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Civil Rights Activist Tosses Hat In Ring For Congress SeatBY ROB TAYIX)REnding several months of speculation, Rojmms, tne national cnairman ot tne congresson Racial Equality (CORE), officially announced last week that he would challengeU.S. Congressman Major Owens in CentralBrooklyn%u2019s 12th District in the upcomingSeptember Democratic primary election.Innis, a former Harfem resident and civilrights activist who has in recent years takermore conservative positions on socialwelfare programs and crime problems, sayshe has chosen to run in the 12th Districtbecause it should be %u201cthe black capital ofAmerica.%u201d He has moved his residence toEast Flatbush, he says.During the announcement of his candidacyat a press conference on June 18 at the PentaHotel in Manhattan, Innis focused on crimeas a major issue of the upcoming campaign.With subway shooting %u201ccelebrity%u201d BernhardGoetz in attendance he said, %u201cI am going tohave the courage to call a mugging a mugging and I am not going to back away fromdefending Bemie Goetz. I%u2019m going to defendthe victims who are being victimized.%u201dFlanking the 52-year-old newly-registeredDemocrat were two other DemocraticPrimary hopefuls, former State Senator Anna Jefferson and Abe Hirschfeld, the hotelowner and a candidate for lieutenant governor. Jefferson, who is again mounting a campaign for the seat she lost in 1984 to the current incumbent, State Senator VelmanetteMontgomery in the 22nd District, said shewas %u201cencouraged by Roy Innis because it%u2019ssomething new.%u201d Richard Taylor,Democratic district leader from the 56thA.D., the home district of Assemblyman A1Vann, was also on the platform supportingthe Innis candidacy.On the surface, the announcement appeared to be part of a strategy designed togive maximum attention to Innis%u2019 politicalphilosophies and agenda. The press conference was held in Manhattan before a largemedia audience. Innis also referred to theman he is challenging, incumbent MajorOwens, as %u201cirrelevant%u201d in his fight againstwhat he calls the %u201cnational black politicalleadership.%u201dBut, the 12th Congressional District racecould be one of the more interesting BrooklynOn the podium with Roy Innis when he announced for C o n g re ss were, from left' radiohost Barry Farber; Abe H irschfeld, primary candidate for Lt. Governor; Innis; SylvesterLeaks, D em ocratic Leader in the 43rd A.D.; and A nna Jefferson, State Senate primarycandidate. Below, Innis with supporters Jerry Preiser(left) and Bernhard Goetz(riaht)(Phoenix/Taylor Photos)political battles of the year. Owens has built asolid political base over two terms in officeand has consistently supported or leadhimself drives for various laws strengtheningaffirmative action programs, welfareassistance and on other social issues traditionally important to the black political community. Innis claims that the politicians supporting the issues are far too liberal for theblack constituency that Owens represents.During his announcement Innis said thatblack Americans are not prospering at thesame rate as some of the newer immigrantsto this country because they have been led bypoliticians who %u201cresist the American concensus.%u201d He accused the black leadership of being out %u201cin left field. This tight is about peopieand their aspirations against people whohave kept us out,%u201d he said.As evidence supporting his theories, Inniscited the recent mayoral race. %u201cBlack peoplevoted for Ed Koch,%u201d he said. %u201cThe black people had a different mindset than the blackleaders.%u201dIn addition to crime issues, Innis said thatblack constituents opposed left-wing dictatorships and terrorists which he claimed blackpoliticians support. %u201cThe people in mydistrict defended Reagan and Grenada,\said referring to the president%u2019s military action in 1983 against that Caribbean nation.Most controversial will be the issue of affirmative action. Innis called the program %u201caspracticed today a moral corruption. Idemanded a quota for black people,%u201d he explained, %u201cbut I did not expect the moral corruption today where least qualified oftenmeans black.%u201dHe said that civil service exams should be%u201cracially neutral%u201d for blacks and said,%u201cSomething is wrong when Mayor Koch appoints black men to police sergeants positions%u201d when they performed poorly on the examination.One issue that will probably not be contested is the two candidates%u2019 positions onapartheid, South Africa%u2019s government policyinstitutionalizing racism. Innis said he wouldtell the president he ought to be defending theblack%u2019s right to self-government and that ifthe president can supply the Contras witharms in Nicaragua, he could supply the SouthAfrican blacks with arms as well. Innis didnot clarify whether he supported the AfricanNational Congress as the representatives ofSouth Africa%u2019s blacks.Despite the accusations of differences thatwill be raised during the primary battle, Innis still has a lot of political ground to plowbefore he will be able to make a dent inOwen%u2019s district. Two weeks ago, BrooklynIndependent CORE endorsed Owens%u2019 reelection bid, a move described by Innis as%u201chijacking.%u201dAtlantic Terminal Package Approved At Heated MeetingContinued from Page 1 f r / ' i m D / i n / i 1 m . . A %u2022 i %u00ab . a , > . . . _Development Action Grant (UDAG) of $6.41million for the ATURA project.Tempers flared early on in the finalmeeting mi this issue when CB2 boardmember Carolyn Hubbard, chair of CB2%u2019sATURA subcommittee, a group comprised ofboth members and non-board membersformed to study the plan, spoke at the opensession of the meeting, expressing dismayover the project which die said was %u201cnot really planned.%u201d Pointing to the lack of lowincome housing, sufficient parking and appropriate traffic mitigation measures in theplan, she charged: %u201cRather than a development that works for the community, we areseeing a development that works for thedeveloper.%u201dAddressing a room of some 100 people,Hubbard also criticized the format of themeeting, saying %u201cthe democratic process isbeing subverted.%u201d She requested that those inthe audience who not been permitted to speakat the open session rise. As some 25 peoplestood, chants of %u201cOpen up the mike,%u201d beganthe first in a series of outbursts that accompanied the meeting that night. Board chairJerry Renzini%u2019s response that the meetingwas not a public hearing was met with callsof fraud and accusations that the boardrepresented the Public Development Corporation and not the community.%u201cI think there are a lot of people who aresaying they did not have a chance to speak,%u201dHubbard continued, and added bitterly thatthe ATURA subcommittee%u2019s work of 15 months studying the project had been thrown outby the board committee to which it reported.The ATURA subcommittee had drafted aseven-point plan concerning housing, jobs,businesses, die location of the supermarketin the plan, the spending of the projects salesescrow account and the size of the plannedmnyie thoator Ttwu> nnintu hnri heen overwhelmingly rejected by the board%u2019s ownPlanning and District Development Committee earlier this month in making its formalrecommendation to the board to approve theULURP items.The arguments persisted as the actionreport by the CB2 executive committee wasbrought to the floor for a vote. The reportcalled for Rose Associates to implement theboard%u2019s affirmative action policy statementand asked that the developer adhere to verbal commitments that six weeks prior to bidsolicitations for the construction, Rose inform the committee of upcoming bids. It alsoasks that he meet with the board%u2019s Affirmative Action Committee throughout theconstruction of ATURA and BrooklynCenter; that the City Public DevelopmentCorporation establish job training programsthat meet Equal Opportunity Law requirements; that the developers meet withthe appropriate people for the purpose ofassisting minority subcontractors who havedifficulty obtaining bonding; that thedeveloper%u2019s lease with his cinema operatorsinclude a clause allowing the removal offilms deemed objectionable by the community; that the multi-screen theater be converted into office space if the theater is noteconomically viable and that there be anongoing dialogue with CB2 concerning trafficcommitments. ATURA sub-committeemembers responded saying the recommendations were %u201cvague%u201d and watered downfrom their original demands.Board member Howard Zimmerman opposed the restriction on films saying: %u201cI amopposed to censorship of any film and requested that the recommendation be removed from the list. Member Donna Cambasdefended the recommendation, saying itwould protect the community. %u201cI would notwant films coming in that show womenviolated, mutilated and eaten. I certainlywould want my board and community to riseup against the showing of such films,%u201d shesaid. Board member A1 Parham said that therecommendation was not censorship and thatfho hnnrri wnulri nat a rt without thf> roniipst ofthe community.THEY TRIED TO AMENDOver the course of the discussion,members of the ATURA subcommitteesought to bring amendments to the list ofrecommendations in keeping with the sevenpoints they had originally adopted, an effortthat was niled out of order by chair Renzini,who said he would not accept a %u201cmotion out oforder,%u201d a remark that brought a volley of accusations from the audience.Member Charles Hargett motioned for theseven items to be added to the executivereport, to which Renzini replied %u201cI have notentertained any other motion,%u201d and called fora roll call vote. The action report was accepted by a vote of 28-7 with the recommendation for the films deleted.Minutes after the vote on the executivecommittee recommendations, Hargettsought to introduce the resolution again, andRenzini stated that a change in the agendawas needed for a vote on the seven points.Transportation chair Roy Vanasco chargedthat the change of agenda was %u201cunfair andthat you (Renzini) have no right to change itwithout the approval of the full board. In ahand vote, the board voted against the agenda change, while Hubbard remarked: %u201cThisis part of the agenda!%u201dThe actual vote on the ULURP items pertaining to Rose%u2019s project was met with littleresistance. Board members easily passed thesix ULURP items. An amendment to theAtlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Flan thatwould change land use on the site to accomodate Rose%u2019s plans for commercial andresidential development, was approved by a32-2-1 vote. The board also voted on thedisposition of City-owned property within theAtlantic Terminal site where Rose wouldbuild two 24-story office towers on HansonPlace as well as low rise commercialbuildings where offices, retail space, a supermarket and garage would be located, approving the disposition by a 29-5-1 vote, as well asapproving the disposition of the land wherethe housing section of Rose%u2019s project wouldhp lnratpd hv a vrrfp of 23-11-9SOME OF THE CHANGESAn application, pertaining to amendmentsin the City Map for the establishment ofCumberland Street between Fulton Streetand Atlantic Avenue; a new street betweenSouth Portland Avenue and South ElliotPlace, a new street between CumberlandStreet and South Portland Avenue, and SouthOxford Street, and between the new streetand Atlantic Avenue. That application alsocalled for the elimination of Baruch Placebetween South Oxford and South Portlandand the elimination of a semi-circular portiMiof South Elliot Place, as well as the wideningof Atlantic Avenue between by ten feet east ofFlatbush Avenue, the widening of FlatbushAvenue by ten feet between Atlantic andLafayette Avenues, and the widening of theintersections of South Portland and CarltonAvenues with Atlantic Avenue. The boardvoted its approval 26-8-3. By a similar marginthe board approved amendments to the zoning map and modifications to the zoningresolution to modify height and setbackregulations for Rose%u2019s 24-story office buildingon the southwest comer of South Elliot Placeand Hanson Place and the eight-story parking garage on Atlantic Avenue.The board also approved the disposition ofCity-owned property within the BrooklynCenter Urban Renewal Area for Rose%u2019s12-story office/retail development that includes an underground parking lot for 700cars. An application to the New York CityDepartment of Housing Preservation andDevelopment requested an amendment tothe City Map for the elimination of RockwellPlace between Fulton and Lafayette Streetand a ten-foot sidewalk easement on the eastside of Flatbush Avenue between FultonStreet and Lafayette Avenue. An applicationwas also put forth to delete the entire SpecialBrooklyn Center Development District fromthe zoning map and requests for a permit tomodify the initial setback distance and permit encroachment beyond the sky exposurefor the office building. All items were approved by a wide margin.R y uni00, the BnnrH nlon nnrtrmnvl henitems that were not subject \rescinding a current provision that allows forproperty owners within the Brooklyn CenterUrban Renewal Area who wish to renovateContinued on Page 4June 26, 1986, T H E P H O EN IX, Page 3