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February 7,1974 PHOENIX Page 5Analysis ofMethodistExpansionProposals:Plans ShowBldgs.'Close'BY JOHN BLACKMOEELast week the Park Slope Civic Council released a series of photographs showing Sixth Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, as it now exists and as it purportedly will appear if Methodist Hospital%u2019s plan to close Sixth Street is approved and its proposed acute care building is built over the bed of the street. The pictures were prepared by architect Ron Schiffman of Pratt Institute in order to show the environmental effects of straddling Sixth Street with such a structure.Methodist Hospital Community Affairs official Robert Queen, said the hospital has made no formal presentation to the City Planning Commission as described by Schiffman. %u201cPresentations will be formally made, sometime in the future,%u201d Queen said, %u201cI%u2019ve seen nothing from Schiffman%u2019s office. I don%u2019t know which plans he used.%u201d He further denied that the hospital will veer from the concept presented to it by the Local Planning Board. %u201cThe architects will go along with these regulations and stipulations,%u201d he said.Although Queen did not have the opportunity to examine Schiffman%u2019s presentation, he didLIU DoesClassicDramaThe second production of the Long Island University Theatre%u2019s 25th season is a spectacular revival of Leonid Andreyev%u2019s classic play, %u201c He Who Gets Slapped,%u201d and is now playing Feb. 8-9 and 14-15-16.First produced by The Moscow Art Theatre in 1915, the play is set in a provincial French circus on the eve of World War 1. It explores the degradation of a brilliant man whose violent rejection of the modern world and its decadent morality ends in tragedy. %u201cHe Who Gets Slapped%u201d as a dramatic work is famous for the delicate balance it maintains between pathos and lyrical romanticism.The production, directed by Dr. David Gild, will incorporate professional clowns, circust acts, and musicians. Setting and costumes will be designed by noted----- - J ~ ~OV%u00bbVUV/ U V d t g i l V l ) o u t lU V U p llW lThomas, with musical direction by the well-known composerconductor, Robert Aquino.%u201cHe Who Gets Slapped%u201d opened at the St. Felix Street Playhouse, with a special champagne gala performance Feb. 7. Perform ances are at 8 p.m. General admission is $2.50, Students with I D. $1.50. For information, reservations, and group sales, call 834-6290Would Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue looking toward Eighth Avenue, with a clear view all the way to Prospect Park.6th St.describe the current architectural scheme as including a %u201cpedestrian mall%u201d with access via a ramp, features described in Schiffman%u2019s mock-up. %u201cSuch a ramp would double the existing grade along Sixth Street, thus violating the Planning Board%u2019s guidelines,%u201d Schiffman reported, %u201c The Planning Board will eventually have to decide whether this meets the spirit of their guidelines or not.%u201dIt has been reported that the P ratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development and the Park Slope Health Coalition will soon unveil an alternative plan for the expansion of Methodist Hospital which they say will meet all of its legitimate needs without closing Sixth Street.According to Schiffman, the r e p r e s e n ta tio n s %u201c s tr ic tly coordinate with architectural plans which Methodist Hospital made available to the City Planning Commission in midDecember.%u201d He added that details concerning m aterials or fenestration were not included in these plans but, for the purposes of this presentation, are represented as similar to the adjacent Wesley House residence. %u201c Although Methodist has made a model, it%u2019s hard to translate what the structure would mean to the street visually, %u201d Schiffman said.Commenting on the pictures, Richard Coyne, Chairman of the Civic Council%u2019s Hospital Expansion Committee, term ed the appearance %u201ca disaster.%u201d %u201cThe serious credibility gap between Methodist Hospital and the Park Slope community opens wider with the publication of these pictures.The alleged %u2018revision%u2019 of Methodist Hospital expansion plans announced by it and the Local Planning Board No. 6 last June%u2014to permit an uninterrupted line of sight up and down Sixth Street and to maintain its present rate of incline%u2014appeared discredited by these professionally prepared photographs based on the hospital%u2019s own submitted plans.%u201dFrank Jones, Secretary to the Council%u2019s Committee, added, %u201cThe area near Methodist Hospital is cut off, visually, psychologically, and to an extent physically, from Prospect Park, Saint Saviour%u2019s Church, and the rest of Park Slope above Eighth Avenue. The impact on the elderly who use Sixth Street for its gentle incline may be particularly harsh.%u201dAccording io Coyne, liiePlanning Board%u2019s approval ofMethodist Hospital%u2019s application toclose Sixth Street was contingentupon the specified conditions thatthe present line of sight and rate ofincline of the street would bepreserved, and a group of new rowhouses constructed. %u201cNow seriousdoubts exist as to whetherM pthoHist H n snitn l is able nr *willing to keep these commitments,%u201d said Covne.Same place, as it might appear if the Hospital%u2019s proposed new building is constructed as proposed. Note: the envisioned ramp or stairway %u2014 some form of sharper incline appears inevitable under this plan.Sixth Street looking down from Eighth Avenue and St Saviour%u2019s R.C. Church. (The first three whitestone houses on the right were demolished by the Hospital%u2019s contractors last month.)Same place with the Hospitals proposed new buiiding in piace.