Page 95 - Demo

EditorialsWhat The Voters WantEven before 1972 when Governor Rockefeller appointed the State Charter Revision Commission for New York City, people had become dissatisfied with the way the City was run. In the Sixties, current thinking was that a centralized government could provide more efficient and cost effective services. It was a time of master plans by the City Planning Commission, the creation of super agencies like the Health & Hospitals Corporation which were removed from the direct control of the voters.Dissatisfaction, however, grew with a remote and centralized government. Neighborhoods and their residents felt that decisions were being made for them but not by them. Worse still it seemed as if decisions were made without concern for their needs and wishes.The Charter Revision Commission appointed by then Governor Rockefeller set out to see if the City%u2019s system of governing its citizens could be made more responsive, accountable and at the same time be managed better. Headed by State Senator Roy Goodman the 13 Charter Revision members worked for three years, held hearings, set forth proposals, changed them and changed them again. In the end they voted to place changes before the voters which immediately met with organized opposition from Mayor Abe Beame and his administration. Nevertheless,Community Forumwhen the votes were in the new Charter items had been overwhelmingly approved.To implement the Charter, the Board of Estimate created the 59 _...mi Krv %u25a0nHorioc Rnrni mh ProsirlAnts annnintod boardmembers in consultation with City Counci I members. Boards hired District Managers and set up the beginnings of a decentralized city government system.After more than two years we think that community boards have functioned well. One of the best measures of their success is how few times the City Planning Commission or the Board of Estimate have overruled the local boards on their Uniform Land Use Review Procedure decisions (ULURP). The ULURP was set up to give the boards a say in planning for their neighborhoods, a voice in zoning changes, site selection for city projects, urban renewal, sale or lease of city property.With this kind of success and satisfaction with decentralizaztion it is curious that the present Mayor and some Commissioners continue to resist the direction so clearly set by the city%u2019s residents in their vote. The present plan that has come out of City Hall, with its numerous exemptions and delays for the City Charter, goes counter to what the voters voted for.Asking the City Councilmembers to amend the Charter, and in effectoverrule the voters%u2019 wishes, is to us a capitulation to the objections of a few Commissioners. Instead, the Mayor should carry out the mandate of the voters.BY OWEN HUGHESEighty-four people from the Brooklyn Heights-Cobble Hill-Park Slope area left Cadman Plaza Sunday, August 5th on chartered buses to take part in an Anti-Nuclear Rally at Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y.The newly formed North Brooklyn Mobilization for Survival which prompted the rally and encouraged local participation estimated the total attendance at forty-six hundred.The purpose of the demonstration was to call attention to the hazards of nuclear power and weapons and to commemmorate the victims of the Hiroshima bombing of August 6, 1945.At the rally at Blue Mountain Reservation State Park the crowd heard several speakers, including David Dellinger, pubOwen Hughes is a Brooklyn Heightsresident and a member of NorthBrooklyn Mobilization for Survival.lisher of %u201c Seven Days Magazine%u201d , Connie Hogarth of The W estchester Peoples Action Coalition, and twelve-year old Missy McCaughin and her family from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania which is near the site of Three Mile Island.McCaughin%u2019s brief statement brought the largest response from the gathering when she said %u201c Before March 28%u201d , the Three Mile Island accident, %u201c I didn%u2019t know anything about nuclear power. I didh%u2019t know how dangerous it was. Now I do. My family is scared. We didn%u2019t know if we would see our friends or our home again.%u201d Demonstrators then walked two miles to the site of the nuclear plant. The march was slow and orderly through the small town of Buchanan where some enterprising locai children were doing a booming business selling homemade lemonade to thirsty marchers.At the gates to the plant a planned civil lisobedience action called for those taking part to lay down in the access road. But as the Heights-Hill-Slope contingent returnedto their buses for Brooklyn no arrests had yet taken place.North Brooklyn Mobilization for SurvivalI didn%u2019t know anything about nuclear power.I didn%u2019t know how dangerous it was. Now I do.was formed by local residents for the purpose of becoming a source of information for the community and to participate in local and national events concerning nuclear arms and energy.The group maintains information tables on Montague Street and Atlantic and Clinton Street in front of the Key Food store every weekend. Petitions are being circulated to ask our representatives for a moratorium on nuclear power, and to ask over 2,000 signatures have been collected from people in the area.Sunday, July 30th, the organization sponsored a forum on Indian Point and nuclear power at St. Ann's Parish Hall in Brooklyn Heights. An audience of one-hundred and twenty-five heard speakers Lorna Salzman from Friends of the Earth, Paul Mayer of Clergy and Laity Concerned, and Michio Kaku, a nuclear physicist from City College of New York discuss aspects of the Nuclear issue.The group is interested in hearing from people in the Heights-Hill-Slope and surrounding areas who would like to exchange views and ideas at their weekly meetings. You can call 643-9879 oe 855-1206.Sound Off R e a d e r s T a l k B a c kRaiseUndeservedThis is to Mayor Koch and the members of the City Council.It is a disgrace, to say the least, that, while you talk of closing hospitals, refuse to raise the salaries of the policemen and the firemen, you have the audacity, the nerve to raise your salaries!If $60,000 is not enough for you, Mr. Koch, what about thousands and thousands of workers whose income is ten times and more less than yours and the'members of the City Council?\If other workers in the City and in the private industries ask for increases above the guidelines of 7 percent laid down by President Carter are called communists and other insulting titles, what should we call you, Mayor Koch and the entire membership of the City Council, starting from Mr. Tom Cuite?Although I%u2019m not a policeman or a fire fighter and have nothing to gain one way or the other, as a concerned citizen 1 say that the only people who deserve a raise are the policemen and the firemen. -Joseph Mangano, 6th Street.Need Nature CenterBrooklyn has a proud distinction: the first program of providing skilled care for park trees was inaugurated in Prospect Park In 1967, the rescue of th C n oerdown elm organized by the- * %u2022 . c r>------%u2014j %u00bb>-At. Vtir; I 1C H U > v' a t i v . t p i . v i %u00bb -**%u00bb%u00bb ~ jprivate donation, was a pilot project that has since swelled into a major concern.Brooklyn has a second chance lo make a praiseworthy record: it could start the first nature study center in a metropolitanpark. There%u2019s need for hurry: The Dairy in Central Park is being restored for the purpose through the enlightened efforts of the Central Park Community Fund. We in Brooklyn have the advantage in that the Picnic House is immediately available for use. So is money for its adaption and, best of all, there%u2019s a group of highly qualified, enthusiastic, trained Urban Park Rangers to staff the center, lead tours and carry the conservation message to the classroom.Nature and conservation education for children is a widely recognized need. The only way to curb mindless vandalism is to teach children to appreciate, love and protect the park and all the living things, both plant and animal, that contribute to its richness. It is a shameful fact that of all the cultural institutions in the city, the Park Department is the only one that offers no educational program.Failure to provide educational facilities is a breach of the park commissioner%u2019s mandate. According to the New York City Charter, the park commissioner is required %u201cto plan, conduct, supervise, coordinate and promote conservation and nature education...to promote conservation and the preservation of natural beauty.%u201d The present commissioner, after a year and a half of tenure, has failed to carry out his responsibility to provide nature education. The availability of tne Picnic House, of money for its renovation and the Urban Park Rangers, gives the commissioner an unequaled opportunity to fulfill one of Ihe most momentous obligations of his office.-Mildred M. Graff, 45th Street.Search Goes OnI want to applaud Marilyn Finer, %u201c Still Searching%u201d (Phoenix, Aug. 2) and AldoBianchi, %u201c In Search of the Perfect Brownstone%u201d (Phoenix, July 26) for putting into words what we have been experiencing for many months.Our attempt to find a brownstone have proved futile also - and we are now wondering if Park Slope is the community we once thought it to be.-Eileen Swarta,73rd Street, Jackson Heights, Queens.Policeless PathwayOn July 31, at approximately 6:30 pm, two friends of mine had their bike stolen at knifepoint on the bikeway/walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge. There is obviously no police protection on his path. As a result, I will now ride my bicycle over the vehicle roadway to protest the lack of police enforcement. -Hal Ruzal, Flake Place.Principal ScapegoatWith reference to your article and editorial of July 26 (%u201c Principal Not Up For Tenure%u201d), it would appear that one should not %u201c kill the messenger because one does not like the message.%u201d I refer specifically to the recent attacks being made on Mr. Robert Weinberger, principal of John Jay High School.Rather than blaming Mr. Weinberger for the problems resulting from over population, the community effort should be to have the school population reduced. The most realistic way of accomplishing this is to have the large geographic zone for John Jay H.S. made smailer. At this time, the zone runs from Fulton St. and the shoreline to 55 St. and back. Obviously, taking in a fewer students will result in a shorter school day and of overlapping schedules.While your article states that 40 percent of the students are absent daily we are not informed that this is a group of hardcoretruants from outside the neighborhood, and %u201c dumped%u201d by their local junior high schools to %u201c protect%u201d other high schools in their communities?Also what about the six out of ten that do show up? How are they doing? Are they getting a good education? How come they go to school? When do we hear about them?I have had the opportunity to be in John Jay H.S. for both professional and personal reasons. I have always found the tone, the atmosphere and the climate conducive to a educational program in which students can learn.I know John Jay H.S. has problems as does each and every other high school. But 1 do feel it is unfair to of certain groups and your newspaper to scapegoat Robert Weinberger for not solving problems much beyond his control. I believe the community pressure should be put on the superintendent for Brooklyn High Schools, the Chancellor and the Brooklyn Member of the Board of Education, Steve Aiello.Let us learn from the experience at Boys and Girls H.S. When enough pressure was placed on the Central Board of Education, the population was reduced by almost a third.As for Mr. Weinberger, I have had dealings with him both personally and professionally. On all these occasions I found him to be interested, concerned, and extremely helpful. %u2014Bernard S. Zemsky,First Street.Short ThanksInst a short note to thank vou for the fine article you wrote about our program and me. If I could be of any help in anything, let me know. Thanks kindly. %u2014John Ameniso,Cornell University Cooperative Extension,30 Third Avenue.Aug. 9. 1979, The PHOENIX, Page 7