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E ditorialsMore Medallions Is The SolutionThere are few ordeals in New York City more frustrating than trying to hail a taxicab. Anyone who%u2019s ever been in a rush far from mass transit, who has been outdoors late in the evening exposed to the elements of rain, cold or snow, or who has simply tried to get somewhere during rush hour, can testify to the chronic shortage of vacant cabs.Like most city ordeals, however, it doesn%u2019t need to be that way. That%u2019s why wre encourage the current discussions underway in the City Council to reach compromise on on the number of taxi medallions in the City. After half a century of little or no improvement through industry lobbying and city politics, it%u2019s high time this long-standing deadlock was broken.Legislation introduced by Mayor Koch would give the City%u2019s Taxi and Limousine Commission the power to raise the number of medallions by as much as 1,800. Another proposal under consideration calls for a gradual increase in taxis by as much as 300 over a period of six years. Others have proposed that such regulations should makemedallions available solely through a lottery system, and that current medallion owners should not be eligible.We find the general idea of a gradual increase in the medallions the most Dalatable solution for addressing a real and serious problem. Such incremental changes over a long period of time would serve the greatest number of riders, while at the same time having no sudden and possibly adverse effects on the industry. If anything, it would help the industry by meeting a real demand.The proposal would allow the City to successfully pursue compliance with the Federal Clean Air standards by the end of 1987. And it is without a doubt a far better alternative than the proposal by the Taxi and Limousine Commission to increase taxi fares.Properly addressing the City%u2019s transportation needs means dealing with all segments of the populace, not just the interests of a few, select and powerful interests. In this, the first year of the one dollar subway fare, the city has a rare opportunity to bring equanimity both within the industry and for the greatest amount of customers. For once, it would be nice if at least one mode of transportation increased its quality of service first. It%u2019s the best way to serve both the people on the street, and those in the cab.S ound Q %u2122A Difference Of A DayThank you for recently printing information concerning the Shelter for the Homeless at the Society. (%u201cSociety Needs Help,%u201d Nov. 2 Phoenix)However, there is one very important piece of mis-information in your article, i.e. you state that volunteers sign up for one night a month to be at the shelter with the Homeless. This is incorrect: volunteers sign up for just one night and if thereafter they wish to sign up for further nights, they are welcome to do so. It would be much appreciated if you printed this correction, because we don%u2019t want to scare volunteers off by telling them they must serve one night a month %u2014 just one night out of their lives will be very good %u2014 more, if they so desire.Prospective volunteers can call the Society 768-2972, or myself at 855-1226. Thanks for your continued support. %u2014 Louise Rood, Shelter Coordinator, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West.Supports SuperThe Parents Association of P.S. 27 has sent the following letter we thought your readers should see. %u2014 Elsie Nott, Red Hook.Mr. Scala & Community School Board Members:The Parents Association%u2019s executive board along with a large percentage of the Red Hook Community most certainly would like to see Dr. Jerrold Glassman continue as Superintendent of Community School District 15.However, if we felt that you were honestly considering extending Dr. Glassman%u2019s contract we would not participate in having any input for fear it would minimize his chances for being selected. We know that the majority of Community School Board Members has made it quite clear they have nothing but contempt for the black parents of Red Hook and other communities.We have not always agreed with Dr. Glassman. For the most part he has done an exemplary job for the educational community of District 15. It has been rumored you already have two candidates in mind. Since we will have children in the public school system for some time, we only hope whatever one that is chosen will give us the help that is so desperately needed in Public School 27. %u2014 Elsie Nott, P.A. President, P.S. 27, Nelson and Hicks Street, Brooklyn.No Piece For HolidaysFulton Street sparkles with tiny white treelights. Shop windows, once again, are a clamor of Christmas color. Toy department shelves are stocked to overflowing with games and puzzles, dolls and construction kits, and every conceivable species of cuddly stuffed animal.They are also stocked with %u201cconvertible%u201d laser guns, command tanks, troop convoys, %u201cassault%u201d jets, anti-tank guns, %u201csavage%u201d strike vehicles, %u201c ultimate%u201d battlegrounds, and %u201caction building systems,%u201d designed to let kids ages five and up build their ownr l o o f L ^ n o l i n r t i , o r \\ n ^ n o r o f %u2666 ,, a n i i i n n o r l u n til %u00ab v * . w . - 1 %u2014 r r %u2014 ------------menacing missiles and other lethal-looking accoutrements. Not to mention that perennial %u201chotcake,%u201d the comparatively innocuous G.I. Joe doll, who comes to us billed, %u201cA Real American Hero.%u201dThe promotion of these war toys contrasts starkly %u2022 with the seasonal sentiment of %u201c Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men.%u201d Many parents, teachers and psychologists are expressing increasing concern with the burgeoning sale of these %u201ctoys%u201d and the impact of aggressively militaristic role models on today%u2019s youth.On December 5th and 6th Educators for Social Responsibility, a national organization with many Brooklyn members, together with the Hunter College Department of Curriculum and Teaching, will be sponsoring a conference entitled %u201cToys And Us: Examining the Controversy over War Toys%u201d at Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue.On Friday, the 5th, there will be toy exhibits and a panel discussion moderated by Elizabeth Crow, editor of Parents Magazine. Speakers will include psychiatrist, Robert E. Gould, N.Y.C. chair of National Coalition on Television Violence and Douglas Thomson, president of Toy Manufacturers of America, Inc.On Saturday, the 6th, the conference will include toy exhibits followed at 9:30am with an opening plenary: %u201cThe War Play Dilemma: Children%u2019s Needs and Society%u2019s Future.%u201d The rest of the morning and afternoon will feature a wide range of workshops and discussion groups.Members of the Brooklyn Mobilization forSurvival will be leafletting against the sale of war toys and welcome your participation. You may join them in front of A & S on Fulton Street on Saturday, December 13th between 11am and 3pm. %u2014 Ann Morris, Bergen Street.Thanks For The TreesThe Atlantic Avenue Association Local Development Corporation wishes to thank Commissioner Julius Spiegel, Commissioner of Parks, Brooklyn, for his speedy response to our calls on May 20, 1986 concerning the unauthorized removal of trees along Atlantic Avenue between Hoyt and Bond Streets.As a result of negotiations concerning the survey of possible sites initiated by the AAA/LDC, and with the cooperation of Commissioner Harvey W. Schultz, Department of Environmental Protection, and Commissioner Spiegel, we are pleased to announce that 36 trees have been planted on Atlantic Avenue. %u2014 Shirley E. %u201cJoe%u201d Payne, President, Atlantic Avenue Association Local Development Corporation, P.O. Box 555, Times Plaza Station, Brooklyn 11217Congrats To PhotogsI am a reader of both your publications, the Phoenix and the Villager. Admittedly I read them for the arts coverage so I feel a little guilty in lateness of this letter. I have found that what I now look at first is the Sign of the Times, and have come to think of those pages as not just social commentary but my own private art show of the week. Thank you photographers! %u2014 L. Mann, Bedford St., N.Y.C.Recognize Us NextI read with great interest and close scrutiny the community forum by Bess Myerson, our Commissioner of Cultural Affairs (Community Forum, Nov. 27, %u201cMyerson Goes To Bat For the City%u2019s Artists Who Live in Lofts%u201d ). I applaud her stand and do hope that it is one that she holds and not a speech that was just prepared for her and that when she is talking about New York City she is referring to the whole and not just Manhattan as she has so often done in the past.If that is so I welcome her stand and her recognition of artists and artists%u2019 problems in New York City. Maybe the next step will be her recognition of the cultural institutions outside Manhattan, without a script. J. Matthews, 3rd St.BACA Likes PreviewOn behalf of BACA Downtown and the arts in Brooklyn, I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to you for your new monthly arts preview (Phoenix Preview, Nov. 27). It is a welcome addition to your present coverage and commitment to the diverse range of art, plays, concerts, dance and other cultural events in Brooklyn.BACA Downtown annually presents 10 exhibitions of paintings, sculpture and mixed media; up to 80 theatre productions and gallery workshop,5, and weekly theatre classes to high school students.With this new preview we will be able to reach out to the new and increasing audience that is expanding in Brooklyn and introducethem to Olir OXhib%u2019*%u00b0 n r A r l u n f m r u i oworkshops and in turn this publication willbe expanding their horizons to all of the cultural resources that Brooklyn is so richly endowed .with. %u2014 Greta Gundersen, Director, BACA Downtown, 111 Willougby St.G reeting the holiday on Seventh Avenue. (Phoenix Photo by Kathryn Kirk)Page 34, TH E P H O E N IX , D ecem ber 4, 1986