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EditorialsNo Compromising FreedomThe film ing of the movie %u201c C ru ising \beyond the boundaries of G re enw ich Village. It has now becom e a debate about the constitutional right of the producer to film the movie versus the people w ho want to stop its production.Gay groups in the last few weeks have dem onstrated against the m ovie. It is based on the novel %u201c C ru is in g %u201d by G erald W alker, a m ystery about a series of sa d istic gay m urders. They feel that it w ill encourage violence against gays.Village com m unity board m em bers fully understood the issue when they debated building tensions in the W est Village, but failed to affirm the right of freedom of speech, when they said in effect: the film m a k e r has a rig h t to s h o o t th e m ovie b u t no t here.tveryone also agreed that freedom of speech meant that groups o b je c tin g to the m ovie co u ld m ake th e ir voice heard by dem onstrating and picketing.Civil libertarians have always defended the right of people whosecause is not only unpopular but often repugnant to m ost of us. If there is to be freedom of speech the right to espouse unpopular causes needs to be protected just as m uch as the popular ones.Freedom of speech means the right of people to dem onstrate against the war in Vietnam when that was an unpopular issue, to d e m o n s tra te in the S o u th ag a in st J im C ro w le g is la tio n , b u t a ls o the %u2022 right to publish uncensored books and the right to make uncensored movies.We support the stand of the New York Civil Liberties Union w hich asserted that although you may not agree w ith what the m ovie says, they (the filmmakers) have a right to say it. If there is to be freedom of speech, who is to decide where, when and how it is to be expressed? Freedom of speech means just that%u2014 it cannot be restricted or we will be chipping away at the essence of what freedom means.Freedom also m ean^ that people have a right to p ro te st the contents of the movie and ultim ately to deny any m onetary success to the producer by refusing to buy tickets.Sound Off Readers Talk BackInfer Or ImplyDear Irene:I'm writing this, even though it will probably tick you off, only because I think you're one of the best feature writers the Phoenix has. and because I think you would want to know that you misused a word which will look bad when you graduate to the Times, which I personally think you're otherwise capable of.In the Aug. 16 Phoenix, %u201c Senator V'ander Beatty Crusade,%u201d is the following paragraph:%u201c Beatty has questioned Dinkins' integrity by implying that he is the Mayor's man and so was not wholly impartial in evaluating the signatures. %u201c Dave Dinkins is appointed the City Council,\term is up in 1980,\need to stay in the Mayor's good graces in order to be reappointed.The point is that Beatty didn%u2019t infer anything, at least anything this sentence consists of. He IMPLIED it. Infer means exactly the opposite of imply, and (sorry again) it looks bad to use it as though it were synonymous.Webster%u2019s says that infer means to %u201c derive by reasoning or implication; conclude from facts or premises; to derive as a consequence,\gather.\imply, hint.\The upshot is that Beatty is implying that Dinkins was motivated by his desire to appease Koch in order to be reappointed. The astute listener (which you really are, in knowing that this was a key remark to quote) will then infer that what Beatty really means is that something not altogether kosher is going in.I think this comes up a lot nowadays because people-especially politicians-- very often make only indirect statements. Nothing is said straight out (here it might be %u201c Dinkins can%u2019t count, or won%u2019t %u201d ), just implied, which puts the burden on the reporter to make the inferences (Beatty thinks he got a raw deal%u201d ) for the reader. No hard feelings, I hope. You%u2019ve been good to my neighborhood (Prospect Heights) and I hope you%u2019ll continue to be.%u2014Tom Bechtle, Park Place.DelightedWe were all delighted with your recent gardening issue. We want to thank you not only for that excellent coverage, but also for the year-round attention the Phoenix gives to BBG%u2019s activities. We appreciate it very much.%u2014Estelle Gerard, Public Relations Officer, Brooklyn Botanic Garden.P o l i c e L e f t H i mLast Monday I was walking on Sixth Avenue near Sterling Place with my friend Carlos. We were going to 7th Avenue to get ice cream.A boy about 13 years old kept circling us on his bike. I got very nervous but 1 didn%u2019t know what to do. The boy started C o m i n g toward n<; again and ho rinnod mv cross and chain off my neck. He did it so hard that his fingernails cut my chest in 2 places. The boy went down Sterling Place towards Fifth Avenue.I started to scream and then I started to cry. I saw a police car and I told the policeman what happened. I gave him a description of the boy. He said he%u2019d try to find him and he left. He didn%u2019t even ask me which way the boy went. He just left me standing there crying.Carlos and 1 walked to my house which is on Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street.1 don't know who the policeman was but if he reads this paper I would like to tell him that my parents always told me if I was in trouble to go to a policeman and he would help me. But you didn%u2019t. You just left me there crying.If you had a boy and that happened to him my father would have taken him home, not because it was his job, just because it%u2019s the right thing to do.%u2014Jamie Connor,age 10, 7th Avenue.Left OutI fee! left out! Rosalie Friend (Aug. 16, 1979) enumerates \hoods nearby,%u201d but fails to mention Park Slope%u2019s immediate neighbor to the south. Sunset Park. Many of our turn of the century homes are similar to those in the South Slope and more reasonably priced. Our average move in condition, three story brownstone, limestone, or brick townhouse on a tree lined street with a harbor view usually sells somewhere in the $40,000 price range. The area is on the upswing. Revitalization is evident everywhere from new brownstoners discovering our bargains to community and private organizations redeveloping abandoned buildings. Our house tour on Oct. 21 will give a good view of what%u2019s happening. So check us out! %u2014Joe Svehlak, 45th St. Sunset Park.The Yes VoterEditors Note: An Aug. 2 letter tothe editor by the Bay Ridge PotholeCommittee discussed a vote takenon Assemblyman Esposito%u2019s billthat dealt with the full value taxassessment for real estate. Fullvalue tax assessment is requiredbecause of a 1975 court decisiondeclaring the present property taxsystem unconstitutional.The letter from Virgil Pontone of the %u201c Bay Ridge Pothole Committee%u201d regarding my %u201c Nay%u201d vote on the so-called Esposito bill affecting real estate tax reassessment misses two important points. (Phoenix, Aug. 2)1. While mentioning all the Brooklyn Assemblypersons who voted %u201c Nay,%u201d he fails to mention those who voted %u201c Yes%u201d %u2014 Dominick DiCarlo and Florence Sullivan. It then becomes quite obvious that the vote was strictly along party lines because the bill was strictly a public relations gimmick by the sponsor, a Queens Republican.2. The present system of taxation violates a section of the State%u2019s Real Estate Taxation Law as well as being a violation of the due process and equal protection provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Esposito%u2019s bill rectifies the first but instead unless the U.S. Constitution is amended, instead of having the State%u2019s practice and method of collecting taxes being declared illegal, we would also have our law (Esposito%u2019s Bill) declared illegal as well.it should be notea tnat aunng the legislative session, Esposito%u2019s bill received much attention and coverage from the media, but not in a serious fashion. I suppose (he most eloquent commentary on Esposito%u2019s bill was the action taken by the Republican controlled Senate %u2014 nonewhatsover.%u2014Michael L. Peace, Memberof the Assembly, 52nd District.On March 7, 1978, the New York State Legislature enacted Section 306 of the Real Property Tax Law, which reads: %u201c All real property in each assessing unit shall be assessed at the full value thereof.%u201d For just as long, localities and municipalities have engaged in the practice of ignoring this law, which, in effect, allowed property tax rates to be arrived at by assessments that' were less than the 100 percent valuation required by law.This policy, with all of its inherent abuses, existed unchallenged until a young woman, Pauline Hellerstein, decided to take her property tax to court. Pauline, a resident of Fire Island located in the Town of Islip, Long Island, was married to a law professor who felt that the ancient property tax laws created a situation of blatantly inequitable tax rates. Being a scholar, Mr. Hellerstein though that a challenge of Section 306 would be a fine summer project for his law class. So with the law' students%u2019 assistance, Mrs. Hellerstein went to court to request that the Town of lslip%u2019s property tax structure be declared void because it failed to conform to the 18th century law.After a lower court upheld the existing tax practice, the New York State Court of Appeals, in the now famous Hellerstein v. Assessor, Town of Islip, 37 NY 2d 1, 1975, decided in favor of Pauline Hellerstein. The court held that the Town of Islip%u2019s real property tax rate was invalid because, ve-y simply, if the law says real property is tc be assessed at full market value then that must be done. However, the court also realized the practical aspects of full value assessment and refused to invalidate the present assessment practice immediately. Rather the Court said that it would allow a reasonable time for the State Legislature to devise a plan which would comply with their full value assessment ruling. The effects of Hellerstein could be substantial, not the least of which is the opportunity for politicans to prophesize doom unless the voters adopt that individual as their savior especially at election time.In New York City, if full assessment is instituted using the present tax rates, the residential sector would experience an average tax increase of 113 percent, or approximately $1,125 per parcel. In certain sections of Brooklyn the effects could be more profound, especially in areas where an %u201c urban renaissance%u201d has taken place. Brownstones and brick houses have been renovated and neighborhoods enriched, but the value of property has not been reassessed for years and years.Following the decision, the State Legislature established January 1, 1981 as the date by which asessment practices must conform with the full assessment mandate. Within this time period the Legislature must devise a system by which the now illegal taxing practices of the past 200 years will be corrected, while at the same time not inflicting adverse and unwarranted tax increases on residential home owners.It must be remembered that the Court of ADneals%u2019 decision did not concern itself with how much tax (i.e. the amount of the tax bill) a property owner must pay, but only with the arbitrary method that determines the assessed value on which the owner pays tax. The court said that all property must be assessed at full value, but not that tax payers must pay taxes onfull value, or even what amount of taxes they must pay.Since the tax bill is arrived at by multiplying the assessed valuation by the tax rate, and if as a result of the court decision the assessed evaluations will increase, then the tax bill could remain constant if the rate were reduced. This is certainly a logical and easy solution, but it contains inherent and quite obvious problems when you consider the great variety of properties in our state.What needs to be done is to break properties down into classifications to which different tax rates would be applied. (Minnesota has in 7 years created 42 categories in its classification of property). The Classification-Rating System would allow' all properties to be assessed at 100 percent valuation but establishes different rates for the different types of properties thus maintaining levels of taxation as they were prior to the Hellerstein decision.To correct many of the past abuses, where homes of equal value were taxed at different rates, dassfications should be established for all types of residential property, for example, brownstones, row house, one family, two family, etc. Moreover, it is essential that a limit or %u201ccap%u201d be placed on the amount of increase that can be collected in taxes as a result of the reassessment.Other proposed solutions include a %u201chomestead exemption%u201d that would exclude a certain amount from a homeowner%u2019s assessment, or a proposed %u201c circuit breaker%u201d which would provide property tax relief directly based on a homeowner%u2019s income geared to protect the elderly. All of these options are being discussed.The ultimate solution to the property tax dilemma will be formulated over the next few years and most certainly not before the present deadline of January 1, 1981 which will undoubtedly be extended. And after all the political rhetoric has been utilized, the solution will include protections for the homeowners. I welcome suggestions. %u2014Michael Pesce, Member of the Assembly, 52nd District.Greatest IssueI was born and raised in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, where I spent the early half of my life. Occasionally, 1 get down to my sister%u2019s place and when I do, I am always happy to glance at your Phoenix.One of the most important issues that affects the Park Slope and surrounding areas in Brooklyn, is the impact of the Hellerstein Decision requiring 100 percent valuation of real estate. This Court Decision is going to impact the real estate taxes of most of the homeowners in this area, as well as the tenants who live in those homes. I do not know how much publicity you have given to this matter, but I am taking the liberty at this time to forward to you some of the recent press releases and other material relating to my effort to get the Democrats in the Assembly to pass my Assembly Bill A-6136 which will revoke the Hellerstein Decision and re-establish the prior methods of assessment that were in effect in 1975.I would appreciate it if you would give this matter the publicity that it deserves, as it is the greatest issue that has come before the Legislature in some 200 years. %u2014JohnA. Esposito, Member of the Assembly,23rd District, Queens Village.Page 6, The PH O ENIX, Aug. 23, 1979