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Page 4, PHOENIX, May 30, 1)74>1 1 _ | | _ 1 _ 1 * /vxeenng neiu ioDiscuss Effects ofSodium LightsRegarding Trees,PersonalBY JOHN BLACKMOREThere%u2019s talk again about those high-intensity sodium lights that were installed last year in Brooklyn Heights, and over the winter in most neighborhoods in Brooklyn. The security light installations are part of a city-wide program to convert existing mercury-vapor lamps to the high-intensity sodium variety, which are significantly brighter. The issue has been somewhat dormant in the past three months but, with the coming of Spring, a number of community groups have again become involved in the controversy of whether the lights are a boon to the community as a security device or to pressure their removal because they are greatly detrimental to trees.In Brooklyn Heights, the Sidney Place Block Association devoted a better part of their May meeting to discussing the merits and drawbacks of the new lights. Ron Merkin, President of the Association, reported that the issue was an emotional one. %u2018%u2018Strong feelings were expressed on both sides of the light issue,%u201d said Merkin, %u2018%u2018The opponents have been writing angry letters to Commissioner Martin Burrell, the Commissioner of Traffic and Highways, who heads the City agency in charge of the installation program.SafetyOn the other hand, many people feel safer walking the streets at night with the brighter lights.%u201d As a result of these feelings, Merkin and Ben Miller, also of Sidney Place, have devised a questionnaire to get some idea what the weight of neighborhood opinion is. They plan to submit the results of the questionnaire to Councilman Fred Richmond, who has promised that if a large number of people wanted the lights down, he would see to it.The Sidney Place Association is currently distributing these questionnaires on Sidney Place itself, as well as adjoining sections of Livingston, State and Henry Streets. The first group of questionnaires to be returned, Merkin reported, were about equally divided on the issue. An earlier questionnaire on the lights issue, distributed a year ago throughout Brooklyn Heights by Councilman Richmond%u2019s office, indicated that a large percentage of residents in the area were in favor of the lights, at least on heavily travelled thoroughfares in the neighborhood (for instance, Henry, Clinton, and Montague Streets). The results of the Sidney Place Association poll will be reported at their June meeting, tentatively scheduled for June 6 at St. CharlesThese trees along Atlantic Avenue near Court St. have not yet budded. A contributing causemaybe exposure to high intensity lights although other environmental factors must be taken intoaccount. [Richard Solomon Photo]Borromeo Church on Sidney Place.The Brooklyn Heights Association continues its investigation of the pros and cons of the sodium lights. Both Nancy Wolf of the Trees Committee and George Silver of the Environmental Committee are involved in studying the possible effects of the lights on trees adjacent to them, and alternatives designs for the highintensity lights. Their concern was precipitated by a U.S. Department of Agriculture report issued last November indicating that at least under controlled conditions, exposure to sodium lights was correlated with %u201c dieback%u201d damage, particularly, with young trees. These include the LondonPlane tree and the Norwegian Maple, species popular in treeplanting programs in Brooklyn neighborhoods. There was some indication of abnormal growth patterns evident last January when some trees adjacent to the lights continued to generate sprouts long after the onset of winter. There is no clear evidence of damage with these trees at this time.In Cobble Hill, Shelly Goldberg of Pacific Street, has been concerned about the environmental effects of the sodium lights since late last fall, when Pacific Street became one of the first completely residential streets to receive the lights. Through the efforts of Mr. Goldberg and the Pacific StreetBlock Association, residents were promised that the lights would be replaced by lower wattage ones. Goldberg and other Pacific Street residents, have been taking particular notice and care of their trees and, as a result, no damage to them is evident. He reported, however, that the trees on adjacent Court Street and along Atlantic Avenue have not done as well. The newlyplanted trees in front of the Municipal Parking lot at Atlantic and Court Streets, and those in front of the South Brooklyn Savings Bank are dead or dying. Whether this has anything to do with the sodium lights, or whether environmental factors are at play, is not known at this time.fBOOKED: - Prentice-Hall Publishers Inc. have announced the publication of Clinton Street resident Thomas Brooks%u2019 latest book, %u2018%u2018Walls Come Tumbling Down: A History of the Civil Hignts Movement (1940-1970). Cauea acoherent, detailed and thoroughly readable history%u201d by Publishers%u2019 Weekly, Brooks%u2019 work presents an impartial view of the successes and failures of the Civil Rights Movement since 1940. A journalist who has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, New York, and Commonweal, Brooks has also authored %u2018%u2018Toil and Trouble,%u201d a history of American Labor.WiNNER: - Pedro Rios of the Brooklyn Heights Youth Center was awarded 3rd Grand Prize for his black and white photograph submitted in the Volunteer Service Photographers%u2019 Annual Student Contest. Shown with Pedro is Geoffrey Brooks, a VSP Volunteer with the Brooklyn Heights Youth Center. (Alfred N. Haleblian Photo).HONORED: - Thomas Cuite, vice chairman and majority leader of the New York City Council, was honored recently with honorary membership in St. Francis College%u2019s Zeta lota Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, a national business fraternity. Cuite, an alumnus of the Remsen St. College and a trustee, also received the fraternity%u2019s Civic Award.NEW APPOINTMENT: - Polytechnic Institute of New York at 333 Jay St. has a new assistant for industry liaison, Arthur L. Rossoff. Polytechnic%u2019s president, George Bugliarello named Rossoff to the post; the appointment is effective immediately. Rossoff, a 1943 graduate of City College, earned his masters in electrical engineering at Polytechnic in 1947.GRADUATION: - Medical Assistant Virginia Jenkins of Methodist Hospital has announced the graduation of her latest class in Medical Terminology. Students are hospital employees who devote 30 hours of their own time to learn medical expression that will permit them to be of more value to the Hospital. The new graduates are: Barbara Bennett, Elsie Caamano, Gerrie Hall, Sandra Masayko, Anne McCarthy, Pat McGlade, Denise O%u2019Rourke, Ann Marie Mazzaro, Pat Brown and Chin Hsiu Fu.ON STAGE: - Cobble Hili resident Tony Vozzo, a former volunteer worker at the Brooklyn Heights Youth Center and foondfir nf th%u00ab South Brooklyn based New Life Theatre will play a featured role in The Stage Player%u2019s presentation of %u201c The Me Nobody Knows%u201d at the Staten Island Zoo Auditorium starting on May 30. Vozzo, a playwright and poet as well as an actor, established the neighborhood theatre group for local youths as a means of exploring street life through drama. For reservations: 727-0517'V .