Page 328 - Demo

E d i t o r i a l sNeighborhood Strips Need Continued SupportFor decades Brooklyn has prospered because of the vitality of its commercial shopping strips %u2014 the blocks of local neighborhood stores that offer residents anything from shoe repair to fresh pasta or baklava. And, for nearly a decade, the Brooklyn Borough President has nurtured the revitalization of these strips by lobbying for money and adding funds to their budgets from his own discretionary budget. This year, because of a city-wide tightening of the budget and a cut in his own funds, Howard Golden has eliminated entirely his support of the borough%u2019s local development corporations (LDC%u2019s), including many in our downtown area. The result is a sharp curtailment of the activities of them all and the death of two which relied entirely on his generosity for their funds.We don%u2019t dispute the Borough President%u2019s continued funding of other major economic efforts in the borough %u2014 the Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. and a half-dozen industrial parks %u2014 but we hope we haven%u2019t heard the last word from him about the local development corporations and the important work they have underway in each of our neighborhoods. We think the larger, borough-wide goals of job development gohand-in-hand with the work of these local groups. Ironically, the Mayor%u2019s budget continued funding levels for most of the LDC%u2019s at similar amounts to last year; it is the complete elimination oi tne Borougn President's share that has created the crisis. That%u2019s why we think it is important to have Mr. Golden leading the way to find some alternative means of funding for their work.Community Board Six %u2014 home to three of the downtown area LDC%u2019s with budgets halved for the coming year %u2014 made a suggestion to the City more than a year ago that funds from buildings sold by the City at auction be returned to the local development corporations in their immediate areas to be used for commercial revitalization. Four buildings on Fifth Avenue have since been sold at City auction bringing in more than a million dollars. The Park Slope Fifth Avenue LDC could certainly benefit even from a small portion of that sale.This is just one idea that has merit, we think. There are certainly others. We hope the Borough President will work with the leaders of these important community-based groups that are such an vital part of the borough%u2019s economic revitalization to find a way to restore their activity and increase it.%u00a7 O U N D O %u201d FEEDBACK FROM READERSTraffic Story HelpedI would like to commend The Phoenix for its July 3rd cover story highlighting the traffic impact the latest round of development projects will have on downtown Brooklyn and the surrounding brownstone communities.Traffic, transportation, parking, noise and air pollution are all basic quality-of-life issues that have profound effects on us as individuals, as communities and as a borough. Arthur Kroeber has done us all an important service with his well researched, informative article.Thank you for your superb coverage of this critical issue. %u2014 Roy W. Sloane, Chairman, Traffic & Transportation Committee, Cobble Hill Association.Adds To EducationI want to commend you on your fine school coverage in your Education issue and in your School Update columns. I am, however, disappointed that you fail to report on a shining new light in the educational scene in downtown Brooklyn: the Mary McDowell Center for Learning at the comer of Boerum Place and Schermerhom Street.During this time of great concern for quality education, it should be of interest to your readership that a superb early childhood school for children with learning disabilities has emerged in Brooklyn.This program for children between the ages of five and nine provides individualized attention to the needs of children who need small classes. Quaker educational values andprinciples, combined with strong professional skills, provide an especially suitable school environment for children with learning disabilities to develop their fullest potential %u2014 intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically. Children at the Mary McDowell Center also have unusual opportunities to experience the mainstream at the Brooklyn Friends School, which is located nearby.Interested professionals and parents are welcome to arrange to visit or to get more information by calling (718 ) 625-3939. %u2014 Lillie Pope, Ph. D., Director of PsychoEducational Services, Coney Island Hospital.Poly Prep ThanksHow can I ever thank you and your staff for the magnificent coverage ou gave Poly Prep this year? The Phoenix has been a real friend to our school, and we are very grateful. Have a splendid summer; I am looking forward to working with you again in the fall %u2014 Lucy F. Pearlman, Director of Communications, Polytechnic Prepatory Country Day School.Regina Sings PraiseThe Singers and Staff of Regina Opera wish to thank you all for the kindness that you have shown us during this past opera season %u2014 our 15th.We are an ensemble run by volunteers and our singers donate their time and talent to us. However, we are able to meet our expenses only by playing to full houses. By helping to keep the readers advised of the performance dates and the quality of our shows you arealso encouraging them to support our Company through much needed ticket sales and contributions. Every time that you list a Sunday Concert or an Opera in your %u201cEvents\calendar or print a theatrical review of our work, you help to guarantee that we will be able to continue to bring music to our Brooklyn neighbors at affordable prices.We thank you again and hope that you will continue to cover our musical productions for our 1986-1987 season. %u2014Francine Garber, 1251 Tabor Court, Brooklyn 11219.Police Didn%u2019t WorkOn the mornings of July 3 and 4, a scattering of mannerly people gathered on the slope of Sunset Park to watch the ships come up the bay. Dozens of policemen lounged about, enjoying the sunshine, brisk breeze and the atmosphere of tranquility. I asked one of the officers what he was supposed to be protecting us from. He shrugged and wished me a pleasant day.On Friday evening, a mass of people%u2014including a number of families with small chUdren%u2014waited on the hill for the fireworks display in the upper harbor. Before long, a corps of drunken rowdies went beserk, setting off fiery doodlebugs and flaming fountains under people%u2019s feet on the walks and among those seated on the grass. As alcohol removed the last traces of caution, some idiots shot rockets horizontally over the crowd so that the explosive heads dropped among the watchers. The anxiety of peering over one%u2019s shoulder, coupled with the acrid smell and obscuring smoke of the unlicensed fireworks, distracted from the professional display which people had come to see.Before it was dark, I saw a single uniformed police officer. Small, female, and quite incapable of controlling the ruffians by herself, she prudently melted into the shadow. I%u2019m told there was a gathering of policemen at the Fifth Avenue gate where they were safely removed from the disturbance.Why were police in the park at all if not to protect the citizens? It is certain that fireworks in private hands are illegal, so why didn%u2019t the police confiscate them by the carton as soon as their location was revealed? More important, since shooting rockets into masses of spectators must surely be classed as reckless endangerment, why didn%u2019t police wade into the crowd and arrest the lawbreakers? Local residents and officials who are concerned with improving the image of the Sunset Park community would do well to question whether the police were properly instructed to enforce the law and if so, why their orders were not obeyed.%u2014M.M. Graff, 44th Street,A Quest For PeaceOfficial U.S. policy in Nicaragua has created a proxy army of %u201ccontras%u201d who have terrorized, tortured, raped, or killed thousands of Nicaraguan civilians.That is why I am putting my energy into a %u201ccitizens%u2019 policy%u201d called the Quest For Peace, a campaign to match whatever congress appropriates for the %u201ccontras%u201d with the same value in true humanitarian aid for the poor of Nicaragua. By June of 1986, the campaign had matched in aid the $27 million appropriated by Congress last year. This represents the collective efforts of the peacemaking people across the United States, a strong indicator of the overwhelming public opposition to the official policy of war making.If you are interested in the Quest For Peace, contact either your local group or the National Office (which keeps a tally of aid sent): Quest For Peace, P.O. Box 5206, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782. Yours for a peaceful world %u2014 Sister Bernadette Sullivan, S.F.P., Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, Justice and Peace Liason, 23 Middagh Street, Brooklyn.Honor His MemoryAs we pay tribute to the late Admiral Hyman Rickover, known as the father of the nuclear navy, let us heed the advice he gave on his retirement that both nuclear weapons and nuclear power should be outlawed. %u201cI%u2019m not proud of the part I played,%u201d he said.New York City Congressmen, Acerkman, Garcia, Mrazek, Owens, Rangel, Schumer, Solarz, Towns and Weiss, who voted against funds for a nuclear navyport in New York City harbor, can be proud of the part they played.They are mindful of the threat to our health and safety from an accidental collision or fire that could release deadly radioactive plutonium, endangering twelve million people in a 28-mile area.Let%u2019s honor Admiral Rickover%u2019s memory by working to make New York and the world a nuclear-free zone! %u2014 Marion Kronheim, Chairwoman, Flatbush SANE.S IGlw OF THE J^M E SThe joy rides on Coney Island%u2019s Cyclone began immediately after Mayor Ed Koch and Borough President Howard Golden officially opened the ride on July 10. Long lines formed for the ride that had remained shut down this year when the ride%u2019s operators could not cover the liability. (Phoenix/Koch Photo)If You \\ e Got Somethingto Say A bout Local Issues,Sound O ff Here in Our Space.Page 22, THE PHOENIX, July 17,1986