Page 165 - Demo

Parents Move For Permanent Housing For The HomelessBY LIZ KOCHResidents of the Brooklyn Arms WelfareHotel in Fort Greene marched anddemonstrated in front of the 16 Court Streetoffice of Borough President Howard Goldenon Oct. 23, calling for permanent housing andchanting %u201cWe don%u2019t want no more shelters.%u201dThe procession started at the hotel located onAshland Plaza and wound its way, 50 peoplestrong, through Fulton Mall, on its way toGolden%u2019s offices. They demanded an immediate hearing with Golden, a request thatwas rejected, but they did meet with DeputyMayor William Thompson, Jr., who promised to set up a date with Golden.The march, organized by members of arecently formed advocacy group in the hotelcalled Parents on the Move, came on theheels of the recent Board of Estimate approval of the large mixed-use residential/office development to be built at Atlantic Terminal, only a block away from the hotel. Themarchers, mostly mothers with youngchildren, voiced concern that approval of theproject would lead to condemnation or closing of their hotel building and also displacement of some 2,500 more area residents intoshelters.Standing before Golden%u2019s office, speakerscalled on the borough president for assurancethat they would not be displaced from thehotel unless given permanent housing. Atenative meeting with the borough presidenthas been scheduled for Oct. 30.Local politicians joined the mid-morningdemonstration, and Assemblyman RogerGreen, whose district includes the hotel,criticized the lack of a low income housingcomponent in the Atlantic Terminal projectto be developed by Rose Associates.%u201cThe City will subsidize a parking garagefor the project. This system of governmentpays more attention to the housing of carsthan the housing of homeless children,%u201d hesaid, standing before the hotel. %u201cWe need aC hildren a n d parents from the B rooklynA rm s w elfare hotel took to the streets andm arched to th e Borough P re sid e n t%u2019s o fficedem anding perm anent housing.(P h o en ix /K o c h Photos)public policy that, provides justice for thosewho are homeless, hungry and for childrenwho need more hope in their life.%u201dAssemblyman Albert Vann added, %u201cIt isthe moral responsibility of the City if they goahead with ATURA and displace residents ofthe hotel to move you into permanent housing.%u201dRuth Young, a hotel resident and presidentof Parents on the Move, called on the City ofNew York to increase rent allowances currently permitted for residents seeking tomove into apartments and to provide morelow and middle income housing. %u201cWe are notContinued on Pune 6Underhill Park Gets A Cool Million In Funds To Play WithBY ELIZABETH FOSTERThree-year-old Jenise Williams lookedacross the vacant lot expectantly but uncomprehendingly as she clutched a balloon thatsaid, %u201cBrooklyn Parks: 6000 Acres of Fun!%u201don a sunny Saturday morning. Similarballoons bobbing above the crowd ofneighborhood children seemed a promise ofthe fun in store as they heard the story oftheir neighborhood%u2019s six-year struggle totransform the dilapidated and dangerousplayground into a safe, beautiful communityspace.Neighbors, local community leaders andCity officials led by Mayor Ed Koch gatheredat the site on Oct. 25 for a groundbreakingceremony for the new Underhill Playground,a full-scale $1 million restoration of a crumbling, fenced-in concrete yard to the %u201cgreenpiazza, serving toddlers, teenagers andadults%u201d envisioned by architect Peter Gisolfi.Six years ago, it became apparent to RobinKetchum, a 18-year resident of ProspectHeights, that the concrete playground wasnot keeping pace with the renewal of herneighborhood. Ketchum described theplayground as %u201ca den of iniquity. We were inspired because it was such a bad spot,%u201d shesaid. %u201cIt was a neglected playground that hadbecome the place for drugs, shootings andcrimes.%u201dThe Underhill Avenue Civic Associationnamed Ketchum leader of its UnderhillAvenue Playground Association. The group%u2019sinitial efforts to transform the park weremerely cosmetic %u2014 painting benches, cleaning up garbage %u2014 and it soon became obviousthat drastic remodeling was necessary. Overthe course of the six years, Ketchum%u2019splayground committee involved the City College of New York and the Parks Departmentin the struggle to rebuild UnderhillPlayground.The plans for the park were created fromthe synthesis of 12 projects turned in by aclass at the Graduate School of Architectureat City College under the leadership of architect and teacher Peter Gisolfi. Whenpresented with models and plans for the 12projects, the Parks Department agreed tol u i i u c u e C O ita t i u c c iu u U i w ic n e w j p i a j ' g i u u i i ubased on the imaginative student designs andthe community%u2019s determination. GisolfiAssociates was hired to execute the plans andconstruction started over the summer byNassau Land Improvement.Construction workers uncovered the remains of an old water pumping system as excavation began for the playground%u2019s newdrainage system and it turned out that in1859, the site had been the pumping stationfor the Mount Prospect Reservoir. It was acquired by the Parks Department in 1940. Thecomfort station for the new playground isbuilt on the site of the parkkeeper%u2019s house onthe earlier playground.Mayor Koch, Parks Commissioner HenryStem, City Council Members AbrahamGerges and Mary Pinkett, Alphonso Wright,District Manager of Community Board 8 andBrooklyn Parks Commissioner Julius Spiegelwere all on hand to officially launch theplayground%u2019s reconstruction. A brass ensemble, courtesy of the Brooklyn Arts andCultural Assocation, played %u201cEntry of theGladiators%u201d and the theme from%u201cSuperman%u201d as the Mayor%u2019s limousine arrived. The Northbrook Two Girl Scout trooprecited the %u201cPledge of Allegiance,%u201d and Commissioner Stem lead the audience in the%u201cConservation Pledge,%u201d to faithfully defendour natural resources from waste.Pointing behind himself to the recentlycompleted brick Romanesque facade of thenew comfort station, which he called %u201cthe TajMahal of comfort stations,%u201d Stem rhapsodized about the project. %u201cI am extremelyfond of trees,%u201d he said, %u201cand that is why weare planting more trees per acre in UnderhillPlayground than there are in Central Park.What we are doing with this facility is takingthe grey out and creating a study in green.%u201dMayor Koch praised the community%u2019s effort to bring back a better quality of life by itswork for this park. %u201cThis massive capitalproject will transform what was once a concrete jungle into a miniature urban forest,with dozens of trees, hundreds of flowers andthousands of shrubs and plants,%u201d said theMayor. %u201cProspect Heights residents willhave one of the loveliest playgrounds in NewYork City when Underhill reopens next summer.%u201d He noted the carefully-tendedbuildings across the street from theplayground and the proud troop of Girl Scoutswith their American flags and troop bannersand observed, %u201cThese are people who careabout their community and have great pridein it.%u201dThe new playground will feature a watersprinkler for children to play in during thehot summer months, two handball courts andplay equipment for younger children. Rampsleading to the different levels will make it fully accessible to wheelchairs. Forty Norwaymaples, little leaf Lindens, Japanese treelilacs, and Ailanthus trees will be planted,along with numerous flowers and shrubs.After the speeches were over, the crowdgathered around the officials with theirceremonial shovels for the groundbreakingceremony. The local activists and the City officials each tossed a shovel of dirt in the airas Mayor Koch joined the Girl Scouts in singing %u201cIt%u2019s a Small World.%u201dAs neighbors gathered to sharerefreshments, a Park Ranger removed thegold-painted shovels used in the groundbreaking ceremony. %u201cWhere do those go?%u201d abystander asked. %u201cProbably to the Smithsonian,%u201d he answered with a smile.(L-R) A ssem b lym em b er Roger G reen; P eter G isolfi of G isolfi A ssociates; R obin K etchum ,U nderhill Ave. C ivic Assoc.; Parks C o m m is sio n er Henry J. Stern; M ayor Edward I Koch; C ity C ouncil M em b er M ary Pinkett; M arilyn M osley, from Borough President H ow ardG o ld en %u2019s office; The N orthbrook T w o Girl S co ut Troop join to g eth er to turn the sail on thenew playground. (M atth e w Zucker Photo)Parks C o m m issio n er Stern introducesreitsf G isoifi, w iioae uiaaa of y ia u u a ie arc h itec tu re s tu d e n ts at City C ollege c o llaborated on th e design of th e newU nderhill Playground, a $1 m illion restoratio n of a rundow n playground m aintainedby th e Parks D epartm ent.O ctober 30, 1986, TH E P H O E N IX , Page %u00a3i