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%u00a7 O U N D FEEDBACK FROM READERSJune Balloon SucceedsThank you for contributing to thetremendous success of The BrooklynChildren June Hstllocoon FsstivslOver 20,000 guests attended this specialfestival for kids on June 1st.We will continue to keep you up-ttHlate onour activities and hope that you will be on thelook-out for our %u201cSounds Around%u201d exhibit inthe fall! %u2014Donald Woods, Director of PublicRelations, Brooklyn Children%u2019s Museum,Brooklyn Avenue.Deny All FundsActs of violence against innocent civilians for political purposes were condemned by the United States and six other powers at the Tokyo Summit, which singled out Libya. Yet is it not hypocritical and wrong for the United States to support the terrorist activities of the Contras against the Nicaraguan people? If you agree, contact your Representative to deny ALL funds for the terrorist Contras. %u2014 Marion Kronheim, Chairwoman, Flatbush SANE.Support Sister CityAs an Associate Professor of Spanish andLatin American Literature at Brooklyn College, I have been heartened by a campaign inour area that is now underway called the%u201cSister City%u201d project. (Phoenix, June 19,%u201cSouth Brooklyn Activists Push Idea of%u2018Sister City%u2019 in Nicaragua). Similar to effortsin New Haven, Berkeley, Burlington, Vt.,Portland, Oregon, and the Lower East Side ofManhattan, die project would link SouthBrooklyn to a similar community inNicaragua. The campaign hopes to informour community about the wasteful andshameful policies of our government and thecontras that we support, and provide an alternative for a more constructive relationshipwith the Nicaraguan people.I hope that Community Board 6 will realizethe important material and cultural benefitsA 1 ff> n t w t n 4-V. %u00ab %u2666 A A I l l < l m a a o H %u00a3 %u00bb A %u00ab M A L -4.V/& V lrU U * M l W t U i C U U A U k W l U l JL1 V 1 U U 1 Cpassage of the %u201cSister City%u201d resolution, and Ialso hope that The Phoenix will continue to bea vital resource as you inform our community of the campaign%u2019s progress.%u2014MargariteFernandez Olmos, Wyckoff Street.City Schools ImprovingThe 1986-87 state budget reaffirms the high priority our elected officials place on quality public education for New Yorkers. For the third straight year, they have voted a record increase in aid to education. And, with the first-ever special appropriation for teachers%u2019 salaries, they also have stated most emphatically that we must make teaching a more attractive career choice if we hope to attract and keep good people in that profession.While we still need to free teachers from non-teaching duties and give them a stronger voice in education decisions, education dollars are being spent wisely. In fact, as more people are realizing, money spent on education really isn%u2019t an expense; it%u2019s an investment, a wise investment that%u2019s keeping New York State and its citizens competitive.A few facts reveal how. While numbers can be dry and impersonal, I hope you will think about the people and their accomplishments that lie behind these figures: The average scored earned by New York%u2019s college-bound seniors last year on the College Board Admission Tests in 14 different subject areas was 18 points higher than the national average; Although New York has only 7.5% of the nation%u2019s graduating seniors, its students received 12.8% of all the National Merit Scholarships awarded in the U.S; Likewise,with 7.5% of the seniors, New York has 44.3% of the honors group and 30% of the winners in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search; When the National Assessment of Educational Progress examined achievement in reading and wriiing of students in grades 4,5, and 11, it found that New York students outperformed the national sample in all nine categories analyzed.We are getting a good return on our education investment. New York%u2019s public schools are among the best in the country. And, they%u2019re getting better: Statewide averages show that student results improved from 1983 to 1985 in four of the five elementary school PEP (Pupil Evaluation Program) tests.The 260,000 members of New York State United Teachers are working to improve education in your community. They deserve your continued support. %u2014 Thomas Y. Hobart, Jr., President, New York State United Teachers.Most Successful TourThank you for your coverage of the Brooklyn Heights Association 1986 Landmarks House and Garden Tour. The Tour was our most successful to date, with over 650 tickets sold.Many tourgoers commented with enthusiasm on the houses and gardens included in this year%u2019s tour. The BHA especially thanks those who opened their homes to benefit the BHA%u2019s on-going programs to protect and enhance Brooklyn Heights.The Association also thanks New York Telephone for the donation of printing of the invitation for the Landmarks House and Garden Tour.Over 125 neighbors and friends helped planthe tour, staff the houses, and providerefreshments at Valentine Park. This verylarge volunteer commitment illustrates thespirit of cooperation and community pride ofpeople of this neighborhood. The BHA thanksall who helped for their very significant contribution.Those interested in receiving next year%u2019sHouse Tour invitation and membership information, should write to the BHA, 55 Pierreponi Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. i i M i %u2014 ueniseClayton and Ann Gaffney, Brooklyn HeightsAssociation Governors.Cuts Devastate KidsPresident Reagan%u2019s cut in community block grants will devastate our youth (among others). Summer jobs will be lost, as will tutoring, job training and food stamps. This will increase hopelessness%u2014and inevitably, drugs and crime.Hunger and homelessness have reached the highest level since the Great Depression. It is time we wised up that Reagan%u2019s insane orgy of needless military spending is responsible. In the May issue of Harper%u2019s Magazine, defense correspondent Fred Reed gives one example. About Star Wars contracts, he says, %u201cI have never seen such a naked grab at the public budget.%u201d He calls the Star Wars program %u201clunatic,%u201d as do most respected experts. %u201cWhy Star Wars?%u201d he asks. He answers, %u201cFor the same reason people rob banks%u2014that%u2019s where the money is.%u201d Is this for %u201cdefense?%u201d Reed says, %u201c If the Pentagon were seriously interested in defense, it would insist on jail sentences for contractors who supply defective equipment.%u201d (And we might add, %u201cwho fraudulently profiteer.%u201d )Some concerned congressmen are introducing a bill in Congress for a %u201cQuality of Life%u201d budget. This would transfer $59 billion from the Pentagon to funding people%u2019s needs. It could save not only the community grants; it could build housing, meet the needs of the elderly, improve our schools, and create jobs. Our congressmen should hear our views that this is the way to go. Otherwise, the worst is still to come.%u2014Alice Gordon, Surf Avenue.foR O R T H E fw E C O R D NEWS O f THE POLITICAL SCENE theR.Homeport Rally SetIn response to the proposed nuclearcapable fleet the U.S. Navy plans to base inStaten Island, a peace rally has been plannedfor June 28 with groups and individuals fromall over the city congregating in BatteryPark in Manhattan. Brooklynites are beinginvited to make an added statement bymarching over the Brooklyn Bridge togetherbefore the rally.This idea, being implemented by the FirstUnitarian Church Peace Group, is meant tomake a visual statement, as well as being acommunity project, say the organizers. Allpeace groups and individuals are invited tomarch along with the coalition, leaving fromthe church at the comer of Pierrepont andMonroe at 5:30pm. The rally will be gathering at Battery Park at 6:30pm, where musicand entertainment will be provided until7pm, followed by an interfaith service andpeace flame lighting. At 8:30pm, the assembly will %u201cLight Up the Harbor for Peace%u201dwith candles, sparklers, etc. All those comingare invited to bring such items, as well aspasters and/or banners.For further information on the march andrally, call 624-5466.Schumer Fights Interest%u201cIf Sir Isaac Newton were living today, hemay never have discovered the law of gravity,%u201d says Park Slope Congressman CharlesE. Schumer (D-lOth District), %u201cbecausewhile credit card interest rates have gone up,they show no sign of coming down.%u201dSchumer, a member of the Banking Committee in the House of Representatives, hasintroduced two bills on the subject, and hasreleased a list o%u00a3 banks with low interest Visaand MasterCards in an effort to spark competition among the large credit card issuers.Noting that credit card interest rates haveclimbed from an average of 17% to 19% inthe last two years while just about all otherinterest rates and the inflation rate haveplummeted, Schumer said, %u201cThey refuse tocompete, plain and simple. They are takingadvantage of consumers.%u201dSchumer said that banks have adaptedsmoothly to the deregulated atmosphere inwhich the financial industry now operates.%u201cConsumers, however, have been slower toV / l . I I C I I C l l l i p u i l l L t . vBoard of Education by Borough President Howard G olden. Impellizzeri, who lives in C lin %u00adton Hill, was appointed to the Central Board of Education in 1980 to fill the unexpiredterm of m em ber Stephen Aiello. O thers at the cerem onies were Brooklyn College RobertH ess, Chancellor Nathan Q uinones and other m em bers of the board. (Lewis Photo)Yvonne Lewis, a clinical professor atHofstra University School of Law, announcedher candidacy for Civil Court Judge in the Second Court District at a special reception forsupporters and community leaders June 13.The district includes parts of BedfordStuyvesant, Fort Greene, and CrownHeights.If elected, Lewis would be the first blackfemale to hold this office in this district. Shehas received endorsements from the Committee for Community Empowerment, theVanguard Independent Democratic Association, Hie Brooklyn Women%u2019s PoliticalCaucus, Central Brooklyn Mobilization, andPartners for Progress.Lewis is treasurer of the Brownstoners ofBedford-Stuyvesant, a member of theMacon/Throop Block Association, as well asthe Metropolitan Black Lawyers Association.Lewis also sits on the boards of TheDowntown Welfare Advocate Center; TheCenter on Social Welfare, Policy and Law;and the Bedford Stuyvesant Early ChildhoodDevelopment Center.will build new housing units on the site.The sale, says Montalto, marks the end of asix year community effort to end what hecalls this %u201ceyesore.%u201d Although officiallydesignated as park land, the once-activehandball courts had gone unused for yearsand deteriorated into a hiding place forjunkies and a resting place for abandonedcars and other garbage. In an effort toresolve this problem, Community BoardSeven passed a resolution in 1979 calling upon %u2018the State Legislature to change the park landdesignation in order to facilitate development. The board approved the resolutionunanimously after a public hearing.Montalto, a former district manager ofCommunity District Seven and presently amember of the board, says he is especiallypleased by the sale of the property, as it wasdue to his efforts that the necessary legislation was finally passed in 1983 during his firstyear in the Senate. %u201cRedrafting the legislation and lobbying for the City%u2019s Home RuleMessage, and then passage in both houses inthe Legislature, was difficult but worthwhile.The community will experience a great dealof improvement as families replace thejunkies and new housing replaces theeyesore,%u201d Montalto says.Lewis Runs For Judgeadapt,%u201d Schumer said, %u201cassuming as theycould in the old regulated days that all bankservices were the same.%u201d To counter thatbelief, Schumer released a list of 51 banksaround the country that offer credit cardswith interest rates below 18%, with some aslow as 11.5%.Gov, Assembly AgreeAn agreement has been reached betweenGovernor Mario Cuomo, the State Senate andthe Assembly making the sale of drugs tochildren under age 19 on or within 1000 feet ofa school ground a felony punishable with amaximum 25-year sentence.Greenpoint/Ft. Greene Assemblyman,Joseph Lentol (D-50th District), who introduced the bill, says the drug sales hadreached a %u201ccrisis level%u201d because drugdealers were developing a new market withschool children.The bill not only raises the maximum jailterm for the offense to 25 years from 15 years,but provides for a minimum sentence of twoto six years instead of the present one tothree. Presently, Federal law provides for nominimum sentence.Gerges Supports A rtsHeights City Councilmember Abe Gergesplans to introduce legislation allowing theCommissioner of Finance to authorize lowinterest loans for not-for-profit theatergroups. The loans are to be used for buildingrenovations and other necessary services.%u201cNot-for-profit theater groups are beingfaced with ever-increasing expenses,%u201dGerges says. %u201cThis legislation is (Hie way theCity can take a lead in helping them to survive, by helping them obtain low cost loans.%u201dAccording to the terms of the proposal, theloans would be operated under conditions setby the Finance Commissioner.Houses Not GarbageFormer State Senator Joseph G. Montaltohas praised the recent sale of a City-ownedlot between 23rd Street and 24th Street, midblock between Fourth and Fifth Avenues, along-vacant eyesore used as an illegal garbage dump and haven for drug use. It waspurchased by Sal Pignato, a developer, whoJune 26, 1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 27