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Feds Subpoena Environmental Records In BoroContinued from Page 1process, the Urban Land Use Review Procedure (U LU R P) and received the greenlight to begin construction. The Environmental Impact Statement for the BrooklynRenaissance Plaza project, a hotel and officeP n m n l h T i n K o K i i l H K i r O i m o n c r l o i r o l n n o r---- ----- 1--------- . V M V V W.V . V V ^ WJoshua Muss, was accepted by the City inJanuary and the Atlantic Terminal EIS wasaccepted in April. Both statements wereprepared by the Manhattan consulting firmAKRF, Inc.Critics of the Muss development havepointed to the traffic and air pollution problems arising from the large development.The consultants who prepared the environmental impact study for the projectwere unable to propose effective mitigationmethods for traffic and air pollution problems, but Muss%u2019 project was approvedunanimously by the Board of Estim ate inJune. After the approval, a plan was announced to build an underground roadway toconnect the hotel site with the BrooklynBridge. The City is under a mandate to bringits hot-spots %u2014 locations where concentrations of carbon monoxide and otherpollutants exceed Federal standards %u2014 towithin Federal guidelines by 1988.The EIS is required for projects thatundergo the City%u2019s ULURP process and identifies the effect of the proposed project on thesurrounding area, taking into considerationtraffic and air pollution increases, and proposing ways to mitigate dram atic environmental impacts. The EIS must be submitted to the City%u2019s Dept, of EnvironmentalProtection, which then certifies that it accomplishes its purpose. The project only thenmay begin the U LURP process, which entailsreview by the local Community Board, theCity Planning Commission and finally by theBoard of Estim ate.Guiliani%u2019s office would not confirm or denythe issuance of the subpoenas. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney said, %u201cAnything todo with a grand jury investigation or subpoena we cannot provide any informationon.%u201dDeveloper Jonathan Rose responded to thenews of the subpoenas, saying, %u201cI am surprised, and I have no idea what this is about.They have not called m e.%u201d Muss did not respond to repeated phone calls to this officeseeking comment.A number of City and private developmentofficials were willing, however, to expresstheir views off the record, saying that theybelieved the subpoenas were a random effortto latch onto a possible investigation intowrongdoing. %u201cThe similarity between theprojects is that they%u2019re big, but otherwise+Kav%u00bbo Je nn OOnT.wCtiOH,** %u00a331(1.The two projects for which the recordswere subpoenaed have not been without controversy. Joshua Muss, earlier this year, wasunder investigation by Federal and City officials in connection with the rights he obtained to develop a project in Queens, and hisstations on each line,%u201d says Transit Authorityspokesman Termaine Garden. %u201cWe hopedthere would be a positive effect of clean stations on subway ridership.%u201dGarden says the TA hasn%u2019t decided yetwhich 47 stations would be added to the program , or whether any would be in DowntownBrooklyn.Progress has also been made in recentmonths on the full-scale renovations of threedowntown-area stations: Clark St. and HoytSt. on the Number 2 and 3 lines, and BoroughHall on the Number 4 and 5 lines.Hoyt St., undergoing a $3.4-million renovation since 1983, suffered construction delaysearlier this year because the Transit Authority couldn%u2019t gain access to the area behind oneof the staircases, where steel supports werecorroding. The area could only be reachedthrough the Baker Shoe Store at 445 FultonSt. TA officials said a t the time that the storewould have to be closed for two months during construction.Garden, however, says the TA reached anagreement with the store%u2019s management %u2014Edison Stores of St. Louis %u2014 that allowed twoweeks%u2019 worth of construction work during thesummer in return for an unspecified payment to the store for lost sales.Garden says work at Hoyt St. is now %u201c99percent complete,%u201d with only a few punch-listitems remaining to be done.The $3.9-million renovation of the BoroughHall station, originally scheduled to be complete by June of 1984, is also 99 percent complete, Garden says, with all punch-list itemsexpected to be done by the end of this month.A new contract has been awarded for thereconstruction of the star-crossed Clark St.relationship to late Queens Borough President Donald Manes. That investigation wasdropped without any charges being filed.Muss%u2019 project in Brooklyn is a hotel and office complex with banquet and conferencefacilities to be built in cooperation with thef!itv%u2019s Piihlir rw>vplnnmpnt Corporation Tbpproject would include a 356-room Hilton Hoteland 538,000 sq. ft. of office space with thebuilding rising approximately 30 storiesabove Adams St. Earlier this year the projectreceived a $9.6 million Urban DevelopmentAction Grant (UDA).station in Brooklyn Heights. The original contractor defaulted on the $1.3 million project ayear ago after completing only 25 percent ofthe contracted work in a three-year period.Garden says a new, $1.138-million contractwas awarded May 29 to the Aviele Construction Co. of Brewster, N.Y., with a scope ofwork virtually identical to that of the original1982 contract. The first contractor was unableSections To Be Graffiti FreeThese are the downtown Brooklyn stations currently in the Transit Authority%u2019sgraffiti-free station program:LINE STATIONSA %u2014 Hoyt-Schermerhorn, LafayetteAve., Clinton-WashingtonD %u2014 Atlantic Ave., DeKalb Ave.F %u2014 York St., Jay St., 4th Ave., 7th Ave.F-GG -8m ith-9th Sts., Carroll St., BergenSt.GG %u2014 Clinton-Washington, Fulton St.RR %u2014 Court St., 9th St.2-3 %u2014 Clark St., Borough Hall, Hoyt St.,Nevins St., Eastern Parkway4-5 %u2014 Borough Hall.to complete any single aspect of the modernization program, which includes new tiles,new signs, new platform lighting, a new platform edge, new plumbing and a new terrazzofloor in the passageway between theelevators and the platform.The Aviele company started work in Juneand is scheduled to finish in September 1987,Garden says.The 24-acre Atlantic Terminal andBrooklyn Center projects, a two-phase project proposed by developer Jonathan Rose,received Board of Estim ate approval inSeptember. According to Sam Friedman ofthe Dept, of Environmental Protection, the%u2014 m f i o c i i r o c n r n n r 'c n H f n r ~ iiu u g a u u u iit ta o u i to p i u p u o tu iu i m e p i u j c l iwould result in compliance with Federal airstandards by 1992. Rose, chosen as a solesource developer for the site, plans 643 condominiums, 215,000 sq. ft. of retail space andtwo 24-story office towers in his Atlantic Terminal development.South Brooklyn Legal Services attorneyRaun Rasmussen filed a suit in Federal courtagainst the U.S. Dept, of Housing and UrbanDevelopment, charging that the Federalmonies used in the project violated the FairHousing Act because the project would causesecondary displacement and segregation inthe area. Critics of the project, includingPark Slope Assemblyman Jim Brennan,charged that the Board of Estim ate vote onthe project was inappropriate consideringthe large number of campaign contributionsmade by developers to Board of Estim atemembers including Golden and Mayor EdKoch.The two EIS %u2019s prepared by AKRF inManhattan took an especially long time toprepare according to Deborah Alle, seniorvice president at the firm, due to the overlapof the project study areas. %u201cIt took a longtime because of the involvement with otherprojects,%u201d she said. The traffic impact studyfor the Atlantic Terminal project was conducted by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade andDouglas, another Manhattan firm.AKRF was hired by the City%u2019s PublicDevelopment Corporation for the AtlanticTerminal project through a Request For Proposals (R F P ) made after a number ofqualified firms had been chosen to submitproposals according to PDC%u2019s Lee Silberstein. The study ran over its initial estimatedcost by nearly $200,000 with a final price tagof $525,000 and took over one year to complete. AKRF was hired by the City to prepare the study for Brooklyn RenaissancePlaza.Laurence Levy, Inspector General at theCity%u2019s Law Department, responded to thesubpoenas succinctly, saying, %u201cThe U.S. Attorney for the Southern District requestedthem, and they were issued, and now we waitlike everyone else.%u201dSubway Station Fix-Ups May Move FasterContinued from Page 1F r e n c h S t u d e n t s P r o c l a i m B r o o k l y n I s %u2018 C o o l %u2019B Y TRACY GARRITYIt%u2019s lunchtime at the Berkeley CarrollStreet School. The smell of fried fish chasesstudents to their seats where they dumpknapsacks on the table, and turn a collectivenose up at the vegetable of the day. They looklike eighth grade U.S.A. Oversized shirts,Reeboks, Walkmen.Yet despite the identical packaging, thegroup of students at the com er table are notthe standard Park Slope preppie issue.They%u2019re on leave of sorts from College LouisLumier, in Marly-Le-Roi, France %u2014 a largepublic school noted for academ ics, 30minutes from Paris. And while the purpose ofthe Trans-Atlantic classroom is to introducethe students to a different culture and conversations, the emphasis has been on vacation.%u201c We%u2019re here for three weeks,%u201d says SoniaBester. %u201cThere is no time not to like anything.Next week we will be back in France. It%u2019s likea vacation for us.%u201d%u201cToo short,%u201d pipes in Marie Baronnet, ofher first visit to America. %u201cI%u2019m not ready togo home y et.%u201dThat statement echoed the sentiment ofmost of the 21 students who cam e to BrooklynOctober 23 marking the first leg of what willbecome an annual exchange between the twoschools: Berkeley students will visit Francein April. F or many of these studentsBrooklyn is their first taste of what isAmerica. And while the students appearAmericanized, there were several cultureshocks in their stay thus far.%u201cThere are so m any people in Manhattan,%u201dsays Sonia. %u201c I couldn%u2019t believe it.%u201d She rollsher eyes and pushes a hank of hair from hereyes. %u201cWe went to the parade.%u201d%u201cIt was the Mets,%u201d adds StepheanieDossou.%u201cAnd we couldn%u2019t see a thing. Too manypeople,%u201d Sonia rolls her eyes again.%u201cBut they were nice,%u201d adds Mariegraciously. %u201c A lot of people sometimes aren%u2019tiiic ti u ie n u iy . \to all be very friendly.While the other students have been takenaround Park Slope and into Manhattan ingroups, Marie has gotten a taste of NewYork's underground from her first day inschool. Again, the number of people is a topicfor surprise. %u201cI have to take the train, youknow, the subway, here every day,%u201d she says.Marie is staying with a family on E ast 19thr u ____ a. %u2022 _ n --------l _ i %u2014D l l C U i l l U l W I U J i l .____At_____ _11 A L - u vu i uicii cui uiuoc j r vpie are friendly. They will talk to you. TheyF re n c h s tu d e n ts (le ft to rig h t)S o n ia B e s te r, S te p h a n ie D o s s o u ,M a rie B a ro n n e t an d M a th ie uF e lg in e s . (P h o e n ix /G a rrity P h o to )W e%u2019re here for threeweeks. There is not timenot to like anything. Nextweek w e%u2019ll be in France,h %u2019s like a vacation.are very nice. I really want to come backhere.%u201dIn addition to a walking tour of Park Slope,the students have visited a variety of touristspots: the N.Y. Stock Exchange; FederalHall, the Museum of Natural History. Broadway and the Statue of Liberty still beckon inthe coming weeks.iney are having an exuDerant goon time visiting other areas with their host familiesO n V i s i t H e r eand eating healthy doses of American food.%u201cThe food is different in F ran ce,%u201d says Sonia.%u201c Maybe not better, but different.%u201d They lookdown at their plates of fried fish that has beenpicked over and the remaining crumbs ofchocolate cake. %u201cWell, maybe a little betterat our school.%u201d%u201cBut the American food we get at home,%u201dsays Marie, referring to their temporaryBrooklyn lodgings, %u201cThat is delicious. Justlike at home.%u201dThere are some notable differences, theyfind. Most of those are academic. TheBerkeley Carroll Street School was universally proclaimed %u201ccool.%u201d'%u2018The teachers here are cool,%u201d says Sonia.%u201cOur teachers are very strict,%u201d addsStephanie.%u201cHere they are very nice. There is work tobe done, but they are easy about it,%u201d saysMarie. %u201c And they talk a lot to the students.%u201dThey also have to dress more formally forschool in their hometown %u2014 and the school ismuch larger.%u201cHere there are so few students,%u201d saysMathieu Felgines. %u201cLook around.%u201d The lunchroom is empty except for the handful ofFrench students. %u201cWe have many students.%u201dBut more striking are the similarities.Universal themes of music and movies linkthe two cultures together. Favorite movie ofthe week is %u201cStand By Me.%u201d Favorite singer:Madonna. %u201cWe watch the American movieswith French words,%u201d says Sonia. %u201c But mostof us know English.%u201dLunchtime is over and they begin towander away from the table. Wandertowards classrooms, clutching books and giggling for a cam era. A friend dances overplugged into a Sony Walkman, throwingarm s around the French girls. The Walkman,like so much of their seemingly Americangarb, cam e from France. %u201cHe got it inF ran ce,%u201d translates Sonia. %u201cBut he%u2019s verydepressed because it was cheaper here inAm erica.\N ovem ber 6, 1986, TH E P H O E N IX , Page 5