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Parks Department Unveils Plan To Renovate Carroll ParkBY LIZ KOCHDolphins or no dolphins was one of the mostmajor points of concern when CarrollGardens residents got their first look at plansfor the planned refurbishing of Carroll Parklast month. It is a plan that has been on thedrawing board for several years withoutcoming to fruition.At a meeting of Community Board 6%u2019sParks Committee, mothers with theirchildren in tow and committee membersreviewed the new plan presented by DawnGruskin, job captain and designer for theParks Department, who explained the latestblueprint for the reconstruction of the119-year-old park. The design had originallybeen presented to the committee one and ahalf years ago, but according to Gruskin theplan was %u201clost in the shuffle,%u201d and onlyrecently resurrected.Although many in the audience expressedskepticism about specific details of the plan,focusing on safety for children, the overhauling of Carroll Park which contains a baseballfield, game boards, bocci ball courts and achildren%u2019s water pool, were generally foundto be acceptable.If implemented, the plan would increasethe number of benches in the park, createtwo fenced-in playgrounds, rebuild thewading pool to make it level rather thansunken, and replace the jet sprays there withdolphins which would shoot water from theirmouth.Some dramatic changes in the appearanceof the park would also be made, includingconstruction of a semi-circular trellis thatwould act as a backdrop for the statue thatstands in the middle of the park. Bencheswould be placed inside the trellis. Additionallandscaping will add more shade to the parkand the plan also calls for the removal of theback walls near the Smith Street end of thepark.Gruskin pointed out that the plan did notdiffer m uch fro m th e one n reo en ted in th ecommittee a year and a half ago, but that foraesthetic reasons the layout would be more%u201ccurvey%u201d with trees and fences to emphasizea gentle flow of a line. Decorative pavementwill replace the sand pit that currently surrounds the monument. In response to safetyconcerns expressed by those at the July 10meeting, Gruskin replied: %u201cWe are veryaware of the safety issue in designing a park.Whatever planting of trees or changes we door make, it is not intended to obscure the viewfrom the street.%u201dCB6 committee members have voted to accept the preliminary design with additionalrequests made by those in attendance.%u2018 We will add to the plan, additional lightingfor the bocci ball courts, the possibility ofmoving the dolphins as well as investigatingan alternative plan for the sprayers, a higherfence for the bocci court and latches on theoutside gates leading into the park,%u201d boardmember Jerry Armer told Gruskin. A greatdeal of concern was voiced over the safety ofthe dolphins for sm all children playing in thevicinity, and questions were raised whetherthe trellis could become a haven forundesirable activity.The Parks Department designer willreturn with redrawn and amended plans inthe fall %u2014 plans everybody hopes will be thefinal ones. Gruskin anticipates constructionbeginning next spring. The comfort house inthe park will also be undergoing a renovation, but is not scheduled until after the Carroll Park renovation.Carroll Park is a great place for kids toplay on the equipment (as pictured) or forpeople to play highly competitive gamesof Bocci. The park will receive a muchneeded sprucing up, although there issome disagreement about what should beoverhauled. (Phoenix/Cheech Photo)ON THE 1986 CAMPAIGN TRAIL;In Ridge/Heights Assembly Race, Accusations Taint IssuesBY ROB TAYLORSome things never seem to change much in :the 52nd Assembly District. In this year%u2019sbids for Assemblymember and restrictLeader, as with two years ago, the names arefamiliar, the issues are unchanged, and theaccusations are still nasty. Only the campaign tactics are different.Eileen Dugan, the three-term representative from the district that stretches fromthe Brooklyn Navy Yard, through BrooklynHeights, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook toBay Ridge, is again being challenged by Anthony LaBella. Two years ago, La Bella, whois from Bay Ridge, ran an unsuccessfulRepublican campaign against Dugan, whohad earlier been challenged in theDemocratic Primary election by attorneyJeffrey Golkin.This year, LaBella and Golkin have teamedup on the sam e slate %u2014 as Democrats.LaBella has switched political parties to runfor the Assembly seat and Golkin haslowered his sights to the Democratic DistrictLeader position that is being vacated by JohnMazziteili. Both men still have their eyes onthe same goal; to defeat Dugan and herpolitical associates. %u201cShe wants to be thequeen bee,%u201d says LaBella, a businessmanand captain of the 68th Precinct AuxiliaryPolice in Bay Ridge.WASTING MONEY%u201cI think people should say something tothem for wasting tax-payers%u2019 money,%u201d rebutsDugan. %u201cI don%u2019t really know why I amchallenged, but they are very small-mindedpeople and I find them an annoyance.%u201d Twoyears ago, Dugan beat LaBella in the generalelection with 82 percent of the vote. LaBellaclaim s he lost by such a large marginbecause of presidential election year coattails %u2014 not President Reagan%u2019s, butMondale%u2019s, as the 52nd A.D. overwhelminglyvoted for the Democratic presidential ticket.By registering as a Democrat, LaBella,who says he only became a registered Conservative in 1378 after becoming disillusionedwith the Democrats, says he will be able togive the electorate a real political cfepice.But, Dugan asserts, the switch *Will foolnone of the voters. %u201cThe fact is, that LaBellais really a Republican,%u201d she says. %u201cIs herepudiating everything he said two years agowhen he claimed he would win on RonaldReagan%u2019s coattails?%u201dAssembly member Eileen Dugan poses with some of her Carroll Gardens constituentsin a bid to pass a prescription drug bill earlier this year. The measure has yet to pass.After LaBella filed his petitions, Dugansought to have him eliminated from theprimary race in the courts. With theassistance of election lawyer Marty Connor,who also represents the 25th Senate Districtthat encompasses much of Dugan%u2019s A.D.,Dugan and her Democratic District Leaderrunning m ate, John McElhinney, filedlawsuits against their opponents and chargedthat the cover sheets accompanying theLaBella/Golkin petitions were inaccurateand did not properly break down the numberof signatures for each candidate on the combined slate.CHALLENGERS REMOVEDThe case was adjudicated in State SupremeCourt and La Belli' and Golkin were bothremoved from the primary ballot due toprecedence set in a sim ilar case, %u201cThe Matter of Russell Peccraro,%u201d in Aug., 1925.LaBella and Goll in are appealing the decision and say they still expect to be on theSeptember Democratic m m ary ballot.Although the decision appears to be basedon a minor election law technicality, twoBrooklyn incumbent members of the StateAssembly have also run afoul of the irregularity and are also not candidates at thiswriting. Regardless of the outcome, Duganand McElhinney have succeeded in delayingany major confrontation between the twoslates, hindering La Bella%u2019s and Golkin%u2019sabilities to build any voter familiarity.%u201cAll they are aiming to do is reach out andsilence their opponents,%u201d says Golkin. %u201cH ieidea is to harass and intimidate the candidates into not going forward with theircampaigns. If the incumbents had any faithin their abilities, they wouldn%u2019t try to knocktheir opponents off the ballot,%u201d he adds.Dugan retorts that %u201cthe law applies toeveryone.%u201d She says, %u201cAny candidate whowishes to make the laws of this State mustfirst learn how to follow our existing laws.Who is Jeffrey Golkin to act as a spokesmantor the 52nd A.D.?%u201dThese accusations are best understood inthe context of the redistricting that took placein 1982 when Bay Ridge, a historically conservative neighborhood and virtually the onlyplace in Brooklyn to be represented by electedRepublicans over the past 30 years, was added to the district. Issues like the death penaltyand Medicaid funding for abortion are sensitive. Dugan does not cover up her positionon either issue: she opposes the death pen ltyand supports state medicaid-funding forabortions. LaBella takes the opposite positionand, in addition to being the candidate of theRepublicans and Conservatives, in 1984, healso ran as a Right-to-Life candidate.In that campaign, Dugan lost som e of thedistricts in Bay Ridge, in partbecause of these issues, and in part becauseof Bay Ridge%u2019s heavy Republican registration.To avoid confrontations on these issues,Dugan spends a great deal of her tim emeeting with various constituents groups andcommunity organizations offering herassistance when she can. She is regularlyseen at most of the local school board andcommunity board meetings in her Assemblydistrict and actively works on a number ofdistrict projects. Her knowledge of districtneeds is astounding as she can rattle anendless list of housing and economic development projects %u2014 successful and still beingpushed %u2014 that she has had a hand in since going to Albany.LaBella says her concern about theseissues is verbal rather than active. %u201cThere isa lack of direction. When she talks abouthousing, all I see are luxury condominiumsgoing up,%u201d he says. %u201cShe is never in BayRidge. When d ie was defeated in 1984, we toldher to get out and she has never been back.%u201dDugan, however, takes issue with that.Realizing a need to work with thatneighborhood, she opened a district office inBay Ridge to build a larger political basethere. McEihinney is also a Bay Ridge resident and says, %u201cWe%u2019ve had two years to workin the area. With a popular governor likeCuomo running at the top of the ticket,Democrats will do better this year.%u201dMcElhinney also cites the presence of CityCouncilman Sal Albanese, a Democrat whodefeated* a Republican and now representsBay Ridge, as further acceptance of moreliberal politicians.But, just as Dugan is increasing hervisibility in Bay Ridge, LaBella is doing thesame thing in Dugan%u2019s home turf of CarrollGardens. His 52nd Democratic Club opened aCourt St. office in late spring to try to buildsupport for his candidacy. LaBella says hehopes to attract the displaced workers in RedHook who have last jobs and homes becauseContinued on Page 6.ugust 14,1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 3