%u2019s decision, and will work with the appropriate officials to get the project underway as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Committee for Downtown Brooklyn Tennis Courts agreed to work with the Brooklyn Heights Association Recreation Committee to advance plans for the tennis courts.Further support for the Whitman Park location came from the Brooklyn Heights Recreational council, which formaiiy recommended that tennis courts be placed there, rather than in Cadman Park. Studies have shown that there is sufficient space for six courts in Red Cross Park, the minimum deemed feasible by the Parks Dept.In other business, the Committee for Downtown Brooklyn Tennis Courts unanim ously elected MelMiller as Chairman to succeed the late Bernie Seiden of Cadman Towers, who died a few weeks ago.A proposal for the sale of six City-owned Atlantic Avenue buildings at $500 each by the City's Housing and Development Administration (HDA) to a Manhattan development firm was to have been heard by an executive meeting of the Board of Estimate on May 23. That evening, Zutalors, Inc., the development firm, was to have presented the proposal before a community meeting in Fort Greene. But on the same day HDA killed the deal; it was removed from the Board of Estimate calendar, and the community meeting was canceled.Says Barry Zelickson of HDA, %u201c The Zutalors proposal seemed workable to us, but because of the impending expiration of a special tax-depreciation program under which renovation of the buildings was to have been financed, we had to proceed so quickly there really wasn't time to assess alternatives.%u201d The proposed sale of the buildings at the $500 price tag had sparked opposition among some local residents who had expressed interest in acquiring the propertiesbut were quoted a much higher price.Though several residents of areas adjacent to the site have expressed hope that the Atlantic Ave. storefront properties between 3rd and 4th Avenues can be sold through an open public auction or by some other equitable process, Jim Flood of HDA's public affairs office says no firm plans have been formulated. %u201cThe proposal was killed because we%u2019re quite sensitive to community opposition; as soon as we heard rumblings in the community we decided against rushing it through.\When asked about HDA%u2019s decision to cancel a proposal he had approved, Marvin Goldberg, Project Director of HDA's Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area said, %u201c If that%u2019s the statement they want to release, 1 have nothing further to add.%u201dRichard Rosan of the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown Brookyn Development says disposition of the buildings is now under study but that a decision probably will not be reached for some time.- DAN ICOLARISlope Council Sets ElectionThe 78th Annual Meeting of the Park Slope Civic Council will be held on Thursday, June 6, at the Methodist Hospital Nurses Residence, Eighth Avenue and Sixth Street. The meeting is scheduled to begin promptly at 8 p.m.The main item on the agenda will be the election of officers and trustees for the comingvftar In addition a nnmhpr nfcom m ittee reports w ill be heard, as well as a treasurer%u2019s report.Any additional nominations may be made by a petition signed by 25 or more eligible Civic Council members. Further information regarding additional nominations can be obtained from Judy McGaughey, Secretary, 90W indcnr Planem155 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11201 Tel . 643-1032A community newspaper published weekly, except the first week of July and the1a%u00abU weak nf A ijn in t hu Artvnaato Pi-acki Innserving the neighborhhods surrounding Downtown Brooklyn, Including Boerum Hill,Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Park Slope, and Prospect Heights.Subscription rate is $5.00 pr year.The entire contents of the PHOENIX are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without express permission.Application to mail at Second Class postage rates is pending at Brooklyn, New York,