Page 659 - Demo

Demonstrators Want Affordable Housing And Jobs Included in Plan:Atlantic Terminal Opponents Hold March Against ProjectBY LIZ KOCHVowing that their fight against developerJonathan Rose%u2019s Atlantic Terminal mixeduse development would continue in the formof sit-ins, court battles, and rallies, opponentsof the project took to the streets Saturday,Sept. 20 to call for increased community involvement in the plan.Just five days before the Board of Estimatewas scheduled to vote on the proposed housing/commercial development, approximately 150 marchers joined together near theempty lots on Atlantic Avenue where Rose isproposing to construct his development andcalled on City politicians to retract their support of the project.%u201cDespite the needs of the community andthe fact that Rose is the biggest contributor toGolden%u2019s campaign the Board of Estimateappears to be prepared to approve the planwith no major changes,%u201d Ted Gliek, the headof the ATURA Coalition, a group composed oforganizations and individuals seeking tomake alterations to Rose%u2019s plan, told thecrowd.The march, which started at the AtlanticTerminal site, straggled through the streetswith much boisterous chanting with a groupof political cheerleaders leading the way.Heading the march were roughly 30 childrenwho carried signs demanding a future thatcontained jobs and housing and nothomelessness.FIVE KIDS HAVE DEED%u201cMayor Koch, five children have died andyou are still making your corny jokes,%u201d saidthe sign of a 10-year old resident of theBrooklyn Arms Welfare Hotel that stands adjacent to the Atlantic Terminal site. Othersfrom the hotel voiced a concern that Rose%u2019sdevelopment spelled a move for them toanother hotel or out on the streets if noshelter could be found. %u201cI want to knowwhere we are going to sleep and eat andwhere our children are going to sleep,%u201d onemother asked. Attending the rally that daywere members of a hotel group called%u201cParents on the Move,%u201d a group that recentlyformed to try and improve living conditionsfor residents of the hotel.B o th p a re n ts a n d c h ild re n w e re on th e m o v e last S a tu rd a y to v o ic e th e ir o p p o s itio n toth e la rg e o ffic e /re s id e n tia l c o m p le x p ro p o s e d by d e v e lo p e r J o n a th a n R o se. B elo w , S h e ro n ePerry, a s o cial w o rk e r at th e B ro o klyn A rm s w e lfa re h o te l c a lls on re s id e n ts to d em an dth e ir h o u s in g rig h ts . D e m o n s tra to rs said th e p ro ject sh o u ld in c lu d e lo cal jo b d e v e lo m e n tas w e ll as h o u s in g . (P h o e n ix /K o c h P hoto )Standing in front of the hotel with a crowdthat swelled to more than 200, Sherone Perry,a social worker at the hotel called on hotelresidents to come down from their rooms andjoin the rally to join the fight for their right tohousing. %u201cMayor Koch is responsible for thehomeless problem in this City. Money is going to subsidize these projects while peopledon%u2019t have a place to live,%u201d she said.DON%u2019T GET OPPORTUNITIESA ninth grader from the hotel also joinedthe list of speakers at the rally and called onthe crowd to address the concerns of thehomeless. %u201cWe go to school and people thinkwe%u2019re dumb,%u201d she said. %u201cThey don%u2019t give usthe opportunity given to other people,%u201d sheadded. Her concerns with the new project,she said, stemmed from the realization thatopportunities were once again being givenwhere they were least needed and neglectedwhere they were needed. %u201cDo people evenwonder what will happen with us?%u201d sheasked.The question of housing, jobs and subsidiesto big developers were the main focus of concern that day as the marchers questioned theconnection between the developer%u2019s campaign contributions and support thrownbehind the project by city officials.Assemblymember Jim Brennan, who joinedthe rally when it made its final stop at AlbeeSquare Mall, questioned the validity of votescast by members of the Board of Estimatewhen contributions to their campaigns inlarge part came from the pockets of realestate developers. Assemblymember RogerGreen also voiced his opposition to the project.At the end of the march, the younger marchers began to sit on the ground, weary ofcarrying their placards, but their zeal wasstill conveyed as two young boys began tofight over who would continue to carry thesign. Despite their apparent weariness, theyboth wanted the same sign and finally resolved their differences by each carrying onecomer. %u201cThis is so we have a place to live,%u201dthe smaller one said, scowling.mC i t y A l l W e t W i t h P r o m i s e F o r S u m m e r F e r r i e sBY ROB TAYLORDespite the fanfare accompanying its trialperiod last year at this time, the anxious waitfor a ferry service connecting Brooklyn%u2019sFulton Ferry with lower Manhattan has continued for over a year and City officials arestill dragging their feet on the final selectionof the shuttle%u2019s operator.Since the end of the six-week successfultrial last fall, the decision has become caughtin the various webs and layers of Citybureaucracy for a seemingly endless reviewand examination, leaving offical spokesmenembarassed and giving strength to rumorsthat Fulton Ferry developer David Walentaswill ultimately receive the contract.%u201cThe bottom line is that the City is beingvery cautious before making a final decisionon the service,%u201d says Larry Simonberg,assistant press secretary in the Mayor%u2019s office. %u201cWhen choosing someone to carry outthis service you want the best. In light of thecorruption scandals that surfaced this year,the City is being very sensitive about thedecisions it is making.%u201dSimonberg%u2019s comments echo the same sentiments that have been made throughout thesummer. In early June, Marcia Reiss, aspokesperson for the City%u2019s Ports, International Trade and Commerce Department,reported that a recommendation was aboutto be made to City Hall about the five pendingproposals for the operation of the ferry service that has been absent from Brooklyn%u2019swaterfront for nearly 60 years.A final announcement from City Hall hasbeen expected since that time. Trie recommendations from Reiss%u2019 department wereturned over to the Deputv Mavor for Financeand Economic Development, Alair Townsend, for a final review in July. Weekly callsto Townsend%u2019s office have produced little information about when a decision would be announced and City officials are tight-lippedabout what is actually happening.%u201cI have no idea how long the review is going to take,%u201d says Borough President HowardGolden, undaunted by the time the process istaking. %u201cAll I want to see is water transportation returned to Brooklyn.%u201dInitially, the Department of Ports, International Trade and Commerce had hoped toname an operator of the ferry service by theend of 1985, but the decision was delayedbecause some of the firms vying for the contract began to team up to increase theirchances of being named. Reiss called it%u201cmusical chairs.%u201d %u201cIt became so confusing,so we asked for new proposals,%u201d she explained.Five final proposals were submitted March26 by: the Citizens%u2019 Committee for UrbanFishing; Dirksen Tallyrand, Inc.; FloatingThrough America, Inc.; Skyline Management Commuting and Sightseeing in partnerGovemor Mario Cuomo will speak atDowntown Brooklyn%u2019s St. James CathedralOctober 2, despite his continuing dispute withNew York Catholic leaders.Cuomo, who has effectively been barredfrom speaking at church functions in the NewYork Archdiocese because of his divergencefrom Catholic doctrine on public abortionpolicy, will present the first annual PeterTurner lecture. The title of his address is%u201cThose Who Love the World: Catholics andthe Commonweal.%u201dThe lecture series is named for the layfounder of the Brooklyn Diocese and is intended to be a forum for %u201cdistinguishedAmerican Catholic Lay leaders,%u201d saysDiocesan spokesman Frank DeRosa.Cuomo%u2019s appearance, arranged in April,was cast in doubt earlier this month when theNew York Archdiocese issued a directive adship with Two Trees Management(Walentas%u2019s company); and Friends ofFulton Ferry Landing in partnership withSouth Street Seaport Museum, Seaport Lineand Prospect Park Environmental Center,Inc. Seaport Line was the operator of the interim trial service last year.These companies and non-profit organizations that would like to operate the serviceare now expressing doubt about theirchances of receiving the contract. %u201cIt%u2019sdiscouraging because I can%u2019t imagine whythey would be stalling,%u201d says Anthony Mannheim, who worked on the Friends of FultonFerry Landing joint proposal. %u201cIf they weregoing to use us and they were reviewing theproposals like they keep saying, I think Iwould have heard that they were checking usout, and I haven%u2019t.%u201dPrivately, some of the other companiesvising pastors not to invite speakers who opposed specific church teachings to Catholicevents. Cuomo publicly questions the policy,saying it interfered with the laity%u2019s right tospeak. But Brooklyn bishop FrancisMugavarro said his diocese has a differentpolicy, under which Cuomo may speak.%u201cSpeakers are to be appropriate for achurch setting and address topics withinChurch teaching and concern,%u201d stated aneditorial in the September 20 issue of %u201cTheTablet,%u201d the weekly publication of theBrooklyn Diocese published by Mugavarro.%u201cDifferences over one or another churchteachings does not of itself make a person inappropriate, but to address the point ofdisagreement would be inappropriate.%u201dCuomo%u2019s address will being at 8pm. St.James Cathedral is located at St. JamesPavilion. For further info, 852-4002. %u2014 A.K.seeking the contract say that Walentas, alongwith Skyline Management Commuting andSightseeing will be picked to operate theferry shuttle service because of Golden%u2019s support of the work Walentas is doing developingthe Fulton Ferry Landing property owned byhis Two Trees Management Co. in an areaadjacent to the area from which the ferry willembark.Walentas refuses to take or return phonecalls about his proposal. However, twice inpublic sessions he has said he will be offeringa ferry service soon. He also has purchased aside-wheeler ferry boat that offered July 4Liberty Weekend outings.Borough President Golden said last weekhe has no influence over the final decision bythe City. But the Board of Estimate, on whichhe votes, will have to approve or denywhatever contract is presented. %u201cI don%u2019tknow who the contract is going to go to, nordo I have a say in the recommendations,%u201d hesaid.With the summer ended, it is unlikely nowthat there will be a ferry service to begin until next spring. Reiss, of the Port agency,says that the City wants to make sure that agood precedent is set with the contact that isawarded.%u201cThis is not an isolated proposal and the City is trying to encourage ferry service inother locations,%u201d she says. %u201cPeople want tomake the right decision under the rightpolicies and they want to keep things uniformthroughout.%u201dThe decision to approve and begin a ferryservice between Roosevelt Island and WallStreet, launched in August with little advancenotice, was explained by Reiss as meeting anemergency need created by problems inregular tram seirvice between the island andManhattan.Barred From New York Diocese Functions,Governor Cuomo Will Address Brooklyn ChurchS e p te m b e r 25, 1986, T H E P H O E N IX , P ag e 3