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E d it o r ia l sA Voice in the Future of the WaterfrontThere are few eiiies as easily identified by their skylines as New York City. The twintowers of the World Trade Center, the colored spire of the Empire State Building, theunique towers and cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the hundreds of lights twinklingacross the city's other bridges identify New York. Not only to America, but to NewYorkers as well.And now the unique panoramic view of Lower Manhattan from the Brooklyn HeightsEsplanade, long though to be protected by law, could well be threatened by a publicagency. A Port Authority attorney last week reminded members of the Cobble Hill.Association that the bi-state agency is not legally bound to adhere to the zoning protection of the unique view from the Esplanade when selecting a future use for the PortAuthority Flers and their upland area below Brooklyn Heights.That%u2019s just another reason why we welcomed the news last week that the BrooklynHeights Association has organized a broad-based 45-member local committee to address the future re-development of the piers and has retained a New York City planning firm to give the group expert advice on the subject and its own point of view aboutpossible future uses.While we have no reason to believe the Port Authority intentions include obstructingthe now-protected view, the very fact we have been reminded of the possibility suggests that we need a strong, mobilized and aware community. Not only does theorganization of this committee appear to begin this process, but it also offers the hopethat our affected Brooklyn neighborhoods will be represented with the same calibre of%u201cexpert%u201d help that the giant port agency can bring to bear on the subject.Both factors seem to be of paramount concern to our neighborhoods after the earlywarning we received in a presentation earlier this year, sponsored by the HeightsAssociation, where planners, architects and others evaluated %u2014 and had disparagingremarks about %u2014 the the preliminary steps the Port Authority had taken to begin itsstudy of the future of the 87-acre waterfront site, a process that began with amarketing study not a planning one.Of the many, many things that make Brooklyn the unique place it is, the BrooklynHeights Esplanade has got to be close to the top of the list. What the future can bring tothe waterfront below the Heights will also certainly rank high on that list in thedecades ahead. The formation of this new Committee on the Redevelopment of theBrooklyn Heights Piers insures that Brooklyn%u2019s neighborhoods will have the opportunityto make certain that the future includes what is best not only for the city, but for all ofus who live here as well.Makes The Right PointYour editorial, \Now%u201d (Phoenix, Oct. 23) makes the rightpoint. The homeless problem is a problem forall of us.All areas of New York must do their fairshare to help those who need a place to live. Itis unfortunate that we have an administration in Washington that is more concernedwith putting weapons in the sky than puttingpeople in homes. That leaves it to State andLocal governments to pick up the slack andprovide shelter for the homeless, along withprivate and charitable organizations.Some of what New York has been doing isgood but paying a lot of money to house people in places like the Brooklyn Arms Hotelhasn%u2019t worked. Adequate shelters and morepermanent, affordable housing need to bebuilt.While communities should not shy awayfrom their responsibility to house thehomeless, efforts must be made to ensurethat shelters cause little disruption. An idealplace for a shelter is Floyd Bennet Field. It isvacant, and removed enough from communities to silence objectors. Floyd BennetField is also large enough to house a significant number of homeless families.The homeless need our help now. However,proposals to help the homeless should be onesthat get the job done. %u2014 Hon. Edolphus %u201c Eld%u201dTowns, Member of Congress, 11th District %u2014New York.It%u2019s Not ControversialThank you for your coverage (Phoenix,%u201c Mock Burial for War Dead in Slope Churchyard,%u201d Oct. 16) of the solemn event at ourchurch performed to remember thosePage 30, TH E P H O E N IX , N ovem ber 6, 1986murdered by the U.S.-funded contra terrorists in our sister city, San Juan de RioCoco in Nicaragua. Your headline for theeven, %u201c Mock Burial . . is misleading atbest and unkind at worst.The people of Park Slope United MethodistChurch and the Brooklyn Sister City Projectwere not pretending; our grief is real, bothfor the Nicaraguan dead and for theAmerican soul. Such services are happeningacross the country in remembrance of thoseNicaraguans murdered by the contras.Your description of our church is interesting: %u201c ... the controversial Park SlopeMethodist Church.%u201d Just where does the controversy lie and who considers what controversial?It is true we speak out on issues of conscience and faith, and that others disagreewith us, and perhaps we are sometimes in aminority.But let us be clear about Nicaragua. Themajority of the American people oppose funding the contras. So if by controversial youmean %u201ctaking a minority viewpoint,%u201d thenwe%u2019re not controversial, we%u2019re middleAmerica, we%u2019re mainline. What%u2019s controversial is to keep silent. %u2014 A. Finley Schaef,Pastor, Park Slope United Methodist Church,Sixth Avenue.Editorial is PerfectionHaving expressed my feelings ratherstrongly in the past about the Phoenix andAtlantic Center (Sound Off %u201cQuestionsCoverage%u201d and %u201cNot Even Handed%u201d ), I certainly shall continue to do so. Your editoral(Phoenix, Oct. 16, %u201c Progress, Finally atAtlantic Terminal) is an example of descriptive and analytic perfection.In my opinion, there is no conceivable wayit could be improved upon. In succinct and incisive term s it addresses all the issues pertinent at this time. It clarifies a situation thatabounds in ambiguity and murkiness.I would have had it read into the publicrecord at the Board of Estim ate hearings asit places everything in place on the checkerboard of Brooklyn%u2019s game plan. %u2014 I. LeonGolomb, New Fort Greene Committee, 100Lafayette Ave.EDITOR%u2019S NOTE: But there was no progress until it was approved by the Board ofEstim ate.A Theater No-ShowThe thought of viewing the latest movieslocally in the Brooklyn Heights Cinema losesits appeal when one conjures up the setting.When will the masking tape on the stairs, thegum on the seats, the peeling paint and thetumstyle admission be replaced? Are we tobe a captive audience to the high ticket priceand filth?How about the Phoenix doing an article onevaluating movie theatres? %u2014 J . Kaplan,Clark Street.Election Is ContrivedYour October 2nd edition in the %u201cFor theRecord%u201d section entitled %u201cRe-Elect a DemLeader%u201d should not go unnoted for a numberof important reasons.Unfortunately, neither the local nor the daily press had any coverage of this biennialmeeting of the Kings County Democraticorganization on Monday evening Sept. 22ndat the Abe Stark Arena in Coney Island.This is the organizational meeting of themale and female county committeemembers elected or selected from each election district within the nineteen AssemblyDistricts in Brooklyn.It should be a meeting where the grassroots of the Democratic Party m eet to invigorate and keep the political process opento the citizenry.Instead, it was a sham and a farce.As an elected member of the DemocraticCounty Committee from the 4th ElectionDistrict of the 51st Assembly District, I wentto the office of the Democratic P arty at 16Court Street and requested a copy of the proposed rules to be taken up at this meeting.I was told no copies were available and thatit would be the afternoon of the meeting whenthey would be back from the printer.At the meeting, I offered amendments tothe proposed rules for the elimination of proxy voting, ruled out of order by voice vote onthe false reason that the proposed rules couldonly be amended after their adoption.The rules were then adopted by wholesaleproxy voting. Through parliamentarytrickery, Mr. Edward Rappaport, Chairmanof this meeting, ruled that all amendmentsunder the rules required five day notice.Resisting in my efforts to make this a realand open meeting of the Democratic Party,rather than a disgraceful fraud, I offered upresolutions for campaign finance reform :Such outrageous reforms like caps on campaign contributions, elimination of contributions by PACS, citizen financing of allpolitical campaigns, prohibitions on conflictof interest and a requirement that no personcan hold both party and public office.All of these resolutions were shouted downby the party robots of the Kings CountyDemocratic machine.Is it any wonder that a growing number ofthe public does not participate in the politicalprocess? In the last mayoral election, lessthan 30% of those eligible voted in that election.The political process in Brooklyn isprimarily contrived, controlled andmanipulated by the Kings County Machineand their big buck backers. The RepublicanParty, in the main, is supine and happy withits patronage crumbs.Elections have been turned into mereratifications of pre-determined choices. Thecitizens of Brooklyn know that they havebeen shut out and now vote with their feet bywalking away from the political process.With the stench of the worst scandal in NewYork City history, where were the reformdistrict leaders when it cam e to their vote ofsupport for Howard Golden as CountyLeader?Golden has consistently opposed any andall self evident reforms of the political process and the Democratic Party. Thedisgraceful conduct of the county committeemeeting on Sept. 22nd is clear evidence ofGolden%u2019s dictatorial, cynical disdain for thedemocratic process.Now is the time for the citizens ofBrooklyn to organize a new reform politicalmovement to regain their democratic rightfrom the Kings County machine which hassold and sullied it. %u2014 Joe Ferris, Form erAssemblyman, 51st A.D.; MemberDemocratic County CommitteeI f You \\e Got SomethingTo Say A bout LocalIssues, Sound O ffHere in Our Space.$ IG N O F T H E J \\M E SN e w g ro w th at th e B o ta n ic G a rd e n . (P h o e n ix /K irk P h o to )