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next month , almost 10 years after public officials removed part of an elevated freeway in the embarcadero district here , private developers plan to start rehabilitating the first of two historic waterfront buildings that had been largely hidden from view by the freeway . work on both structures , pier one and the historic ferry_building , is part of a plan to reclaim large parts of san_francisco 's waterfront that were difficult or uninviting to walk to when the freeway existed . ''we see this as a real opportunity to rehab these buildings , which are just gems , '' said jennifer sobol , development project coordinator . first to be renovated will be the 90 , 000 square_foot pier one , a building that served as a sugar warehouse . the developer is the amb corporation , which has leased the building from the port of san francisco and plans to redevelop it as office space . the port agency , which occupies space in the ferry_building , has agreed to be a tenant in the rehabilitated warehouse . in addition , the developer itself plans to occupy another part of the building . the building 's character complements the business of the developer , a real_estate_investment_trust that invests in transportation related industrial properties . ''the building is unique and very symbolic of our business , '' said janice thacher , regional manager for asset_management at amb . the 38 million project is expected to be completed in a year . built in 1931 , the pier one building , with its fortress like facade , was the last structure to be completed in a city beautiful plan for the san_francisco waterfront . the city beautiful movement promoted classical architecture and formal , european inspired planning in the first two decades of the century . the building recalls san_francisco 's largely vanished role as a commercial port . during its heyday into the 1950 's , ships deposited refined sugar at the warehouse , where workmen then loaded freight cars of the southern pacific railroad that lined up on a rail spur along the southern side of the building . the building also accommodated ferry passengers with a second story gallery for disembarkation from the upper decks of the ferryboats of the period . pier one stopped being a warehouse in the 1960 's because the building could not accommodate the cargo containers that have become the dominant mode of shipping goods . in recent years , pier one has been a parking_garage for downtown business commuters . the old warehouse has a high central space that runs the length of the building . to convert the warehouse into modern office space , the san_francisco based architectural firm of simon martin vegue winkelstein moris plans to leave the central section of the office building open , while providing mezzanine like ''partial floors'' that will flank the open section on both sides . the partial floors will add 50 , 000 square_feet of floor space to the building . the openness of the plan , according to dan cheetham , the project designer , preserves the abundant natural light that is one of the building 's most attractive features . the rehabilitated pier one building will include a 2 , 100 square_foot ''history walk'' that will have metal inlays in the floorway indicating the original path of the rail tracks that guided trains inside the building . the original tracks will not be removed , but will be hidden by a new floor . ( the trains had entered the building on a floor that was several feet lower than the rest of the building . ) to provide more access to the waterfront , the architects have also designed a so called apron around the building that allows pedestrians to walk out on the 700 foot length of the pier . at the same time , cathy j . simon , a principal of simon martin vegue winkelstein moris , said she did not want to erase the rough edges of the building 's warehouse years entirely . ''we are attempting to keep the building 's industrial character , as well as making it a people place , '' she said . the impetus for a large scale planning effort in the embarcadero started in 1989 , when the loma prieta earthquake caused widespread damage throughout the bay_area , including the structure of the elevated embarcadero freeway in front of the ferry_building . the freeway was so severely_damaged in the earthquake that state_highway officials soon dismantled it in 1991 . the port commission of san_francisco , the city agency that has jurisdiction over the city 's waterfront , created the port of san francisco waterfront land use plan for a_7 . 5 mile stretch that covers much of the city 's bay front from fisherman 's wharf to india basin . completed in 1997 , the plan calls for historic_preservation of a number of buildings , including the ferry_building , pier one and others on or along the embarcadero 's outmoded ''finger piers . '' the demise of the embarcadero freeway restored the ferry_building , with its distinctive tower , to its prominence as a landmark in the san_francisco skyline . that prominence is all the more important because it stands at the visual end point of market street , the city 's ' 'main_street . '' renovation of the 250 , 000 square_foot ferry_building , by cornerstone properties , is expected to begin in january 2001 . the building , said ms . simon , the architect who is designing the renovation , is ''the diamond in the necklace'' on the san_francisco waterfront . the two upper stories of the century old building will be rehabilitated as office space , while the first level will be a market hall devoted largely to food . the developers are studying a proposal to remove parts of the second floor , recreating a continuous ''nave'' similar to the one that that once ran the 600 foot length of the building . beyond its prominence as a landmark , the building is meaningful to san_francisco because it is one of the few major buildings to have survived the 1906 earthquake and the subsequent fires that ravaged much of the city . under construction in front of the ferry_building is a large plaza that features two ''light cannons'' capable of projecting a pair of column like shafts of light into the night air . the designer is roma design group of san_francisco . port officials see the ferry building 's renovation as a way to re establish it as a transportation_hub . for the first time in decades , the muni light_rail system is being rerouted to stop directly in front of the ferry_building . the 1989 earthquake ''was a tragedy , but it also opened up the whole city , '' said ms . sobol , the port official , adding that it ''allowed us to connect the waterfront with the city again . '' the removal of the freeway ''opens up the view of the water , , '' she said , ''and has reactivated interest in the waterfront . ''	has a location of america
lead it exists , but not for long a community in the metropolitan_area without condominiums . elmsford , n.y. , only one square_mile between tarrytown and white_plains , has remained a community of single family homes some , now , holding two families and just a few rental apartment houses . it has been , in fact , elmsford 's small size and central location that have prevented things from changing . it exists , but not for long a community in the metropolitan_area without condominiums . elmsford , n.y. , only one square_mile between tarrytown and white_plains , has remained a community of single family homes some , now , holding two families and just a few rental apartment houses . it has been , in fact , elmsford 's small size and central location that have prevented things from changing . ''it 's surrounded by golf_courses and developed properties , and there have n't been many opportunities , '' said henry reiter , a developer who finally found a spot and is building a 31 unit condominium there . his one acre site , on nob hill , the highest point in the village , is prominent and at the intersection of a thruway , a parkway and an expressway . the 6 million project was made possible when the village added a multiple dwelling zoning to the commercial zoning of tarrytown road , its main_street . the one and two bedroom units are priced from 179 , 000 to 239 , 500 . more condominiums should follow another developer plans 980 units for the other side of nob hill . posting	has a location of america
with street signs naming blocks after george_balanchine and leonard_bernstein , and a renowned performing_arts center , the vibrant lincoln square neighborhood abounds with cultural and entertainment opportunities . at its heart is lincoln_center , a mecca for opera , ballet , classical_music , theater and film audiences . on summer nights , jazz and salsa get the crowd swinging on the fountain plaza at lincoln_center . the 13 screen sony lincoln square at broadway and 68th_street attracts large audiences nightly , and the latest foreign films may be seen a few blocks south at the six screen lincoln plaza cinemas . o'neal 's , fiorello 's and josephina are among the longstanding restaurants catering to the theater set . cafe des artistes attracts prominent people from the arts and media to its tables . neighborhood stores like 67 wine spirits and soutine 's bakery are part of the mix on or near columbus avenue . a 24 hour food emporium at 68th_street and broadway and the recently expanded fairway market on broadway at 74th_street deliver to many busy homes in the area . ''the neighborhood is incredibly convenient , '' said arlene simon , the president of landmark west , an upper west side preservation group , who has lived with her family on west 67th street for 29 years . ''central_park is our front lawn . '' the slides at adventure playground at central_park at west 67th street are a magnet for children , and the flea_market in the schoolyard on columbus and 76th street , which showcases collectibles , is a popular weekend meeting place . in the last four years , lincoln square has increasingly become a shopping destination . among the large chain stores are barnes_noble , tower records , pottery barn , eddie bauer and the disney store . gracious home , the upscale housewares store , is coming this fall . abc has its headquarters in the neighborhood and there are also a number of associations near lincoln square , which is zoned for mixed use residential , entertainment and commercial development . in 1969 , the city planning commission created the special lincoln square district to encourage development from west 60th to 68th_street between amsterdam_avenue and parts of central_park west . the city amended its zoning for the district in 1994 , restricting the height of buildings on broadway to 25 to 30 stories , depending on various factors . ''the neighborhood has changed enormously , '' said barry rosenberg , a of community board 7 member who has lived on west 67th street 30 years . ''we are becoming more like times_square north and less like a mixed use residential community . '' dennis rooney , a producer in the music business , and his wife , jacqueline jones , who works at the metropolitan_opera , have just paid 275 , 000 for a 900 square_foot , two bedroom , one bath co op with a terrace on west 66th_street near west_end avenue . ''public transportation is convenient , and for my wife it 's walking distance to the met , '' mr . rooney said . ''one thing we will enjoy being close to is the walter reade theater . '' the theater , which is part of lincoln_center , specializes in film festivals , retrospectives and international movies . in the 1990 's , the lincoln_center area has become one of the city 's prime condominium settings , said jeff sholeen , a broker with the corcoran group . there are about 20 condominium buildings in the west 60 's the most luxurious is the 52 story trump international tower at one central_park west . following closely are three millennium partners towers , from 66th to 68th streets and from broadway to columbus avenue . opera stars , television talk show hosts and athletes are some of the residents of the 27 to 56 story millennium buildings , which were constructed in the last five years with retail spaces as their lower floors . their 1 , 000 square_foot one bedrooms sell for about 500 , 000 , and 1 , 600 square_foot two bedrooms fetch about 800 , 000 , said gayle porigow , a broker with vandenberg real_estate , which specializes in the area . central_park west in the 60 's is all co op except for two condominiums , trump international and , at no . 25 , the century . on the low rise side streets between columbus avenue and central_park west is a mixture of single family town houses , brownstone apartment buildings and rental and co op apartment houses . at the nearly completed trump place rental building at 180 riverside boulevard , the first building in the contentious 16 building riverside south development in the former penn yards site to the west of lincoln_center , available studios rent for 1 , 650 to 1 , 780 , one bedrooms for 2 , 275 to 3 , 200 and two bedrooms for 4 , 000 to 6 , 000 . west_end towers at 75 west_end avenue rents studios for 1 , 400 to 1 , 600 , one bedrooms for 1 , 700 to 2 , 100 and two bedrooms for 2 , 800 to 3 , 200 . a five bedroom , five story town house on west 68th_street sold for 2 . 7 million in june . many properties on west 67th street between columbus avenue and central_park west were built as artists' studios in the early 20th_century and are now three bedroom duplex co ops with double height ceilings that sell for more than 1 million . the extension of the ninth_avenue elevated railway in 1879 , which ran from 53d to 145th streets , spurred residential construction in the area . the affluent settled on central_park west and the middle_class moved into row_houses on 68th_street and above . tenements on ninth ( columbus ) and 10th ( amsterdam ) avenues and the side streets in between housed many working_class immigrants . in 1908 , a 55 foot statue of liberty was installed on the roof of the liberty warehouse building , now the site of o'neal 's restaurant at 43 west 64th street . before world_war i , the lincoln square theater was one of several vaudeville houses in the area . the artists raphael soyer and george bellows had studios in the lincoln arcade building at broadway and west 65th street , now the site of the juilliard school . amsterdam_avenue between 56th and 69th streets , a deteriorating area with a high crime rate , became known as san juan hill . in 1957 city officials designated an 18 block area as the lincoln square urban_renewal project . the construction of lincoln_center , a branch of fordham_university and public schools from 1959 to 1969 helped to restore confidence in the neighborhood . tenements in the neighborhood were demolished and families were relocated . parts of the 1961 movie ''west side story'' were filmed in streets in the area , with abandoned tenements as backdrops , noted peter salwen , the author of ''upper west side story . '' about 2 , 400 people live in the new york city housing authority 's 13 building amsterdam houses , bounded by 61st and 64th streets and amsterdam and west_end avenues . the average income of the families living there is 14 , 978 . the neighborhood , which is in community school_district 3 , has three public elementary schools . liz sostre , district spokeswoman , said that the pre k through grade 5 p.s . 191 had ''a strong focus on literacy'' and that the k 5 p.s . 199 focused on science . the k 3 special music school of america at 129 west 67th street is a public elementary_school for musically gifted children . parents may apply to any middle_school in district 3 . the 5 8 center school at 270 west 70th street focuses on theater arts . the 6 8 lincoln academy at 210 west 61st_street , with 180 children , provides a small , supportive learning environment . the five year old , 700 student beacon high_school at 227 243 west 61st_street has a rigorous academic curriculum and sends about 80 percent of its graduates on to higher_education . some advanced students are able to take classes at the nearby fordham campus . the other neighborhood secondary_school is the martin_luther_king_jr . high_school at 122 amsterdam_avenue . a dmission to the fiorello h . laguardia high_school of music , art and performing_arts at 108 amsterdam_avenue is by audition . in addition to the academic program , students spend several hours in an arts studio . the private ethical culture school at 33 central_park west educates about 510 students in pre k through grade 6 . the school was founded in 1878 by felix adler , a humanist philosopher . tuition ranges from 15 , 475 to 16 , 625 , depending on grade . about 200 students attend the grade 4 to 12 professional children 's school at 132 west 60th_street . tuition ranges from 13 , 000 to 15 , 000 . at the college level juilliard school , for music , dance and drama , the tuition is 15 , 200 . admission is by audition and only 9 percent of applicants are accepted , a school spokeswoman said . the west side y.m.c.a . at 63d street has preschool classes , day care and a nursery_school for children aged 2 1 2 to 5 . annual tuition ranges from 3 , 800 to 7 , 000 . the y offers a gym , two pools , basketball , squash , racquetball , as well as classes in self_defense , tai chi , yoga and aerobics . working out , networking and celebrity spotting are all possible at the reebok sports club on columbus avenue , where the initiation fee is 1 , 175 and monthly dues are 170 . community and preservation groups are concerned that the trump project , which is eventually to have 5 , 700 apartments , as well as the proposed development of the coliseum site at columbus_circle , will add to the congestion in the area . ''it 's a wonderful neighborhood , but sometimes you can barely walk on the street because it is so crowded , '' said councilwoman ronnie eldridge , a democrat , who lives in the area .	has a location of america
constance k . newsom takes pride in her prewar row_house in boerum_hill , brooklyn pre civil_war , that is but she is also looking forward to some new neighbors across the street , a row of 14 starkly modern single family town houses taking shape in cinderblock outlines . the town houses on state street , priced at about 2 . 6 million , are the leading_edge of a series of projects that are to fill in lots that were cleared decades ago in the name of urban_renewal , only to become a battleground of urban dreams . for years , ms . newsom and her neighbors on state street fought off proposals to turn the block into high rise low_income_housing , or a huge court complex . now they are mostly thrilled with the plans but anxious about how things will finally look . the town houses are part of a larger project it will eventually include condominium developments , lofts , commercial space , a theater and subsidized_housing , much of it for people working in the entertainment industry . the houses , under construction by two developers , abby hamlin and francis greenburger , were designed to embrace the lightly ornamented greek_revival brick buildings across the street built in the late 1840 's , and the more elaborate italianate 1870 's brownstone down the block , while at the same time remaining decidedly different . averaging just under 18 feet wide , the houses are to include front stoops , iron railings , cast limestone details , and facade lines to echo those of their older neighbors , along with patches of old fashioned red brick . but the new buildings dropped the ornamentation of their neighbors and added some modern strokes swatches or entire facades of more contemporary white and black bricks , and dramatic window layouts , some set off by wide copper panels , that change from house to house . every facade is different . ''we were looking for a way to respond to the neighborhood , but in a way that was original , '' ms . hamlin said . ms . hamlin managed the portfolios for several families with large real_estate holdings in new york as president of swig , weiler arnow , before setting up her own development company , hamlin ventures . the project is a joint_venture of her firm and the much larger time equities , a real_estate_development and management firm headed by mr . greenburger . the design by rogers marvel architects was one of nine winners of housing design awards to be presented later this month by the american_institute_of_architects new york chapter . ( richard meier was also a winner this year for his recent glass tower at 165 charles street , as was davis brody bond , for strivers gardens , a condo project on west 135th_street . ) ms . newsom , who was chairwoman of a subcommittee that reviewed proposals for the site , said that although some neighbors ''wanted corinthian columns , '' people are ''essentially happy , '' based on the renderings they have seen and the plans reviewed by their architect . ''modern design is the only thing you can do credibly , '' she said . ''but it will be like avery_fisher_hall , until the bands start to play , we wo n't know what it sounds like . '' the new town houses are priced somewhat above the prevailing prices for older town houses in the neighborhood , where , brokers say , recent sales have ranged up to about 1 . 9 million . but unlike older houses , which often require restoration or redesign , the new houses will be completely finished , ms . hamlin said , with materials like honed slate , marble and teak , which are offered in the latest manhattan condo developments , but with far more space , along with a private backyard and a working fireplace . and unlike older town houses , which often let in little light through their narrow windows and northern exposures , these will include a 21 foot wall of windows facing the backyards , which are 37 feet deep . some of the town houses will have a fifth floor penthouse and gardens , other smaller ones will have front balconies on the fourth floor , framed by a roof cornice line , like a giant picture window . unlike condos , each house will also have a 900 square_foot cellar . ms . hamlin said most of the potential buyers one house is now in contract have been from manhattan , families with two or three children , seeking more space . the town houses are around the corner from the a line subway and about 20 minutes to times_square . jonathan j . marvel , a principal in rogers marvel , said that the opportunity to design a unified block of individual row_houses was extraordinary , almost unknown because many of the last blocks of speculative row_houses were built in harlem at the turn of the 20th_century . ''it is something of our time , and not out of place in the neighborhood , '' he said . ''it is also something playful , that creates a sense of individuality , yet all within the composition as a whole . '' if the houses sell , the developers plan to build 10 more around the corner of state and hoyt street , and other developers might be prompted to follow their lead , especially where the zoning already bars more dense development . town house developments have been rare for the last century because developers usually want to put up the most housing in the smallest possible space . there have been only a few rows of luxury town houses built , and they have had their troubles . in the 1980 's , sheldon solow built a row of 11 18 foot_wide granite clad town houses on east 67th street near second avenue in manhattan , adjacent to a 45 story building he built that used up most of the zoning rights for the site . the houses were offered for sale in the mid 1980 's for several million dollars each , but amid the real_estate recession that followed , they were never sold , and are now offered for rent , with some now divided into two and three apartments . many row_houses built outside manhattan in recent years have been two or three family houses constructed under city programs for buyers with moderate income . but richard bearak , the deputy director for planning and development in the brooklyn borough_president 's office , said new contextual zoning rules in neighborhoods like park_slope that limit building sizes could encourage the construction of row_houses , because they are smaller . four and a half years ago , the developers bought the state street site from new york state for 4 . 6 million , after being selected in response to a request for proposals . the market value of vacant land in downtown_brooklyn has since soared . though the developers paid less than 10 a square_foot for 500 , 000 square_feet of development rights , after excluding the subsidized project , land in the area has recently been offered for sale for as much as 150 per square_foot of development , ms . hamlin said . a few years back , karen sebiri , a broker for prudential_douglas_elliman ( the new town house project is being marketed by corcoran ) , considered buying a row_house on this section of state street , but was scared off by the uncertainty of what might be built next door . now she said she believes the new project will be ''a big boost for the entire neighborhood . '' ''when you put something like this in , you are only going to bring up prices in the neighborhood , '' she said . ''had i known there would be luxury town houses across the street , i would have bought . '' postings	has a location of america
lead bernadette mclaughlin lives on the east side of this city , margaret puryear on the west . the two women share a deep nostalgia about a lost past and fears about the future . but they inhabit separate worlds , divided by far more than the saw mill river parkway , the concrete barrier that runs between them . bernadette mclaughlin lives on the east side of this city , margaret puryear on the west . the two women share a deep nostalgia about a lost past and fears about the future . but they inhabit separate worlds , divided by far more than the saw mill river parkway , the concrete barrier that runs between them . mrs . mclaughlin is white . mrs . puryear is black . they are two women who both reflect their neighborhoods and help to lead them mrs . mclaughlin is president of her civic_association , mrs . puryear active on her tenants' council . in a city found liable in federal court for keeping black and hispanic separate from white , to talk to them and their friends is to discover the depth and complexity of emotions behind a seven year old lawsuit . mrs . puryear lives in a crime ridden public_housing_project in a run down neighborhood . she has had few alternatives , according to a federal_judge , who ruled in 1985 that over 40 years yonkers built 97 . 7 percent of its public_housing in one corner of the city in an effort to keep its neighborhoods and schools segregated . the judge has threatened yonkers with bankrupting fines and a freeze on new development , immediately affecting four projects , unless it stops resisting his two year old order to desegregate by building new public_housing in neighborhoods like mrs . mclaughlin 's . she says , ''we do not want low_income_housing in our neighborhood . '' mrs . mclaughlin lives with her husband , patrick , and their four sons in the dunwoodie section on a street lined with cape_cods , near catholic churches and italian delicatessens . the neighborhood is only 15 minutes from the south_bronx , from which her family fled with other whites 20 years ago , when they no longer felt secure on once familiar streets . ''i remember coming home one night and thinking , 'who are all these people out on the street i do n't know them , ' '' mrs . mclaughlin said . the houses in southeast yonkers are filled with people like the mclaughlins , the children of italian and irish immigrants who settled in the bronx , themselves refu gees from old neighborhoods . they are teachers , police officers and small business owners . what they are saying has been said before , in other cities confronting court ordered desegregation . much of it can be found in the court transcript here , recounting passionate community debates from the 1960 's through the 80 's . to hear the talk about what is happening in yonkers now is to wonder again where concern for family and community ends and racism begins . ''are we really prepared to live in a society that guarantees equal opportunities regardless of race ? '' asked joshua p . bogin , who was the lead trial counsel for the justice_department , which , with the national association for the advancement of colored people , sued yonkers in 1980 over discrimination . ''what we 're finding , in the 1980 's , is that it 's not as easy as we had thought . '' the old fears are returning ''all of us have worked for our homes , '' patrick mclaughlin said . ''our houses are our major investments . we are not anti integrationists . show me some black guys who are working , and i 'll go out and get people here to sell them houses . ''but we do n't want any free rides . we 're talking about a subculture of poverty the crime ridden , nonworking poor , people with lesser values that we do n't share . '' the mclaughlins sat at their dining_room table with two friends , jerry longarzo and bob guldner , talking about the judge who says yonkers must build low_income_housing in their neighborhood . they talked for hours about their lives , their homes and their fears . they are solid citizens . mr . mclaughlin is assistant chairman of a committee on the handicapped in a community school_district in the bronx . mr . longarzo is assistant principal at a bronx elementary_school . mr . guldner is retired from the new york city police . struggled to buy homes around that table , the issues of public_housing and civil_rights seemed inseparable from their own experiences . when they talked about discrimination , they talked about that suffered by their immigrant parents . when they talked about housing , they talked about how hard they struggled to buy their homes . when they talked about their fears , they talked about the bronx . they described it in idealized terms an urban america where everyone worked hard and no one locked doors . ''the bronx was a paradise lost , '' mr . longarzo said . urban experts attribute the bronx 's decline to forces ranging from the building of the cross bronx expressway to the exodus of the middle_class to co op city . but many of those who fled here see it in stark , simple terms people on welfare moved in , many into huge public_housing projects . the decay of the bronx stands as one of the principal experiences of their lives , seeming to inform all of their fears about low_income_housing . ''we could see the projects going up from our kitchen window , '' mr . guldner said . ''i remember my mother saying , 'that 's the end of the neighborhood . ' '' ''there was a transition , '' mr . mclaughlin said . ''it was no longer working_poor , it was welfare poor . it was n't color , it was the way they acted . '' little is that simple in yonkers , a city of 195 , 000 that is 18 percent black and hispanic . the federal_judge , leonard b . sand , of district court in manhattan , found that arguments like some of those being heard today had been used by yonkers residents and officials to conceal racial concerns as they kept public_housing out of white neighborhoods . among the evidence of discrimination testimony from real_estate agents about middle_class blacks who had not been able to buy homes in those areas . oscar newman , a housing expert assigned to come up with a plan , which initially calls for 200 new units of public_housing , has said at community meetings that the fears in eastern yonkers are both justified and distorted . ''their neighborhoods were ruined by massive projects , '' he said . ''property values do decline when there is a high concentration of low income people . '' proposal 20 years ago he has also noted , however , that he has proposed not high rises but town houses , scattered among as many as eight sites in northern and eastern yonkers . there should be little effect on surrounding neighborhoods , he said . such a plan was proposed two decades ago . but the city rejected scattered site housing after an outcry like that heard today . instead , more high rises were built in southwest yonkers . the lawyer for the n.a.a.c.p. , michael sussman , referred to the high rises as ''apartheid like neighborhoods . '' ''you have to break the pattern , '' mr . newman has said . the mclaughlins and their friends are unconvinced . ''they call it scattered site housing , '' mr . longarzo said . ''we call it scattered site cancer . '' in a city buffeted by political turmoil , they have been urged on by city councilmen like nicholas longo and henry_spallone , both originally from the bronx . vowing to fight judge sand 's order up to the supreme_court , they were recently re elected as part of a coalition opposed to the new public_housing , that apparently controls the new council . ''they basically played on people 's fears , '' said councilwoman vinni restiano , who with this year 's redistricting , ran against mr . longo and lost . each man at the table talked angrily about his struggle to buy his house working two and three jobs , borrowing money from reluctant relatives , facing humiliation from bankers who saw them as poor risks and their fears of losing what they had gained . 'i 'm getting the shaft' ''you know how i got this house ? '' mr . mclaughlin demanded . ''we did n't eat out for two years . i hustled at yankee_stadium . i was a helper on a truck . i was a bartender , a stagehand . i worked my butt off . '' one site proposed for public_housing is six blocks from his home . ''and now i 'm getting the shaft , '' he said . he and the others say they are certain the proximity will sharply reduce the values of their homes . prices in the neighborhood start at 200 , 000 . mr . newman , again , has indicated that he both agrees and disagrees . ''if they start panic selling , property values will go down , '' he said . ''they will fulfill their own prophecy . '' they talked about how they had struggled to overcome poverty , and how their parents had and how unfair it was for a new group of poor people to be given instant entry . they have known discrimination . ''my father went to boston to look for work , '' mr . mclaughlin said . ''it was 'irish catholic need not apply . ' '' mr . newman has warned ''do n't make the mistake of thinking yonkers is a special case . the sentiments being expressed'' are ' 'really the sentiments of most suburbs that abut cities . '' last summer mr . longarzo wrote to judge sand on behalf of his civic_association . its opposition , he wrote , ''is not a question of race but of shared values a sense of personal responsibility coupled with self and civic pride . '' what kind of people would he and his neighbors welcome ? ''if any person of any race has sacrificed and can afford the market value of our homes , then they have shown personal responsibility coupled with self pride and will work to maintain and improve our community . '' in the projects , 'who thrives ? ' the commercial opened with a suburban scene a little white girl sang nursery rhymes on a swing while her mother hung out the wash . birds chirped . the film switched from color to black and white and the scene to a high rise housing_project . the camera focused on graffiti , garbage and beer bottles . traffic roared . the commercial switched back and forth between the project and the backyard several times before ending ''do n't let them do it ! say no to low_income_housing . vote for nick longo . he has the courage to fight , the wisdom to listen . '' ''that commercial won nick longo the election , '' said one city official , who did not want to be identified . mr . longo said part of the commercial was filmed at schlobohm houses in southwest yonkers . if the commercial implied that the people east of the saw mill stand to lose the most from projects like schlobohm , it is margaret puryear and 410 other families who live in schlobohm 's eight seven story buildings , part of the city 's 2 , 039 units of public_housing . she has lived there for 21 years , keeping her three bedroom apartment immaculate even as the project has fallen into decay . graffiti and broken glass on a recent saturday , mrs . puryear , who is 47 , gave a tour . she pointed out the trash and graffiti , broken glass in the playground , light fixtures missing in hallways . she indicated a group of young men near one building . they were drug dealers , she said . mrs . puryear , a factory worker 's daughter who has spent her entire life in southwest yonkers , saw mr . longo 's commercial . she is painfully aware of how her neighborhood looks to some people across town . ''i really ca n't blame them for not wanting us after seeing this , '' she said . ''it was n't always like this . it used to be beautiful . '' peter smith , executive director of the yonkers municipal housing authority , said , ''if we ever replicated another schlobohm , i think it would be an obscenity . '' schlobohm opened in 1952 . housing was tight in the postwar years , and the tenants included police officers , postal workers and laborers in the factories that once flourished in southwest yonkers . most were white . mrs . puryear and two other longtime schlobohm residents , mary wilson and mable hendricks , also remember those early years . in mrs . puryear 's living room , they spoke in resigned tones about the transformation of their world . ''we were the only blacks on our floor when we moved in , '' said mrs . wilson , 65 , a widow who has spent most of her adult life as a domestic worker . ''there was a directory in the lobby with all our names on it . '' she had brought snapshots , taken two decades ago . they showed the black and white children of schlobohm playing together . ''it was safe , '' she said . ''there were no drugs . we used to have hall inspectors . '' the wilsons had moved to schlobohm from the east side , where they had been living with a white family that employed her as a maid and cook and her husband as a chauffeur . the move was enormous . mrs . wilson 's children , age 7 and 8 , left a school on the east side where they had been the only blacks in their class for a predominantly black and hispanic school near schlobohm . ''the schools were more advanced on the east side , '' she said . ''my children said they were bored in the new school . '' according to judge sand 's ruling , housing segregation had contributed to segregated , and inferior , schools in southwest yonkers . schlobohm began to change in the 60 's when whites , many of whom by then earned too much to remain , began to move out . with the project in a mostly minority neighborhood , new whites were reluctant to live there , said mr . sussman , the lawyer for the n.a.a.c.p .. schlobohm grew overwhelmingly black and hispanic . maintenance deteriorated . crime rose . there were not enough city police and there was no federal money for housing police , mr . smith said . ''the anonymity of the project makes it a perfect environment for dealing drugs and all sorts of street_crime , '' he said . ''in a situation like that , who thrives ? '' but most of the tenants are law abiding . most of the crime , he said , is committed by outsiders ''they are the ones that people are afraid of . they are the ones that have somehow been identified as the project people . '' the women said they were gratified , but not surprised , by judge sand 's decision . ''yonkers has always been segregated , '' mrs . puryear said . 'people do n't want us' they have heard on television what some yonkers residents say about the judge 's order to build low_income_housing for people like them in new neighborhoods . ''it makes you want to cry that some people do n't want us , '' mrs . puryear said . while mrs . wilson and mrs . hendricks , a food service manager , have worked all of their adult lives , mrs . puryear , who was divorced , and is in poor health , has spent much of hers on public assistance . but she is not idle . she telephones the police for more patrol cars and urges the housing authority to make repairs . ''not everyone is on public assistance because they want to be , '' she said . a movement of cooperation there are other voices in yonkers . last summer , with judge sand threatening the city with crippling fines , a movement for cooperation was born . ''we clearly want to be responsive to the law , '' said george austin , a spokesman for those behind the movement . ''the judge has found the city guilty and has ordered a remedy . we 'd much rather work with the court and with the outside housing adviser and come up with a plan than have it shoved down our throats . '' mr . austin , an investment adviser , lives in lawrence park west in northeast yonkers , where tudor and colonial houses that start at 500 , 000 surround sarah lawrence college . 'pragmatic point of view' his civic_association joined with seven others from the northeast in urging the city to adopt mr . newman 's scattered site plan . but they also drafted a resolution stating their support for the city 's appeal of judge sand 's ruling . ''it 's not that we want it , '' anthony root , a corporate_lawyer from lawrence park west , said of the low_income_housing . ''but our position is that from a pragmatic point of view everyone should take their fair share . '' ''i think , '' he said , ''people in my community are not concerned about it from a racial point of view , but from an economic one this is the nest_egg . '' last july 7 , at a raucous meeting , the city_council voted to adopt mr . newman 's scattered site plan . the vote was 8 to 5 . but in november three of those who voted for the plan were defeated . judge sand called everyone back into court and made further threats . and an already divided city became more so , not just east against west , but neighborhood against neighborhood . yonkers has spent more than 15 million fighting the case . this week the city hired a third law_firm , skadden arps slate meagher flom of manhattan , to plead its cause .	has a location of america
lead closings in the week ended aug . 15 manhattan greenwich_village 605 , 000 2 fifth avenue ( 8th st . ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 000 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , formal_dining_room , terrace maintenance 1 , 400 , 50 tax deductible ( broker_bellmarc_realty ) closings in the week ended aug . 15 manhattan greenwich_village 605 , 000 2 fifth avenue ( 8th st . ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 000 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , formal_dining_room , terrace maintenance 1 , 400 , 50 tax deductible ( broker_bellmarc_realty ) murray_hill 220 , 000 155 east 38th street 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 835 sq . ft . postwar condo 24 hr . doorman , remodeled_kitchen and bath , washer dryer , hardwood floors common charge 238 , taxes 2 , 748 ( broker b.j . gottesman co . ) murray_hill 630 , 000 311 east 38th street ( whitney ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 600 sq . ft . condo in a 3 yr . old building 24 hr . doorman , dining_room , wrapped terrace , fireplace common charge 700 , taxes 2 , 000 ( broker_ambrose_mar_elia ) upper east side 230 , 000 239 east_79th_street 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 200 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , dining alcove , hardwood floors maintenance 1 , 500 , 70 tax deductible ( thompson realty ) upper west side 130 , 000 101 west 81st_street 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 750 sq . ft . co op in a renovated prewar building 24 hr . doorman , fireplace , hardwood floors maintenance 420 , 50 tax deductible ( broker hahn mann realty ) bronx baychester 130 , 000 3329 delavall avenue 2 family , detached , frame house 2 bedrooms , 1 bath , large kitchen in both units full basement , 35 by 100 ft . lot taxes 792 ( broker j.a.v . realty ) riverdale 165 , 500 611 west 239th street ( croyden house ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 100 sq . ft . postwar co op part time doorman , dining_room , terrace maintenance 470 , 52 tax deductible ( broker kahn kahn realty ) brooklyn brooklyn_heights 205 , 000 89 state street 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 850 sq . ft . co op in a recently renovated prewar building den , fireplace , private roof_deck maintenance 525 , 60 tax deductible ( broker william b . may ) flatbush 225 , 000 1522 new york avenue 2 family , 3 story , detached , queen anne house 6 bedrooms , 2 baths , wrap around terrace in primary duplex unit 2 bedrooms , 1 bath in other formal dining_rooms , large kitchens in both 1 car garage , 40 by 102 ft . lot , taxes 1 , 064 ( broker dwork korn ) fort_greene 84 , 500 21 south portland street 500 sq . ft . postwar studio separate bath and kitchen , high ceilings , hardwood floors maintenance 390 , 75 tax deductible ( broker renaissance properties ) queens forest_hills 132 , 000 110 45 queens boulevard ( park briar ) 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 800 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , dining_area , remodeled_kitchen maintenance 397 , 52 maintenance 315 , 49 tax deductible ( broker penthouse properties ) forest hills 85 , 000 66 10 yellowstone boulevard 2 bedroom , 1 bath , 750 sq . ft . postwar co op dining_area , remodeled_kitchen , parquet_floors , new windows maintenance 365 , 50 tax deductible ( broker nu place realty ) staten_island heartland village 285 , 000 41 brunswick street 2 family , detached_house 4 bedrooms , 2 baths , formal_dining_room , family room in primary unit 1 bedroom , 1 bath in other large kitchens in both 56 by 100 ft . lot taxes 2 , 400 ( broker pearl foreman realty ) randall manor 195 , 000 55 walbrooke avenue 3 bedroom , 1 1 2 bath , single family colonial formal_dining_room , fireplace , sun porch , 2 car garage , 50 by 100 ft . lot taxes 1 , 100 ( broker rand properties )	has a location of america
lead the board of estimate unanimously_approved a change in the city 's zoning law yesterday that would make it more difficult for developers to raze habitable single family homes and build higher density housing . the board of estimate unanimously_approved a change in the city 's zoning law yesterday that would make it more difficult for developers to raze habitable single family homes and build higher density housing . the amendment to the zoning law was sought , in particular , by residents of queens , who were concerned that the existing regulations threatened the villagelike atmosphere of many queens neighborhoods . the law , passed in 1973 , had allowed more dense development on vacant_lots in ''predominately built up'' areas zoned for one and two family houses . at a public hearing thursday afternoon , hundreds of queens residents had contended that , because of increasing land values , the zoning law had in effect encouraged developers to buy single family houses , demolish them and then construct more profitable multifamily houses . the amendment , approved early yesterday morning , would disallow the ''infill'' zoning rules on blocks where 75 percent of the houses are one or two family . the amendment will effectively prevent infill construction on half of the streets in queens where it had previously been allowed , according to the city 's planning department . in brooklyn , it will prevent such construction on a third of the previously eligible blocks . suit filed by builders' group the queens_county builders and contractors association said yesterday that it had filed a lawsuit wednesday in state supreme_court in manhattan , seeking to have the amendment declared invalid . the builders' group , which said the zoning change would severely limit the construction of housing , contended that the city had failed to conduct an environmental impact study of the zoning change . in another matter , the board approved regulations that would require developers in manhattan 's theater district to set aside 5 percent of the floor space in any new building for ''entertainment related uses . '' the rules define such uses to include , among other things auditoriums , movie production studios , dance , music and theatrical studios , theaters and ticket sales offices . the board approved the regulations by a vote of 9 to 2 , with comptroller harrison j . goldin voting against the rules . and in a third zoning matter that included turtle bay and parts of sutton_place , the board unanimously_approved a change that requires new buildings in the middle of the block from 48th_street to 59th_street , between first and third avenues to be compatible with existing buildings . sections of the upper east side , the upper west side , murray_hill and beekman_place are already covered by such mid block rules .	has a location of america
lead gifted sara , psychic and priestess of the paranormal , had forgotten her crystal_ball . a mental lapse , she said . unfortunately , palm reading would n't work in this situation . neither would tarot cards . ''does n't matter , '' she said , holding open the curtain on her seaside soothsaying stand . ''i use esp . gifted sara , psychic and priestess of the paranormal , had forgotten her crystal_ball . a mental lapse , she said . unfortunately , palm reading would n't work in this situation . neither would tarot cards . ''does n't matter , '' she said , holding open the curtain on her seaside soothsaying stand . ''i use esp . '' minutes later , sitting at a small table , she pondered the question before her . predict , please , the future for this city 's blighted boardwalk . hands folded , eyes squinted , brow wrinkled , gifted sara answered quickly . ''i see , '' she said , ''condominiums . '' it was just over a year ago that a fire , fanned by near gale force winds , destroyed the 175 yard fisherman 's pier and the block long commercial center of the long_branch boardwalk . razed by the fire on june 8 , 1987 , were local landmarks such as shooter 's bar , the kids' world amusement_park , the haunted mansion , a roller_coaster , several small restaurants and a score of t_shirt shops . saved was a nearby strip of adjacent businesses , such as wizard 's world pinball arcade , gifted sara 's and jimmy liu 's cafe bar . though the privately_owned boardwalk was not much to look at before the fire and was a mere midget compared with the monstrosities farther down the shore in asbury_park , seaside heights and wildwood , local businessmen mourned its loss , state leaders pledged relief and city officials vowed restoration . boosted by the support , patsy cicalese , the owner of the largest amusement_park destroyed , announced a month after the fire that he planned to reopen for the 1988 summer season . a few weeks later , governor kean even sent a letter to mr . cicalese lauding his ' 'substantial progress'' toward recovery . since then , however , virtually no movement has been made to rebuild the pier and the gutted 150 foot section of boardwalk . many of the surviving stands are boarded shut . the few that remain open attract only a few customers a day . ''it 's sad , '' said 21 year old walter jace of hackensack , n.j. , who used to run a ''guess your age'' stand on the pier . ''we do n't even have the games or any wheels anymore . did n't even have fireworks this year . '' ''between this and the waste and everything in the water , there is nothing to come here for , '' added shannon peterson , 17 , of ocean township , n.j. , a clerk at the boardwalk 's silver mark gift_shop . ''it 's dead . '' such requiems do not sadden everyone . in fact , some seemed pleased that the century old wooden walkway had perished . after all , the fire , which caused 10 million in damage but left no fatalities , has made the area 's long sought transition from honky tonk to condo kingdom vastly more plausible . that 's especially true now that mr . cicalese has decided to build a 200 unit high rise residential complex on the site of his former arcade , not far from where the hilton corporation plans to build a beachfront hotel . other boardwalk businessmen also believe the days of barkers and ferris wheels are over . they are simply waiting for the right offer before selling out . ''everything has a price , '' said mr . liu , 60 , who owns a strip of shops that survived the fire . mayor philip d . huhn , 43 , has cheered the change . ''what 's there now , i do n't think attracts a family tourist trade , '' he said . ''it 's been a big hangout for unsavory types . '' he described the site now as ''burned out and empty lots . '' he said he favors maintaining a small , lightly commercialized boardwalk . ''i 'd like to see a promenade , '' he said . ''we 're hoping , '' added a long_branch councilman , frank_pallone , 36 , ''for something kind of like that place in baltimore , the harbor something . '' what is it about boardwalks ? true , they 've always been neon nightmares , titanic in their tackiness . true , they tend to attract a range of riffraff and rapscallions . but where else could a grown man spend an evening in pursuit of a giant stuffed platypus ? where else could a kid discover how many times he could ride the tilt a whirl before throwing up ? . where else could a teen_ager taste cotton candy in her very first kiss ? ''i do n't think it will ever be the same , '' said miss peterson . so , let 's tear it all down and build condos . never mind the city 's soul . never mind that such a radical renovation would be taking place in a city that 75 years ago was the east_hampton of its time . never mind that the city lies only a few miles away from the home of bruce_springsteen , the bard of boardwalk life . this is the wave of the future . it 's happening everywhere on the north_jersey shore . look at what condos have done just two miles away in long_branch 's west_end . are n't they beautiful ? perhaps . it 's just hard to imagine a young bruce cruising the paddle ball courts .	has a location of america
crammed into a less than commodious conference room one recent monday afternoon , 15 sales agents from the halstead property company hunched over a distressed wood table , sipping soda , crunching potato_chips and poring over column after column of real_estate classifieds . ''flawless condo gem , '' ''mint condition exclusive , '' ''palace in the sky , '' the teaser lines on the ads read . the agents were on a search and secure mission , hunting down those listings that other brokerage_firms had not shared or , in the industry 's parlance , co brokered with halstead . ''page 22 , are you all with me ? '' said diane ramirez , halstead 's director of sales . ''top of the page , fourth column from the left , second ad under the sotheby 's banner , a prewar duplex . '' ''we have it , '' piped in one of the brokers , indicating that the sotheby 's listing was already in the halstead company 's computer . ''first column , second from the bottom , 'airplane view condo , ' sutton beekman area , '' ms . ramirez said , citing another ad . but ''airplane view condo'' was not in the company computer and , soon after the two hour session , one of the halstead brokers was on the phone with an agent from the other company , wondering why that listing had not yet been faxed over or , at least , mailed . ''we call it our adbuster meeting , '' ms . ramirez said . ''every monday , we literally go over all of the ads in all of the newspapers , the magazines . if we do n't have the listing , we go after it . if the other company 's broker does n't cooperate , we call the head of the firm . '' in the keenly competitive , status conscious culture that is residential real_estate brokering in manhattan where the term ''exclusive'' is subject to widely divergent definition , where old line firms often decline to deal with upstart companies and where finding the ''right buyer'' is mandated , in one executive 's phrase , by an apartment 's ''geographical appropriateness'' there is great and historical resistance to bringing more openness to the market . manhattan does not have a multiple_listing_service one of those regulated , computerized systems through which all member companies must post a new listing and , if another company secures the buyer , divide the traditional 6 percent commission . the 1 , 400 firms in nassau , suffolk and queens that belong to the multiple_listing_service of long_island , for example , are required to submit all new listings within 48 hours of receiving them , unless a seller specifies otherwise , said joseph mottola , executive officer of the long_island board of realtors . and so , there are currently about 25 , 000 listings in the service 's computer available to all members . instead , manhattan relies on co brokering a term that is often colloquially contracted to ''co broking . '' ''it 's the unofficial multiple_listing_service of new york , with a fault , an achilles heel , '' said barbara corcoran , chairwoman of the corcoran group . ''it 's an optional cooperation service among brokers , and the key here is optional , so that individual brokerage_firms can choose , listing by listing , which ones they wish to share . '' thus , the manhattan market is something of a free for all with companies drawing up their own co brokering policies , creating a , b and c lists of which other firms will receive their listings and in what order or , simply , holding onto the deal for themselves . as a result , contend proponents of a formal listing service , sellers are denied full exposure to all potential buyers in the market and , consequently , may not get the best price for their apartment . ''some agencies want to earn the entire commission for themselves , '' said clark halstead , founder of the company that bears his name . ''that clearly puts the agency and the seller at odds when , in fact , they should be unified . often the companies are representing themselves instead . '' as a result of co brokering , argue conservators of the current system , the privacy of sellers who do not want wide dissemination of information about their property is protected and they do not face the inconvenience of too many would be buyers traipsing through their apartment , especially those who are not financially qualified to pass increasingly rigorous co op admission requirements . and co brokering maintains professional standards , they say , keeping select listings out of the hands of freelance , part time brokers . ''i think the current system works well as it is , '' said alan j . rogers , managing director of douglas_elliman . ''i believe that a formal multiple listing in manhattan would encourage individual brokers to work out of their homes . that 's not in the best interests of the customer . '' ''in a firm , '' mr . rogers said , ''there are rules of professional standards , and also proper resources to promote and market properties . and that 's better for the seller and the buyer . '' kent swig , co chairman of brown_harris_stevens , said ''right now , from our firm 's perspective , we like it the way it is . our firm has been doing business in new york since 1873 , and the hamptons as well , and while co brokering is cumbersome for some of the newer players , i think it works well for the manhattan marketplace . '' manhattan is unique , said iverson moore , a spokesman for the national_association_of_realtors . ''no other major metropolitan_area in the country does not have a multiple listing system'' although there are some areas , like the hamptons ( perhaps for similar demographic reasons ) that also rely on co brokering . asked for historical perspective on how the practice came about in manhattan , charles m . staro , executive vice_president of the new york state board of realtors , said , ''it 's probably what did n't come about . '' ''in the old days in new york city , brokers only operated in certain areas , like murray_hill , gramercy_park , and pretty much stayed within their realm of understanding , '' mr . staro said . ''consequently , brokers in the area were able to share information relative to listings and co broke on that basis . ''but take a community outside of manhattan , '' mr . staro said , ''where the area was much greater , the distance between brokers made for less communication , so there was a need to establish a focal_point whereby listings could be disseminated on a much wider scale . there are brokers on the upper east side who are not interested in selling apartments in soho or tribeca . '' those ingrained attitudes have melded with today 's tight market in which many buyers vie for few listings and apartments are often snatched up within days after or even on the day they are first shown . and so , brokers know they can often earn the full commission by keeping the deal in house . it is not uncommon for an individual sales agent ''to drag his or her feet on co brokering without the knowledge of the company management , '' mr . halstead said . but there also may be ''an unspoken secret policy inside the firm to hold the listing for some period of time before releasing it to co brokers . '' and there are some agents and agencies , said joanne kennedy , president of coldwell_banker hunt kennedy east , who will propose to a seller that in exchange for permission to keep the listing in house for a month , the commission will be reduced to , perhaps , 5 percent . and then , if the property is not sold during the month , the commission will revert to the customary 6 percent . ''the problem is that the first month is when the fireworks should be going off , when you will have the most activity because all of the buyers on record will be informed of that property , '' ms . kennedy said . ''they may save a point in commission but lose much more than that in selling price . so then they 've lost twice the initial market exuberance and , then , if it was n't sold in that month , end up paying 6 percent anyway . '' but some sellers are simply not interested in too much fireworks . ''i think the only reason that the m.l.s . has not come to manhattan heretofore is because of the system of cooperative housing , '' said elizabeth f . stribling , president of stribling_associates . ''many of the tenant shareholders in some of the co op buildings are very aware of the financial criteria and the personal references that have to be supplied to the board of directors , '' ms . stribling continued . ''and i think , therefore , they want to make sure that they have some idea of who is bringing the prospective purchasers to the apartment . you will find that in some instances the sellers of these apartments are more selective in who they want to list their property with because of this form of ownership . '' when debra and denise lachance twin sisters who are partners in style industrie , a company that produces fashion trade shows sold their apartments in greenwich_village recently , they felt that co brokering served their sales effort well . debra lachance sold a one bedroom co op in a brownstone on 13th street ''that was once owned by one of the roosevelts , '' she said . her original asking price was 450 , 000 . ''all the bidders came in through co broking , '' ms . lachance said , ''and , basically , it sold in a day . i was swamped it was a bidding war , a frenzy , but a good frenzy . ''we just stopped the process after a day , '' she said , ''because at that point it was 25 , 000 over the asking price , and the asking price was really what my husband and i considered to be , you know , a bold statement . '' seeing an opportunity to capitalize on her sister 's success , denise lachance decided to sell her two bedroom , prewar co op on 10th street . ''one of the backup buyers for debra was really looking for an apartment , '' ms . lachance said . ''she 'd lost a couple of deals before she lost debra , so you 're talking now about the third lost deal . '' ms . lachance used the same broker as her sister , a friend of the family named bennett goldworth and , once again , he was co brokering . she and her husband , victor , priced the apartment ''at what we thought was really a high number 550 , 000 . '' the frustrated backup buyer came to see the apartment . ''she wanted , she did n't want , she wanted it again , '' denise lachance said . ''the bottom line was , we said to her , 'look , if you do n't do it now we 're going to put it on the market for a higher price . ' '' the woman continued to waffle . ''so , of course , we had to follow through and put it on the market for a higher price , 575'' 575 , 000 . ''she did n't come back , '' ms . lachance said , ''but a ton of people did , because bennett had an open house right away and he permitted brokers to come . and we immediately got bids which came up to the asking price , and one of them above , at 585 . '' for reasons other than price , ms . lachance and her husband eventually chose a buyer other than the highest bidder , accepting one of four offers at the original asking price , 575 , 000 . ''there was broad exposure through the co broking , '' denise lachance said , ''the ability to access more clients than you ever would if you just had someone who did n't let other brokers be part of the process . '' ms . kennedy of coldwell_banker hunt kennedy , however , said she believed that in too many cases , ' 'sellers are unaware of the actual mechanics of co broking , of who is actually receiving the listing and when . '' ''this is a major problem in today 's marketplace , where properties are being held off until the agent decides to co broke them , '' she said . ''those sellers are being denied the full impact of the market they are just getting one little band width . '' mr . swig of brown_harris_stevens argued that selective co brokering ' 'maintains a_level of professionalism in the marketplace . '' ''a part time broker ca n't gain the same kind of access to information as a full time one , '' he said . ''you go into other marketplaces and anybody can get a salesperson 's license and work out of their home for four hours a week . it gives a bad reputation to the industry . '' ms . corcoran pointed out , however , that she ''learned a very early lesson on the first multimillion_dollar sale we ever had , which was a 6 . 5 million park_avenue apartment in one of the most exclusive buildings in the city top , top tier . ''the buyer was brought in by an independent broker who operated out of her kitchen . and that taught me that the sale can come from anywhere . and it was on that sale that i built a giant net to get our listings out to as many brokers as we could . '' statistics from her company , ms . corcoran said , indicate a fivefold increase in the number of would be buyers for a given property when it is co brokered throughout the market . ''why do i only want my 250 brokers working for me when i could have 5 , 000 ? '' she said . ms . corcoran 's campaign for total co brokering caused her some trouble in may when the city 's department of consumer affairs fined her firm 5 , 000 for what it determined was a deceptive advertisement . the ad claimed that when a seller lists a property with the corcoran group it is ''immediately made available to 100 percent of the market , '' as opposed to a_12 percent average with other firms . without admitting wrongdoing , ms . corcoran agreed to desist from such advertising . ''the consumer affairs charge and the brokerage community 's reaction to the ad was another indication of how much the topic needed to be addressed , '' ms . corcoran said last week . ''the numbers were totally accurate . the difficulty was that because there is no m.l.s . there were no public numbers to support our claim , which was based on our hard research . '' there have been several attempts in recent years to create quasi multiple listing services in manhattan . one system , called metrolist express , makes listings available to the general public as well as to brokers . there is no cost to a seller , but a fee of 175 is charged to buyers for six months' access to the company 's web_site . two other firms , autolist and online residential , also accept listings directly from sellers for free , but the information is only available to member brokers . and in an effort to bring order if not mandated compliance to the market , 20 of the leading members of the real_estate board of new york recently formed the listing exchange , with ms . kennedy of coldwell_banker hunt kennedy as its president . ''it is simply a system to transmit listing information electronically , '' ms . kennedy said . ''it replaces the current system of faxing , mailing , pony express and the grapevine . '' each of the founding companies contributed 10 , 000 toward the development of a computer system to be housed at the real_estate board 's offices that will allow them to input and access new listings at the push of a button . listing standards have been established , ms . kennedy said , and a ''translation language'' has been chosen so that all the members can access the information through their own computers . the listing exchange is expected to be operational by the end of the year . ''we all want to eliminate the current redundant data entry process that is not only costly but is subject to error , '' ms . kennedy said . ''but it is not a multiple listing system , it 's a communicating system . the agents will be able to send their listing with one stroke on their keyboard . ''but the thing is they can still say who to send it to , and when , '' ms . kennedy said . ''it 's still optional . ''	has a location of america
lead in a major decision involving landlord tenant rights , a state appeals court in manhattan has ruled that a building owner is not legally responsible when one tenant harms another unless an incident can be predicted on the basis of previous behavior . in a major decision involving landlord tenant rights , a state appeals court in manhattan has ruled that a building owner is not legally responsible when one tenant harms another unless an incident can be predicted on the basis of previous behavior . the court also ruled that a tenant cannot be evicted simply because he might eventually prove dangerous . the decision overturned a lower court jury verdict awarding nearly 200 , 000 to the family of a stabbing victim at a bronx public_housing_project . it said the landlord in the case , the new york city housing authority , could not be held accountable for the victim 's injuries because it did not know the attacker was dangerous . even to have made such a determination would have been a violation of the tenant 's rights , the court said . the tenant to the landlord 's knowledge had never before been violent . he had a history of mental_illness . lawyers said the decision , released thursday by the appellate_division of state supreme_court , was a victory for landlords because it could reduce the legal_liability of a landlord who is sued after tenants harm each other . tenant organizers and advocates for the homeless said the ruling could prove an even greater victory for mentally ill tenants because the court said that such people could not be evicted simply because of eccentricities or the suspicions of the landlord . the court ruled that a specific act or a previous attack must be cited . ''it means you have to be careful before you evict anybody , but that you are under no obligation to investigate every loud noise , either , '' said allen h . isaac , a lawyer who represented the authority in the lawsuit . according to court documents , a 16 year old tenant , marvin gill , was stabbed repeatedly and was permanently injured by another tenant , ernest lamb , in a hallway of a housing_project on fort independence street in the kingsbridge section of the bronx in 1982 . mr . lamb , who was 23 , had been institutionalized several times and treated for mental_illness . verdict reversed mr . gill 's mother , frances , who brought the suit , argued that mr . lamb should have been evicted , or that warnings should have been posted in the building , or other steps taken to insure the safety of the other tenants . a state supreme_court jury in the bronx agreed and awarded the gills 198 , 699 . 52 in damages in november 1985 . the housing authority appealed . in its unanimous decision reversing the verdict and dismissing the case , the appellate panel said that allowing the lower court verdict to stand would have meant that ''the housing authority would then be obligated to look into its crystal_ball to assess the likelihood of harm and then , where indicated , to take protective measures for which it has no expertise or authority . '' the result , the court said , would have been that ''those with psychiatric disorders would be dispossessed from the low income accommodations to live in the streets'' because that would be almost the only recourse for the authority to meet its responsibility for safety in its building . presiding justice francis t . murphy , who wrote the 17 page decision on behalf of the five judge panel , said it would have meant forcing landlords to perform tasks that were not part of being a landlord , and would have subjected every tenant ''to a degree of scrutiny about his private affairs and his living accommodation that is intolerable . '' the deputy general_counsel to the authority , frank gulino , said that while there have been other cases affirming the limits of the agency 's responsibility in maintaining the safety of public_housing , the ruling was significant because of its emphasis that a tenant 's rights cannot be investigated without due cause . ''it has never been stated this strongly before , '' mr . gulino said . ''you have to have a showing that a tenant was guilty of nondesirable acts before he can be evicted , not just rumors . '' the lawyer for the gill family , fred r . profeta jr . , could not be reached for comment on whether the decision would be appealed .	has a location of america
lead hundreds of children could be ousted from their day care programs because of a change in policy at the submarine base in groton . hundreds of children could be ousted from their day care programs because of a change in policy at the submarine base in groton . the policy now requires that home day care centers in navy housing be open just to navy dependents . the policy would place hundreds of children into a tight day care market in the southeastern region , state officials said . day care operators who work in their homes have been told that starting at the end of the month they will have 90 days to remove civilian children . a spokeswoman for the base , chief kathy dietrich , said the family home_care program tried to insure that navy buildings were solely used by military dependents . there is a question , chief dietrich added , about extending the government liability_insurance to the children of civilians . availability is also a question . a survey showed 500 day care spots were needed . the navy center accommodates 100 . if there is day care in navy housing , the chief said , it should benefit navy personnel . two hundred names are on the waiting list for the navy day care center . a spokesman for the department of human_resources , david dearborn , said 90 of the 105 licensed home day care operations , which care for a total of 521 children , were in navy housing . ''we are concerned about the impact , '' mr . dearborn said . ''how significant it will be will depend on how many new homes we can recruit to replace them . '' carla a . pintauro , child_care information coordinator for the infoline office for new london and middlesex counties , said the loss of the homes would add pressure to the system . her office receives 350 to 400 calls a month from people looking for day care , ms . pintauro said . last month , the office received 33 calls alone from people in groton , most of whom were referred to centers in navy housing , she said . ''it is going to have a significant impact , '' ms . pintauro predicted . ''it 's going to be a problem for some people , because there are gaps in day care services to begin with . '' the policy has also angered customers . one , david waterman of groton , put his 4 year old daughter into a program operated by a navy wife six months ago , after receiving assurances that the woman 's husband was not going to be transferred and that the navy would allow the arrangement . ''as far as we 're concerned , stability is very important in day care , '' mr . waterman said . ''now , after six months , we 're being told we have to find a new place . '' cindy newsome of groton , whose husband is in the navy and whose 2 year old girl is in day care in navy housing , said the policy upset her , even though she would not , apparently , be affected by it . ''they 're going to overregulate it , and they 're going to force a lot of people out of it , '' mrs . newsome said . ''they 're going to make it so difficult a lot of them are going to quit , then where do we turn ? '' out of a dozen women contacted who operate day care from their homes in navy housing , none would agree to discuss the policy change on the record . ''they do n't want to lose their licenses , '' said jenny p . mccord , a navy wife and the mother of two children in day care in navy housing who has agreed to act as a spokeswoman for the group . all the operators , she said , must have licenses from the state and the navy . because there is considerable discretion in the licensing , mrs . mccord said , the operators fear that if they speak out the navy will refuse renewals . ''some of these people are making 160 or 180 a week in day care , and they ca n't afford to lose that , '' mrs . mccord said . she said the navy had a waiting list for its center because it is cheaper than the rates charged by most private operators , 45 a week instead of 65 to 90 . also , mrs . mccord added , the navy counts all children in a household under 12 toward the total of six allowed in day care . the state counts just preschoolers . that means many women with young children in school will have to cut back the number of kids they care for . ''the way they 're cutting back , a lot of providers are going to decide it is n't worth the trouble , '' mrs . mccord said . ''they 're trying to take it over without any thought behind it . '' the department of human_resources , the united way and the capitol region education council have been co sponsoring recruiting sessions to find replacements . home operations , mr . dearborn said , can care for up to six preschool children , including the provider 's . the program can provide companionship for single children , as well as a steady income for the family . the state provides advice and training opportunities . ''it 's a career , in the home , that can be very satisfying , '' mr . dearborn said . operators in navy housing said they were encouraged by signs that the navy might be relenting a bit . after recent meetings , ms . dietrich said , the base had proposed policy changes to defense_department officials . ''we now have a better understanding of the situation and what the effects are on the program , as the policy currently stands , '' ms . dietrich said . ''we are currently exploring alternatives . ''	has a location of america
the rent guidelines board , embarking once again upon the annual drama of deciding the size of the allowable rent increases for rent_stabilized_apartments , reviewed yesterday a hodgepodge of statistics some of them contradictory intended to shed light on how much new yorkers can afford to pay . at a meeting in lower_manhattan , the board received its staff 's yearly study of ''income and affordability , '' one of several reports it will consider before june 22 , when it will decide the rent increases that landlords can claim for the city 's one million rent_stabilized_apartments . the report found unemployment down , wages up and gross city product growing but it also found the household_income of tenants in rent_stabilized_apartments shrinking . evictions were up by almost 8 percent in 2006 , according to housing court statistics in the report . the number of homeless families moving into permanent housing was down , and fewer people on public assistance were being placed in jobs . at the same time , overall homelessness levels were down in 2005 and 2006 , though they started to rise in late 2006 , the report found . ''i 'm trying to just make plain old sense of it , '' said betty phillips adams , a longtime advocate for low_income_housing who is one of the five public members on the nine member board . it appeared to her , she said , that while the rents in stabilized apartments had been going up , the income of residents in those apartments was going down . but magda l . cruz , a real_estate lawyer who is one of the board 's two members appointed to represent building owners , said , ''all the indicators seem to be very , very positive . '' and she said to ms . adams , ''i 'm taking the same data that you 're looking at and seeing a much rosier picture . '' when a member of the board 's staff judiciously declined to draw conclusions from the data and suggested instead that the numbers spoke for themselves , marvin markus , the chairman , said , ''we give diplomacy classes for that . '' the report , which examines housing affordability and tenant income in the new york city rental market , found that the city 's economy grew in 2006 for the third straight year and that the gross city product ( the total value of goods and services produced ) grew by 3.7 percent . unemployment dropped for the third year in a row , labor force participation rose slightly , and overall real wages for workers grew by 0.8 percent in 2005 , the latest year for which there were statistics . but the report also found that income levels for tenants in rent_stabilized_apartments dropped by 8.6 percent between 2001 and 2004 , the latest figures that were used , and that nearly 23 percent of all renter households had incomes below the poverty_line . between 2002 and 2005 , the median monthly contract rent for all tenants , excluding fuel and utility payments , rose by 20 percent . while the median ratio of gross rent to income in 2005 was 31 . 2 percent , nearly 29 percent of rental households spent more than half of their household_income on rent . and while the total number of people on public assistance dropped between june 2005 and june 2006 for the second consecutive year , the number of new applications rose in the first four months of the 2007 fiscal year . job placements among recipients of public assistance declined , and the number of food_stamp recipients grew . ms . cruz asked the board 's staff to find out what percentage of people on public assistance live in rent_stabilized_apartments , as opposed to public_housing . and adriene l . holder , a legal_aid_society lawyer and one of the two board members appointed to represent tenants , said that the city 's economy might appear robust but that many people working multiple jobs earned so little that they still qualified for food_stamps and legal services .	has a location of america
barbara rohregger and harris barer have spent years around real_estate , but not as developers until this year . mrs . rohregger is still a broker with wra weprin realty in manhattan , and mr . barer is still a real_estate lawyer with the manhattan firm of fischbein , badillo , wagner harding . but by this time next year , the first tenants should begin moving into the apartments that the two of them are jointly developing in what will be two contiguous loft buildings running between essex and ludlow streets in the lower east side historic_district . the 9 million project involves converting three buildings into two . a three floor building and a five floor building at 149 151 essex street will be combined to make a single building seven stories tall . a one story building at 152 ludlow street will be demolished and replaced with a five story building that will connect to the essex street building with which it will share a courtyard . when the project is completed , probably next june , there will be three retail spaces as well as 22 apartments 14 one bedroom apartments , 6 two bedrooms and 2 four bedroom duplexes . each apartment will have a balcony and will overlook the landscaped 50 foot by 25 foot courtyard separating the essex and ludlow street buildings . designed by meltzer mandl architects of new york city , the buildings will in effect be turned around so that the residential lobbies will open onto the courtyard , and tenants will enter their apartments from ludlow street . customers of the buildings' two retail spaces facing essex street , which will total 2 , 010 square_feet , will enter off essex , while customers of the 2 , 463 square_foot retail space on ludlow street will enter from there . ''this is the kind of project that the lower east side needs if the historic_district designation is to succeed in protecting the neighborhood 's culture and character , '' said marvin h . meltzer , president of meltzer mandl . ''it is small scale , it repeats the patterns of the original facades in the restored ones , and the new higher floors are set back from the street wall to maintain scale . '' deterioration of the original facades of white terra_cotta will result in replacement of the facade by a system of metal panels that essentially replicate terra_cotta . the other surfaces will be finished with a stucco type material . until it was recently bought out , the sole tenant in the buildings , mrs . rohregger said , was a retail store selling buttons , thread and other notions . the lower east side , the historic destination of waves of immigrants from europe and asia , was added to the national_register of historic places in april . the rental prices will be established as the project , whose official groundbreaking was held a few weeks ago , moves further along . the calleo development corporation of manhattan is the contractor , and the halstead property company will handle the rental of the apartments and retail space . correction july 8 , 2001 , sunday a short article in the postings column last sunday about the redevelopment of two loft buildings on the lower east side misstated the leasing arrangements for the project . leasing of the retail spaces is being handled by newmark new spectrum . the halstead property company is leasing only the apartments , not the stores . in addition , a headline with the article misstated the number of stores in the project . there are three retail spaces , as the article said , not two .	has a location of america
the chief witness against mel_miller , the speaker of the new york state_assembly , was portrayed by a defense lawyer yesterday as a liar , a forger , a fraudulent businessman and a tax cheat . in the second day of cross_examination in federal district court in brooklyn , the credibility of the witness , avi cohen , who owns a real_estate business , was vigorously attacked by mr . miller 's lawyer , gerald b . lefcourt . after mr . cohen admitted that he had forged the name of a dying elderly tenant on a document as part of a scheme to obtain a valuable apartment in a brooklyn building that was being converted into a cooperative , mr . lefcourt asked if he had forged other documents . " i may have forged others , " the witness answered . " i do n't recall . " mr . miller is on trial with a top aide , jay adolf , on charges that they defrauded clients of their law_firm in some investments that involved buying and selling cooperative apartments . the defense contends that mr . cohen put together the deals , concealed them from mr . miller and mr . adolf and then offered to testify against them in exchange for immunity from prosecution . under questioning from mr . lefcourt yesterday , mr . cohen acknowledged that he operated a money lending business without a license , that he concealed large amounts of money by cashing checks through religious institutions and that he cheated extensively on his tax returns . turning to a central dispute in the case , mr . lefcourt suggested that mr . cohen arranged for a group of investors to buy about 2 million in apartments in brooklyn , that he arranged to buy eight apartments in the same building for himself and that mr . miller served as a lawyer to negotiate the purchases for him . but mr . cohen denied that he was the one responsible for buying the eight apartments in the building . instead , he supported the prosecution 's contention that mr . miller and mr . adolf fully participated in the arrangements . his testimony focused on the prosecution 's charges that mr . miller and mr . adolf , who represented clients buying many apartments in the building as an investment , secretly bought eight of the apartments for themselves , improperly depriving the clients of the 200 , 000 in profits from reselling those apartments . the cross_examination is scheduled to resume on monday .	has a location of america
q . my family has owned the town house at 254 west 93rd street since 1970 . in february , demolition began on the adjacent one story commercial building at the corner of broadway and 93rd , exposing an old brick party wall , which hinted of a historical neighbor before the commercial building went up . would it be possible to trace the history and possible photos of our building and our former neighbor ? . . . helen chung , manhattan . a . although only nos . 254 , 256 and 258 survive , the original row of seven houses ran from 252 to 264 west 93rd , designed in 1893 by the architect c.p.h . gilbert ( whose buildings include the former warburg mansion at 92nd and fifth , now the jewish museum ) for william c . hill , an engineer and builder . in the designs for these row_houses , gilbert moved beyond the somber brick and brownstone of the 1880 's row_house to a lighter , more sophisticated palette , with limestone on the ground floor and lacy terra_cotta work in a field of white gray brick . the ribbonlike detailing in the keystones above the second floor windows and the paneled window surrounds ringing the fourth floor windows are particularly deft . the landmarks_preservation_commission , which included the building in its riverside west_end historic_district in 1989 , describes the style as beaux_arts . but architectural style was not the most important thing about gilbert 's row . these houses were part of a new generation of dwelling design in manhattan , known as the american basement house . the term english basement had been used to describe houses of the 1840 's entered via four or five steps , with a reception hall in the front of the ground floor and a dining_room at the rear . a kitchen and laundry were placed in the cellar rendering them quite dark and the principal floor , the second level , contained the parlor . by the 1860 's , the high stoop row_house , the classic ''brownstone'' ( even though they were not all in brownstone ) , had emerged , with a different design . the ground floor was slightly below grade , with a room at the front and a kitchen at the rear and fairly good light . it was essentially a service floor , directly accessible from the street for deliveries and tradesmen . the owner and family had to mount a high stoop of 10 to 12 steps to the main entrance , leading to a parlor in the front and a dining_room at the back . there were complaints about the high stoop house , not simply because of the lugubrious brown stone , but for functional reasons . the front room on the ground floor perhaps the best real_estate in the house was never considered as having a logical use . it was often referred to as a family dining_room , or a servants' sitting room , or a billiard room . in addition , a narrow vestibule just inside the front door at the top of the stoop narrowed the width of the parlor by at least five feet . in a 16 or 18 foot_wide house , this was a dramatic reduction in size for the principal room . around 1890 , for the developer richard g . platt , the architect clarence true developed the american basement house in his design for three dwellings on west_end avenue from 88th to 89th ( no longer standing ) . true discarded the high stoop and worked out what became a new solution for the urban row_house . the entrance was through the ground floor , just a few steps above the sidewalk and leading into a reception room . the kitchen , at the rear of this floor , had daylight , and a stairway in the center of the house led to the second floor . there , the parlor ran the full width of the house at the front , and the dining_room was similarly sited at the rear the stairway remained in the center . instead of having to walk upstairs to answer the door , as in a high stoop house , the maid in an american basement house simply went from the kitchen directly to the front . and there was no high stoop . in 1893 , the real_estate record and guide first published ''a new descriptive title the american basement house , '' apparently a coinage by true or platt the journal said that of the first 27 houses using the new plan , 25 had been sold before completion . gilbert 's other 1890 's west side buildings include the suite of town houses at 72nd_street and riverside drive , including 311 west 72nd , 1 riverside drive and 3 riverside drive . the first two were more conventional limestone town houses elegant but hardly memorable but the philip kleeberg house at 3 riverside drive , designed in 1896 , is a lacy froth of french gothic curlicues , moldings and other details . the earliest identifiable resident of 254 west 93rd was hugo s . mack , a lawyer listed in the 1900 census along with his wife , ida , two young children , a cook and a nurse . this tally was typical for the other houses in the row . the 1910 census listed a lawyer , frederick j . stone , at 254 west 93rd , with his wife , margaret , a 26 year old son and a servant . in 1916 , mr . and mrs . stone went to the french line pier at west 15th street to await the arrival of the steamship rochambeau , which had sailed from bordeaux . they were there to meet their married daughter , margaret corrigan . four years earlier , she had tended her ill 3 year old son for three months until he died afterward , she became profoundly depressed . an honors graduate of barnard , fluent in french and an accomplished musician , she had gone to france in july 1914 to recover , just before war broke out . she threw herself into hospital work for wounded soldiers , but sank deeper into melancholy . en_route home , she jumped into the ocean , leaving a note in her room asking the company to notify her parents . but mr . and mrs . stone had not been told , and found out only in an accidental encounter with a reporter . mr . stone bitterly denounced the french line , but it responded that wartime restrictions had prohibited radio messages . by 1930 , that year 's census indicated , no . 254 had been converted to six apartments . nos . 260 , 262 and 264 were demolished in 1925 when 670 west_end avenue was built . no . 252 was demolished in 1936 and replaced by the one story commercial building that was torn down this year . according to records at the department of buildings , the letter writer 's new neighbor will be a_20 story apartment house , designed by costas kondylis partners . streetscapes reader 's question e mail streetscapes nytimes . com	has a location of america
built in 1881 by the son in law of a whaler on the site of a cotton mill built by out of work whaling captains , the bulova watch case building once anchored sag_harbor 's industrial economy . the largest factory in a village of factories , it gave sag_harbor a blue_collar tinge that made it the ''unhampton'' even into the booming 1980 's . no one calls sag harbor the ''unhampton'' anymore . but in a village where lavish renovations have put a polish on scores of 19th_century houses in recent years , the bulova plant stands an ugly contradiction , its gutters dangling and its windows broken . lost under a tangled mantle of ivy is a sign that went up more than 20 years ago , proclaiming the building 's renaissance as the watchcase condominium complex . it faded to illegibility even before the ivy took over . another legacy of sag_harbor 's industrial past is to blame . for a century , workers poured waste water containing heavy metals from cleaning solvents into the building 's drainage system . despite several years of cleanup efforts , the soil and ground_water around the building are still saturated with it . until new york state removes the building and its grounds from its list of superfund toxic_waste sites , it ca n't be redeveloped . but after nearly 20 years of difficulty and delay , there are new hopes the cleanup will be complete soon and that by this time next year work may begin to convert the building into a posh , tribeca style condo with high priced , high ceilinged apartments accented by exposed brick and beams . most villagers are eager for the conversion to take place . ''i think the whole thing is terrific , '' said arleen ball , a local real_estate_broker . ''for years , all of us have looked at that sad building . let 's get on with it . '' she said the market for condos has been taking off in the hamptons and that the bulova units would be snatched up quickly . hundreds of sag_harbor men and women used to work at sag_harbor 's factories , including the grumman plant on long wharf , where components of the apollo lunar lander were manufactured , and rowe industries on the bridgehampton sag_harbor turnpike , which made small electric motors for toys and toothbrushes . patrick e . malloy , a local entrepreneur , converted the former grumman property into a retail mall , restaurant and marina in the late 1970 's . rowe industries , now known as sag_harbor industries and owned by kraft foods , is the only site in the village still devoted to industrial use . it too is a superfund toxic_waste site . a cleanup , paid for by nabisco a subsidiary of kraft that bought the property is just getting under way . but the bulova plant , on washington street a block east of downtown main_street , was the biggest of sag_harbor 's factories . generations of local men and women worked there beginning in 1881 , when joseph fahys , a german immigrant , married a local woman and moved his watch making business from queens to sag harbor . he was asked to do so by local business leaders , most of them former whalers or their sons , after the cotton mill they had built on the site burned down . they had begun transporting cotton with their whaling ships in the 1860 's after petroleum replaced whale oil as the nation 's primary fuel and lubricant . bulova bought the factory from the fahys heirs in 1936 and closed its operation there in 1981 . in 1984 the building 's next owners made a deal to sell the property to mr . malloy . the deal hit a brick wall when mr . malloy 's agents discovered that the ground inside the factory 's courtyard was saturated with heavy metals , including mercury and arsenic . he reported those findings to the state_department of environmental conservation and the federal environmental_protection_agency . it took a year and a half , mr . malloy said in a recent interview , for the e.p.a . and d.e.c . to decide which of them would have jurisdiction . it took the state another two years to decide how the cleanup should proceed , he added . and it took a lawsuit , filed by mr . malloy and the original developers , before bulova agreed to pay for the cleanup , which did n't get fully under way until the mid 1990 's , according to ray cowen , regional director of the d.e.c . meanwhile , watchcase factory associates , which bought the building from bulova for an undisclosed sum , remains the owner . mr . malloy remains the contract vendee . he , in turn , has a contract to sell the site and its zoning approvals to a group headed by robert gladstone , a new york businessman . neither will discuss the selling price . in may , all the interested parties and the state agreed on an outline that makes clear how the property can be ' 'delisted'' as a toxic_waste site , said randolph croxton , the new york architect for the gladstone partnership . ''there are no ambiguous , open ended things , '' he said . the key to the building 's restoration remains its delisting . completing that process soon ''is certainly the hope of all the parties , including me , '' mr . cowen said . but he warned that ''any time you 're dealing with environmental contamination , you 're dealing with the unknown . '' gases produced by the polluted soil and ground_water are still collecting inside the building and remain at unacceptable levels for residential uses , he said . a soil vapor extraction system was operated on the site for several years in the 1990 's at bulova 's expense , and for a brief time it appeared to solve the vapor problem , mr . cowen said . but subsequent testing showed that air_pollution levels were on the rise again inside the building . more tainted soil must be removed , a process that should take only a few weeks . another process , called soil sparging , in which air is forced into ground_water to make it bubble and release gases , will take months . it must be conducted until the air_quality in the building remains acceptable for full time habitation , and no one knows for sure how long that will take , mr . cowen said . there is also an emerging question about who will have the right to develop the site . in the 17 years since mr . malloy signed a contract to buy the bulova plant , and the two years since he agreed to sell it to the gladstone group , real_estate prices have skyrocketed . mr . malloy indicated that he and mr . gladstone 's madison equities , which has been building commercial real_estate in new york for 40 years , may be headed for a court fight . ''there were various time frames and conditions'' in their contract , he said , and ''we believe they have all passed and they have not closed . it 's up in the air whether or not they can close at any time . '' now there are ''notices going back and forth'' between the two sides , he added . mr . gladstone asserted that ''there is a contract . all of his people are speaking to my people they clearly recognize it . '' although mr . gladstone thinks the property could be developed successfully as a luxury hotel , which he proposed informally last november only to meet with some local resistance , he sees a loft style condominium project as a valuable addition to sag harbor as well . ''it would probably be the only lofts available on the east_end , '' he said . ''sag_harbor has been the most dramatically changed of all the east_end communities in the last 25 years , generally for the better . it has kept its character and somehow you do n't feel it 's a snobby part of the hamptons . we 're banking on the fact that a lot of people will become permanent residents , young and old , and people in the arts . ''	has a location of america
lead a two year old state financed computer system intended to increase efficiency and standardize procedures in the state 's overburdened municipal court system has enabled courts to collect fines and process traffic summonses far more quickly than ever before , court officers and state officials say . a two year old state financed computer system intended to increase efficiency and standardize procedures in the state 's overburdened municipal court system has enabled courts to collect fines and process traffic summonses far more quickly than ever before , court officers and state officials say . as a result , many motorists who may have ''forgotten'' to pay even one parking ticket are now promptly receiving notices from the court informing them that their driving privileges are about to be indefinitely suspended . the prompt notices would have been impossible with the manual system used in many courts before the installation of the computer , court clerks say . ''the automated traffic system has exceeded every goal and expectation that we had set for it , '' said dennis l . bliss , an assistant_director at the administrative office of the courts . the system is now in use in 104 of the state 's 535 municipal courts , and ''we are committed to having every municipal court in the state on the system by dec . 31 , 1991 , '' mr . bliss added . the system directly connects municipal courts to a central computer in trenton , tracks every traffic and parking ticket issued in participating municipalities and then automatically sends notices to motorists if a ticket has not been paid . but as the system is being praised by those who use it , some court administrators who have already computerized their offices are now trying to persuade state officials to allow them to connect their existing computers , which they say are more sophisticated , to the state network . in addition , state budget officials say , financing to expand the program may be unavailable unless new legislation is passed or funds are provided . this concern comes while municipalities are struggling to generate revenue from sources other than property_taxes , municipal court personnel are swamped with an increasing number of criminal and traffic cases , and harsh penalties for second violations of some motor_vehicle statutes require judges to have ready access to a motorist 's driving record . the state 's local courts are responsible for adjudicating cases in which the maximum penalty does not exceed six months in jail and for processing the thousands of moving violations and parking tickets issued daily by local , county and state police . with the increasing number of criminal cases , many courts are backlogged with hundreds of thousands of parking tickets that have to be physically stored , individually sorted and followed up . the longer it takes for those tickets to be processed , officials have found , the less chance there is that the fines they carry will ever be paid a potential loss of millions of dollars in revenue . ''we have 200 , 000 tickets that have not been paid , '' said marian rowland , court administrator for hoboken . ''some probably never will . '' the automated traffic system should be available in hoboken within a year , mrs . rowland said . and while that would not necessarily relieve the court 's current backlog only new tickets are entered into the system it should prevent another backlog from developing . ''it will be better for us and it will be better for the defendants , '' mrs . rowland said , ''because court records will always be up to date . it seems to me to be the best possible system for all the state 's courts to be on . '' that sentiment is shared by most court personnel who now use the system . ''i think it 's fantastic , '' said clara williams , north_bergen 's court administrator . ''and as good as it is , i think it 's even going to get better . they are constantly upgrading and fine_tuning the system . '' the north_bergen municipal court handles almost 50 , 000 motor_vehicle summonses a year , ms . williams said , along with thousands of minor criminal cases . ''with this system you have to do things right , '' she said . ''you ca n't bypass things . and if a violations bureau is doing everything it 's supposed to do , it will generate revenue as a side effect . '' although a municipal court is not expected to turn a profit , officials say , no one has yet complained when a local court not only pays for itself but also contributes substantially to the municipal treasury . ''we have found , '' mr . bliss said , ''that a.t.s . has increased the aggregate revenues of 20 municipal courts that have been on the system for at least a year by 1 . 94 million , or an average of 19 . 5 percent per court . '' 43 million instructions a second the heart of the automated system is a mainframe computer in the richard j . hughes justice building in trenton . the computer , which is connected to terminals in municipal courts throughout the state , can process 43 million instructions a second and store 100 billion characters of data . by the end of 1991 , mr . bliss said , every municipal court will be tied into the network and every judge will have almost instant access to a defendant 's driving record for sentencing purposes . court personnel will be able to enter and retrieve information from consoles in the courtroom and immediately record the disposition of any matter being handled by the court . ''as the judge is saying 'guilty , ' the clerk is keying it into the system , '' mr . bliss said . as a result , he said , there will be an ''instantaneous , complete exchange of information'' between the courts , the police and the division of motor_vehicles . notwithstanding the praise the system has earned from participating courts , some court clerks would prefer to retain their own computers and programs and simply connect to the mainframe . 'we 're pushing for coexistance' ''we 're pushing for coexistence of our system with theirs , '' said ann o'connor , the rockaway township court administrator and an officer of the statewide municipal court clerks association . when the automated system was introduced , mrs . o'connor said , the clerks association initially called the system ''cumbersome and archaic in its design . '' ''they have improved things since that time , '' mrs . o'connor said , by changing some of the software and procedures . the court clerks organization , however , is still hoping to persuade the administrative office of the courts to allow courts with their own systems , many of them expensive , to tie in with the state 's computer . ''since computer systems can talk to each other , '' mrs . o'connor said , ''we will certainly hold out for that . '' rockaway township and 24 other municipalities in the state now use a system called tac pac that many users say is ' 'more sophisticated'' than the state 's system . 'put us out of business' mr . bliss said that the possibility of ''coexistence'' with existing municipal computer systems has not been fully investigated by the administrative office of the courts . it is more important at this time , he said , to concentrate on courts that are still processing tickets manually . ''they have , in effect , put us out of business , '' said gary ober , president of megg associates inc . , the richmond based company that markets the tac pac system . he said that in addition to 25 current subscribers , his company had ''60 active clients that were going to purchase our system . '' ''five months after the administrative office of the courts came out with a.t.s . , '' he said , ''we had none . they completely shut down the commercial market in new jersey . '' in contrast to private computer companies , the administrative office of the courts has been charging nothing to install the system , mr . bliss said . the state , he said , provides all the hardware , software , installation costs and training at no expense to a town . the only thing the local court has to provide is an acceptable environment for the equipment , the staff to operate it and the telephone service necessary to communicate with the mainframe in trenton . newark awaits installation at larger courts like those in newark and jersey_city , installation of the system and its increased revenue collection are anxiously awaited . ''we 're scheduled to be on by mid february , '' said robert m . strand , court administrator for newark . ''we issue 400 , 000 summonses a year . a.t.s . should be able to give us a jump and get these tickets paid on a more efficient basis . '' the money saved and the income produced by the program , officials say , can be substantial . in east_orange , for example , where the system was installed in august , it had been taking eight court employees four weeks to send out 10 , 000 overdue notices that would draw approximately 80 , 000 a month . now , the same amount of money can be collected by one employee in the same time , said toni westry , the acting court administrator of east_orange . in addition , ms . westry said , the administrative office of the courts has departed from its standard policy of using the system only for new summonses . a pilot program lets east_orange use the computer to help with the city 's backlog of 900 , 000 unpaid parking tickets . response termed astonishing using a law that allows a municipal judge to suspend a driver 's license for failure to pay even one ticket , the system automatically notifies both the division of motor_vehicles and the defendant of a possible suspension . the response , ms . westry said , was astonishing . she said the court hoped to give the city from 7 million to 8 million in the next 18 months from payments of outstanding parking tickets . there is one major obstacle , however , in the path of the administrative office 's push for full computerization of the court system by the end of 1991 . ''at the moment , '' said richard f . keevey , the acting state budget director , ''there are not sufficient funds in their budget to continue running the system . '' installation cost 13 million eight million dollars of the 13 million used to install the system now in place , he said , was provided by the department of law and public safety . there is no indication , he said , that those funds will be available next year . officials estimate that it will cost an additional 5 million a year over the next two years to complete installation of the system . in addition , mr . keevey said , ''we have not yet appropriated any funds to the judiciary to run the program'' in the current state budget . the only potential source of financing that mr . keevey said he was aware of is an assembly bill that would increase court costs paid by guilty defendants and allocate 1 of each ticket to a fund that would then fully support the system . that bill , which has been filed for the current legislative session by assemblyman gary w . stuhltrager , republican of east greenwich , was originally filed in 1986 by assemblyman walter m . kern jr . , republican of ridgewood . in 1989 , the measure was released by the judiciary committee but never came before the full assembly for a vote .	has a location of america
jitters from the gyrations of the stock_market and the uncertain economic outlook for the country appear to be finding their way into the market for office properties in new york , real_estate executives report . they say that the pace of leasing deals has slowed as prospective_tenants reassess their space needs and that properties outside the central_business_district in midtown have seen an erosion in pricing . nobody is panicking . the overall vacancy_rate in manhattan is between 5 and 6 percent , still well below the 9 to 10 percent that is considered an equilibrium market . and rental rates in core areas are firm . but the euphoria of the last few years appears to be gone . ''economic pessimism seems to be spreading to the commercial real_estate market , '' said mary_ann tighe , vice chairwoman of insignia_esg , the brokerage and services company . one indicator is that more space is coming onto the market , mostly via subleases , than is being removed by direct leases , a condition known as negative absorption . ''we have negative absorption in all three submarkets for the first time since october 1998 , '' she said , referring to the first two months of this year . citing the negative absorption figures area by area , she said ''there was 1.4 million square_feet in midtown , 1.2 million in midtown south and 500 , 000 in downtown . '' robert l . billingsley , executive vice_president of colliers abr , another brokerage and services company , said that ''we began to see a slowdown in activity and a slowing of the increase in rental rates in the october , november , december quarter . '' ''and in january and february it was definitely down , '' mr . billingsley said . ''it 's as if we were going 85 miles an hour and suddenly slowed to 50 . '' the collapse of numbers of dot com firms and the shrinkage of others , along with cutbacks at the advertising_agencies and other service companies that had grown swollen with dot com work , are the major reasons for the space being returned to the market , real_estate specialists say . and since financial_services companies typically lay off large numbers of people when the economy turns down , more space is expected to become available , particularly downtown , where the industry is concentrated . ''a lot of these companies took space in anticipation of growth or as a defensive gesture , '' said anthony e . malkin , president of w m properties , an investment and development company . ''so it is not surprising that things are getting softer downtown , because the securities industry is the only one it has . if the securities industry gets the sniffles , downtown gets a bad cold . '' uncertainty about the future is leading many companies to put off making decisions about office leases as long as possible , market participants say . ''people are on the sideline and there is very little market activity , '' said james meiskin , president of plymouth partners , which represents tenants . ''companies do not know where the economy is going and whether they are going to have to lay off people . so if they do not have to make hard and fast decisions , they are not doing so . '' mr . meiskin said the slowdown is giving tenants more negotiating power after several years of a market where landlords were able to dictate terms . he said that while asking rents have shown little movement downward , owners are willing to contribute more toward the cost of interior construction and to extend the period of free rent . ''owners who were offering 20 a rentable square_foot in work are now offering 35 a square_foot , '' he said . ''nine months ago the free rent period was one month . now it is three to six months , in addition to construction time . '' tenants who have the luxury of time to make a decision on whether to move or renew a lease are best off waiting , because some bargains may be coming to the market , said peter pattison , who runs a real_estate advisory business under his name . ''the market has peaked and is due to come down considerably in the next six months , '' he said . he said cutbacks in the financial_services industry could have a major impact on the office market in manhattan . if a big financial_services company ''cuts 10 , 000 people , that throws about 2 million square_feet of space back on the market , '' he said . ''that is a lot of space . '' mr . meiskin , the tenant broker , said that some of his clients were estimating that 3 million to 5 million square_feet of space would come back to the market as a result of layoffs and cutbacks over the next year . ''demand is evaporating in places like midtown south and downtown , even if a lot of owners do n't want to admit it yet , '' said joseph t . palombi , executive vice_president of trinity church real_estate , a major landlord in the midtown south area . he said about 500 , 000 square_feet of the church 's 6 million square_foot portfolio remains available , much of it upgraded to office space from industrial use over the last five years . he said he was willing to negotiate to fill the space with desirable tenants . ''we are not panicking , but we 'll deal , '' he said . but some real_estate executives say any weakness is confined to class b and c properties , generally older buildings less well equipped and located than class a buildings , in places like midtown south and the far west side of manhattan . rental rates and demand for class a buildings in midtown remain strong , they say . and , unlike the late 1980 's , there is no surplus of newly_constructed buildings to overhang the market . ''i do n't think we are going to see a significant drop in asking prices in midtown , '' said allan b . rothschild , a senior vice_president in charge of the new york office of cb richard ellis , a brokerage and services company . ''although the pace of transactions has slowed somewhat , we recently concluded one in midtown where there were three backup bidders . '' he added that there is so little space available in prime buildings in midtown that landlords have little incentive to lower their prices or offer more attractive terms . statistics , of course , tend to lag a changing market , but figures published by colliers abr for the month of january tend to back this assessment of the situation in midtown . the vacancy_rate for class a properties in midtown fell to 4.7 percent in january , down from 4.9 percent in december and 5.8 percent a year earlier . the same report noted that asking rents for these properties stayed essentially flat at 65 . 34 a square_foot a year , 10 cents a foot below the december average . for all of manhattan , the vacancy_rate for class a buildings fell to 4.3 percent in january , down from 4.5 percent in december and 6 percent a year earlier . asking annual rents increased to 60 . 08 a square_foot , up from 58 . 53 a square_foot in december and 49 . 11 a square_foot in january 2000 . barry gosin , the vice chairman and chief executive of newmark company real_estate , a brokerage and management company , described the market as ' 'relatively solid , because the amount of people let go is still small . '' he said that unlike the late 1980 's , when layoffs and vast amounts of empty space drove rental rates down sharply , the current situation more closely_resembles the early 1980 's . ''the market has flattened out the way it did in 1982 , and is likely to remain flat for several years as it did then , '' he said . although demand has softened on the west side and in midtown south , he said the situation varies on a building to building basis . ''it is the marginal product that is being affected as tenants opt for a better product in this kind of market , '' he said . space in the chelsea_market building between ninth and 10th avenues and 15th and 16th streets remains strong , he said , despite its location away from the midtown core . josh n . kuriloff , an executive vice_president of cushman_wakefield , the brokerage and services company , said ''there has been a slowdown in demand , but there has been no increase in supply to drive up vacancy_rates . the euphoria is out of the market and we are back to basics . '' those basics , he added , include locations close to public transportation , shopping , restaurants and other amenities . he said that far west side locations , such as the starrett lehigh building at 26th_street and the west side highway , are likely to experience a sharp dropoff in demand . ''using shuttle buses to get to public transportation makes no sense , '' he said . ''i did not understand it during the euphoria and i do not understand it now . ''	has a location of america
lead to the editor to the editor the statement in your article on astoria that john jacob astor ''was instrumental in incorporating the area'' is incorrect . according to ''history of queens_county'' ( munsell company , 1882 , p . 272 ) , the village was named after him when he donated a small sum of money to help start a school there for young ladies . the village fathers thought this might attract some of astor 's business to the area . unfortunately , his interests lay in vast real_estate holdings in new york and the fur trade in astoria , oregon . all he ever saw of astoria was the view across hell gate from the front porch of his summer residence in manhattan . i have never found a mention of astor ever setting foot in astoria , queens . i 'm afraid it was small potatoes for him . george henke sunnyside , queens	has a location of america
lead for the better part of an hour last tuesday in federal district court in manhattan , judge leonard b . sand seemed to be weighing alternative sanctions in his two year effort to force yonkers to comply with a housing desegregation plan . for the better part of an hour last tuesday in federal district court in manhattan , judge leonard b . sand seemed to be weighing alternative sanctions in his two year effort to force yonkers to comply with a housing desegregation plan . one was the formation of a court appointed commission that would ' 'replace'' the recalcitrant city_council in seeing that the housing was built . the other was to bring contempt charges , including fines and imprisonment , against the city and its council members to force compliance . the 'classic' contempt route judge sand chose the ''classic'' contempt route , as he put it , perhaps because it was simpler , clearer and less likely to be overturned by a higher court , but he indicated that the commission proposal , which he had introduced two weeks earlier , might be more effective in the long run . glancing from brian heffernan , the lawyer for the justice_department , and michael sussman , representing the yonkers branch of the national association for the advancement of colored people , he said , ''you disagree as to which is the most compelling sanction . '' mr . heffernan , apparently reflecting a strongly held position of the reagan_administration , proposed the fines and imprisonment , saying that formation of a commission would allow the city to ''take the ultimate cop out . '' ''we 're not there yet , '' he said , indicating that , at best , it was too early to consider establishment of a commission . it was ''important for the city to retain some input , '' he said in calling for the contempt charges and penalties . others involved in the case said that the justice_department had long indicated opposition to anyone being empowered by a judge to stand in his stead . ''if such a person or body is given real power , '' one official said , ''justice is dead_set against it . '' but mr . sussman , in arguing for a commission , said that the ' 'spectacle'' created by the imposition of fines or imprisonment ''will only be a distraction . '' he said , ''we do n't need to pay more attention to henry_spallone , '' the deputy_mayor and councilman who has led the fight against the housing plan . ''this city_council , '' he said , ''is bent on avoiding compliance . '' mr . sussman argued that the council had exhibited contempt again and again , and that the time had come to see that the housing was built , through a commission that would supplant the city_council in matters dealing with the court ordered plan . judge sand said there was ''great strength'' in both arguments , and he was reminded of the old joke dealing with the judge who hears one side and says , ''you 're right , '' then hears the other side and says , ''you 're right . '' asked by an aide how both sides can be right , the judge says , ''you 're right . '' ''you disagree as to which is the most compelling sanction , '' judge sand said . ''my response is that we will use any and all appropriate means to implement the housing order . '' the object , he said , ''is not to establish abstract principles of law , but to get the housing built . '' 'why should we not do both ? ' the judge asked at one point ''why should we not do both , '' indicating that the imposition of sanctions might be followed by establishment of the commission . ''the commission is not only an appropriate route , but the only meaningful route to take , '' judge sand said . one of its main ''virtues , '' he added , ''is the assurance it gives to private builders and developers that proposals they advance will not be sabotaged or reviewed in a hostile climate . '' mayor nicholas c . wasicsko , who has supported the judge 's recent efforts to gain compliance in the city_council , said he thought the commission was the ''worst'' alternative facing the city , ''and i thought the judge was going to use it . '' other members of the city_council had also indicated their distate for the establishment of a commission , because it would severely reduce the council 's political power . 'more punitive than remedial' michael sculnick , the city 's lawyer , told the judge that he opposed both methods of forcing compliance . the city 's position , he said , is that the fines ''would be more punitive than remedial . '' judge sand rebuked him for proposing no alternative action . he acknowledged mr . sussman 's assertion that the council might , as it has in the past , vote to approve the court 's order to avoid contempt charges , but then refuse to go further . ''if there is a begrudging adoption of the housing ordinance and then a pattern of frustrating implementation , '' judge sand said , ''it is something the court will have to address . '' in fact , the judge took a step in that direction by approving a 27 page ordinance , drafted by the plaintiffs , spelling out the building incentives , zoning benefits and other proposals that would be used to attract developers to build the 800 units of subsidized_housing in mostly white eastern and northwestern neighborhoods . commitment on 200 housing units the council had agreed in principle to the long term plan last january , under threat of contempt citations and heavy fines , but has since voted to reverse that affirmation . the january vote also included approval of a more immediate commitment to build 200 units of public_housing , but a majority of councilmen , facing community opposition , have since indicated they now also oppose that aspect of the plan . under the terms of the affordable_housing ordinance approved by judge sand on tuesday , yonkers will require that ''all new multi family housing developments in east and northwest yonkers will be required to provide assisted housing units not to exceed 20 percent of the maximum aggregate number of units authorized for construction in exchange for a variety of zoning and other mandated incentives . '' in other words , a total of 4 , 000 units would have to be built to create the 800 units of assisted housing . in return , developers would be allowed to build higher than is currently permitted and to go beyond the maximum floor space allowed . limits also would be exceeded in other areas and tax abatements would granted where appropriate . assisted financing provision other benefits also would be provided to developers , such as assisted financing from the industrial development authority in cases where the builder is willing to go beyond the 20 percent of space set aside for assisted housing . the ordinance , which could provide the framework for a court ordered commission to function outside city_council participation , contains an office of implementation ''to monitor and insure implementation of the housing remedy order'' of 1986 , which the judge imposed following his finding the previous year that yonkers had discriminated intentionally and illegally in housing and education for nearly 40 years . the implementation officer , according to the ordinance , will ''work with developers in determining the incentives they require , '' insure that ''construction of the assisted units is taking place according to schedule , '' review and approve sales prices and rent levels and take other actions . sand interviews applicants judge sand said he had interviewed ' 'several applicants'' for the post of executive director of the office , describing all of them as being ''extraordinarily well qualified . '' he said he would announce his selection by the middle of this week . the independent commission , as proposed by judge sand in mid july , would include the lawyers for the two plaintiffs and two city officials , the city_manager and either the planning commissioner or the head of the municipal housing authority . the executive director of the office of implementation would have a tie breaking vote . judge sand 's proposed commission would replace the city_council in giving final approval of arrangements such as those made with developers , but would not interfere with normal procedures allowing planning , building , zoning and other departments to function before final approval , unless it found their resistance to giving approval to be politically inspired . mr . sussman 's proposed commission , according to the assessment of others involved in the case , would be a much more powerful body than the judge had envisioned . under the n.a.a.c.p . proposal , the commission would have many of the rights normally vested in city departments and thus would control all stages of the housing plan . tentatively identified as the yonkers affordable_housing commission , it would , as outlined by mr . sussman , solicit development proposals , review site plans , recommend building proposals , provide building and other certificates and otherwise implement the long term housing plan . the executive director , as proposed by mr . sussman , would ''have authority to direct all employees and staff of the yonkers planning department , the department of development , the bureau of building and housing and the community development agency'' to implement the long term housing remedy order . judge sand promised to ''consider promulgation of a commission'' but said that its structure ' 'required further thought and analysis . '' he added , however , that ''the road to implementing the housing remedy order is going to be a direct and expeditious road , and it would be foolhardy for anyone to think otherwise . ''	has a location of america
homeless is like the government wanting you locked up and the people in america do not like you . they look at you and see beast ! i wish the people would help the homeless and stop their talking . frank s . rice , the rio times the building is beautiful , white and beige and oak , the colors of yuppie . the rehab of the rio came in 700 , 000 under budget , two months ahead of schedule . the tenants say they will not mess it up , no , no , no . " when you do n't have a place and you get a good place , the last thing you want to do is lose it , " said one man who slept in shelters for seven years , seven years during which you might have gotten married , or lost a loved one , or struck it rich , but all this guy did was live on the streets . mayor david_dinkins has announced that he will study parts of the study he commissioned from a commission on the homeless , the newest in a long line of studies . one study , done in 1981 , was called " private_lives , public spaces . " it was researched by ellen baxter , who now runs the nonprofit company that has brought us the rio and four other buildings that provide permanent housing for the homeless in washington_heights . another study , done in 1987 , was called " a shelter is not a home " and was produced by the manhattan borough_president , david_dinkins , who now runs the city of new york . at the time , the koch administration said it would study mr . dinkins 's study , which must have taught mr . dinkins something . robert hayes , one of the founding fathers of the movement to help the homeless , once told me there were three answers to the problem housing , housing , housing . it was an overly simplistic answer , and it was essentially correct . despite our obsessions with pathology and addiction , ms . baxter has renovated one apartment building after another and filled them with people . at the rio , what was once a burnt out eyesore is now , with its curving facade and bright lobby , the handsomest building on the block what were once armory transients with dirt etched in the creases of hands and face are now tenants . the building needed people the people needed a home . the city provided the rehab money columbia_university provides social service support . some of the tenants need to spend time in drug treatment and some go to alcoholics anonymous and some of them lapse into pretty pronounced fugue states from time to time . so what ? how would you behave if you 'd lived on the streets for seven years ? what is better to leave them out there while we lament the emptying of the mental hospitals and the demise of jobs ? or to provide a roof over their heads and then get them psychiatric care and job training ? what is better to spend nearly 20 , 000 each year to have them sleep on cots at night and wander the streets by day ? or to make a one time investment of 38 , 000 a unit , as they did in the single rooms with kitchens and baths in the rio , for permanent homes for people who will pay rent from their future wages or from entitlement benefits ? years ago i became cynical enough to envision a game plan in which politicians , tussling over government stuff like demonstration projects and agency jurisdiction and commission studies , ignored this until it went away . and , in a sense , it has . we have become so accustomed to people sleeping on sidewalks and in subway stations that recumbent bodies have become small landmarks in our neighborhoods . mary brosnahan , executive director of the coalition for the homeless , says she was stunned , talking to students , at their assumption that people always had and always would be living on the streets . my children call by pet names " the man with the cup , " " the lady with the falling down pants " the homeless people around their school . and when a problem becomes that rooted in our everyday perceptions , it is understood to be without solution . nonprofit groups like the one that renovated the rio prove that this is not so . the cots in the armory are poison the drug programs and job training are icing . a place to shut the door , to sleep without one eye open , to be warm , to be safe that 's the cake . there 's no place like home . you did n't need a study to figure that out , did you ?	has a location of america
lead the new york city housing authority has run up 62 million in operating deficits in the last three years , and housing officials say that one of the prime causes of the shortfalls overcrowding is also one of the key reasons why they have not sought additional federal aid to cover the debts . the new york city housing authority has run up 62 million in operating deficits in the last three years , and housing officials say that one of the prime causes of the shortfalls overcrowding is also one of the key reasons why they have not sought additional federal aid to cover the debts . officials of the housing authority were afraid that if they asked for a larger federal subsidy , the reagan_administration would demand that they start evicting at least 100 , 000 illegal tenants estimated to be living doubled and tripled up with friends and relatives in many of the authority 's 178 , 000 apartments , according to two memorandums written by the authority 's general_manager . the housing authority decided instead to cover the 62 million deficit with money from its surplus fund , officials said . as a result , the authority in the last three years has consumed about 30 percent of the surplus fund , which reached a peak of 209 million four years ago . officials said , however , that the authority was facing no immediate crisis . ''our short term plan was to make it to the next president , '' the authority 's general_manager , joseph shuldiner , said in an interview last week . housing officials have long acknowledged that tens of thousands of people are living illegally in new york 's public_housing . there are about 470 , 000 authorized tenants . the officials have said that most of the illegal tenants would not be evicted because many would have nowhere to go , given the enormous shortage of low_income_housing in the city . the housing authority , however , has not previously detailed publicly the financial , operational and political burdens imposed by its unauthorized tenants . in a memorandum written last march about the availability of vacant apartments , mr . shuldiner said the overcrowding ''is having a major impact on the authority 's ability to maintain its housing and therefore , our viability . '' operating and repair costs have risen sharply in recent years , mr . shuldiner said in another memo , written last december . the cost of everything from utilities to cleanup has risen far more quickly than the inflation_rate or contracted labor increases , and are largely attributable to the huge number of unauthorized people living in the city 's projects , he wrote . ''there is no way any of this can be measured with any degree of accuracy , '' mr . shuldiner said in the interview . ''it 's probably a significant amount of money . '' he used a small example to illustrate the way additional tenants have increased the housing authority 's costs . a family of four will open a refrigerator a certain number of times each day , on average . two or three families , living in a typical two or three bedroom apartment , might open the refrigerator door two or three times as often each day . the result , mr . shuldiner said , is that the refrigerator will undergo more wear and tear , and probably will have to be replaced years ahead of schedule . 1 apartment , 23 occupants mr . shuldiner 's memos also indicated that the overcrowding has sometimes reached extraordinary proportions . in an informal survey by catholic_charities of a coney_island housing_project , he wrote , 33 of 37 families polled were living doubled up . four of the families each had 23 occupants in a single apartment , and another two households admitted having 22 occupants . the typical housing authority apartment has two bedrooms , although some have four , five and occasionally six bedrooms . the survey ' 'says it all'' about overcrowding in the city 's projects , mr . shuldiner wrote . a spokesman for the housing authority , val coleman , said the situation in the coney_island complex , called carey gardens , was not typical of overcrowding in other housing_projects . 'they know they can do it' but the families surveyed were representative of those in the coney_island project , according to robert marquez , a regional administrator for catholic_charities of brooklyn . ''these are very real numbers , '' mr . marquez said . ''people know that the housing authority looks the other way they do n't want to throw people on to the street . doubling up is an option that has developed for families . they know they can do it . '' most unauthorized tenants go to considerable lengths to avoid detection , housing officials said . several statistical measures , including the home addresses of children registered in public schools and the addresses of welfare_recipients , suggest the size of the unauthorized population in city housing_projects . plan to remove illegal tenants the housing authority projected last year that it had at least 93 , 000 unauthorized residents living doubled and tripled up . mr . shuldiner noted in a memo that the number ''is a minimum figure because this reflects only those people who are using their doubled up situation as their legal address . '' there are undoubtedly many more illegal tenants who either use an old address or someone else 's home address on official documents like school registration or welfare forms , he wrote . there are 190 , 000 names on the authority 's waiting list for vacant apartments . the housing authority spends about 800 million a year on basic operations and maintenance . tenants pay 484 million in rents , with most paying 30 percent of their household_income . the rest of the 800 million comes from government operating subsidies , with the federal_government paying 88 percent of the subsidies and the city and state paying the rest . mr . shuldiner said in the march memo that the housing authority intended to appeal the size of its federal subsidy this year to cover its growing deficits . the shortfall last year alone was 36 million . he also wrote that the authority expected it would have to submit a plan to remove unauthorized tenants ''as part of this appeal . '' housing officials believed that the reagan_administration would not approve a larger subsidy unless the city provided assurances that in the future it could prevent the added costs of unauthorized tenants , mr . shuldiner said in the interview . eviction orders feared the housing authority eventually decided not to ask for more federal aid , mr . shuldiner said . it did so , in part , because congress had not provided enough money in the current federal budget to give local public_housing agencies the full amounts to which they were entitled under complex federal formulas . the city housing authority received 98 . 4 percent of the federal subsidy it was scheduled to receive , he said . ''they do n't have the money to give us , even if they wanted to , and they probably would n't want to , '' mr . shuldiner said of federal housing officials . ''we thought we 'd get a better shot with the next administration . '' the fear that it would be ordered to evict illegal tenants was also part of the housing authority 's calculations this year . ''i think historically that 's been the reason , '' mr . shuldiner said . ken lampkin , a spokesman for the new york regional office of the federal department of housing_and_urban_development , said his agency would reserve comment until the city actually applied for a larger subsidy . ''we 've been around for 55 years , and we view our mission as providing housing for low income people , '' mr . shuldiner said . ''there 's obviously a tremendous shortage of low_income_housing now , and to toss people out would just be against our mission . as long as we can tolerate it to any degree , we 're not going to look to wholesale eviction . '' deficit and surplus fund city councilwoman ruth w . messinger , a manhattan democrat who is frequently critical of the city 's housing policies , said the housing authority 's decision to avoid a confrontation with the reagan_administration was ''judicious but problematic . '' ''i respect their capacity to continue to provide homes for more families than they have units , '' ms . messinger said . ''but i think the burden that the authority is carrying must be addressed by the city . this points to the need to renovate more of the vacant city owned stock , and more rapidly , for families of low and moderate income . '' mr . shuldiner said the housing authority was not in ''immediate financial difficulty . '' ''our financial situation has deteriorated in the sense that we 've had deficits , but it is not threatening our survival , '' he said . the authority will have an operating deficit this year of 15 million to 20 million about half last year 's shortfall , he said . the current deficit will also be made up from the surplus fund , which was created from operating surpluses in the early 1980 's . if another deficit is anticipated next year , mr . shuldiner said , the authority will probably ask the new federal administration for a larger subsidy . ''we 'll submit our budget and see how it plays out , '' he said .	has a location of america
lead in four other cities that give developers density bonuses for child_care irvine , calif . , portland , ore . , cincinnati and hart ford proposed projects have been put on hold until sluggish real_estate markets im prove . in four other cities that give developers density bonuses for child_care irvine , calif . , portland , ore . , cincinnati and hart ford proposed projects have been put on hold until sluggish real_estate markets im prove . in the other areas where child_care centers or fees for a community day care fund are mandatory clayton , concord , danville , martinez , san_francisco and san_ramon , all in california , plus boston only a handful , mostly in california , have been built in new properties . most developers have chosen to put money in a community child_care fund rather than meet strict codes or negotiate with day care operators . in 1985 , a change in the zoning code here gave builders 12 square_feet of floor space for every foot of ground level space dedicated to day care twice the bonus proposed for new york city by the real_estate board of new york in a package of proposals to stimulate development . new york has no mandated or optional zoning statute on day care centers . the offer here meant wright runstad company , which provided a 2 , 000 square_foot day care center , could add 24 , 000 square_feet to its washington mutual tower . a moratorium that began in may 1989 and continues through next may on new down town office high rises has prevented any fur ther use of the bonus . but developers are expected to take advantage of it in the future . when the 1 . 05 million square_foot wash ington mutual tower opened in 1989 , wright runstad advertised it as " an office building so friendly you can bring your kids to work . " the day care center , with its 22 children , 2 months to 2 1 2 years old , is tucked into a courtyard behind a fountain . the center oper ates at capacity . the y.w.c.a . operates the center , which is subsidized by united way . " it 's convenient for parents who work in the building , " said tema nesoff , its assistant_director . " they see what the child is doing during the day . " costs range from 285 to 650 a month , depending on the child 's age , and 30 percent of the children come from low income fam ilies . another concern , harbor development company , lets the center use a nearby empty lot as a play area and local architects de signed outdoor equipment free of charge . steve trainer , senior vice_president of wright runstad , said his company had long wanted to place child_care in downtown projects . but state law required that centers be built at street level , eliminating most towers because first floors on seattle 's hilly streets often range from below to above grade . that law has since been eased . " this is definitely a start on what the city envisioned , " said rebecca herzfeld , the city 's manager of code development and coordination . but billie young , seattle 's child_care coor dinator , noted that the costs of providing care tend to be higher downtown than in neighbor hoods . centers downtown tend to be smaller , so there are no economies of scale that larger neighborhood centers can achieve . staff members are paid more to work in downtown than in the suburbs . because par ents who want to take their children down town demand high quality in care , more staff members are needed in the city core . but proponents say that day care centers in downtown offices tend to " humanize " the often sterile environments . the publicity surrounding the incentive program has encouraged developers to in clude day care even if they gained their permits prior to the zoning change and thus were not entitled to a density bonus , ms . herzfeld said . for example , pacific first centre , a pres cott development company project complet ed last year , provides an 8 , 000 square_foot day care center for 55 children , operated by pacific first montessori . the developer gave the operator a five year lease at nominal rent . dick clotfelter , president of prescott de velopment , said he was marketing the 1 . 07 million square_foot building with the day care center as an incentive . a store in the 8 , 000 square_feet the center occupies would have rented for about 12 a square_foot , or 96 , 000 a year , he said . kelly sandy , whose wife , linda , works in the pacific first building , said he felt a full day would be too tiring for his 3 1 2 year old son , curtis , so a nanny picks the child up after lunch . he chose the pacific first day care center over one near his home . suzanne haggard , director of the pacific first montessori , took out a small_business_administration loan to finance her school day care center , which opened in mid 1989 . costs range from 550 to 750 a month , depending on age of the child . " we 're looking for new ways to finance child_care and have been pushing for help from developers nationally , " said caroline eichman , research director of the child_care action campaign . " seattle has a very good program . she said san_francisco has seen little success so far with its five year old law de signed to promote child_care in office build ings . it requires developers of buildings larg er than 50 , 000 square_feet to pay 1 for every gross square_foot or to set aside 2 , 000 square_feet of floor space or 1 percent of the total area , whichever is greater . " the law was written to entice developers to pay the fee , " ms . eichman said , " so the city can have control over spending and community planning . " no child_care centers have gone into new san_francisco towers , but one developer , ron kaufman companies , is seeking permits for a new building that would include day care for up to 40 children . lynne beeson , director of the mayor 's office of child_care , said most developers are paying fees and the city will receive 300 , 000 by year 's end . " things are n't changing fast , " ms . beeson said . " we have got such a long way to go . " some california cities , like concord and danville , have built day care centers and also collected fees . but in boston four new office buildings that would include child_care in the once blighted midtown cultural dis trict are on hold , and the same is true of a building in hartford . cincinnati has had a bonus law on the books since 1987 but nothing has come about , and in irvine , calif . , two projects still are pending . some of the 14 other cities now considering mandatory child_care laws are running into rebellion from developers opposed to what they see as mandatory zoning . pittsburgh will decide about mandatory laws this fall . city planners say it is crucial to plan centers now for future buildings because of the num ber of working mothers . pittsburgh 's centers near downtown currently handle only about 680 children and planners expect that within 20 years more than 50 , 000 women of child bearing age will work downtown . " developers across the country have n't opposed bonus laws , but they have opposed mandatory zoning , " ms . eichman said . " they see these laws as unfair taxes and feel they 're being made scapegoats . they say day care is the responsibility of employers and the community as well . " developers say they are being singled out because their buildings will create new jobs and new demands on city services like child_care . yet , ms . eichman said , " we 've found that communities across the country are strapped for funds , and federal and state monies have been cut back . " focus	has a location of america
the tan house with the welcoming front porch at 56 risley street on the north end looks a lot like the other new homes in this inner city neighborhood . but because it was designed with energy savings in mind , its owners' utilities bill will be about 1 , 100 less a year than their neighbors' . the builder , hartford area habitat for humanity , set out to create a healthier , cost and energy efficient residence and to dispel the belief that building ''green'' is only for the rich . from photovoltaic solar_panels on the roof to engineered wood joists , more efficient toilets and energy star rated appliances , little has been overlooked in the effort to create a replicable , eco friendly home . ''this is probably the greenest house in hartford county right now , '' said adam ney , president of auctorverno , a marketing firm in bethany that promotes green construction and that helped habitat identify environmentally friendly products and supplies . each side of the duplex is 1 , 250 square_feet , with three bedrooms and one and a half baths . habitat and united_technologies , which sponsored the environmental upgrades , say they hope that aspects of the home will be copied by other habitat affiliates in the northeast as they build homes for needy families . ''what we 've learned here , we are already duplicating nearby , '' said shea hagy , the construction supervisor , referring to 16 other habitat homes going up in a two block radius and four more in new britain . while habitat follows standards for green design elsewhere in the country , it has not done so in the northeast because of the harsher climate and a reluctance to deviate from standard practice , mr . hagy said . ''it 's easy to put up solar_panels in san_diego , where it 's sunny all the time , '' he said . ''there 's less payback here , but it still makes a difference . '' solar_energy will provide 40 percent of the home 's electricity , yielding a savings of about 360 a year , preliminary estimates show . conservation should reduce water and gas bills by at least an additional 700 , the developers predict . ''the energy savings is one more leg up for our families , '' said julie donahue , executive vice_president of hartford area habitat . sunlight solar_energy , of milford , the installer of the solar system , took advantage of a rebate program started in october 2004 by the connecticut clean energy fund , which typically gives back 55 percent of the installation cost . to date , 100 homes have qualified . new homes account for some installations , but most are in existing homes , said bryan garcia , the fund 's director of energy_market initiatives . interest in solar_power is growing as electric rates skyrocket and fears of a fuel crisis loom , he said . upfront costs are often higher in eco friendly construction in this case , materials added about 15 percent . but habitat anticipates that reduced electrical and water consumption , the solar panel rebate , durability and longer product warranties will make the home more cost efficient in the long term . the ''green'' effort extends to framing , furnishing and landscaping . using two by six studs spaced every 24 inches , instead of two by fours at 16 inch intervals , created deeper cavities for insulation . overall , mr . hagy said , wood use is reduced by about 30 percent . household products and appliances were evaluated for air_quality and environmental impact , mr . hagy said . linoleum won out over vinyl flooring and carpeting for the high traffic first floor because it comes from renewable resources , is easy to maintain and emits fewer volatile organic compounds ( v . o.c . s ) , which emit potentially harmful gases . low v . o.c . paints were chosen , and on the second floor , low v . o.c . carpet squares , rather than rolls of carpeting and padding , helped reduce construction waste . water saving measures include restricted flow plumbing devices , a front loading washing_machine and rain barrels to capture water for gardening and car washing . in terms of eco building , ''we 're only scratching the tip of the iceberg , '' mr . hagy said , ''but for us , it 's a big step . '' environment	has a location of america
lead for five years residents of the tribeca area have been pursuing historic_district designation . this spring they are redoubling their efforts with a promotional booklet , walking_tours and a benefit auction to draw attention to the area 's remarkable late 19th_century commercial buildings . for five years residents of the tribeca area have been pursuing historic_district designation . this spring they are redoubling their efforts with a promotional booklet , walking_tours and a benefit auction to draw attention to the area 's remarkable late 19th_century commercial buildings . but although designation for a district is now under active discussion by the landmarks_preservation_commission , it will be too late for the 188 year old federal style house at 114 hudson street , whose demolition last year cast light on the complicated web of paperwork and politics that surrounds preservation in new york city . the building was an unforgettable anomaly , an ancient red brick survivor among tall loft buildings . built in 1801 between franklin and north moore streets , 114 hudson was a good , plain federal style house a brick front with splayed lintels over the second floor windows and a single dormer projecting from a pitched roof . its first owner and occupant was john ferris , a ''cartman , '' according to an 1802 city directory . after the civil_war a wave of loft and factory construction transformed the area , sweeping away almost all the older buildings . at the turn of the century , 36 year old john d . haar lived above his butter and egg business at 114 hudson , but by 1910 the ground floor was operated by leopold bochner as an ''eating house . '' in the mid 1980 's , community board 1 and the tribeca community association began asking the landmarks_preservation_commission to designate a historic_district in tribeca roughly bounded by broadway and canal , greenwich and murray streets , with 114 hudson more or less at the center . at the suggestion of the commission , community volunteers photographed and did research on hundreds of buildings to speed the process . in 1987 charles m . smith jr . , commissioner of the department of buildings , began a new practice there applicants for permits for new construction , alteration and demolition in manhattan and brooklyn had to notify by mail the appropriate community board at the time of filing . the board , if inclined , could try to stop or delay the approval of an application . once approved , applications cannot be overridden by , for instance , the landmarks commission . last spring the tribeca historic_district proposal was gaining momentum and the community board expected the commission to act soon . but without warning 114 hudson was demolished in july . hal bromm , chairman of the board 's landmarks committee , said he never got notification of the application to demolish . ''if i had , '' he said , ''i would have called the landmarks commission and i think it 's extremely likely that the staff would have recommended a hearing on the building . '' although there have been complaints that the notification of building applications is sporadic , in this case the community board office did get a copy of the application , but neglected to notify mr . bromm . angelo ponte , a principal of owners maintenance carting inc . , owner of 114 hudson , declined to discuss the reason for the demolition . but jim smith , a spokesman for the concern , said the site is for sale for 1 million . would the commission have stepped in at the last minute to save 114 hudson until the entire district proposal was ready ? other individual federal style houses have been designated individual landmarks . ''landmarks_preservation_commission complete tribeca review , '' a document dated 1985 , systematically rated the area 's properties in terms of their significance on a scale of 1 through 4 . the 1 's are plain or modern buildings the few 4 's seem to be structures considered very significant . the woolworth building received a_4 , as did 114 hudson street . but the commission claims not to know about the document . ''we do n't have a copy of that , i do n't know what it is , '' said lillian ayala , a spokesperson . as for the ratings , ''we do n't even like to mention those numbers , those were probably put in by the volunteers , '' she said . but oliver allen , a community resident who organized the picture taking , said that not only were the survey and its significance ratings given to the volunteers by the commission , but the commission also asked the volunteers to make extra photographs , in color , of the buildings rated 4 . ''they want people to help them and they gave us this document , and then they say , 'do n't take it seriously , ' '' mr . allen said . ''well , we do take it seriously . '' there is a certain bitterness about 114 hudson that the landmarks commission has still not acted on the district , that it does not acknowledge its own survey , that 114 hudson did not get a last day in court , that tribeca lost a picturesque little pleasure in the heart of a likely historic_district three years after the commission 's ''complete tribeca review . '' and there is yet another irony . the lack of notice to mr . bromm was irrelevant . for demolition permits , owners are required to go through a rigorous preapplication process letters to neighbors , visits by inspectors and so on before they can even apply . indeed , the process is so rigorous that , when the actual application is finally accepted , there is nothing left to review , nothing to question . with 114 hudson , as with almost every demolition last year , approval was granted on the day of application . what reached the community board for review was the notice of an application that had been approved before it hit the mailbox .	has a location of america
just to the north of centereach , along the north_shore of long_island , communities such as setauket , stony_brook and port_jefferson have flourished since the 18th_century . but until about a half century ago , efforts to develop centereach were unavailing . roads in the backwater hamlet were little more than dirt paths , gas and electricity were virtually_nonexistent and there was no public water system . in 1953 , bernard krinsky moved in to test his belief that a moderately_priced product would be the key to the success of selling housing in this eight square_mile hamlet in the town of brookhaven . the product was eastwood village , and he was joined in the venture in 1954 by hyman rosenblum and his rosdel corporation . in a coordinated effort , they laid out their own roads , made arrangements for utility services and began building homes targeted for first time buyers . within five years they and four other developershad built and sold 1 , 250 homes , marketing them through a single real_estate agency , harry klein realty . today the still moderate prices of the 7 , 800 houses in the hamlet are just one of the factors that make centereach desirable for home buyers . with abundant shopping , access to major roads 10 minutes to the northern state parkway or the long_island_expressway a swimming_pool complex , an award winning public_library and a desirable school system , centereach is a thriving community . john hurtle , an agent with national home finders in centereach , said prices for houses ranged from 80 , 000 for a two bedroom cottage on a 100 by 100 foot lot to 250 , 000 for a large colonial with a wraparound porch on half an acre . taxes range from about 1 , 800 to 6 , 000 . high end homes are newer , with many still rising in scattered subdivisions of 5 to 20 houses each . houses in rock island estate , a development of eight victorians that range from 2 , 200 to 3 , 200 square_feet , recently sold for 180 , 000 to 250 , 000 . ground has been broken to build an additional 18 . the rental market is tight . when available , one bedroom apartments go for 650 to 700 a month and 2 bedrooms for 850 to 900 . two to 2 bedroom single family homes rent for about 1 , 200 . mr . hurtle said that there were not many houses for sale . ''this is a very strong middle_class community , and people do n't move away that quickly , '' he said . ''many who do come back . '' kim ditomasso , who grew up in centereach and still has family there , moved back last november after living in brooklyn for five years with her husband , christopher . they have two children , christopher jr . , 7 , and nicholas , 9 months . the move back meant a commute of an hour and a half or more for her husband , who owns a pizza parlor in brooklyn_heights . but the couple felt that the public schools where the family lived in brooklyn were not up to their standards and that the 12 , 000 a year in tuition for a private_school did not fit in their budget . ''i looked everywhere in nassau_county for a house , '' mr . ditomasso said . ''but they were 40 , 000 to 50 , 000 more for half the house and double the taxes . '' the couple moved into a new 3 bedroom , 2 bath ranch with a cathedral ceiling , full basement and one car garage on a 130 by 100 foot lot . they paid 139 , 000 for the house property_taxes are 4 , 200 . mr . ditomasso said the neighborhood has many children , his wife has almost unlimited shopping opportunities and , he added , the quality of the public schools exceeds what brooklyn_heights offers . the 10 , 000 student middle country school_district has eight elementary schools , two middle schools and two high_schools , as well as a learning center for special_education . a total of 87 percent of last june 's 674 high_school graduates went on to higher_education . last year , 130 high_school students took advanced_placement courses in 11 subjects , including art , western civilization , french , spanish and italian . schools superintendent cecil ramsey said that in 1994 the district introduced an intense , half year course to prepare students for college entrance_exams and for the college application process . mr . ramsey said the district also offered a science research course . enrichment programs are available to students beginning in the fourth_grade , and every seventh_grade student takes a writing workshop to help in the development of writing and english skills . mr . ramsey said that although district enrollment had been increasing , it had not yet had an impact on space , noting that the student teacher ratio remained at 14 to 1 . ''the continued success of middle country students is the result of the unique teamwork , commitment and dedication of professionals and volunteers throughout the district , '' he said . the centereach civic_association , which began in 1961 and was reactivated in 1986 , is made up of volunteers who establish scholarships , sponsor clean up programs and serve as community watchdogs . vincent marino , president of the association , said that for the last few years the civic group had been monitoring state plans to deal with traffic_congestion on middle country road ( route 25 ) . these plans include widening the road to four lanes and an overpass at the intersection of middle country road and nicolls road , the latter now under construction . shopping is available along the entire stretch of middle country road , which is lined with stores and strip malls . the smith haven mall , anchored by macy 's , sears , j . c . penney and stern 's , is minutes away in lake grove . john and jill jarvis , who lived in an elmont , l.i. , apartment , had hoped to move to a starter home in nassau_county to minimize the commute to mr . jarvis 's job as a social worker in far rockaway , queens . like the ditomassos , they found they got more for their money in suffolk rather than nassau_county . in june 1996 , they purchased a 30 year old , 3 bedroom , 1 1 2 bath ranch with full basement , fireplace and deck for 110 , 000 . the house needed updating , but mrs . jarvis said it was love at first sight . ''although we 're far from family and friends , we have nice neighbors and i 'm happy that we made the move , '' said mrs . jarvis . mrs . jarvis said she was not always so happy . when they first moved to centereach she said she felt somewhat adrift . she soon made many new friends at the middle country public_library , where her daughter , emily , 2 , and 6 month old son , robert , take advantage of programs for toddlers on up . ''the library is a salvation for stay at home moms , '' she said . indeed , many residents say that the middle country public_library is their town_meeting hall . among the family programs are a discussion group for new mothers , readings of mother goose nursery rhymes for babies as young as 8 weeks old and computer programs for toddlers . the library 's 12 , 000 square_foot early childhood center has a puppet stage , dollhouse , wooden train set and a lego table . a sign_language program for youngsters 8 to 18 ends with demonstrations in nursing homes and fairs . the library also offers the elderly cholesterol and blood_pressure screenings and assistance in filing for medicaid and medicare payments . career counseling is also provided . cultural programs , music and performing_arts performances are offered at the library 's annex , an old school building in adjacent selden . the 15 . 5 acre centereach pool complex on hawkins avenue has a bathhouse , pool and water slide . it also has a separate baby pool , playground and picnic area , as well as three tennis courts and a handball court . town residents pay 140 a season for family membership to the pool . there are smaller pocket parks throughout centereach . the first documented settlement in what is now centereach began in the mid 18th_century when it was called west middle island . settlement proceeded at a snail 's pace with few individuals establishing homesteads on the densely wooded land . prominent among early settlers were the smiths , hallocks and hawkinses . eleazer hawkins , the first of his lineage to settle in the area , was both a farmer and a fisherman , according to a family history cited in ''a chronicle of centereach , '' whose co author , luise weiss , is on the library 's staff . on one voyage , the history recounts , he and his shipmates came upon an abandoned vessel laden with gold and other valuables . his share was so great that it enabled him to buy large farms for each of his nine sons on his return to the town of brookhaven . in the early 19th_century , west middle island became new village and the community had grown large enough to sustain both a church and school . by 1860 , the census listed 360 residents , many descendants of early settlers of the farming community . in 1916 , when new village wanted its own post_office , its congressman , representative lathrop brown , advised residents that another new village already existed in the state and that henceforth their community would be called centereach because , the history notes , the hamlet is in the center of long_island from each compass point . during the early part of the 20th_century , several developers tried to expand residential housing in the community , but the ventures always failed . ms . weiss , the librarian , said that the hamlet 's rapid growth in the 50 's and 60 's could have resulted in a sprawling suburb without a sense of community . instead , she said , with the help of the hamlet 's fine library ''the same concept of sharing and pride that the developers showed persists today . ''	has a location of america
turning into untermyer park off north broadway , a visitor is struck by the incongruous sight of ornate greek gardens , canals , marble mosaic reflecting pools and a network of 40 lighted fountains all in the midst of the densely_populated northwest section of this city . " from the street , it 's all walled off , " said lee j . ellman , the yonkers director of planning . " you would never know anything was there until you get to the garden path leading into the park . it was obviously designed to startle , and it does every time . " the 13 acre park was once the estate of samuel untermyer , a multimillionaire lawyer , who developed the greek gardens in the early 1900 's and willed the property to the city . it opened as a park in 1946 . from 1973 to 1979 it underwent a 2 . 5 milllion renovation . but time has wrought havoc on the park 's delicate structures , which include a greek temple with crumbling mosaic tiles and fountains with damaged limestone , said ellen meagher , a consultant hired by the city to coordinate plans for another renovation . but a 284 , 000 federal grant awarded earlier this year will cover more than half what is needed to restore the park , said mr . ellman , adding that he had hopes that the task would begin by the fall . " unfortunately , this kind of property ca n't be repaired with a slap of concrete , " mr . ellman said . " any time you have waterworks , there is a constant need for upkeep . just finding mosaic craftsmen today is a job in itself . " the full cost of restoring the park has been estimated at 524 , 000 . in addition to the federal grant , the city will provide 150 , 000 from capital funds and 50 , 000 will come from the state 's environmental quality bond act . " as soon as we get the money , we 'll start with the priority areas that need immediate attention , " said mitchell a . tutoni , the city 's parks commissioner . " the first step will be testing the plumbing , which should begin in a couple of months . " the federal grant has allowed the first tentative steps , ms . meagher said , adding " it 's given us a jump start and it 's made other funding sources take notice . the andy_warhol foundation has expressed interest in contributing . it 's like the opening of a dam . " the federal money is coming from what might at first seem an unlikely source , the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act ( istea , pronounced " ice tea " ) . passed in 1991 , the act is designed primarily to help communities bolster their existing transportation facilities and develop new transportation technologies . but a provision also includes funds for projects that " enhance the environment , " which could involve rehabilitating " historic sites . " nationally , a total of 155 billion will be allocated from fiscal 1992 through fiscal 1997 ( the federal fiscal year runs from oct . 1 to sept . 30 ) . in the first round of grants , eight projects in westchester have received a total of 2 million . only three of these projects , accounting for 40 percent of the allocation , are directly related to transportation . the total allocation for them is 820 , 590 . the breakdown is 168 , 000 for the rehabilitation of the yorktown railroad station and expansion of an existing commuter parking_lot 604 , 590 to build a trailway in the southern part of the county , which will include rehabilitating seven bridges , and 48 , 000 that will go toward the construction of a boat launch ramp and a trail connecting the village of croton on hudson with the hudson_river . in addition to untermyer park , the other nontransportation projects include 306 , 700 for conversion the philipse manor railroad station into a writer 's center 200 , 000 to create a waterfront_park in north tarrytown 180 , 000 for physical improvements to downtown peekskill and 357 , 000 to restore the glenview mansion at the hudson river museum of westchester in yonkers . " i would n't get bogged down in what 's transportation and what 's not , " said state assemblyman richard l . brodsky , a scarsdale democrat liberal . " this is a coherent attempt to enable people to travel through the state and see and take advantage of all its resources . the historic_preservation component is a very small piece of the overall pie . its genius is that a lot of the projects are small and citizen based and might be hard pressed to get other kinds of government funding . " for glenview mansion , the 357 , 000 grant represents " one of the largest awards in the museum 's history , " said philip verre , the hudson river museum 's director . he credits senator daniel_patrick_moynihan , the new york democrat who sponsored the legislation , for the inclusion of historic_preservation in the bill . " senator moynihan fought to have a provision made for capital historic_preservation funds in istea because of his commitment to new york state 's important historic resources , " said mr . verre . the mansion , built between 1876 and 1877 , is considered one of the finest examples in the country of an eastlake influenced interior , said mr . verre . it was built for the family of john bond trevor , a stockbroker who was an admirer of charles locke eastlake , an english writer on design who favored geometric patterns and designs like those found in nature . the federal money will be used to return two rooms , now functioning as art galleries , to their original use as a parlor and billiard room . the grant represents about half of what 's needed to complete the restoration , mr . verre said . the city has committed 80 , 000 over four years . " we 're also looking to the new york state council on the arts capital fund , " mr . verre said , " and hopefully we 'll get some donations of period furniture and a billiard table . " once the additional financing is in place , the museum wants to restore an 8 by 20 foot hand stenciled stained_glass skylight rising three stories above the main staircase in the mansion 's great_hall . mr . verre said it had remained hidden from view for more than 60 years , sandwiched between two dropped ceilings . these obstructions will be removed and the glass refurbished . the museum also hopes to create an interactive multimedia interpretive gallery with a cd_rom station . " this is a planned four year phased restoration , " mr . verre said , that will require some demolition and construction . " but , " he added , " hopefully there 'll be a minimum of disruption . we plan to keep the museum open to the public during the entire process . "	has a location of america
applications for rent increases in co op apartments occupied by rent_stabilized tenants are expected to increase following the grant , for the first time , of a " comparative hardship " increase by the new york state division of housing and community renewal . the decision , issued late last year in a case filed in 1985 , involves a 149 unit building at 203 205 east 72d street . the applicant for the increase , the sponsor of the building 's co op conversion , had retained unsold shares for 75 rent_stabilized_apartments . the hardship application requested a 53 percent rent increase amounting to 73 , 182 a year . the state agency , which administers rent_regulation laws , awarded 20 , 160 a year , which comes to 5 . 54 a room a month , retroactive to june 1 , 1987 . the retroactive portion has been stayed pending the outcome of a request for reconsideration filed by the tenants . " in my opinion , the die is cast , " said jeffrey turkel , the manhattan lawyer who represented the applicant . eliot zuckerman , a manhattan real_estate lawyer , said that " there are lots of buildings where sponsors still own blocks of apartments , and many may now file an application for an increase . " the " comparative hardship " increase , mr . zuckerman said , is given when an owner can prove that the profit he or she is making or should be making on a rent_stabilized apartment has been diminished or wiped out by the effects of rent_stabilization . to prove the need for such an increase , he said , the owner must compare income and expenses over a three year " base period , " usually the first three years of ownership , with a three year " test period , " typically the three years immediately preceding the filing . martin heistein , a manhattan real_estate lawyer , called the decision " a major plus for the owners . " he said he had received a " tremendous number " of inquiries and had " already begun the process of filing a large number of hardship applications . " tenant advocates denounced the decision . " it allows somebody who is not even the owner of a building to selectively apply for rent increases on top of the regular increases he gets and basically price nonpurchasing tenants out of the building , " said michael mckee , director of development for the new york state tenant and neighborhood coalition .	has a location of america
what lessons can be learned from tropical storm floyd , a weather event so rare that it will not likely occur again for centuries ? a climate historian , dr . jerome s . thaler , described floyd as a ''300 year storm , '' and gov . george e . pataki described it as a ''200 year'' event . and while some officials might reason that one can never be adequately prepared for such unusual disasters , liam murphy , the county 's director of emergency services , thinks otherwise . as mr . murphy observed last week , the hard financial fact is that the damage from the storm cost municipalities and school_districts in the county more than 13 . 5 million , according to the federal_government . arguing that the county is regularly hit by northeasters and other extreme weather , mr . murphy said no one can afford to forget the lessons from the devastation that floyd left behind . ''and that lesson is to be better prepared next time , '' he said . ''the cost has been heavy . '' the village of ossining was hardest hit , with damage estimates of 1 . 3 million . yorktown was next at 922 , 585 yorktown central school_district incurred 728 , 796 in damage . peekskill reported losses of 672 , 857 . and westchester 's parks had 801 , 146 in damage . ''we 're looking not to just fix things to the way they were , but to fix them so they wo n't break again , '' mr . murphy said . he cited the saw mill river , which he said stayed within its banks only in places where the army_corps_of_engineers had taken long range storm control measures like reinforcing the banks , grading and providing proper drainage . for example , the river did not overflow in ardsley , where work had been completed to remedy past problems that allowed the river to flood the adjacent saw mill river parkway , and in the process , strand cars . by contrast in elmsford and parts of greenburgh , where no reinforcement of banks have been done , residents witnessed heavy flooding , mr . murphy said . to pay for storm restoration work , the county is also using 827 , 000 in federal job training partnership act funds . the county has hired 55 people who had been unemployed for 15 months or longer and is paying them 9 . 25 an hour . the workers are also eligible for long term job training and career placement services . so far , the new employees have cleared downed trees and branches , repaired pipes , bridges and roadways at 18 county parks , including wilson woods , glen island and saxon woods , and in municipalities like ossining and peekskill . in ossining , much of the early work focused on reopening roads and getting people back to work . even with all that out of the way , lynn mccrum , director of community development in the village , said that problems remain . ''some residents' backyards are still a mess , '' he said , and road repair work and stream clearing continues . but he said that , according to federal_government estimates , it often takes municipalities 30 months to return to normal after a storm . heeding the harsh lessons that floyd delivered , many municipalities , like mount_kisco , are taking stock of their resources and their ability to handle future disasters . the village 's commercial area was hard hit by flooding , with about 10 stores closing in the storm 's aftermath . and although most reopened quickly , two had major damage and were shut for several months . ''even though we 're not supposed to get another storm like this for 100 years , we 're developing a plan now to deal with the next emergency , whenever that occurs , '' mayor patricia m . reilly said . ''we can get hit by hurricanes , tornadoes and other things , and we should know who is in charge of what and how we plan to evacuate people if that becomes necessary . '' while governments prepare , homeowners would be wise to do the same , mr . murphy said . all households should be prepared to survive three or four days by laying in extra supplies of water , nonperishable food , which does not need to be cooked before eating blankets and alternative sources of heat . ''why go to a shelter if you do n't have to ? '' he said .	has a location of america
opening the government 's fraud case against gov . fife symington of arizona , a federal_prosecutor told jurors here today that mr . symington had concocted an elaborate web of financial lies in a desperate effort to salvage a crumbling real_estate empire . mr . symington 's lawyer countered that his client was an honorable developer who took risks and sometimes suffered as a result but that he had never acted dishonorably . the prosecutor , david schindler , showed blowup after blowup of bank statements and other financial documents to the jury . that evidence , mr . schindler argued , showed that when mr . symington fell into financial trouble , he falsely inflated and deflated his true net worth time after time to obtain new development loans or have old loans forgiven from 1986 to 1991 . at one point in 1990 , he added , mr . symington told one lender that he was 5 . 3 million in the black and another that he was 4 . 1 million in the red . ''the defendant is a very smart and clever man who told lies , '' mr . schindler declared as he opened the prosecution 's attack in federal district court here . ''to get loans , he portrayed a man with millions . in financial trouble , he portrayed a different person . '' mr . symington 's lawyer , john dowd , himself a former justice_department lawyer , countered that the governor had done no more or less than make estimates of his worth at various points . mr . dowd said the lenders knew they were estimates and accepted them as such because they understood the extremely fluid nature of the real_estate market . ''they were highly subjective figures , '' mr . dowd argued . ''there are many different kinds of values in real_estate short term values , long term values , liquidation values , fire sale values . there is no hard and fast rule . '' the government prosecutors , mr . dowd asserted , did not understand the nature of risk or the fluidity in the real_estate market . mr . symington , a 51 year old descendant of an eastern family long involved in big_business and politics , faces 22 counts of fraud , perjury and extortion . most of the charges date back before he became the governor in 1991 . if convicted he could be sent to prison for dozens of years , depending on the charges proved . specifically , mr . symington is charged with giving false statements to federally_insured financial_institutions , with lying about his financial affairs during a bankruptcy hearing and with trying to extort less onerous terms for a loan , after he became governor , by threatening to use the power of his office to steer business away from the lender . ''the defendant abused his office by trying to force one of his lenders out of a promise to pay a_10 million loan , '' mr . schindler declared in enumerating the various charges against mr . symington . mr . dowd countered that mr . symington had made no effort to extort but had simply pointed out to the lender that the business climate was bad and growing worse . ''that was not threat , '' he added . ''that was just common_sense . '' the trial here is the second time in a decade that an arizona governor has been accused of felonious wrongdoing , and the current case , even though the trial is just getting started , has already created turmoil in the state 's political scene and interrupted in the day to day flow of decisions and actions from the governor 's office . in the earlier case , gov . evan_mecham , mr . symington 's predecessor , was accused of accepting illegal campaign money . he was acquitted , but not before being impeached . throughout much of the 1980 's , mr . symington was one of booming arizona 's most successful land developers . he built some of phoenix 's most expensive office parks and shopping_malls . but like many other developers in the southwest , he was laid financially low by the recession . eventually , he was forced to declare bankruptcy . ''fife symington was a risk taker just like the pioneers who settled the valley here , '' mr . dowd said early_today in defense of his client . in the prosecution 's opening statement , mr . schindler charged that mr . symington had kept a special list of which lenders were to get which estimates . mr . schindler said some symington aides and employees not only knew of the list but also , when instructed , ''fixed'' the figures on financial_statements to reflect whatever mr . symington instructed . ''he would tell which figures to fix , which to add to and which to subtract from , '' mr . schindler said . he also accused mr . symington of repeatedly overstating the share he held in various developments , as well as the value of those shares . the case is expected to take the better part of several months to try . testimony and presentation of evidence are to resume on tuesday .	has a location of america
there are many ways to think of the 149 year old first unitarian church in brooklyn_heights . architectural treasure . spiritual hub . neighborhood cynosure . historical repository . two years ago , however , the trustee for buildings and grounds added a chilling new description crumbling sandcastle . " we found that the stonework was falling off , " said the trustee , allen j . kone . like so many of new york city 's most venerable and vulnerable synagogues and churches , first unitarian faces a maintenance crisis that will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to cure . " danger coalesces a congregation , " said constance newsom , president of the board . " you do n't persuade them with esthetics . you have to connect the condition of the building with the health of your faith . " not without trepidation , first unitarian embarked on what now promises to be a 1 . 2 million capital campaign to repair the stonework , which had been covered in stucco rebuild the organ and restore some windows . it seems safe to say they will have to battle for every dollar . when it comes to the repair and rejuvenation of religious landmarks , angels are few and far between . even the restoration of the eldridge_street synagogue on the lower east side , a well established and well publicized project begun in the early 1980 's , is becalmed for want of money 2 . 5 million , to be specific , to finish rebuilding the roof , repair exterior masonry , restore the skylights and install new electric , plumbing and heating systems . " we are clearly stalled in the middle of the most challenging phase , " said roberta brandes gratz , president of the eldridge_street project , the nonprofit_organization that oversees restoration of the 106 year old synagogue , which is still in use by a small congregation , khal adath jeshurun with anshe lubtz , and , even in its raw state , attracts some 8 , 000 visitors a year , with its educational and cultural programs . " this is critical work , " ms . gratz said . " it is only so long that buildings can remain in stasis before they begin to backslide . " the 70 year old abyssinian_baptist_church and community house , 132 42 west 138th_street , were designated landmarks last summer . earlier this week , the pastor , the rev . calvin o . butts 3d , was feeling the chill in his office . and the drafty steel casement windows will cost several thousand dollars to repair to landmark standards . " we're still happy with the designation , " dr . butts said . " we 're not sorry we went along with it and did n't fight it . we 're trying to crack a 200 , 000 nut , however , because of the kind of maintenance considerations we have . " " there are not a lot of resources available for capital work , " he said . " the money we raise comes primarily from the pockets of poor people , so it 's very difficult for us . i feel badly for churches with congregations smaller than ours . i can understand why many fight landmark_designation . " one congregation that has consistently fought designation is the church of st . paul and st . andrew , at west_end avenue and 86th_street . " i do n't know how much money is in the community , when you 're talking about millions of dollars , " said the rev . edward c . horne , pastor of the united_methodist_church . " there is not a track record to back up the claims that if we ask , it will come rolling in . and it really diverts us from our mission of feeding people , housing people and attending to spiritual needs . " the director of the sacred_sites program at the private new york landmarks_conservancy , edward t . mohylowski , said " most religious groups like their buildings and want to maintain them to a good standard . but many times , they are overwhelmed by the size of the building and the amount of ornament and even the number of roof slopes . " aggravating the problem is the tremendous secular demand placed on the structures , which function as community halls , soup kitchens , homeless shelters , day care centers , schools , theaters , galleries , 12 step meeting places and counseling offices . " society is increasingly turning to the religious community for specific tangible help , " said the rev . thomas f . pike , who is at once rector of the episcopal parish of calvary st . george 's in manhattan and a member of the landmarks_preservation_commission . " we can get government money if we 're running a child_care program but we ca n't get money to maintain buildings , " he said . " these buildings are getting more use and are more vulnerable than perhaps they have ever been to misuse and overuse . " " the real breakthrough has not occurred within the religious community and the secular community to see that religious buildings have an importance that transcends their doctrinal focus , " father pike said . " we really have n't developed a sense that an important sacred place is a resource to the whole community . so private foundations are still reluctant to fund maintenance projects . and corporations are reluctant to do that . and religious institutions are skeptical of outside people telling them what to do . " " we must find a way in which foundation money and government money can help maintain the physical buildings without violating the mission of the religious institutions , " father pike said . " we run the risk of losing a major element of the fabric of our society if we do n't find a way to do that constitutionally . " laurie beckelman , the chairwoman of the landmarks_preservation_commission , said she discerned " a time of healing , productivity and partnership with the religious community , " although she conceded that " many foundations and corporations are still not inclined " to help . one notable_exception to the overall absence of government support was the state environmental quality bond act of 1986 , which provided significant grants for the restoration and repair of historic churches and synagogues . " there was serious debate about it , " recalled julia s . stokes , a deputy commissioner in the state office of parks , recreation and historic_preservation . " we worked long and hard with the attorney_general to structure how that was going to occur . " to overcome the objection that the state was furthering religious ministry , grants were limited to elements that would enhance a structure 's historic qualities and therefore its value to the general public . for example , ms . stokes said , the state would not pay for a_20 , 000 asphalt shingle roof but might make up half the difference between that and an 80 , 000 restoration of an original slate tile roof . the eldridge_street synagogue received 250 , 000 under the bond act . other recipients on that scale were the episcopal_church of the holy apostles in chelsea ( 520 , 000 ) , the episcopal_church of st . ann and the holy_trinity in brooklyn_heights ( 516 , 000 ) , congregation b'nai jeshurun on the upper west side ( 250 , 000 ) and the episcopal_church of st . luke and st . matthew in the clinton_hill section of brooklyn ( 250 , 000 ) . but there were strings attached . recipients had to covenant that the work performed with government aid would not be altered for 26 years the life of the bond unless approved by state officials . " it 's not free money , " said richard janvey , a member of the board of congregation b'nai jeshurun , 257 west 88th_street . " we did have a discussion concerning the full significance of the covenant . on balance , we thought we wanted to proceed . " there is another problem with the environmental bond act money . it is virtually exhausted . and voters rejected a second bond act in 1990 . " the e.q.b.a . was a breakthrough , " father pike said , " but unfortunately , at the second go around , it was turned down . " a smaller but steadier stream of money comes from the sacred_sites program , which has dispensed about 1 . 2 million since 1986 , usually in dollops of 5 , 000 or 10 , 000 but not more than 15 , 000 . " the fund was never intended to be a bottomless pit , " mr . mohylowski said . " it offers small grants that can get members of a building committee excited about a project or focused in a different way . " this year , of 27 grants statewide , 7 , 500 went to the woodrow united_methodist_church on staten_island , 6 , 500 to the church of st . ann and the holy_trinity and 2 , 000 to the american buddhist academy at riverside drive and 105th street . besides small amounts of money , the sacred_sites program also offers technical assistance . last month , it was one of the sponsors of a workshop , " caring for religious properties , " in the interchurch center at riverside drive and 120th street . some 60 congregations sent representatives to get practical advice on maintenance , inspection and fundraising . for example , wesley haynes , the co author of " inspecting and maintaining religious properties " ( new york landmarks_conservancy , 1991 ) , told the audience " water is a menace and i want you to leave today fearing the stuff . it 's not the staff of life . it 'll tear a building apart . " william stivale , a building conservator who has been involved in several major restoration efforts , followed mr . haynes to the lectern and offered his own admonitions . " avoid at all costs focusing on one area of the building until you have the bigger picture , " he said . " do n't repair the decorative ceiling until you 've repaired the roof . " " you 'll probably spend 80 percent of your maintenance budget on roofing alone , " mr . haynes said . ms . beckelman said the landmarks commission was trying to be accommodating as it considered the use of less expensive materials . it permitted st . george 's episcopal_church in bedford stuyvesant to use asbestos roofing tile , she said , although " our first choice would have been slate . " " we ca n't look at every single building as a faberge egg , " ms . beckelman said , noting also that congregations can do much to reduce restoration and repair costs . " if you have a long term maintenance plan and phase the work , it 's affordable , " she said . affordability is not the issue in the eyes of many religious leaders , however . they do not seek a partnership with the government but the removal of state regulation , in the form of landmark controls , which they argue interferes with the right to free exercise of religion guaranteed in the first amendment . " government simply does n't have the right to regulate churches and church ministries , " said the rev . n . j . l'heureux jr . , executive director of the queens federation of churches . " it is n't a question of whether the church can afford it . the fact that the government exacts anything from the church is wrong . it usurps the church 's time . it usurps the church 's resources . " " the landmark_designation of church property amounts to an intrusion by the state into the protected area of a congregation 's free exercise rights , " he said . it was just this argument that church of st . paul and st . andrew employed in its unsuccessful efforts to overturn the landmark_designation of its 96 year old building . the united_states_supreme_court refused to hear the challenge in 1986 . three years later , the landmarks commission denied the church permission to raze the structure on the grounds of financial hardship . since then , said its pastor , mr . horne , the church has had to spend 45 , 000 simply to make emergency repairs to the facade . that was draining enough . the idea of raising millions of dollars is inconceivable . st . paul and st . andrew has been sharing its building with congregation b'nai jeshurun since 1991 , while the 88th_street synagogue is being restored . " we decided we want to share this site with other faith groups , " mr . horne said . the church envisions an " interfaith center " to replace the existing building and will submit an application next year . " we certainly do n't have the capacity in this building to do anything like that , " mr . horne said . two blocks east , the west park presbyterian church on amsterdam_avenue , a 103 year old romanesque_revival structure , remains a non landmark . although it was in the upper west side central_park west historic_district as first proposed , the landmarks_preservation_commission later excised it , in large measure because of the opposition of its pastor , the rev . robert davidson , who died last month . " he was the most outspoken opponent , " recalled arlene simon , president of the landmark west preservation group . " there was such anger towards landmarking his building that the commission just buckled . " sarah bradford landau , who is now vice chairwoman of the commission , recalled mr . davidson depositing a piece of brownstone from the church on the commissioners' table , in front of the chairman , " as if to suggest that the building was literally falling down . " also , at the time of the hearing in 1988 , st . paul and st . andrew 's financial hardship application was on the horizon and st . bartholomew 's episcopal_church on park_avenue was still in the midst of its legal challenge to the landmarks law . given that atmosphere , ms . landau said , the commission decided to redraw the boundaries around the west park church so that the designation of the whole district would not be delayed indefinitely . since that time , there have been relatively few designations of churches as individual landmarks . " i would n't say we 've retreated , " ms . beckelman said , " but a lot of things we 've done have been in historic districts . my priority was doing as much as possible in the neighborhoods . " in 1990 , the commission designated the antioch baptist church in brooklyn and the reformed church of huguenot park on staten_island . there were no individual designations in 1991 and 1992 . three major harlem churches were given landmark_status last summer . besides abyssinian , they are the mother african methodist episcopal zion church , 140 west 137th street and st . philip 's episcopal_church , 208 west 134th street . st . philip 's welcomed the designation , as did mother a.m.e . zion , which was founded in 1796 and is known as the oldest african church in new york state . the congregation was " very pleased " with landmark_status , said the pastor , the rev . alvin t . durant . he also acknowledged some uncertainty as to how the designation would affect the restoration work that had been envisioned for the 68 year old building , whose masonry facade and stained_glass_windows need attention . " we 're not going to change the face of the building , " mr . durant said . " right now , we 're assuming that what we have in mind will not cause problems . " the landmarks commission proved to be " no problem at all " in the first unitarian project , said dean k . koga , an associate in the firm of robert e . meadows p.c . architects of manhattan , which is also involved in the restoration of the eldridge_street synagogue . " our basic approach was to retain as much stonework as we could , " mr . koga said , " and they liked that . " originally known as the church of the saviour , the first unitarian church is a gothic revival composition by minard lafever , one of the leading architects of the early 19th_century . it is not an individual landmark but sits within the brooklyn_heights historic_district , at pierrepont street and monroe place . as such , it is regulated by the landmarks commission . over the years , the brownstone facade was covered in stucco . atop the stucco , raised strips were applied to imitate mortar joints . to the naked eye , this covering seemed to be in fairly good shape . mr . kone , the trustee for buildings and grounds , recalled church members asking about the facade " hey , what 's wrong this ? it 's not too bad . " " and it was n't , " mr . kone said , " until you got higher and higher up . " when the scaffolding was erected , mr . kone invited church members on inspection tours . in addition , ms . newsom said she " walked around with pieces of stone in my hands at coffee hours . " eventually , members of first unitarian approved a capital campaign that now amounts to 1 . 2 million , with the biggest tickets being 550 , 000 to repair the masonry facade and 250 , 000 to rebuild the hutchings organ . about 400 , 000 is to be raised from the congregation , which numbers about 170 families . church leaders hope to get 100 , 000 in grants . the rest would be borrowed . the eldridge_street project has already raised 2 . 5 million , which was used to shore up the foundations , rid the place of termites , replace structural timbers , enclose the windows with lexan and begin electrical rewiring . the second phase is also to cost 2 . 5 million , with the total price_tag likely to range between 6 million and 8 million , said amy e . waterman , director of the project . " once the second phase is complete , " ms . waterman said , " the building is climate controlled , which enables us , for example , to do painting , which we could n't do while the building is too chilly , too warm or leaking . " what makes this phase so tough is that it involves building elements that do not have innate donor appeal . it is one thing to contemplate one 's name associated with a restored window or pew . it is harder to imagine a brass plaque on a pipe chase , roof flashing or sump pump . " it 's not very sexy in a fundraising sense , " ms . gratz said , " but it 's the necessary part before the esthetics . " " i wish we could restore the building with volunteers it would be done in months , " she said . " when we call for volunteers , they pour from the woodwork . unfortunately , that does n't get you a boiler or a roof . " eldridge_street synagogue is not alone in its search for supporters with bankrolls to match their good intentions . abyssinian baptist hopes to raise 2 million and dr . butts said , " if there are friends out there who respect the idea that we 're landmarked and cooperated with the designation and who have a couple of hundred thousand dollars i 'd be happy to talk to them . "	has a location of america
the large yellow banner draped across the ornate castlelike building at 140th and riverside drive announcing that it is for sale has caught the eye of many a motorist on the henry_hudson_parkway . an eyesore to some , an object of fantasy to others , the building on the hill that gives harlem heights its height has been rented for movie shoots in recent years , including ''basketball diaries , '' ''search and destroy'' and ''bullet . '' other than that , the building has been vacant for years , apart from the rodents and birds that have taken up residence . ''occasionally a guy will try to live there , '' said david silberberg , a commercial real_estate_broker who is one of the owners . ''but we gutted the interior and the wind whistles through there . '' mr . silberberg has been trying to sell the building for the last year and a half . the asking price is 1 . 5 million , and he estimated it would take 3 million more to fix up the five story , 23 , 000 square_foot structure , which comes with 18 , 000 square_feet of land . mr . silberberg said there have been inquiries recently , one from a nonprofit group and another from a real_estate developer . he would not give details . michael adams , a harlem preservationist , described the style of the 1910 building as ''collegiate gothic . '' until 1957 , it was a roman_catholic boarding_school , st . walburga 's academy of the holy child . then the city bought it with the intention of putting a tuberculosis hospital on the site . but the plan stalled , and the building stood empty four more years . in 1961 , the city auctioned it off , and a yeshiva bought it for 160 , 000 . the yeshiva , which owed city taxes on the property , shut down in 1980 , and the city took over the building . two years later , samuel silberberg , a businessman , bought it for 125 , 000 with plans to develop it into condominiums . but because of declines in the stock_market and the real_estate market , those plans fell through . instead , the building continued to deteriorate . still , it has its admirers . ''it 's an amazing space with completely open floors and hanging metal stairs , '' said carl bellavia , a location scout who has used the building for album covers . janet allon neighborhood report harlem	has a location of america
after a three month debate with employers over whether they would be allowed to vote on unionization , handymen , porters and superintendents employed by the bedford stuyvesant restoration corporation voted 32 to 9 last week to become part of teamsters local 966 . the vote came one month after the national labor relations board 's regional director in brooklyn ordered the corporation , which develops housing for the poor , to allow the workers to hold a vote . the vote affects employees at 11 of the corporation 's buildings a 12th was already unionized . ''it 's a spectacular victory , '' said ben weinthal , lead organizer for local 966 . ''we won decisively , even though management went to great lengths to block this . '' mr . weinthal said he thought that the corporation stalled the vote , which workers first proposed in december , using the extra time to send letters and show videos to workers in hopes of persuading them to vote against unionization . but workers said they thought local 966 could help them negotiate for better medical benefits , pay raises and safety equipment . ''they tried to scare everybody into voting against the union , '' said eric allen , a porter , who added that he had not had health_insurance or a raise since the corporation took over the buildings in 1997 . ''but it was too late for that . the movement was too strong . '' a spokesman and a lawyer for the corporation declined to comment . the corporation had a week to file an objection to the labor board , but did not do so by friday afternoon . an appeal would have to go through the united_states court of appeals . tara bahrampour neighborhood report bedford stuyvesant update	has a location of america
a major renovation and expansion is under way at the white granite beaux_arts building near union station that once served as the city 's main post_office . in 1987 , the national capital planning commission rejected a postal_service proposal to add two and a half floors to the building and rent out it for revenue . then last year the postal_service 's private development team won final approval for a revised proposal , retaining the exterior but adding 400 , 000 square_feet to its original 800 , 000 . shortly after the 193 million project got under way , the general services administration , the federal real_estate agency , signed a 630 million , 30 year lease for 850 , 000 square_feet of office space there . when the renovation is completed in about a year , the bureau_of_labor_statistics will occupy 650 , 000 square_feet , and the architect of the capitol 200 , 000 square_feet . the latter agency provides support operations for congress . the ground floor of the building , on massachusetts avenue just west of union station , will house a post_office and a national postal history and philatelic museum . the museum will consolidate the stamp collection now at the smithsonian institution with other items , including early mail vehicles and airplanes . the historic lobby will be restored . also on the first floor will be 10 , 000 square_feet of retail or restaurant space . the building , which opened in 1914 , was washington 's main post_office until it closed in 1986 . the architect was daniel h . burnham of chicago , who also designed union station next door . the three story massachusetts avenue side has a classic two story colonnade porch . a seven story side faces north capitol street . in the restoration , an interior courtyard will be filled in around a glass enclosed atrium and a mezzanine level will be added in the 26 foot high space between the first and second floors except for the area above the lobby . together , they will add 400 , 000 square_feet . the 10 , 000 square_foot lobby , once the postal_service area , will be restored to its former grandeur , with the original ceiling revealed and marble writing tables installed once again . the developer , postal square associates , is a partnership of hines interests limited partnership and the original project development team of julien j . studley and arthur g . cohen properties , both of new york . shalom baranes associates of washington is the architect and a . s . mcgaughan company of bethesda , md . , the general_contractor . the project is being financed with 193 million in bonds sold in the private market last year .	has a location of america
federal officials today ordered the general_electric_company and other previous operators of a hoboken loft building to pay the temporary living costs of 16 families who had to be moved out a year ago because of potentially dangerous levels of mercury . as a result , general_electric could have to pay as much as 50 , 000 a month for the families' housing until an investigation determines the full extent of the contamination and the ultimate fate of the property . the federal environmental_protection_agency called the order unusual . general_electric , which sold the building in 1948 , called it outrageous . the order affects a group of mostly painters , sculptors , musicians and film makers who bought units in the grand street building in 1993 in the hope of converting them to soho style lofts at something less than soho prices . but they had not counted on the legacy of the building 's 54 year life as a factory for the production of mercury vapor lamps . when renovations started , mercury began to turn up between layers of flooring , in crawl spaces and even within the bricks themselves . mercury can cause tremors , irritability , sleeplessness and , in high enough concentrations , kidney and neurological disorders . rich cahill , a spokesman for the federal environmental_protection_agency office in new york , said that it had been paying the residents' housing costs since they were moved out in january 1996 but that it would now force ''the parties that created the problem to take responsibility for their past actions . '' those parties , he said , were general_electric , a company it had acquired that made mercury vapor lamps there from 1910 to 1948 , another company that manufactured them until 1964 , and john pascale , a hoboken businessman who bought the building and ran a tool and die operation there . title to the building passed to his son , david pascale , who sold it to the artists in 1993 . david warshaw , a spokesman for general_electric , called the federal order ''outrageous and premature , '' since no final determination of liability had been made . he said that until the company left the site in 1948 it had operated it safely and it was not a health threat to anyone . even by today 's standards , he said , the levels of mercury in the building did not exceed the standard for industrial operations , although they did exceed the standards for residential use . ''the facts are that these people bought a factory building , and the circumstances of its conversion to residences was at best imprudent , '' he said . former residents of the building greeted the e.p.a . action with ambivalence . on the one hand , said corinne solter , 37 , a furniture restorer , it helped fix responsibility for the mercury contamination , but on the other , it left the residents somewhat at the mercy of the giant general_electric , based in fairfield , conn . , for rent payments or reimbursements for their temporary quarters . ''when e.p.a . is paying i have a belief that they will pay , '' she said , ''but with g.e . i 'm a little nervous . '' lawyers for mr . pascale , who lives in florida , could not be reached for comment . new jersey , with its 14 year old industrial site recovery act , is considered a leader in requiring sellers to disclose prior industrial uses and potential hazards at a site , said henry b . gold , vice_president of scs engineers , an environmental consulting_firm in nyack , n.y . richard gimello , an assistant commissioner in the state department_of_environmental_protection , said that in december , the agency withdrew the clean bill of health it had given the building when the artists bought it in february 1993 . he said that information filed by mr pascale inaccurately described the site as a former ''light_bulb factory'' and made no mention of mercury .	has a location of america
in a timeless tableau , jay fetcher 's red angus cattle graze on meadows that stretch down a hidden valley here , cupped on three sides by federally owned forest and wilderness . but 15 miles and a few bends down the elk river lurks colorado 's modern resort economy in steamboat springs a ski area that sells one million lift tickets every winter , an airport with direct flights to chicago and dallas , and a spreading sea of vacation condominiums . here and across the rocky_mountain west , tourism and the second home industry have spurred a land rush that is carving up the ranch land that composes heart stopping western vistas , threatening the very landscape that draws so many people to the rockies . the pressures are so powerful that they are forging alliances of two longtime adversaries cattlemen like jay fetcher and environmentalists . together they are adapting a tool long used to preserve open space in the crowded east , land trusts , to save the west 's privately_owned wide open spaces by keeping cattle grazing on them . many environmental groups have complained that cattle harm fragile western lands by overgrazing and trampling stream banks , and have sought to limit grazing permits in national forests . but as subdivisions and ''ranchettes'' replace cattle , the new rallying cries are ''cows , not condos'' and ''herefords , not highways . '' ''i do n't see it as cows versus the environment anymore , '' said marty zeller , a denver land conservation consultant who advised mr . fetcher 's family on protecting its land . ''if you are going to be realistic about saving land in the west , you have to interact with the ranching community . in colorado , if you look at land people want to protect , 90 percent of that land is under agricultural management . '' with developers in steamboat_springs paying 20 times the farm value of land , the fetchers saved the family ranch by donating the development rights on 1 , 300 acres to a land_trust . in doing so , they cut future estate taxes in half and insured that the land would be used in perpetuity for ranching , without opening their land to public use . the experience proved so successful that mr . fetcher went on to form the nation 's first land_trust by and for ranchers , the colorado cattlemen 's agricultural land_trust . the idea of ranchers donating development rights to land trusts managed by fellow ranchers spread like wildfire . in february , the national cattlemen 's beef association endorsed conservation easements to protect agricultural land , and , in july , the california cattlemen 's association set up the rangeland trust . the trusts are set up to administer the easements . western ranchers in highly coveted mountain valleys realize that new times demand new tools to preserve open spaces and their way of life . ''my dad and his brother paid less for this ranch than i paid for that mower , '' said mr . fetcher , a soft_spoken 50 year old , nodding to a new piece of haying equipment . ''but , at dad 's death , the i.r.s . would come in and say the highest and best use of our land would be 35 acre ranchettes at 7 , 000 an acre . '' if it were not for the trust , much of the land would have be sold . the fetchers donated their development rights to the land_trust , but the rights can also be sold . and some ranchers prefer to sell their land outright to developers and use the profits as their retirement nest_egg . statistics bear out the joke that the last crop from ranchers approaching retirement will be a subdivision . in the past two years , colorado has been losing agricultural land at a rate of 200 , 000 acres a year . easements protect only 3 percent of the 10 million mountain acres in private hands . adding a critical twist , more than half of colorado 's agricultural land is owned by ranchers and farmers who are over 55 years old . ''we are going to see a major intergenerational transfer , '' said lynne sherrod , the executive director of the cattlemen 's trust and a ranching neighbor of the fetchers . ''without estate planning , it could really change the face of colorado . '' the change has already come to steamboat_springs , a town of about 7 , 000 people that in the past decade lost its john deere dealership , its fuel and grain cooperative , and a supply store that sold western wear and tack for horses as local ranchers went out of business . in the summer of 1992 , ranchers predicted another blow when jamie williams opened an office here of the nature conservancy , the conservation group . ''the big fear was that we would come in , buy up the valley , take land out of production and erode the local agricultural community , '' recalled mr . williams , who worked here for five years . ''what i found very quickly was that we had a tremendous amount in common with the ranching community . the common ground was the tidal_wave of development that was threatening . '' mrs . sherrod , a fifth generation routt county rancher , recalled that many ranchers associated conservationists with tighter federal restrictions on ranching . mr . williams ' 'spent a lot of time in kitchens drinking coffee people believed jamie before they believed his ideas , '' said mrs . sherrod , whose cattlemen 's land_trust now protects 22 , 000 acres in colorado . ''i did n't want to see him come . i was just horrified to see him go . '' after ranchers and conservationists recognized that they shared a desire to protect open space , they started to sell the idea locally . in steamboat_springs , which largely lives off its cowboy image , defenders of open space realized that tourists prized ranchers more for producing scenery than for producing food . in 1993 , colorado state university surveyed summer visitors to the town . about 90 percent of the 400 people who responded said that ranch meadows with wildflowers , birds and grazing cows and horses added to their enjoyment of their vacation . about 80 percent said they enjoyed looking at the hay fields , corrals , ranch buildings and working cowboys . and nearly half of them warned that if ranch land continued to be converted into golf_courses and condominiums , they would not return . ''the value of scenery far outproduces the value of the livestock and hay , '' said c . j . mucklow , a state agricultural extension agent who worked on the survey . realizing that vacationers would not fly from chicago to see condominiums , routt county voters in 1996 approved a real_estate tax to buy development rights from ranchers . to keep traditional pastures intact , the county also adopted incentives for developers to cluster new houses in one area of a ranch , to avoid chopping the treeless landscape into 35 acre lots . with 1 million in requests for buying development rights and ranchers vying to sell them , the county now has to choose conservation sites carefully to avoid creating unwanted development . ''it 's called beachfront property , '' mr . mucklow said , using real_estate jargon for developments next to protected farmland . ''within one month of one easement , a real_estate ad came out 'next to land conservation easement . ' '' steamboat springs 's fight for open space conservation is a microcosm of a battle being waged across the rocky_mountain west . in colorado , the land in local trusts had grown to 300 , 000 acres , or about 469 square miles , in 1996 from 140 , 000 acres , or about 219 square miles , in 1993 . and although the land_trust strategy may not completely stop the loss of agricultural land , it is a step in the direction of preserving open space . the number of colorado counties and municipalities that levy taxes for buying open space or conservation easements has risen to 28 today , from 6 a decade ago . this year the land protection budget of great outdoors colorado , a state supported trust fund , increased to 22 million , from 9 million last year . ''what we do in the next 10 years in colorado is going to determine what this state looks like 100 years from now , '' said will shafroth , executive director of the fund . as some real_estate prices rise by 1 percent a month , the fund is gradually shifting from buying land outright to joining with local groups to buy conservation easements . land trusts , long a preservation tool in new england , are now growing fastest in the rural west . in colorado , where the first land_trust was formed in the late 1960 's , there are 38 . in colorado and montana , the land protected by conservation easements has doubled in five years . ''it is happening very fast , '' said john wilson , managing director of the montana land reliance , the nation 's largest local land_trust , with 300 , 000 acres under easement . in colorado , preservationists are spurred by rapid population_growth . in july , state demographers forecast that colorado 's population would increase by 38 percent , to 5.5 million in the year 2020 , from 4 million today . with millions of baby_boomers expected to buy retirement homes in coming years , colorado 's mountain resort counties will probably grow far faster than the state as a whole . routt county , for example , is forecast to grow by 66 percent , to 29 , 588 residents in 2020 , from 17 , 860 today . according to these new forecasts , gunnison county , home to the crested butte ski area , is to grow by 40 percent pitkin county , home to aspen , by 52 percent eagle county , home to vail , by 69 percent summit county , home to copper , keystone and breckenridge , by 79 percent and san miguel , home to telluride , by 92 percent . ''you do n't come to colorado , wyoming or montana to see another wal_mart , '' said jean hocker , president of the land trust alliance , a group in washington that represents 700 of the nation 's land trusts . with 76 percent of metropolitan denver respondents saying in a local poll this summer that the area was growing too fast , ''cows , not condos'' is becoming a mainstream call . in june in wyoming , radical environmentalists demanding ''no more welfare for cowboys'' snipped barbed_wire in about 150 sections where fences crossed federal grazing lands . the region 's largest selling newspaper , the denver post , immediately fired back in an editorial ''what wyoming eco terrorists fail to appreciate is that the far ranging ranches of the cowboy state insure that some western land , at least , will be spared from strip malls . ''	has a location of america
beginning an aggressive push to reduce the number of people living on new york city 's streets , the city will start pressuring homeless men and women to leave makeshift dwellings under highways and near train trestles and will raise barriers to make those encampments inaccessible , mayor michael r . bloomberg said on monday . the city has found 73 of those sites inhabited by groups of chronically homeless people , the mayor said . ''humanely , respectfully and firmly , we 'll work to get these men and women to enter supportive housing , enroll in treatment programs or go into shelters , '' mr . bloomberg said to a gathering of government officials and social service_providers from around the country . the changes amplify the mayor 's longstanding effort to steer the city away from its emphasis on emergency_shelter for the homeless , and toward providing permanent housing and using social_services to prevent homelessness . the measures discussed by the mayor on monday represented a significant shift in the culture of the department of homeless services . ''while everyone has a right to emergency_shelter , that does n't always make emergency_shelter right for everyone , '' mr . bloomberg said , adding that his administration was working to replace ''the dead end model of managing homelessness with the new goal of ending it . '' he cited his administration 's program to create 12 , 000 units of supportive housing , which offers social_services like mental_health counseling and substance_abuse treatment . and he announced plans to expand another program , which helps people on the verge of homelessness hold onto their homes . but the new element is potentially controversial . the department of homeless services , under its new commissioner , robert hess , has identified 73 makeshift encampments , including 30 in manhattan , to which roughly 350 homeless men and women of a total homeless population of about 3 , 800 , according to the city 's last count return nightly . most of the encampments are little more than collections of cardboard_boxes , or tarpaulins hung over a beam , officials said . now , working with community and faith based organizations , the city plans to work more aggressively to persuade people to leave those areas and enter housing , treatment programs or shelters . the vigorous focus on the street population is an unusual approach that mr . hess brings from his time supervising services to adults in philadelphia , where he built a reputation for reducing the number of people living on the streets . the strategy , which officials say has been tried in only a few cities , reflects a growing consensus that a small number of long term , chronically homeless people account for a large share of the medical care and other services required by the homeless population over all . officials stopped short of saying that they would force people off the streets , but they do plan to clear the makeshift dwellings and make them inaccessible for others to return . ''we 're going to let them know that their days on the streets must come to an end , '' mr . bloomberg said in an address to the annual conference of the national alliance to end homelessness . ''and we 'll secure and clean up the places where they 've been bedding down , to make sure that they wo n't be occupied again . '' over the past four years , officials said , the administration has worked to shift its focus from improving and expanding shelters toward more permanent solutions . that effort has included the use of supportive housing or housing that affords a range of on site social_services and a program called homebase , which offers flexible subsidies or other support for people at risk of homelessness . mr . hess would not give the precise locations of the sleeping areas most of them out of sight of the public that the city plans to target , out of respect for the people who stay in them , he said . but officials said that some of the sites are already familiar to the department 's teams of outreach workers and that they will coordinate with the police and sanitation departments and with transit officials to identify other sites , both outdoors and in vacant buildings . one site , near riverside drive in upper_manhattan , is known to homeless workers as the bat cave . lately , it has been home to at least four people , including gladys anderson , 44 , who sleeps on a discarded bed propped on milk crates . monday afternoon , sitting on a red velveteen bedspread , she said she would gladly accept the mayor 's offer of more permanent housing . she said it was ''time to be out'' of the cave . ''i will drop it like it 's hot , '' she said . ''this is not no life adventure for me . we 're just passing through . '' city outreach workers stopped by a few days earlier , she said , and had the people in the encampment fill out paperwork needed to get apartments . her boyfriend , who would give his name only as country , was more skeptical of the offer . ''this is america , '' he said as he loaded 12 garbage bags full of cans and bottles onto a large rolling cart . ''this is living off the land . that 's how we built this thing . '' the largest group of street homeless identified by city workers , 195 , is in manhattan , officials said , spread over 30 locations . in the bronx there are 54 people living at 12 sites in brooklyn , workers identified 45 people in 10 areas in queens they found 40 people at 10 sites and in staten_island , they identified 24 people gathering at 11 spots . the city estimates that it will take six months to a year to clear the often squalid locations , which will then be secured with fencing or other methods , said mr . hess , who appeared with the mayor at a news conference after mr . bloomberg 's speech . both men emphasized that they would not forcibly remove people , pointing out that there are legal barriers to doing so . ''the objective is not in any way to force people from one area to another , '' mr . hess said . ''it is to take a social service intervention strategy approach to help people make a decision to move from these very unhealthy encampments . '' two years ago , mr . bloomberg pledged to create the 12 , 000 units of supportive housing , in addition to 21 , 000 built over the previous two decades . on monday , he said the money had been secured to keep his promise . he also said that the city would funnel an extra 10 million into homebase , which helps people to stay where they live by interceding with landlords to head off eviction , making temporary loans for rent or helping obtain needed job referrals , health_care or other services . mr . bloomberg faced a receptive audience , which interrupted his speech with applause more than a dozen times . as if to anticipate criticism of his efforts , he used the address to take several jabs at some advocates for the homeless , who have been a frequent thorn in the side of his and previous administrations , suing the city to force it to change its policies . ''to rid our society of homelessness we must first liberate ourselves from the chains of conventional_wisdom , from the fetters of political_correctness , from the tyranny of the advocates and their unwillingness to admit that we 're ever making progress , '' the mayor said .	has a location of america
because of an editing error , the ''living in . . . '' article last sunday , about hell 's kitchen in manhattan , misstated the surname of the president of the intell management and investment company , which is building the orion , a condominium on west 42nd_street . he is gary barnett , not burnett . the article also referred incorrectly at one point to the vice_president for development at intell . she is raizy haas ms . haas , not ms . raizy .	has a location of america
just as the american colonists were establishing their independence from britain in 1776 , the spanish rulers of mexico claimed a 1 , 400 acre plot here at the mouth of the san_francisco_bay as their northernmost military post , and called it the presidio . for the next 220 years , this expanse of rolling_hills and eucalyptus groves at san_francisco 's northwest corner was in the hands of the military , first the spanish expeditionary forces , then the mexican government and ultimately the united_states sixth army . long known as one of the cushiest military duties around , the presidio saw little combat , until now . it is the locus of a battle , brought on by limited urban space and soaring real_estate prices , to preserve scarce housing . since early 1989 , when the federal_government announced that the base would be closed , a variety of forces has clamored for control over the presidio . in 1995 , when the united_states sixth army folded its colors at the base , congress was still negotiating a deal to preserve the presidio as a national_park , jointly controlled by the presidio trust , a federally appointed board , and the national_park_service . the next year , the finishing touches were put on the public private partnership , and it was passed . two weeks ago , members of the trust presented their blueprint for financial self_sufficiency to the city . under the law , the trust is required to take control of 80 percent of the park by july 8 , and the park is to become self supporting within 15 years . members of the trust told san_francisco officials that the presidio would become a city within a city , where 4 , 800 people would work , 1 , 600 san franciscans would live and millions would visit each year . to generate the 36 million needed each year to make the park self supporting by 2013 , the trust will lease some three million square_feet of office space to businesses and nonprofit organizations . it will also rent housing units a two bedroom unit could go for 1 , 400 a month with top priority given to anyone who works at the presidio . those plans have angered the mayor and tenant organizers in san_francisco , where the vacancy_rate is around 1 percent , rents are skyrocketing a two bedroom apartment that rented for 800 a month five years ago costs twice that today and some 15 , 000 people are homeless . ''they are creating an elite city within a city , '' said sister bernie galvin , a sister of divine providence who has led the fight to preserve all of the presidio housing . a group called san franciscans for preserving presidio housing this year placed a measure on the city 's june ballot to make the majority of the housing at the presidio available for rent to people of all income levels . jim meadows , who is the executive director of the presidio trust and who lives in the presidio , said the trust was doing its part to meet the city 's housing needs . for example , he said , he is contracting with a city veterans service agency , swords to plowshares , to provide homes and training programs at the park for 100 previously homeless veterans . representative_nancy_pelosi , a california democrat who helped guide the presidio trust legislation through congress , said important members of congressional appropriations committees opposed any plan that would use federally_financed national_park property or lands ''for purposes outside the mission of the national_park_service . ''	has a location of america
the price of air has gone up in manhattan . it 's now 430 a square_foot . two new york city developers have agreed to pay a record setting amount for ''air_rights'' so they can build a 35 story apartment tower with views of central_park from the high floors . the brothers william l . and arthur w . zeckendorf are set to pay 430 per square_foot more than twice the going rate for unused air_rights over christ church and the grolier club at park_avenue and east 60th_street . christ church will collect more than 30 million grolier will get about 7 million . air_rights allow developers to build taller by buying the space over low scale buildings and transferring it ( on paper , if not in reality ) to spaces over adjacent buildings . although such transfers occur elsewhere in the country , the prices do not run as high as they do in manhattan , which , after all , is an island and generally provides developers with one option up . the rights will be transferred to a site west of the grolier club on east 60th_street , where the zeckendorfs and their partners own three tenements that are to be demolished . if it all goes as planned , the developers will be able to build a taller tower than the zoning ordinarily allows . in a separate deal with christ church , the tower will also have a coveted park_avenue address , despite its location on 60th_street . the zeckendorfs are third generation developers . the brothers disagree with experts who warn about a bursting housing bubble , at least when it comes to what the zeckendorfs call ' 'super prime'' areas . ''we want to concentrate on the very high end market where we see tremendous strength and a limited inventory , '' arthur zeckendorf said . m . meyers mermel , a real_estate_broker and a trustee of christ church who helped negotiate the deal , said the money would help sustain the methodist church 's programs . carolyn l . smith , president of the grolier club , a storied society of bibliophiles , confirmed that her club voted on monday_night to approve the deal . previously , new york appraisers say that the high end for the price of air hovered around 200 a square_foot . ''nothing shocks me anymore , '' said daniel f . sciannameo , an appraiser at the albert valuation group . ''this market is absolutely crazy . ''	has a location of america
the house today turned back a proposal that would have given digital contracts the legal weight of ink and paper . the outcome essentially killed the bill 's chance of passage this year . the vote to suspend house rules and so allow for speedy consideration of the measure was 234 in favor and 122 against , a bit shy of the two thirds majority needed . the rules suspension was sought by representative thomas j . bliley jr . , the virginia republican who is chairman of the house commerce committee , and was opposed by the white_house and democratic leaders , who maintained that the measure would undercut consumer_protection laws . the democrats said they supported the bill 's goal , the fostering of electronic_commerce , but contended that the legislation would , for instance , undermine requirements that banks , insurers and credit_card companies notify consumers by mail about overdue payments , cancellations and changes in the terms of their agreements . a similar bill is pending in the senate , but it too is unlikely to win passage this year , given democratic opposition .	has a location of america
city housing inspectors will get special training to better recognize the kind of structural problems that caused the partial collapse of a harlem building last month in which three people were killed , officials said yesterday . under the new policy , which will begin next week , 300 inspectors in the department of housing preservation and development will receive training from the buildings department about spotting structural defects . although housing preservation inspectors are mainly responsible for interior conditions , they are supposed to report any structural problems to the buildings department . the new training policy was described in a city_council committee hearing yesterday that was called to explore the causes of the march 21 collapse and ways of preventing similar problems . the 70 unit building at 142 west 140th street had been been plagued over the years with hundreds of housing code_violations . but despite 200 visits by inspectors from four different agencies including the fire department and the new york city housing authority over the last eight years , city officials were not aware of the structure 's extremely precarious state . on two occasions housing preservation inspectors noted cracks in the building , but reports of these flaws never reached the buildings department . while those cracks were not in the wall that collapsed , officials have since acknowledged that they may have signaled other structural problems in the building . committee members sternly questioned deborah wright , commissioner of the department of housing preservation and development , and joel a . miele , commissioner of the buildings department , on how such oversights could have occurred . both cited a breakdown in communication as the main reason . ms . wright told committee members that in addition to special training for inspectors , her department would improve its computer links to the buildings department . instead of relying only on paper reports , housing preservation will be able to transfer code violation information directly to the building department computer system .	has a location of america
for roughly two months the landmarks_preservation_commission has been facing a challenge to its authority by a prominent new yorker , robert l . bernstein , who had objected to a commission demand that he replace two windows in the kitchen of his park_avenue apartment that are in violation of landmarks rules . yesterday , after a two hour session that went into minute detail about the history of the windows in question , the commission decided to adopt a formula that mr . bernstein had proposed at the outset of the case that he be allowed to keep his windows as long as he owns his co op but must change them if and when he sells . mr . bernstein is a former chairman of random_house and the founder of human_rights_watch . he is , in short , the type of person with the money , determination and connections necessary to draw attention to his complaint against the commission and to mount a legal challenge to it . in all , the solution of the case took roughly six hours of the commission 's time in three separate meetings , and , according to mr . bernstein , cost him nearly 15 , 000 in legal costs . if mr . bernstein had simply agreed to rectify the violation without fighting it , the cost to him would have been about 200 , his share of an expense that would have been shared with the other co op owners . he fought the case , he said , first because he likes his windows the way they are and , second , because it had become a matter of principle for him not to be coerced by the city bureaucracy . in a landmark district the building is in a landmark district , so any changes in the exterior require commission approval as consistent with the original architecture . the compromise formula was proposed at the end of yesterday 's meeting by stephen m . raphael , a commission member . mr . raphael said a way had to be found that would be fair to mr . bernstein but would at the same time eventually insure the replacement of the windows . " the purpose of landmarking is to repair the world , " he told the commission members during the meeting , " but to repair it piece by piece . " the case was nettlesome in large part because the violation that occurred in his apartment the installation of single pane windows on a back facade of his building was not caused by mr . bernstein himself but a previous resident . all along , mr . bernstein , who was represented by a lawyer , argued not only that he had not installed the illegal windows but also that the owner who did install them received permission from the commission when the renovations were done in 1985 . at a public hearing last month , the commission was presented with an affidavit from that tenant , john beerbower , who testified that he had shown plans for his renovation to a commission staff member who told him there was no problem with them .	has a location of america
lead to the editor to the editor i was surprised to that you article on the audubon theater did not discuss more fully its early history . in its early years , the audubon was to washington_heights what the palace was to broadway . it was the home of the top vaudeville stars of the day . to name a few , and i will probably get carried away with nostalgia , there were fannie brice , belle baker , smith dale , wheeler woolsey , weber fields , al jolson and cantor joseph rosenblatt . justin d . colten manhattan	has a location of america
property_taxes on long_island are among the highest in the nation , and lowering them has become a political_campaign pledge in nassau and suffolk counties . at the same time , the median price for a single family house hovers around 400 , 000 . as a result of high taxes and soaring home prices , according to a 2005 rauch foundation poll of 1 , 215 long islanders , 70 percent of the residents 18 to 34 years old are somewhat or very likely to leave the island in the next five years . among older long islanders , 64 percent of 50 to 64 year olds said they are also likely to leave the island , a 17 percentage point increase over 2004 poll results . the county executives of nassau and suffolk have promised to address rising property_taxes and to finance more multifamily_housing , including units for people making less than the median_income , which for a family of three , for instance , is 80 , 000 . but these two issues collide at public hearings for new developments . around long_island , a proposal for a building with hundreds of apartment rentals , or attached town houses , even if they are high priced , will raise fears among taxpayers . in oyster bay , for example , avalon bay communities proposed a 300 unit luxury rental project of studios and one and two bedroom units on a vacant five acre parcel , the site of a former chevrolet dealership . local groups have objected to the size of the three and four story buildings , the environmental impact on the waterways and sewage capacity , traffic_congestion and the burden that hundreds of new residents might add to school_district costs , the biggest piece of the property_tax pie . the oyster bay east norwich school district is relatively small it has only three schools and 1 , 450 students . to keep up with current population_growth , voters will decide in march on a 14 million bond proposal to add a new wing to one school and make other improvements . matthew whalen , the avalon bay vice_president for long_island development , gave the school board a report written by pearl kamer , chief economist of the long_island association , estimating that the building would add 30 students at most , based on the original proposal for 124 two bedroom units . ( avalon bay says it intends to change the proposal to 81 two bedroom units . ) property_taxes on the building would net 150 , 000 in revenue after covering the costs of the 30 students , the report estimates . but , as in many other communities , the school board in oyster bay is worried that the estimates might not reflect future growth . with 81 two bedroom units proposed for the building , said the school board president , james smiros , it is possible that there could be more children than expected . ''the reality is , if 100 kids moved in , we 'd need to put more classrooms in new buildings , '' said mr . smiros , who is an architect . ''we would need a substantial type of bond to be issued . '' avalon bay and multifamily_housing advocates say most rental_units have fewer than three bedrooms , limiting the number of children . avalon at oyster bay will have no three bedroom units , mr . whalen said . in 2004 , the company asked school_districts near the other four long_island avalon bay buildings how many schoolchildren the buildings added . the city of glen_cove reported that the 256 unit avalon at glen_cove building , which opened in 2004 , had added four children , mr . whalen said . in long_beach , the 109 unit avalon towers added no children . but the 494 unit avalon court and court north in melville added 154 school age children to the half hollow hills central school_district . more than half of the building 's units have two bedrooms and 74 have three bedrooms , mr . whalen said . he presented these numbers in november , along with similar findings by other developers and housing organizations , at the smart_growth summit , a planning and development meeting organized by vision long_island , a nonprofit planning consultant . at the meeting , the long_island housing partnership presented numbers for communities of below market rate homes that it had a role in helping to build and reported on others . the 486 unit park row development in central_islip , for example , added only 22 public_school children , the partnership reported . the 302 unit colony development in holbrook added 57 children . but local residents are often not persuaded . ''more than saying it 's too many , they say they do n't believe the statistic , '' said the president of the housing partnership , diana weir . ''the town board has to have the courage to say , 'this is a good project , ' '' and then approve it , she said . some planners are skeptical of statistics coming from developers , who have a vested interest in convincing residents that multifamily_housing will not increase taxes . david wasserman , the planning director for the town of north hempstead and a school board member in the east williston school_district , said the numbers at the smart_growth meeting represented a snapshot of conditions at a certain time . homes on long_island are expensive , mr . wasserman said , and many people will never be able to move into a single family home with a garage , three bedrooms and a yard . ''people are not limiting the number of children that they have by the size of their housing , '' he said . ''if it means they 'll share a bedroom and live in an apartment because they want to have two children , they 're going to have two children . '' in suffolk_county , the work force housing commissioner , jim morgo , said the county is pushing for new legislation to give more state aid to school_districts with new developments of lower priced multiunit housing , categorized as work force housing . advocates for lower priced rental_apartments say that predictions of property_tax increases are a red_herring for some opposition groups who want to control which people move in to their neighborhoods . ''people have these knee jerk reactions , '' said ron stein , board president of vision long_island . ''there 's this perfect storm of racist and classist sentiment that merges with the fear of high taxes . '' marge rogatz , the founder of long_island affordable rental_housing , an advocacy_group , said property owners who are genuinely burdened by school taxes on long_island ''have bought into the myths about rental_housing , because it really is a myth that apartment residents do n't pay for the services they use the property_tax is in their rents . '' in oyster bay , taxpayers and the school board are still worried about the combination of high home prices and high property_taxes , conditions that may stop growing families from stepping up to single family homes on one or two acre lots . ''my greater concern is the future impact here , '' said mr . smiros , the school board president . ''who knows what the future real_estate market will be like could it not result in more school age children than the 30 they propose ? '' in the region long_island correction february 5 , 2006 , sunday an ''in the region'' article in westchester and connecticut copies last sunday about a reported shortage of affordable_housing in connecticut misidentified the new hometown of a family that moved to idaho . it is idaho falls , not idaho springs .	has a location of america
some city_council members are deeply conflicted over competing tax plans proposed by speaker gifford_miller and mayor michael r . bloomberg , ensuring a vigorous debate at city hall over what kind of property_tax reduction residents are likely to see next year . mr . bloomberg wants to give a 400 rebate to most homeowners , and has said that a similar or larger one could be offered again in the future . speaker miller prefers a 2 percentage point rollback of last year 's 18 . 5 percent rate increase , a proposal that would include commercial landlords and businesses as well , but would result in smaller savings about 50 a year for homeowners . while the mayor 's tax plan , at 250 million , is slightly cheaper for the city , it would require the approval of the state legislature . the speaker 's plan would cost 297 million , but the council could act alone to roll back the rate if , of course , enough members signed on to it . his plan would require only a simple majority , or 26 votes , in the council . on monday , mayor bloomberg hinted in his budget presentation that mr . miller 's plan did not have support among the 50 other council members . mr . miller rejected that view , saying , ''i am confident that the council is extraordinarily unified behind our entire proposal . '' an informal survey of more than a dozen council members this week found that some seemed ambivalent about the speaker 's tax plan , saying that it would be easier to sell a 400 check to their constituents . councilman bill perkins , the deputy majority leader , said , ''i think it 's a healthy sort of debate going on that allows members and the public to look at the merits of each one . '' some council members , like mr . perkins , said they were even searching for a third option after finding neither plan much to their liking . ''i have a problem with both of them , '' said councilwoman margarita l pez of manhattan . ''before we talk about any tax_cut , i want to make sure we do n't hurt our community with cuts to vital services . '' councilman charles barron of brooklyn criticized both tax plans as political gambits for voter loyalty by mayor bloomberg , who faces re election next year , and mr . miller , who is expected to run against him . ''i do n't think either one really cuts the mustard , '' said mr . barron , who also plans to run for mayor . he has proposed rolling back the 18 . 5 percent increase entirely and replacing it with new taxes on the wealthy and commuters , among others . but other council members said that the speaker 's tax plan had broad support in their districts , particularly after they explained that the mayor 's 400 rebate was not permanent , and might not happen at all because it was contingent upon approval from albany . ''i 've been telling people that the mayor may as well be offering a_10 , 000 tax rebate , because he does n't have the authority to do it , '' said councilman joel rivera of the bronx , the majority leader . ''people say they do n't want a gimmick . they want something that 's realistic . '' although the public debate has largely centered on the property_tax cuts , several members cited additional reasons for choosing the speaker 's plan over the mayor 's . councilman philip reed of manhattan said he helped put an earned_income_tax_credit for low income families into the speaker 's plan . councilman lewis a . fidler of brooklyn said mr . miller 's plan better served the council 's interests . ''if i 'm out there separating myself from the speaker , then i 'm weakening his negotiating position , '' mr . fidler said . ''i think most us who are grown_ups realize we have to hang together to get through the budget process effectively . '' in addition to questioning how much support exists in the council for mr . miller 's plan , the mayor has said that the speaker 's plan would help big_business more than homeowners . indeed , some council members conceded that there were parts of the mayor 's plan its emphasis on homeowners , for example that definitely played better in their districts . ''homeowners were the ones who were hurt the most , and they should get relief before anyone else , '' said councilman peter f . vallone jr . of queens . ''as the city can afford it , everyone else who was asked to pay should be given relief . if it is a step by step basis , we should begin with the homeowners . '' no matter the outcome , councilwoman melinda katz of queens said that either tax plan was a vast improvement over last year 's tax increase . ''i like both of them , '' she said . ''i think it 's a wonderful day when the mayor and the council are trying to give money back . it does n't get better than that . ''	has a location of america
4 indexes of housing costs n.y . northeast n.j . area change from change from dec . nov . dec . 90 rents 172 . 6 0 . 8 4 . 9 homeowner 's costs 174 . 2 0 . 2 4 . 9 fuel and utilities 105 . 6 0 . 5 2 . 6 4 source bureau_of_labor_statistics 4 five counties of new york city plus nassau , suffolk , westchester , 4 rockland , putnam , bergen , essex , morris , union , hudson , middlesex , somerset and passaic . indexes 1982 84 100 4 mortgage interest rates ( averages ) last week previous week year ago new york conventional ( 30 yr ) 8 . 67 8 . 42 9 . 96 adjustable_rate ( 1st_yr ) 6 . 05 6 . 04 7 . 89 new jersey conventional ( 30 yr ) 8 . 51 8 . 32 9 . 77 adjustable_rate ( 1st_yr ) 5 . 82 5 . 84 7 . 70 connecticut conventional ( 30 yr ) 8 . 51 8 . 29 9 . 78 adjustable_rate ( 1st_yr ) 5 . 90 5 . 90 7 . 77 co ops ( n . y. ) conventional ( 30 yr ) 8 . 77 8 . 46 10 . 18 adjustable_rate ( 1st_yr ) 6 . 47 6 . 48 8 . 17 4 indexes for adjustable_rate_mortgages 1 yr . treasury security 4 . 17 4 . 06 6 . 62 national mortgage contract rate 8 . 43 8 . 43 9 . 58 rates on most adjustable_mortgages are set 1 to 3 percentage_points above these indexes . ( source_hsh_associates )	has a location of america
in new york city , people tend to move for fairly ironclad reasons a growing or shrinking family , a shimmy up or down the material ladder , an expiring lease , a new job or a desire to spend one 's midlife crisis in tribeca . and then there are those who just ca n't take it anymore . ''i 'm out of here , '' marcia bielfield said to herself when she stumbled upon the source of the thudding coming from the apartment above hers . she had already complained to the managing agent of her sutton_place building , and the agent had asked the woman above ms . bielfield to cover 80 percent of the floor with carpet as specified by the building 's rules . ''one night , the sound was so horrendous i went up and knocked on the door for the first time , '' said ms . bielfield , a retired publishing and marketing executive in her 70 's . ''she opened the door and in the background i could see this youngster'' the neighbor 's 5 or 6 year old grandson ''jumping up and down on a trampoline . with no carpet underneath . she said , 'i 'll do whatever i want' and slammed the door in my face . '' even though ms . bielfield had lived there less than a year , she immediately put the apartment on the market . she said she broke even on the transaction . though new yorkers' breaking points include vermin , smells and view blocking construction , obnoxious neighbors seem to top the list , perhaps because no matter how tough people are at the office or battling for a cab , they shrink from a war of the roses battle where they live . ''people start with a nice note under the door , and then it escalates into a war where management and the co op board gets involved , and usually it becomes so unpleasant for the person victimized that they say , 'i 've had enough , ' '' said wendy sarasohn , a senior vice_president of the corcoran group . and , apparently , there are many ways to be a bad neighbor in the city . gerard splendore , an associate broker at halstead property , said his worst experience unfolded in the brooklyn_heights co op he bought in 1997 and shared with his wife and two children their upstairs neighbors' newborn baby began crying four to five hours a night . ''we were hysterical , '' mr . splendore said . ''we went upstairs and said , 'is there anything we can do to help you ? ' '' the neighbors reacted defensively . ''they started to avoid us , '' he said . ''they were obviously not having any sleep either , and they were irrational . '' the baby finally calmed down , and that family moved on . in came a single european woman . ''she just had no concept of how much sound could travel , '' mr . splendore said . ''she used to play rock_music really loud . '' at other times , there were other noises , equally disturbing . ''it sounded like she was dragging trunks , '' he recalled . ''and she wore big platform shoes that she would take off when she got home and throw them across the room one at a time . we literally waited for the other shoe to drop . '' a board emissary was dispatched , to little effect . two months later , mr . splendore was startled awake in the wee hours by a ''gigantic crash'' overhead . he swore , leapt from bed and tore upstairs . ''it sounds like the end of the world is going on here ! '' he said he told his neighbor when he confronted her at the door . the neighbor apologized for dropping her television from what mr . splendore believes was a ladder . but he and his family had finally had enough . they sold the apartment and bought a house in bay_ridge . while many last straw moments can be pinned on children engaging in behavior better suited to a playground or backyard , sometimes the aggrieved neighbor 's reaction is even worse . one downstairs neighbor , an elderly woman , grew irate when the 5 and 10 year old boys upstairs bounced balls . ''she would complain to the doorman , the super , the managing agent , '' said jennifer roberts , a senior vice_president at bellmarc who had sold the boys' parents their three bedroom apartment in the east 70 's . ''one day , she came upstairs when the mother was n't home , and she took the ball and hit the kid . '' the family put their apartment up for sale and moved to teaneck , n.j. , ms . roberts said . but if noisy toys and boys are torture , one could argue that three 200 pound teenagers wearing cleats and playing football overhead at 11 p.m . is more on the order of hell itself . in her old quarters on central_park west near 86th_street , michele kleier , the president of gumley haft kleier , brokered the sale of the apartment above hers to a family that included just such a trio of athletes . ''it was a small building , and i just could n't start a war with the upstairs neighbors because i felt they would just be noisier if i caused problems , '' ms . kleier said . ''and what could i say to the board when i had pushed them through the board ? i felt it was better to just move . '' people are more likely to vote with their feet when the solution begins to seem more bothersome than the problem , especially when the problem is the landlord . pam fica learned this the hard way during a two year tenancy in a town house near washington_square in greenwich_village . ms . fica , now 29 and an agent at djk residential , thought she had found the perfect share in september 2004 840 per month for a room in a sprawling four bedroom apartment at the top of a five story town house owned by a woman who lived downstairs and ran the establishment more like a halfway house . ''she had a whiteboard in her apartment where she would write our names and try to jot down our comings and goings , '' ms . fica said . the landlady , who had lived in the building since the 1940 's , also interrogated nonwhite visitors and disapproved of long haired tenants , who might clog the plumbing , she said . ( ms . fica wore her hair up during her initial interview with the landlady and passed inspection by accident . ) then , there were the mandatory ''team meetings'' organized every few weeks in the younger women 's living room . the object was to ''tear apart every problem , but she would focus on things like dirty dishes in the sink , that we had too many plants and too much furniture , causing damage to the ceiling below our apartment . and whenever we would bring up any problems with the lack of heat'' at times the temperature dropped to 50 degrees in the winter ''or the freezer , she would say , 'that 's not my problem . ' anytime you would challenge her on something , she would say , 'i 'm not going to renew your lease . ' '' ms . fica said she shivered it out for two years because of the prime location , good roommates , cheap rent and her own low maintenance personality . ''i think i lost sight of what normal was , '' she said . ''my friends started really getting concerned . 'you do n't even realize how unusual this is , ' they said . 'you 're being abused . ' the more i thought about it , the more i realized they had a point . '' finally , she listened to her friends and moved to a two bedroom share in harlem a month ago . ( when ms . fica left , she and her roommates were responsible for bringing a new candidate victim for their landlady to vet . their advertisement on craigslist asked , ''what is your tolerance for a crazy landlady high , medium or low ? '' with affordable new york city rentals an endangered_species , the ad received hundreds of responses . ) last straw moments can occur in plush park_avenue town houses , too . ms . sarasohn of the corcoran group described a couple who bought a 6 . 5 million duplex in an upper east side town house . the wife 's misgivings about not having a doormanwere partly soothed when she learned that her adjoining neighbor was said to be a high ranking member of the mafia , whose presence on the block ( and black car parked out front ) were thought to ensure the area 's safety . her clients lived there for two years , ms . sarasohn said , but the wife ''gradually started to really not like not having a doorman because she traveled a lot and needed luggage help , and she did n't like it when the elevator broke , and it needed work . but the straw that finally broke for them was when they were hosting an oscar party in the beautiful wood paneled library and the flat screen tv was n't working . '' the next day , ms . sarasohn said , a repairman said the tv was working fine the only possible problem could be a wiretap on the adjoining neighbor 's lines . the reality of the situation began to sink in , and her clients decided to move that night . they eventually bought a prewar co op in a doorman building . while renters may have an easier time severing ties to their apartments and leaving trouble behind , they can be as reluctant to pull the plug as owners are . ''it 's the same thing when someone decides to leave a relationship after 25 or 30 years , '' ms . sarasohn said . ''some people might go to counseling and work it out , or else there 's that moment where exhaustion and exasperation set in , and it 's enough . '' or it 's life threatening . a few years ago , brian kaplan and lambeth hochwald rented a two bedroom apartment on the upper west side that came with an emotionally_disturbed neighbor they nicknamed the glove because she wore long white ones even in july . when not dangling out of the kitchen window to cut her downstairs neighbor 's phone line or pulling an eight inch butcher knife on police officers knocking down the door to her rent_stabilized apartment , the woman stalked the lobby of mr . kaplan and ms . hochwald 's modest six story building . ''she would say terrible , disturbing , disgusting things , '' said ms . hochwald , 38 , a freelance_journalist and an adjunct professor at new york_university . the neighbor habitually called ms . hochwald a nazi because of her germanic last name , and characterized the couple 's relationship as incestuous . mr . kaplan , 39 , the president of impression public_relations in manhattan , said she often tried to prevent tenants from entering the building or from using the elevator . ''i got to the point where i would circle the block several times to get courage to enter the building , '' ms . hochwald said . ''i felt like a prisoner in my own home . '' reluctant to be chased from their large 3 , 000 a month apartment , the couple hung on for nearly three years . they tried to feel compassion for their obviously disturbed neighbor they tried to persuade the landlord to hire a security guard for the lobby they tried devising an alternate way to enter and leave the building . whenever things got out of hand , they called the police , whose sympathetic response boiled down to , ''we ca n't do anything until she hurts someone . '' the last straw materialized in the form of a sharpened stick . on a warm fall afternoon shortly after the couple 's son , zachary , was born in september 2004 , mr . kaplan was carrying the baby as he and his wife approached their building , and the disturbed woman saw them coming . ''she had a sharpened , jagged stick in her hand , '' mr . kaplan said , ''and she would not move out of way . i said , 'excuse me . ' '' the woman replied with an epithet , and mr . kaplan responded in kind . ''she pulled this stick and held it up to my neck , '' mr . kaplan said . ''i was terrified . i knew what she was capable of , with a baby there on my chest . somehow or another , i spun and got past her . she did not move the stick . '' mr . kaplan and ms . hochwald moved about as far away as they could within manhattan to a battery_park_city rental with a doorman . ''we are extremely happy , and the neighbors are nice , '' mr . kaplan said . in his newfound complacency , mr . kaplan is typical of others who have reached their limits they 're no longer seeking perfection , only the absence of a particular form of bother . ms . fica , who left greenwich_village for harlem and sometimes uses beer to bribe friends to take the subway ride up , said she misses the conveniences of her old neighborhood , but ''it does n't outweigh the happiness i have now just feeling at peace with my living situation . ''	has a location of america
nearly all farmland 20 years ago , allamuchy township has preserved its rural character in most areas , while developing rapidly on just a fifth of its 23 square miles . the only densely_populated area is a 1 , 500 family gated_community called panther_valley , started in the mid 70 's on 1 , 700 acres in the township 's central section . the complex comprises attached town houses and , small apartment houses , all condominiums , and detached single family homes off route 517 in new jersey 's warren county . it is a mile from interstate_80 , making it a convenient commute to new york city . outside of panther_valley , development is limited , " said mayor francis x . gavin . " the township has 27 miles of roadway , one half of which is in panther_valley . outside the valley , we have almost no sewer hookups and only one street light . the old timers want it to stay that way . " one of the oldest communities in new jersey , allamuchy takes its name from that of a leni lenape indian village called allamuchahokkingen the name of a chief that existed in the early 18th_century . the first european settlers were quakers , who arrived before 1745 from nearby hunterdon_county , bringing with them the beams that would support their houses , which were completed with local stone . although no buildings in allamuchy are on historic registers , several old farmhouses are believed to date from the 18th_century . many older roads also bear the mark of the quaker settlers , who scrupulously followed property lines , creating irregular bends that have inconvenienced travelers ever since . to many old timers , panther_valley is a foreign body in their midst . martha rydell , 76 , who immigrated from holland at age 10 and has lived most of her life on a farm in allamuchy , said she had come to accept the planned_community , but preferred things as they were . " this was a place where people helped each other and had time for each other , " mrs . rydell said . " the people in panther_valley seem nice but are busy commuting to jobs in new york city and do n't seem to have time for others . whereas we used to leave our doors unlocked , panther_valley is a gated_community , where you ca n't even get in unless you know someone . " that security and the country atmosphere are two things that attracted james l . kneese and his wife , mary_ann , to panther_valley , when he was transferred to florham_park , n.j. , from dallas by the dow_chemical corporation two years ago . mr . kneese is an executive and his wife was a nurse in texas and now does volunteer work in hackettstown , a town adjoining allamuchy . they live in a custom , four bedroom home with a scenic view of the delaware water gap . " my husband travels a lot , " mrs . kneese said . " in dallas , we had an alarm system and i never felt really secure . because panther_valley is gated , there is virtually no crime . we love having friends come visit us from dallas because they just ca n't believe that there is such a section of new jersey . " m rs . kneese said she found her neighbors " very welcoming " and that her husband , an avid golfer , spent much of his spare time on the 18 hole course of the community 's panther_valley country club . the club charges an 11 , 000 initiation fee and about 4 , 000 in annual fees , which vary with different memberships . housing prices in panther_valley start at about 85 , 000 for small one bedroom condominiums and go to about 400 , 000 for some custom , four bedroom houses , according to carolyn pulaski , broker manager at panther_valley realty , which specializes in selling the valley . town houses range from about 165 , 000 for small , two bedroom units to 275 , 000 for some four bedroom , 3 , 000 square_foot units just off the golf course . according to ms . pulaski , many of her sales are to people who owned houses elsewhere in panther_valley . rentals are hard to come by , she said , noting that they were mainly in condominium apartments or town houses . they go for 850 to 1 , 200 a month . o utside panther_valley , the largest residential concentration is in the village of allamuchy in the center of town , which has a total of 42 electric and water hookups . in addition to houses , the town has a general_store , a liquor_store and an auto repair garage . like panther_valley , he village has little crime . last year , no homes were sold in the village , according to saralan faherty , office manager for monetti realty in hackettstown . " if i had to estimate what homes in the village would go for , it would be between 150 , 000 and 200 , 000 , " ms . faherty said . three houses were sold in the township outside of panther_valley last year . a 15 year old , three bedroom colonial went for 163 , 000 a restored , three bedroom , 19th_century farmhouse sold for 267 , 000 and a six year old four bedroom colonial on 1.3 acres went for 269 , 900 according to literature published by mpw communities , the developers of panther_valley , panthers roamed the area until 1805 , when the last one was shot in a thicket overlooking what is now the fifth hole of the panther_valley golf course . the streets in panther_valley are named for birds and mountains , including mallard drive , rainier court , and mockingbird road , reflecting the natural attractions of the area . according to mayor gavin , the township is one of the finest bird watching , fishing and hunting sites in the state , with rare bald eagles sighted at times . much hunting takes place in the 4 , 000 acre allamuchy mountain state_park in the southern portion of the township . the park has hiking trails that are also used for mountain bikes and horseback_riding . the park includes the deer park pond , which is stocked with bass , pickerel and perch . some local farmers also sell hunting rights to clubs . among the game animals are deer , wild turkey and waterfowl . " i live in panther_valley , " mayor gavin said . " and we see deer there all of the time . some people have also seen wild bear in their yards . " the township owns one park , the 10 acre green acres park off alphano road , which includes two baseball diamonds , a basketball court , a tennis_court , a volleyball court and playground equipment . shopping in allamuchy is sparse . the main shopping area is the panther_valley village square , a colonial style 40 , 000 square_foot strip mall on route 517 with 20 stores . the businesses include panther_valley realty , a barber_shop , boutiques , a beauty_salon , a convenience_store , doctors offices , a fitness center and the 100 room panther_valley inn , which includes two of the three restaurants in town . the third is villa mattar , an italian restaurant on route 517 . residents mostly shop in hackettstown and in the rockaway mall , 15 miles to the east . the 332 student allamuchy elementary_school serves grades k 8 . according to a report by the school , technology education is being stressed , with computers available in all classrooms . the school is in the process of being wired with fiber_optic cable to expand the computer program . t he new jersey school report card issued by the state 's department of education for the 1994 95 school year gave allamuchy elementary_school high marks . of eighth_graders who took the state 's early warning tests , all scored either level one or level two , indicating competence in reading , writing and mathematics . the average class size is 13 . 2 , compared with a state average of 21 . 9 . the township sends 102 students to hackettstown high_school in hackettstown , paying an annual tuition of 8 , 500 per student , plus busing costs . of the school 's 195 student graduating_class last year , 84 percent went on to higher_education . the high_school offers advanced_placement courses in english , united_states history , physics and biology . on the scholastic assessment tests , hackettstown students last year scored 471 in math and 436 in verbal , compared with state average scores of 481 and 418 , respectively .	has a location of america
lead ''westlynx'' has arrived . this is the westchester library system 's new centralized , automated circulation control network that will eventually give librarians immediate access to an on line data base of updated information about every title held by 37 out of 38 public_libraries in the county . the white_plains public ''westlynx'' has arrived . this is the westchester library system 's new centralized , automated circulation control network that will eventually give librarians immediate access to an on line data base of updated information about every title held by 37 out of 38 public_libraries in the county . the white_plains public_library belongs to a separate system . the hooking up of terminals at 35 of the 42 planned sites ( including library branches and the bedford hills correctional facilities ) is a milestone for maurice j . freedman , director of the westchester library system , who was hired in 1982 specifically to oversee the completion of the decadelong project . ''westlynx 's coming to fruition owes a great deal to community support , '' said mr . freedman , who explained that funds for the new system were raised independently by each community . ( funds for the prison 's participation are part of a state grant to the library system . ) the libraries' purchase of ''terminal shares'' also paid for the complete renovation of westchester library system headquarters in elmsford , where the central computer is housed , mr . freedman said . stanley ploszaj , project manager for the library system , designed the impressive new 385 square_foot machine room . it contains disk storage capability , two five ton air_conditioning units , telephone equipment and consoles to support the 180 terminal network ( expected to grow to 300 terminals by 1993 ) . there is also a high speed , computer to computer telephone link between the library system computer and the network data base supplier in toronto . the benefits to the public of westlynx are being underscored in a pro_bono ''awareness'' campaign by the juhl advertising_agency in valhalla . such well known county residents as the tennis champion arthur ashe , the author barbara dana , the academy_award winning actor michael douglas , the actress mary beth hurt , the singer julius larosa and the director paul schrader have lent their faces and voices to messages promoting improved library services . the public service announcements on local radio stations , and the posters that show the celebrities in relaxed poses were conceived ''to personalize the idea of using the local library and to emphasize its accessibility and convenience , '' said randye sundel of juhl , the writer and producer of the campaign . ''the idea of automation tends to leave people cold , '' she added . ''we wanted to reach people on a more emotional level and show there is something for everyone at the library . '' county residents have been receiving new library cards , and juhl is preparing brochures to explain the new system . others who have contributed services include the reader 's digest association , which made its recording studio and personnel available for mr . ashe 's public service announcement , and robert buchanan , a valhalla based photographer . charles burkett , the account supervisor of juhl , stressed community need to take responsibility for such public services as libraries . ''the library is the dominant image of communication , '' mr . burkett said . ''since we are in the communications industry , our agency believes in going to bat for libraries in any way we can . ''	has a location of america
construction is still under way on bridgefront , a_10 story condominium at 42 main_street in the dumbo area of brooklyn , but 18 of its 21 loft style apartments have been sold in the two months since sales began . the residences , including three penthouses , are offered with six different interior layouts and have 1 , 010 to 1 , 700 square_feet of space , as well as private terraces . sales prices range from 600 , 000 to 1 . 15 million , according to boymelgreen developers of brooklyn , the developer of the 10 . 5 million project . haysha deitsch , the project manager , said he attributed the rapid pace of sales to the building 's design and the neighborhood , whose name is an acronym for down under the manhattan bridge overpass . ''dumbo , '' he said , ''is dumbo . '' bridgefront is clad in glass and a stuccolike material and has a facade with a rounded corner at main and front streets . the architect is elena kalman of stamford , conn . in two weeks residents will begin moving into the building , which will have such amenities as a health_club , meditation garden and roof_deck . completion is expected next month . bridgefront marks boymelgreen 's entry into dumbo , but the company already has started a second residential project in the neighborhood and has plans for two more , as well as a commerical development . ''this is the first and a taste of what is to come , '' mr . deitsch said . postings	has a location of america
if you take the a train next sunday to clinton_hill ( with , it is to be hoped , a duly licensed motorman ) you can visit one of brooklyn 's oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods and take part in the 1993 clinton_hill house and garden tour . the hill , as the american_institute_of_architects guide to new york city notes , was home in the 19th_century to many of kings_county 's merchant and industrial kings the bedfords , the pfizers , the underwoods and , most especially , the pratts . on view on the tour are nine homes that reflect the remembrance of things past and the imagination of things present , beginning with the caroline ladd pratt house at 229 clinton avenue , an 1898 mansion . the parlor floor and the second floor apartment of dr . warren ilchman , president of pratt_institute , are open to the tour . the house was built by charles pratt , a partner of john d . rockefeller in the standard oil company and the founder of the nearby institute . the building , an italianate manor house , was one of four mansions pratt gave to his sons as wedding gifts . other stops include a carriage_house that was once a handbag factory and now , renovated , is home to an architect and his family a brownstone replete with original ornate woodwork a 21 by 50 foot garden created by ken druse , the gardening editor of house beautiful magazine the irises , peonies , evening primroses , roses , herbs and trailing grapevine of abigail and larry golde 's 100 by 200 foot garden , and jon and mary cole 's 1858 semi detached italianate villa , with wallpaper based on e . f . benson 's " lucia " novels , set in the fictional english village of tilling . the tour runs from noon to 5 p.m . same day tickets are 10 and may be purchased at the caroline ladd pratt house . advance tickets , at 8 , are available at the brooklyn_academy_of_music ( 30 lafayette avenue ) and several other brooklyn locations as well as by mail from the clinton_hill society , 437 clinton avenue , brooklyn , n.y . 11238 . mail tickets will be held at the pratt house . information ( 718 ) 330 0197 .	has a location of america
motorists , yes . bicyclists , too . strollers , certainly . sun bathers , ball players , nature lovers . they all stand to gain , officials say , from a rebuilt west side highway with a new hudson_river_park at its side . but what about developers ? would the tandem park and roadway projects simply open four to five miles of ramshackle manhattan waterfront to recreation ? or would they also fuel intense , even disruptive , speculation and development ? eight years after the death of westway , plans are progressing on several fronts to rebuild the corridor from battery_park_city to 59th_street call it the west side highway , west street , 12th avenue or , as transportation officials do , route_9a . as these projects inch forward , the debate also grows over their implications . no matter how much planners insist that riverfront construction will be limited and appropriately scaled , the suspicion persists among community leaders and civic activists that these ample public works are part of a larger development agenda . five alternatives for route_9a have been advanced by the new york state transportation department in a draft environmental_impact_statement . choices run from leaving the roadway as it is , to enhancing it at a cost of 370 million , to building a 965 million highway with viaducts and depressed bypass lanes . after a round of public hearings last month , the state scheduled another session in september at the request of elected officials . about a month after that hearing , it is expected that the hudson_river_park conservancy , a subsidiary of the new york state urban development corporation , will begin the design and environmental analysis of plans for the area from river to road , including 60 acres of parkland , 330 acres of water , four and a half miles of esplanade and 13 recreational piers . the conservancy was created last year by gov . mario m . cuomo and mayor david n . dinkins to build the park and , in the language of their agreement , " identify and facilitate " any " private initiatives in the development sites " chosen by an earlier west side waterfront panel . the largest of these would involve up to 1 . 775 million square_feet of space atop the vast pier 40 on the west_village waterfront . just how much a magnet the west side waterfront can be at least for blue sky thinking was made clear last month when talk turned to building a new yankee_stadium over the long_island_rail_road 's john d . caemmerer west side yard , which borders 12th avenue from 30th to 33d street . whether anything comes of the stadium or not , there are other signs of renewal . a development team called chelsea_piers management has completed a draft environmental assessment of its plan to turn piers 59 through 61 , from 17th to 21st street , into a sports center and film and television_studio . roland w . betts , a partner in the group , said construction might begin the fall . twelve developers have expressed interest in devising new uses for the passenger ship terminal , piers 88 through 92 , from 48th to 52d street , at the invitation of the city 's economic_development corporation and the port_authority of new york and new jersey , whose lease on the terminal expires at the end of 1994 . dan maynard , a spokesman for the authority , emphasized that any plan would have to allow continuing use by cruise_ships . the port_authority has also applied to the corps of engineers for permission to build a new pier 34 , from the foot of canal street to the holland_tunnel ventilation and exit shaft , roughly 900 feet offshore . the pier would be composed of parallel 18 foot decks , one of which would be open to the public . pier 62 , at 22d street , will open to the public next sunday , said tom fox , president of the hudson_river_park conservancy . there will be ball courts and areas for picnicking , roller skating and performances . by thursday , the conservancy expects to have received bids for construction of a 27 foot_wide interim pedestrian and bicycle path along west street , from chambers street to gansevoort street . that may open to the public next spring , mr . fox said . gazing farther into the future , it is conceivable that major development might accompany the new route_9a and waterfront_park . " the creation of an urban boulevard with landscaping and a bikeway walkway may improve the overall ambience for development , particularly in locations close to the right of way , " said the draft environmental_impact_statement for the route_9a project . taken alone , the report said , " the effects of the highway on development trends , if any , would be imperceptible . " but it added that " parkland is a physical and visual amenity that tends to raise property values and widen the market appeal of nearby properties , particularly residential properties . " indeed , potential financing for the park is tied in part to the expectation that property values and construction will increase in the surrounding area . " actually , we 'll be banking on it , " mr . fox said . the west side waterfront panel , predecessor to the conservancy , considered imposing an " impact fee " on new development within 700 or 1 , 500 feet of the park possibly 3 or 5 a square_foot . it also considered a zone within 700 or 1 , 500 feet of the park where a special property_tax levy would be assessed , akin to a business_improvement_district . a study prepared for the waterfront panel by the planning consultants of allee king rosen fleming projected some 4.7 million square_feet of new development by 1998 along a corridor within 700 feet of the park , from chambers street to 59th_street . among the projects identified by the consultants is hudson 42 , a plan by silverstein properties to build 1 , 500 housing units on a full city_block between 41st and 42d streets , 11th and 12th avenues . silverstein has owned the parcel for nine years , however , and it remains a parking_lot . another becalmed project is hudson_river center , a hotel with roughly 40 stories and 1 , 500 rooms on pier 36 , across from the jacob k . javits_convention_center . the development team , headed by julien j . studley , was designated six years ago . hudson 42 and hudson_river center are among several private undertakings on the shoreline that have stalled or died . judging from that record , michael slattery , senior vice_president of the real_estate board of new york , does not foresee an imminent building boom on the river 's edge . " waterfront development has not been robust , to say the least , " he said . " either it has been heavily subsidized by the public or it has run into serious problems . " " the historical view here should n't be the development activity in the 80 's but waterfront activity , " he said . " look at the limited number of projects that have gone forward battery_park_city was subsidized and had substantial density . south_street_seaport had public investment in amenities . roosevelt_island was subsidized . " a new waterfront zoning text is only weeks away from adoption by the city planning commission . officials say it would open private parcels to public_access , require visual corridors , limit building height , ban the transfer of development rights from underwater property to dry land and restrict the use of piers and platforms . " the proposed amendment is a significant improvement , " said richard l . schaffer , chairman of the commission . " but if someone wants no development on the edge of the city whatsover , this will not satisfy them . " while mr . slattery believes that the cost of following the new zoning rules would push waterfront development " beyond affordability , " others think the government is setting the stage for future construction . " you do n't use an urban development corporation to take over a public waterway unless you 're planning development , " argued marcy benstock , executive director of the new york city clean air campaign . " when they wanted to build a road , they did n't go to a public authority , " said assemblyman richard n . gottfried , democrat of manhattan . " they went to the state transportation department . if they really want to build a park , why do n't they go to the people in the state and city parks departments ? " in response , mr . fox noted the budgetary perils that faced those agencies . " how easy a lift is it for the city and state_park systems to focus on constructing a new park on the west side ? " he asked . he also questioned how effective either department would be in dealing with the welter of public agencies that have waterfront jurisdiction . " what is needed , " mr . fox said , " is a centralized agency that represents both the city and state , with a specific mandate to build a park and the ability to bring both the city and state to bear in removing obstacles . " last sunday , the assembly passed a bill sponsored by mr . gottfried that would strip power from the hudson_river_park conservancy to acquire an interest in the right of way , spend money on or receive revenues from the property , or enter into contracts . the measure did not advance in the senate , however , mr . gottfried said . opponents' suspicions were not allayed by the language in the agreement between gov . cuomo and mayor dinkins that the hudson_river_park conservancy 's proposals would be " subject to all applicable public review and approval procedures . " " 'applicable' is a vast loophole , " ms . benstock said . " many local laws and public review and approval procedures are not applicable to state chartered authorities such as the h.r.p.c. " even sewer , drainage and utility relocation plans for route_9a come in for wary scrutiny by those who wonder such work would provide infrastructure to serve development on the far side of the road . " we 're not opposed to replacing and bringing up to date the appropriate water and sewer lines , " said assemblywoman deborah j . glick , democrat of manhattan . " but we do n't want those pipes upgraded to where they could carry a load far in excess of what currently exists . then it appears that they are in fact using route_9a as the nose of the camel , if you will . " but douglas a . currey , of the route_9a office , said that " all of the infrastructure work that 's costed out and included in the project alternatives is utility work necessitated by the roadway . " mr . fox concedes that " there 's such a fear of government run amok that an attempt to have it focus on creating public works is treated with great suspicion . " " as we gather momentum , " he said , " there will be less and less of that . " mr . fox said the detailed design of the park , esplanade and public piers would be undertaken with consultants from the affected community boards . that work will occur simultaneously with the environmental assessment , by allee king rosen fleming . a broad plan drawn up in 1990 identified three development sites piers 81 through 84 , from 41st to 44th_street , might accommodate commercial structures up to 75 feet high , serving cruises and charter boats , possibly with dining and entertainment . these piers are across the highway from silverstein 's hudson 42 site . the chelsea_piers might accommodate up to 830 , 000 square_feet of new and rehabilitated space , with 800 housing units and 110 , 000 square_feet of commercial space . for the next 10 years , however , they would be leased to chelsea_piers management . pier 40 , at the foot of houston_street , might accommodate up to 1 . 775 million square_feet of new construction , with 1 , 700 residential units and 240 , 000 square_feet of commercial space . buildings might be 85 feet high , or about eight stories . the new floor area would be roughly equal to that of the general_motors building on fifth avenue . " pier " is almost a misnomer for the 14 acre structure , which is almost as wide ( 755 feet ) as it is long ( 800 feet wide ) . on its deck sits a three level structure with space for more than 2 , 000 cars and a center court that can park more than 100 buses and trucks . when it opened in 1962 , pier 40 was the largest and most costly single steamship terminal ever built in the port of new york . it was originally leased to the holland america line , for passenger and cargo operations . today , it is leased to the port_authority , which sublets it in turn for parking , warehousing , shipping and storage . in addition , the prison barge bibby venture , no longer in use , is moored on its south side . community board 2 in greenwich_village is opposed to the density and size of development proposed for pier 40 . borough_president ruth w . messinger of manhattan is opposed to residential development . other proposals in circulation include moving the wholesale flower market to pier 40 from the avenue of the americas or simply converting the pier into parkland . in a study of potential displacement pressures in the environmental_impact_statement for route_9a , allee king rosen fleming noted that " the presence of the waterfront_park and the removal of a large , visible transportation use on pier 40 can be expected to strengthen the attractiveness of the westerly portions of the area for new residential development . " because " redevelopment is most likely to take place on currently industrial or residential sites , " the study said , " indirect displacement of residents would not be linked to new construction . " however , the study continued , the park could raise the value of existing housing in the area . since tenants in unregulated apartments and single_room_occupancy hotels were already being squeezed by market forces , the study said , the " waterfront_park has the potential to accelerate these underlying displacement pressures , particularly in locations west of seventh_avenue . " elsewhere , the waterfront_park " would make residential chelsea a more attractive place to live , would boost residential values and could contribute toward accelerating displacement pressures . " the study concluded that the waterfront_park would have little or no effect on social and economic conditions south of chambers street , around the convention_center or in clinton . ms . benstock said the environmental assessment was inadequate . " as long as the u.d.c . intends to take title to the entire river , " she said , the route_9a impact statement " ought to project development and the traffic it would generate far in excess of what they are assuming on the scale of the developed sites of battery_park_city . " what the hudson_river_park conservancy would get , under the 1992 agreement , is " possessory interest " in the property from the roadway to the pierhead line . mr . fox said that was not the name as " fee simple " that is , direct ownership . it might take the form of ownership with a restrictive covenant or scenic easement , he said . a major hurdle that has yet to be overcome is the fact that the city and state may have to pay back 81 million to the federal_government that was used to acquire the right of way for westway . a waiver could be granted if local officials convinced the federal highway administration that the new project represented a " transportation enhancement , " like a pedestrian and bicycle path or a scenic area . an attempt to obtain a waiver in 1990 failed . in a response to questions from the conservancy , the highway agency said last month that a park " may be consistent " with the scenic requirement but that " ball fields , marine facilities , or parks with food carts , benches , restrooms are not reuses which would , by themselves , qualify as transportation projects . 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a striking hidden midblock complex on west 25th_street an 1855 episcopal_church , an 1866 clergy house and an 1870 school is partway into a restoration project likely to be long and expensive . since the 1940 's , it has been the serbian orthodox cathedral of st . sava , and even for native new yorkers both the exterior and interior are likely to be a surprise . the present trinity church at broadway and wall_street was finished in 1846 just as the last of the parishioners within walking distance were moving farther uptown . to keep them in the fold , trinity built a system of chapels in outlying areas . in 1851 , trinity adopted a plan by richard upjohn , who had designed the wall_street church , for a through block church on 25th_street just west of broadway reaching up to 26th_street trinity chapel . a random sampling of 20 of the original pewholders indicates just why the main church felt it had to reach out two lived in westchester , three in old trinity neighborhood , and the rest between 14th and 34th streets , like the lawyer and diarist george templeton strong , who lived on 21st street opposite gramercy_park . the outside of trinity chapel , in neo_gothic brownstone , was hardly unique . indeed , the notoriously demanding critic clarence cook , writing in new york quarterly in 1855 , called it ' 'decidedly a failure , '' adding that ''its front is tame , its side elevation meager'' but then he also panned grace church , at eighth street and broadway . however , the addition of the tiny clergy house at 16 west 26th_street ( now the church office ) in 1866 and the trinity chapel school at 13 west 25th ( now a parish hall ) in 1870 created a little ecclesiastical village that still surprises newcomers to the area , especially with the wide view running from 25th to 26th streets . the church interior stretching almost 180 feet , much longer than the typical urban church was widely discussed . the new york times praised the very slight outlining in red and other colors of the open truss work , saying ''the illuminated timbers of the roof form a perfect chef d'oeuvre of architectural effect . '' the interior is faced with a creamy caen stone , a limestone imported from france , making the interior as light as the exterior is dark . small alcoves along the walls held open pews . the new trinity chapel became one of new york 's most socially important churches edith jones had plenty of time to reflect on her imminent marriage as she walked down the long aisle to marry edward r . wharton in april 1885 . she did not turn back , although she soon became disenchanted with her husband and developed her writing career around the turn of the century . an 1892 issue of a parish publication , the trinity record , reflected on the changes in architectural tastes over four decades . it noted that , prior to the early 1870 's , trinity chapel had been quite plain , ''painfully guiltless of polychromatic effects , '' with the exception of the colored striping on the ceiling woodwork and the blue and gold cross striping on columns supporting the trusses , which the congregation contemptuously called barber poles . but soon thereafter the chancel walls were given a very elaborate decorative treatment and other painted effects were added , apparently including the soft blue ceiling with gold stars the roof is perhaps 80 feet high , and in the soft haze of the interior the painted effects are so gentle they are hard to read . fashion continued to move uptown and by the 1910 's the side streets west of madison_square were filling with loft buildings leaving the trinity chapel complex an oasis . trinity church decided to abandon its little outpost and the times observed that ''no tears will be shed it has never been considered a landmark , '' adding ''perhaps it is better to tear the building down than to build little additions to it and let the old church remain , battered and unsightly . '' trinity chapel remained open , and the trinity parish thought enough of it to remove stained_glass and other artwork in early 1942 , during air raid concerns after pearl_harbor . but later that year the parish put the chapel on the market , selling it in 1943 to members of the serbian orthodox church , who established the old trinity chapel as the cathedral of st . sava , named after a 13th century saint who became the first archbishop of serbia . king peter ii , the exiled king of yugoslavia , attended services here in the 1940 's and never returned to his native land , which was still under communist rule when he died in 1970 . later the communist_party of the united_states moved into 23 west 26th_street , and between 1964 and 1972 there were a half dozen bombings at their building . in 1966 a powerful one blew out the stained_glass_windows in the apse of st . sava , and the cathedral replaced them with ones of a byzantine design , more familiar to practitioners of the eastern orthodox religion . two years later the exterior of the complex was designated a landmark . now the cathedral of st . sava is several years into a major restoration of its historic complex , especially the slate roofs on the cathedral and the church office . under the direction of the building conservator william stivale , the cathedral is partway done with the roof and pointing on the little office , facing 26th_street , and hoping to resume work on the cathedral soon . the parishioners have spent about 600 , 000 on initial stabilization , in part for reinforcement for the roof framing , which was starting to skew out of alignment due to water damage . the church now has about half of the 1 . 8 million necessary to finish just the roof of the entire church complex . and it needs it . the interior of the church is a spectacular antique a vast , high space , with all of the 19th_century decoration , hanging brass lamps , wall coverings , oak pews and polychromed tile floor almost untouched . but there are also wide stains of at least a dozen large leaks visible , some just large white blooms where water has seeped in , others where great patches of the caen stone has been dissolved and fallen away . whether by poverty or intent , the serbs have been wonderful stewards of the building , making only the minimum changes necessary for their own worship , like the elaborate carved wooden iconostasis enclosing the former altar area . serbian orthodox services are usually conducted with the congregants standing , but at st . sava they have left the gothic style pews , with their rich patina , in place . ''here in america we 've gotten a little bit relaxed , '' said the rev . djokan majstorovic , dean of the cathedral , who was born in bosnia , educated in belgrade and was studying english in london , about to take up a post in zagreb , when war broke out . he came to the united_states seven years ago . ''raising the money is quite difficult , but we have overcome so many disadvantages , '' father majstorovic said . the church has made its third application for a 400 , 000 grant from the new york state office of parks , recreation and historic_preservation , and is hoping for success this time . father majstorovic added ''once people see the sincerity and honesty in our goals and efforts , they see the sincerity and honesty in it , they give we are really advancing , we believe that god is helping us and overseeing us . '' streetscapes the serbian orthodox cathedral of st . sava correction may 11 , 2003 , sunday the streetscapes column last sunday , about the serbian orthodox cathedral of st . sava built in the 19th_century as trinity chapel misstated the location of another church criticized along with it by clarence cook , an architecture writer of the 1850 's . that second church , grace , is at broadway and 10th street , not eighth street .	has a location of america
lead on the wide open spaces of albuquerque 's west side of the rio grande , developers are facing a challenge from the past public awareness of the city 's rich archeology is raising preservation issue sthat could interfere with growth . on the wide open spaces of albuquerque 's west side of the rio grande , developers are facing a challenge from the past public awareness of the city 's rich archeology is raising preservation issue sthat could interfere with growth . they are responding to the challenge with a mixture of concern and exasperation . some projects have been delayed and others thrown into confusion . long standing public and private planning for 110 , 000 acres of land on the west side planning that has included preservation considerations is now the subject of controversy . ''what disturbs us , and what makes us hostile is that we go in 10 years ahead of time with a study , do our planning , put in infra structure and then are told 10 years later that we have to change things , '' said don robertson , senior vice_president of bellamah community development , which has temporarily stopped construction on some of its land . with a population of nearly half a million , metropolitan albuquerque is probably the oldest continuously inhabited major urban_area in north_america , according to david stuart , a university of new mexico archaeologist . the 600 square_mile albuquerque basin once contained as many as 8 , 000 archeological sites , but 70 to 80 percent have been lost to urban development . preservationists want to be sure that surviving sites will either be ' 'mitigated'' excavated and documented or preserved . urbanization is a special threat on the west side . with its expansive views eastward over the rio grande to the nearby sandia mountains , the land atop the river 's western palisades has appealed to both ancient and modern man . signs of prehistoric man 's presence are scattered across the mesas on the west side of the city a half buried docrated clay pot , a primitive pit house and an entire town built by relatives of the anasazi , ancient people who left impressive cities throughout the west . state officials believe that a recently uncovered site sheltered the first europeans who explored the area in 1540 . a spectacular west side landmark is a 17 mile long , quarter mile wide volcanic escarpment . not until 1985 , when an archeologist counted 11 , 000 ancient petroglyphs , or rock carvings , was its significance fully understood . tourism officials are considering the potential of what archeologists say is the largest documented collection of prehistoric rock art in any urban_area on the continent . the national_park_service is considering a national monument , and last month city planners released a study identifying parts of the escarp ment to be protected through land trades , donations or purchase . the proposal , which the city_council will consider this summer , affects as many as 2 , 000 individual and corporate property owners . bellamah community development is waiting until november to begin construction on 28 lots for homes that back up on the escarpment , giving the city a chance to put purchase of the lots before voters in an october bond election . the voluntary moratorium , mr . robertson said , shows that his company supports preservation . but last year , bellamah commissioned a private study that disputes the tourism value of the petroglyphs . also , mr . robertson is critical of the bureaucratic process , and he is impatient with suggestions that the company donate the lots to the city . on the basis of a 1973 company survey , mr . robertson said , bellamah has already dedicated 20 acres in the vicinity of the petrolglyphs for open space , at a cost of about 825 , 000 . but when the city last year asked for 28 additional lots , each averaging about one sixth of an acre , the company answered that the city would have to pay at a discounted price of 24 , 500 , compared with 26 , 000 it charges builders for each lot . bellamah is a joint_venture of the bellamah holding_company and meadows resources , a subsidiary of the public service company of new mexico and controls about 4 , 000 acres on the west side . for smaller property owners , delays can be disastrous , said joe fritz , a real_estate_broker . bruied under 10 of 50 prime acres of land that mr . fritz is trying to sell for a client lies an ancient pueblo with 1 , 100 rooms . sixteenth century spanish explorers found about a dozen such towns in the albuquerque area , but most have disappeared , so the mann site , as it is called , is important . to mr . fritz , the solution is to get the acreage out of private ownership at a fair price to the landowner . but determining a fair market value for the mann site , he said , has kept his client 's parcel tied up for two years . for amrep southwest , archeology is more troublesome . the company controls 91 , 000 acres , including 9 , 000 in several core areas , at rio rancho , a subdivision and town of 27 , 000 on albuquerque 's northwest edge that has been in development since 1962 . a dispute over a waste facility near an archeological site is delaying construction of 700 houses on a 300 acre parcel . the company refuses to comment on any site on its properties , said jim colegrove , director of public affairs . because of geographical constraints , the west side is the last area where developers can assemble large packages for albuquerque 's sprawling growth . by 1991 , about 40 percent of the estimated 7 , 000 new housing starts in metropolitan albuquerque will occur on the west side . on the east side of the river , the cost of a finished lot is nearly double what it is on the west side . while the average cost of a house in albuquerque in 1986 was about 91 , 000 , rio rancho houses sell for 40 , 000 to 80 , 000 . developers sometimes panic and deliberately destroy artifacts unearthed during construction , said lawrence kline , a planning consultant who also sits on a city and county task_force on archaeological resources . but only 5 to 10 percent of all finds require long term study the rest can be mitigated in a matter of days . mr . kline believes the city should hire every available archeologist to survey 200 square miles , at a cost of about 2 million . with a computerized inventory , site identification could occur before construction . if developers complain about delays , archaeologists tell horror stories about pots , shattered by bulldozers petroglyphs . as for further loss for both sides , mr . kline said , ''the best way to prevent it is to be forearmed with knowledge . '' focus albuquerque	has a location of america
lead somewhere in the air over grand_central_terminal floating like an invisible , enormous , amorphous and very valuable mass are somewhere between 1.6 million and 1.9 million square_feet of unused development rights . just where these rights can descend to earth has been a matter of the most critical civic controversy since the late 1960 's . somewhere in the air over grand_central_terminal floating like an invisible , enormous , amorphous and very valuable mass are somewhere between 1.6 million and 1.9 million square_feet of unused development rights . just where these rights can descend to earth has been a matter of the most critical civic controversy since the late 1960 's . the metropolitan_transportation_authority said last week that it has an interest in seeing to it that the development rights are utilized so that it can take over the terminal and begin a 400 million master plan for its renovation . the authority has already prepared a possible receiving site for a small chunk of those air_rights by assembling the whole madison_avenue blockfront between 44th and 45th streets . in a stronger market , the 22 , 595 square_foot parcel comprising nos . 341 , 345 and 347 madison_avenue might be a most attractive development locale . since 1979 , the m.t.a . has owned and had its headquarters in the former equitable trust building at no . 347 , a_20 story structure with 187 , 000 square_feet of space . now , it owns 345 madison_avenue , a 15 story building with 81 , 250 square_feet , which it bought for 23 . 7 million from an equity fund managed by trammell_crow realty advisers of dallas . and it also owns 341 madison , a 19 story building with 46 , 250 square_feet , which it bought for 12 . 2 million from the vector real_estate corporation of manhattan . five floors at no . 345 are to be used for offices of the authority that are now at 11 west 42d street . also , the metro_north commuter railroad will move offices from the terminal into the newly acquired buildings . ''this is no net expansion , '' said frederick s . harris , director of real_estate at the authority . ''it 's not like the m.t.a . is growing . we 're reshuffling . when all is said and done , the idea was to utilize our own space and to make sure that we were n't forced to renew these outside leases . '' ''for the medium term , '' mr . harris said , ''we can hold these buildings . they are no real drain on our resources . and in the long term , we have put something together that would be very valuable as an assemblage . '' the deal has raised eyebrows , if not alarm . beverly dolinsky , executive director of the permanent citizens' advisory committee to the authority , an advocate on behalf of passengers , said ''we were somewhat concerned about where this money came from . we were really concerned about whether they should be in the real_estate business and whether this is a prudent investment . '' mr . harris said that the money came from an unrestricted capital fund at the authority 's disposal and that the plan now was to refinance the purchase , place full debt service on both buildings and replenish the unrestricted fund , which is nearly exhausted . ''in a couple of years we come out ahead , based on very conservative projections , '' mr . harris said . ''the buildings will be in the black . '' it might be said that the story of the madison_avenue assemblage began last december , when trammell_crow , one of the nation 's largest developers , acquired 345 madison_avenue as part of a package of 20 commercial and industrial properties nationwide that had been owned by a subsidiary of the british_coal board pension_funds . in march , peter j . berman , senior managing director of the julien j . studley brokerage , was looking for a property on behalf of a foreign bank . it struck him that 345 madison_avenue , a small , 73 year old structure , was out of place in the trammell_crow portfolio , which more typically would include ventures like the ambitious renovation of 1301 avenue of the americas , between 52d and 53d streets , formerly the j . c . penney building and soon to be renamed the credit_lyonnais building . ''that 's the sort of property and the magnitude of investment that they do , '' mr . berman said . ''three forty five madison did n't make any sense . so we called them and begged the question . '' it turned out that no . 345 might be for sale . ''then my associate todd wenner decided that maybe the thing to do was look at the property next door , because it might perchance be available , '' mr . berman recalled . ''indeed , it was available . with this information , the most logical thing to do was turn to our left and offer it to the m.t.a . '' mr . berman and mr . wenner were joined by stephen d . heyman , senior managing director of the galbreath company . ''mr . heyman initially wrote us a letter saying that both 341 and 345 could be for sale , '' mr . harris said . ''we were quite concerned that if anyone were to know we were interested , people might get unrealistic about their prices and the chance to buy the buildings would evaporate . '' ''when you have an institutional buyer of any sort , '' mr . berman said , ''you wave a name of that magnitude in front of a potential seller and there is always a good chance that the price goes up . so we made our initial proposals through their law_firm , paul , weiss , rifkind , wharton_garrison . '' from start to finish , the negotiations took less than four months . perhaps the most hair raising episode for the brokers was their learning that a japanese buyer , whom they would not identify , was less than a day away from committing itself to 341 madison . ''the m.t.a . did n't want to commit to 341 without a commitment from 345 , '' mr . berman said . ''we had to reach trammell_crow to get them to commit to a transaction so the m.t.a . could feel safe about signing a contract on 341 , which they would have lost to the other potential purchaser . it was a horse_race . '' a further complication was that trammell_crow executives were not reachable in dallas because business had taken them to stamford , conn . on a day that telephone service was interrupted . by evening , however , the trammell_crow executives were in new york city , a deal had been reached and , mr . berman said , ''we went out to a hell of a dinner . '' besides the madison_avenue assemblage , the authority is also involved in trying to resolve an impasse over 383 madison_avenue , a 72 story tower that would be developed by g . ware travelstead of new york and first boston . the developers have a contract to buy 1.5 million square_feet of grand_central 's air_rights . the terminal and its air_rights are owned by the penn central corporation of cincinnati , a successor to the new york central railroad , which built the terminal and its vast subsurface rail yard . in august 1989 , the city planning commission rejected a plan to transfer some 800 , 000 square_feet of development rights from the terminal to the site of no . 383 , a full block bounded by 46th and 47th streets , madison and vanderbilt avenues . among other objections , city planners said the resulting building , with 1.4 million square_feet on a 43 , 000 square_foot lot , would vastly exceed existing density limits . two months later , the developers sued the city in state supreme_court . oral_arguments are scheduled for october . but under the aegis of the authority , mr . travelstead and first boston might be able to build a structure that was larger than zoning rules would ordinarily allow . in exchange , they would transfer 800 , 000 square_feet of air_rights to the state , to remain forever unused . in addition , they would pledge that the remaining 700 , 000 square_feet would never be used directly above the landmark terminal itself . after the terminal 's air_rights had been drawn down thereby reducing the price that is eventually to be paid to penn central the authority would take title to the property . once it had done so , it could begin in earnest its 400 million master plan for the renovation of the 77 year old terminal .	has a location of america
many things determine the price of a house location , construction quality , schools , recent sale prices of nearby houses and properties as well as the general mood of the market . but some people believe that out of the ordinary occurrences , particularly those that get a lot of media attention , can also affect the value of a property . on june 25 a suit was filed , which has since been dropped , by three neighbors of martin r . frankel , the fugitive financier who is suspected of embezzling more than 300 million from insurance_companies and a charity . the neighbors assert that the value of their properties has been adversely_affected by their proximity to the two houses mr . frankel owns at 889 and 895 lake avenue in northern greenwich . when reached last week , the plaintiffs' lawyer , philip russell of greenwich , refused to say more than that the lawsuit had been withdrawn . the three neighbors on lake avenue joseph jacobs , mirek klabal and robert knox had asserted that along with the impact of the projected disrepair of the buildings , the notoriety surrounding the property , the heavy police presence that resulted and the reputation that will linger , would negatively affect the worth of their multimillion_dollar homes . they were also looking for compensation for what they believe were nuisances created by mr . frankel operating his business , sundew international ltd . , contrary to zoning regulations . william kaszics , a stamford based appraiser who said he has been in the real_estate business many years , and whose estimates are cited in the lawsuit that had been filed against mr . frankel , said he believed that the former plaintiffs' properties had dropped 20 percent in value . he said his determination was based on several factors , including ''all the notoriety on the property . '' ''in other words , '' he added , ''it 's going to carry a stigma . and that stigma is going to be with it for years and years . '' according to the brief , mr . kaszics said mr . jacobs 's house had dropped in value to 2 . 48 million from 3 . 1 million , mr . klabal 's house had dropped to 2 . 52 million from 3 . 15 million , and mr . knox 's had gone to 3 . 2 million from 4 million . mr . kaszics also considered what he and the former plaintiffs believed would be the imminent decay of the two houses owned by mr . frankel , which he guessed would go into disrepair and adversely_affect the quality of the immediate neighborhood . mr . kaszics would not give an estimate for how much each concern factored into his determination , but said his estimates came through looking at ''the whole effect . '' the projected decrease in sale prices , he said , was roughly decided by his determining what price the houses would sell at in the average marketing period of 90 to 120 days . barbara pape , a redding based appraiser with more than 20 years in the real_estate business , strongly disagreed with his findings . ''twenty percent to a multimillion_dollar property is a lot of dollars , '' she said . ''it would really be suspect that in this short amount of time anyone would have that data . '' the process of appraising a property is a complicated one , said ms . pape , and includes studies of similar affluent areas . ''there 's definite procedures and steps that have to be followed in order to have a credible opinion , '' she said , wary of mr . kaszics 's determination of such a large decrease . ''that to me sounds rather artificial , '' ms . pape said . mr . kaszics , however , noted that ' 'most of this stuff is subjective . '' he said he did not do any case studies . instead , he said , much of his estimation was based ''on all the sales of the area , the most recent sales . there 's very little room for comparison and you 're into a subjective level when you do these larger houses . there are n't that many of them . '' ms . pape also said that the inclusion of potential problems , such as the projected physical decay of the house , were inappropriate in an assessment . ''you ca n't forecast the future and say it 's going to decay , '' she said an appraiser has to evaluate the current situation . in redding , problems of decay existed in the house at 166 portland avenue that was burned to the ground april 18 , 1995 , by its owner , geoffrey ferguson , who was convicted of killing three of his tenants in the fire after a dispute over a bounced rent check . even with the extensive physical damage , ms . pape said , and a very different kind of media story , property values were probably not affected in the area . ''it 's clearly not the top end of the market , '' she said , as compared with northern greenwich . ''and i do n't know if the market values have been impacted as much as market behaviors , where you want to know who you 're renting from and who you 're renting to . '' she said she believes that events in the media merely bring attention to markets , but do n't necessarily affect them . ''i think if it happens it 's extremely short lived , '' said david fugitt , a real_estate_broker with john d . hastings inc . , in westport . mr . fugitt , like most real_estate brokers and appraisers , agrees that determining overall changes in market value due to special circumstances is difficult , primarily because there are generally very few examples to look at . in their best estimation , most feel that media related effects are marginal and short lived , if they ever exist at all . ''if you have to sell it within a few weeks , it 's one thing , '' he said , although that would probably constitute a distress sale anyway , which means the seller should expect to get only a portion of the market value . westport has been home to another issue over the past few years that has combined some celebrity appeal with questions surrounding property use and its effect on the neighbors . the presence of trucks and workers coming and going at the turkey hill road south house belonging to martha_stewart has been annoying to neighbors in the greens farms section , who have found her use of the property for filming television programs a nuisance . ''that was a whole different story , '' mr . fugitt said . ''large tractor trailers were coming and going on a regular basis . '' martha salmon , a real_estate_broker with preferred properties inc . , in westport , sees any such situation as affecting property value . ''who you share your space with street wise is extremely important , depending on how your neighbors choose to use that space , '' she said . at the same time , she said , positive media exposure , particularly when it involves the presence of a celebrity , as often happens in lower fairfield_county , can improve the value of one 's property . bruce gallo , a broker with century 21 in darien , believes otherwise . ''it implies value , '' he said , ''but i do n't think anyone 's going to pay for that . '' darien saw a large share of news_media during the trial of alex kelly , who was found guilty of first degree sexual_assault in 1997 , after having been in europe for almost 10 years before turning himself in in may 1995 . the family 's home on christie hill road , mr . gallo said , is not even a consideration of prospective_buyers in the area . ''i would say the neighborhood was not impacted , '' he said . ''i 've never heard anyone say , 'i do n't want to see a house in that area' . '' alice mae orr , a real_estate_broker with kelly associates in darien , said she believed the influence of media exposure is never long lasting , and that the effects would not last in the case of mr . frankel 's neighbors . ''i think once that 's all died down there wo n't be any problem , '' she said . ''truly i do n't feel we had any problem with the kelly situation . ' ''it does n't take long for people to forget , '' she said .	has a location of america
even at lunchtime , when it fills with people , the crystal_palace atrium at 805 third avenue feels cold , barren and forbidding . its features and fixtures are sharp , angular and spare its palette is virtually monochromatic , with stainless_steel columns and gray granite walls and floors . the cohen brothers realty corporation , which developed , owns and leases the 31 story office tower at 50th_street , is taking steps to make it a friendlier place . it has hired milton glaser inc . of manhattan to redecorate the atrium and lobby , using motifs inspired in part by the crystal_palace of victorian england . " the things we 're doing are embellishing , " said timothy higgins of the glaser office , who is working on the project with david freedman . " we 're trying to make the building more livable . " among other things , arches will be installed on the existing space frames outside the entrances . in some spots , colored floor tiles will be substituted for granite pavers . one expansive gray wall will get a mural depicting clouds , balloons and flying machines . flying fish sculptures will be added to a waterfall on the opposite side of the atrium . and a fanciful chandelier will be installed . work is expected to begin this spring .	has a location of america
when the dust settled today after a 24 hour game of legislative brinkmanship , one political reality was clear the republican governor and the senate_majority_leader had patched up their differences and outmaneuvered the democratic majority in the assembly . just a month ago , the leader of the senate republicans , joseph l . bruno , was at war with gov . george e . pataki and forged an alliance with the assembly speaker , sheldon_silver , to pass a budget over the governor 's veto . mr . bruno suggested in public that mr . pataki was a liar . the governor vowed to go after senate republicans in the next election . there was talk of a new day in albany , with a lame_duck governor and a muscular legislature willing to take on the executive branch and win . the republicans were splintered and the governor wounded . the assembly democrats were crowing . but the partnership between mr . bruno , a rural conservative , and mr . silver , a manhattan liberal , evaporated during the chaotic last week of the regular legislative session , before the summer break . by the time it was over , mr . bruno and the governor had not only mended their ties but had also given mr . silver a beating on two critical issues rent laws and the regulation of lobbyists . ''what we observed on the budget turns out to be a momentary blip where people 's interests happened to coincide , '' said blair horner , a lobbyist for the new york public_interest_research_group and a student of albany politics . ''we are now back to where we always were , which is partisan bickering and policy gridlock on important issues . '' mr . bruno emerged from the fray as a clear winner . he left the bargaining table this spring with most of what he wanted this legislative session in the new state budget that he and mr . silver agreed upon . that left him with little incentive to compromise on any of the bills taken up in the last minute crush of the legislative session . so he did n't . mr . pataki , meanwhile , has worked to repair relations with mr . bruno since the veto override debacle in may . he went to a barbecue this week at mr . bruno 's farm to hobnob with senators he had threatened to oust only six weeks ago . he spent hours on the phone with mr . bruno , going over what went wrong in the budget battle , aides said . nowhere were the shifting alliances between albany 's powerful trio more apparent than on the issue of rent control , a question of importance to mr . silver and the block of urban democrats who support him . mr . bruno is opposed to government price_fixing on rents . he lost a fight in 1997 to repeal the law . this time , he refused every effort by mr . silver to tie rent laws to the budget , insisting that it be negotiated last . but , after waiting , mr . silver was handed a take it or leave it offer , a surprise senate bill that passed just before the law expired that would extend the current law for eight years . mr . silver could only accept the senate 's bill or allow the rent laws to expire . today , mr . silver called the bill ''a sneak attack , '' as the dejected assembly democrats voted to accept it . mr . bruno also joined mr . pataki to outflank the assembly democrats on a bill that would have made lobbyists who try to influence the awarding of state contracts disclose their earnings and clients . after voicing support for one bill , the senate shifted its support to the governor 's version . that version not only has a narrower definition of what qualifies as lobbying of state authorities and agencies , but also includes a task_force to investigate judicial corruption , a sensitive issue for new york city democrats because of the scandals over judge selections in brooklyn . as a practical matter , mr . bruno 's decision to pass the governor 's bill and then leave for summer vacation has effectively blocked the passage of any lobbying reform , for now . unlike other legislatures , new york 's legislature does not have a procedure for resolving differences between bills , so when the two chambers pass different versions of the same bill , often nothing is enacted . the governor and mr . bruno said today that they were over the acrimony from the budget battle . people who work for them , however , say the hard feelings are not entirely gone , and mistrust lingers . still , they say , the governor has softened his once imperious way of dealing with the senate . mr . bruno , in turn , has decided to help the governor on issues like lobbying and rent , so long as the governor continues to cooperate . one reason for mr . bruno 's return to mr . pataki 's side is that they share political philosophies on most issues . but another is personality . the senator hates wasting time , and mr . silver 's well known penchant for using delay as a negotiating tactic drives mr . bruno crazy , aides say . ''if you do n't have a deadline , you just keep rehashing , '' mr . bruno said today , ''and if you keep rehashing , you do n't even make good hash . '' endgame in albany politics	has a location of america
come midnight , eighth_avenue in midtown is a street of neon thrills , lurking dangers and impossible expectation , a felliniesque montage where a group of giggling theatergoers crowds into a peep booth to have something to talk about on the ride home . but there is pain in the face of the old man jiggling two quarters in a paper cup , and an odd frenzy in the voice of a man passing out handbills for a topless bar . doris brown , a 41 year old prostitute looking for business across from the port_authority_bus_terminal recently , said life was n't getting any easier . " there 's money out here , but some nights it takes so long to get it , " she said . except for the part near eighth_avenue , 42d street is now largely a surreal ghost_town awaiting a new life . it is eighth_avenue itself that has become the most sex saturated street in the city , the police , business people and leaders of community groups said . in the last five years , sex shops and adult theaters have tripled to 15 from 40th to 48th_street , and the corridor south to penn_station is peppered with about a half dozen more . in addition , many stores are situated on side streets just around the corner from eighth_avenue . although crime_statistics are not broken down by street , the police believe the crime rate is the highest in the times_square area . this is the avenue that seems never to improve , even as broadway and seventh_avenue to the east have taken on a new sparkle , and the clinton neighborhood immediately to the west more or less succeeds in burying its hell 's kitchen past . " eighth_avenue is like the same jungle it was i do n't know how many years ago , " said a businessman running for a late bus . " it just swallows people up . " gerald schoenfeld , chairman of the shubert organization , fears the street 's continuing blight threatens the revitalized theater district . " it is a street people try to avoid , " he said . but there are gathering whisps of change . several weeks ago , the state urban development corporation took title to all of the east side of eighth_avenue between 42d street and 43d street to build a hotel as part of its redevelopment project disney is among the bidders . the businesses there now include peep shows , video shops and adult book stores . the condemnation process is expected to start soon . william h . daly , director of the mayor 's office of midtown enforcement , said that , in terms of square_footage , this one step will eliminate nearly 30 percent of sex businesses on eighth_avenue between 40th and 53d streets . even more important , mayor rudolph w . giuliani is pushing for a yearlong moratorium on the opening of sex businesses in the city . during that period , zoning changes would be formulated to push the sex shops to the city 's industrial periphery . current shops would likely be allowed to recover at least some of their investment before having to move , although details have not been determined . last week , the city planning commission approved the moratorium . it next has to go the the city_council , and the city planning department is drafting zoning regulations . although the rules will apply equally to sex shops from the bronx to staten_island , perhaps its greatest impact will be felt on eighth_avenue . " the initiative is generic and citywide , but would certainly change eighth_avenue , " said andrew lynn , executive director of the planning commission . for the times_square business_improvement_district , which is now focusing on eighth_avenue , such action is crucial to stemming the street 's slide . " we absolutely need government intervention , " said gretchen dykstra , president of the group . according to a recent study by her group , there is economic incentive for landlords to rent to owners of sex shops . the study found that rents from 40th street to 53d street for sex businesses range from 90 to 125 per square_foot per year . rents for nonpornographic uses along eighth_avenue are 40 to 50 a square_foot north of 48th_street and 50 to 80 south of it . still , the study found , there 's money to be made on the avenue average rent for nonpornographic uses elsewhere in western manhattan was 35 . the study also found a lower commercial vacancy_rate than for the city as a whole 9.6 percent , compared with 15 percent citywide a figure that attests to the strong commercial interest in the area . " eighth_avenue could become a far more vibrant retail strip , " the report declared . there is some evidence this is already happening . ben_jerry 's ice_cream says the company 's store at the northeast corner of 43d street is one of its highest volume sellers . partly as a result , green mountain coffee said it is planning to open an upscale coffee bar next door . between 46th and 47th streets , bright new awnings outside bustling establishments indicate a new retail energy . the once grubby port_authority_bus_terminal , at eighth_avenue and 42d street , bristles with new upscale fast_food outlets and , after years of trying , the port_authority finally convinced a bank to install automated_teller_machines earlier this year . it quickly became one of the city 's busiest a.t.m . centers . worldwide plaza , the five year old complex between 49th and 50th streets , has no vacancies for either commercial or residential space . as a result , real_estate executives and property owners voice much optimism about the avenue 's future . " eighth_avenue is going to have a fantastic decade , " said arthur zeckendorf , whose family built worldwide plaza and is scouting for other opportunities on the street . but it is premature to say any corners have been turned . the street still has a dangerous edge , and considerable low level drug dealing continues , despite beefed up police efforts . " there are about 30 junkies on the corner every morning when i walk my dog , " said the rev . dale d . hansen , pastor of st . luke 's lutheran church on 46th_street , just around the southwest corner of eighth_avenue . but things are still better than they used to be , neighborhood people say . child_pornography , a staple of the old 42d street a decade ago , is seldom seen on eighth_avenue , the managers of the video stores say . and the dozens of massage parlors , more dens of violence than sex , were chased from eighth_avenue in the early 1980 's . " this was a meaner street back then , " said mr . daly , of the midtown enforcement office . a backhanded compliment comes from ernest schroeder , who runs the full moon bar at 46th_street . " they 've eliminated the low lifes up and down the street , " he growled . " those were my customers . " the sex shop business has changed , too . mr . daly says that organized_crime 's hold on pornography has been loosened , largely , he said , because of aggressive federal prosecutions . smaller entrepreneurs , many from india or pakistan , have taken over , he said . with little capital , they tend not to offer live entertainment , but pirated , often crudely reproduced videos at 5 each or three for 12 . " there are too many video stores , and all of us hurt each other , " said a worker at xxx video at 778 eighth_avenue . " it is a bad sign . " rick travis , owner of the pleasure palace at 733 eighth_avenue , said that he voted for mr . giuliani and would do so again , but that the mayor was wrong in trying to control sex establishments . " we pay millions of dollars in taxes and give jobs to a lot of people who normally would otherwise be unemployed , " he said . he also contended that sex shops were a benefit to property owners . the oriental gift_shop that preceded him in his space did not generate enough business to pay the rent , he said , whereas he is prompt with his . " my landlady wanted somebody who could pay the rent , " he said . " it does n't make her a porn queen . it makes her a businessperson . " even so , there are property owners who are declining to rent to pornographers . reasons vary from moral considerations to concern that the value of upper floors will be lowered by renting to an objectionable tenant on the ground floor . " we want to upgrade our property , not downgrade it , " said richard barth , vice_president of corporate properties for chemical_bank . he said he has passed up many opportunities to get high rents from pornographers for the bank 's property on the northwest corner of 43d street . robert cohen , a developer who just bought four buildings , including the defunct covenant house social service agency between 43d and 44th streets , said he would never rent to a sex shop , despite the " crazy numbers " he said he has been offered . " you end up cannibalizing the value of your investment , " he said . peer_pressure is also a factor . carvel moore , executive director of the fashion center business_improvement_district , which includes eighth_avenue from 35th to 41st streets , says more than 80 percent of the landlords there have signed agreements not to rent to sex shops . among them is mark orbach , whose commercial space at 585 eighth_avenue was vacant for almost a year . he heard generous offers from sex merchants , but owners of neighboring buildings begged him not to accept them . they even enlisted his rabbi to lobby him . the result was that mr . orbach rented his space to a clothing store for 60 percent of what he could have taken in from a pornographer his neighbors gave him money to help him make up for the loss . " i would like to clean up eighth_avenue , " he explained .	has a location of america
lead for most of the last two years , with this city bitterly preoccupied by a housing desegregation struggle , activity in city hall centered on the fourth floor , in the ornate city_council chamber and the office of mayor nicholas c . wasicsko behind it . for most of the last two years , with this city bitterly preoccupied by a housing desegregation struggle , activity in city hall centered on the fourth floor , in the ornate city_council chamber and the office of mayor nicholas c . wasicsko behind it . now , mayor elect henry_spallone is lowering the profile and seeking to change the focus . the councilman who came to represent defiance of the court ordered housing is setting up his office on the second floor , in the former office of management and budget . mr . spallone , who won the mayoralty by a narrow margin , does not dwell any more on the issue that eventually attracted national attention . ''it 's before the u.s . supreme_court , '' mr . spallone said , ' 'so in the meantime we will be working on bringing this city into the 21st_century . ''we 're concerned about support services for the needy , especially in the southwest corner of yonkers , '' he said , referring to the clustering of minorities that attracted the court 's attention . ''housing , crime , drugs , recreation , we 're looking for grants , and we 're not looking back . '' 'we 're thinking modern' mr . spallone , a 63 year old former new york city policeman and the son of a bricklayer from italy , can turn any question on any subject to the vision that he says he has for yonkers , a technique he pursued effectively in the mayor 's race against mr . wasicsko . ''we 're thinking modern , we 're thinking development , '' mr . spallone said . ''we 're prepared to be competitive with manhattan and with new jersey . we feel we 're a gold mine sitting here just waiting to be developed . yonkers is a great city , and when you look at it you realize some of the press we got was really undeserved . '' undeserved or not , yonkers became a focus of interest two years ago when the city_council refused to reverse its rejection of a consent_decree it had earlier approved calling for the construction of 200 units of low_income_housing in the city 's eastern and northern neighborhoods , which are predominantly white . judge leonard b . sand of federal district court in manhattan cited the council for contempt and imposed fines against the city that began at 100 and doubled each day . intentional discrimination after two weeks , with the daily fines approaching 1 million and with hundreds of employees of the nearly bankrupt city facing layoffs , two of the council dissenters , but not mr . spallone who had opposed the consent_decree from the beginning , changed their votes and the crisis appeared over . but the housing desegregation plan , drawn up by judge sand to help remedy what he found was 40 years of intentional discrimination , remains unfulfilled although construction of the first 200 federally_subsidized housing units on seven sites should begin in february . the mayor elect may soon have to decide the city 's role in the construction phase . mr . wasicsko , speaking in his nearly empty office , said ''the housing 's going to be built , and its up to spallone to calm the waters and try to make it as smooth as possible . ''it will be very interesting , '' mr . wasicsko said . ''i 've worked with hank for four years on the council and he 's never really said yes to anything . the decisions that he and the council will have to make in the first six months of their tenure will be among the most difficult ever made in this city huge tax increases , housing compliance , funding of school integration and there will be no running away for mr . spallone . '' incentives for builders mr . spallone , who takes office monday , says only that ''we 'll do nothing until the appeals come down , '' referring to what he and the councilmen hope will be a supreme_court finding that judicial orders to legislators are unconstitutional . but the high_court could simply find that they defied the federal court , and not deal with the question of judges as legislators . meanwhile , judge sand has apparently concluded that another portion of the plan , the construction of subsidized and market rate housing through the use of incentives for builders , is not working , and may have to be changed . the first formal discussions will not involve the mayor . mr . spallone said , ''i think the judge has to recognize that his remedy is all wrong , but i want to wait until the constitutional question is resolved before i even meet with judge sand . '' they have never met ''one on one , '' mr . spallone said , ''but now , when i 'm the mayor of the city , he has an opportunity to ask me . '' the mayor elect is known as independent and outspoken . as a councilman he was occasionally excluded from negotiating sessions seeking a consensus because he was deemed too difficult to deal with . soon after his election he said he would ignore a blue ribbon panel in naming two trustees to the board of education . ''i did that , '' he said , ''because i wanted my people in . '' he has since met with the yonkers p.t.a. , he said , ''and told them i would go through the panel , but i asked them to give me monthly reports on every school because i want to know exactly what 's happening . ''	has a location of america
lead the 14 story esplanade hotel on the upper west side , which is is half transient and half residential and now under new ownership , is in the midst of a thorough renovation that will eventually turn it into a first class operation , with first class rates . the 14 story esplanade hotel on the upper west side , which is is half transient and half residential and now under new ownership , is in the midst of a thorough renovation that will eventually turn it into a first class operation , with first class rates . but for now , although rates have gone up 25 percent since renovation of the 1927 reddish brick building began in january , rooms can still be had for 75 to 140 a night . ''there 's a market for reasonable rooms , '' said joseph kain , who owns the hotel , at 305 west_end avenue between 74th and 75th streets , with muttle cohen , both real_estate investors with offices in brooklyn . ''that 's the reason that people come to us . they do n't want to spend 200 a night . we 're on the upper west side , not east 55th_street . '' the renovation , to be finished by the end of the year , will entail refurbishing all the rooms for overnight transient guests , renovating the lobby and hallways and replacing all the windows . about half of the 181 units , made up of singles and one and two bedroom suites , have views of the hudson_river . by mid 1988 , rates will be comparable to those at some of the more expensive hotels on the east side , mr . kain said . it is likely that as the long term residents on monthly leases in the rent_stabilized units leave , those rooms will be renovated and added to the transient stock .	has a location of america
chances are that if a condominium looks like a warehouse or factory , it used to be a warehouse or factory . but that 's not the case with 495 west street , a newly built 11 story factory like loft condominium offering nine units of raw space overlooking the river , between west 12th and jane streets in the far west_village . ''we 're providing a blank canvas , '' said cary tamarkin , whose firm , tamarkin architecture development , is the architect and developer of the project , which cost 13 . 5 million . once the project is completed by the end of june , residents will be able to custom finish their lofts seven floor throughs and two penthouse duplexes . the no frills lofts include windows triple glazed to block out noise from traffic rumbling along the west side highway below . they also feature concrete floors , poured concrete columns and four sets of risers for gas , electricity and plumbing . ''it 's big , muscular space , '' said mr . tamarkin , who bought the site , then a weed strewn lot , in 1997 . the two 4 , 700 square_foot duplex penthouses with 20 foot_ceilings and two fireplaces selling for over 4 million are already spoken for . floor throughs on the second to seventh floors , each with about 3 , 100 square_feet of space , are expected to range in price from 1 . 4 million to 2 . 4 million . a ground floor 2 , 000 square_foot loft is expected to cost 995 , 000 . all have 10 1 2 foot high ceilings . ribbon steel windows , 48 feet long and 8 feet high , in lofts above the ground floor offer river views and 18 by 18 foot windows frame panoramic views from the duplexes . the ground floor apartment has a private garden at the rear . the windowless northern side of the building , which faces a parking_lot , houses two stairways and two elevators . the upper duplex has exclusive roof rights the lower one , situated along the building 's setback , has a_10 by 68 foot terrace facing the water . two 10 foot high , key operated elevators , each with a 3 , 500 pound capacity , will open directly into apartments . an unadorned lobby with poured concrete floors will have an part time doorman and video intercom . visible from its entrance will be a japanese maple in the minimally landscaped common yard . corbeled buff and brown bricks give the facade the appearance of corrugated cardboard and a water_tower sits atop the building . ''this is elegant , '' said jan hashey , a broker with douglas_elliman , the sales agent . ''factory elegant , '' she added . ''it could be a factory outside milan . ''	has a location of america
everyone seemed to have come out ahead . in 1999 , shaking off its last few crumbs of foreclosed real_estate , the city sold a decrepit , century old brownstone at 330 west 86th_street , flanked by 15 story towers . under a special provision of state law designed to encourage the rehabilitation of ' 'slum or blighted'' dwellings , the city sold the brownstone to some of its half dozen or so tenants for the apparently modest price of 340 , 000 , on the condition that they clear up its building_code violations . according to city lawyers and local officials , the building 's new owners were also supposed to preserve the structure . ''we did it to prevent development , '' said former city councilwoman ronnie eldridge , who helped facilitate the transaction . ''it was to be housing for the people who had been living there for a long time . we felt that they were really committed , and that they were going to take care of the building . '' so much for intentions . in march 2001 , less than two years after buying the 20 foot_wide building , the residents sold it for 2 . 25 million to a company called darkhorse development , which plans a 17 story glass and brick residential building on the site . darkhorse 's redevelopment plans have sparked a six year legal fight involving the city , darkhorse , and the building 's next door neighbors . the suit was filed in 2000 by residents of one of the 15 story neighbors , who were alarmed at the prospect of having their windows blocked . in documents filed in january with the state court of appeals , city lawyers described the new owners' plans as an ''abuse of the public trust'' and argued that the city would have sold the building for much more if the plan had been to redevelop the lot . a decision is expected this month . but in an interview the other day , robert ricciardelli , one of darkhorse 's owners , argued that when selling the building the city had not intended that it be preserved , and that it would never have brought more than 340 , 000 at auction , because most or all of the apartments were rent_stabilized . noting the presence of taller buildings on either side of the brownstone , mr . ricciardelli said ''we 're not doing anything crazy . we have plans to basically fill in the skyline on that lot . '' some people , he said , would prefer to keep the neighborhood the same . ''but this is new york city , '' he added . ''things change . '' alex mindlin neighborhood report upper west side	has a location of america
lead three times in the last five months , 90 year old helen cattell has fallen in her one floor house here . mrs . cattell was strong enough to reach a telephone each time and call for help . but her daughter , elly robinson , is worried . three times in the last five months , 90 year old helen cattell has fallen in her one floor house here . mrs . cattell was strong enough to reach a telephone each time and call for help . but her daughter , elly robinson , is worried . ''she wants to be independent and stay on her own , '' said mrs . robinson , who lives on the same block . ''i 'm only four houses away , but when you 're not in the same house it might as well be five miles . '' a new program being offered at no charge to the 1 , 500 elderly residents in the town of ossining and the villages of briarcliff and ossining may ease mrs . robinson 's concern . the ''are you o.k . program ? '' uses a computer to call the elderly and will check on mrs . cattell daily . patterned after an iowa program ''this is our way of taking care of our senior citizens , '' said barbara c . fratianni , the ossining town_supervisor . the program , which is patterned after one in osage , iowa , is the first of its kind in new york state and is to begin next month . at a specified time each morning , the computer will call the elderly residents who have volunteered to join the program . to inform the computer they are safe , participants pick up the phone and respond to a recorded message . if the phone goes unanswered , three more calls will be made at 10 minute intervals . if the fourth call is not answered , an alert appears on the computer . an individual monitoring the calls then contacts the appropriate police department as well as a relative , friend or neighbor of the elderly client . if someone picks up the phone but fails to speak , the client is also checked . ''this is marvelous , '' mrs . robinson said . ''i ca n't always be as consistent in calling as a computer can . '' two osage residents michael dekruif , a police inspector , and bruce johnson , a computer specialist devised the program , and since it was implemented there in march it has already saved one life . a diabetic in osage lapsed into a coma and did not answer his phone , prompting the computer to alert the police . after assistance , the man recovered . how the idea has spread ''finding someone on the floor is not an uncommon thing , '' mrs . fratianni said . ''this will help avoid it . '' mr . dekruif and mr . johnson had not intended to market their idea , but they have been inundated with requests and the program is now operating in 14 cities in nine states . with the cooperation of the elderly the ''are you o.k . program ? '' can be close to flawless . but false_alarms can be a drawback . if participants will not be home to receive a scheduled call , they are supposed to notify the program . a failure to do this leads to unneeded visits by the police and anxiety on the part of the friend or relative who is notified of the alert . mr . dekruif said that this was a rarity and usually happened with people who were new to the program . he said that after people became accustomed to the phone call routine , false_alarms occurred less than once a week . despite the possibility of an occasional false_alarm , james krebser sr . , the ossining police chief , said he did not expect his force to be strained by the program , which it monitors . ''i think i can work it out , '' he said . ''this will give people confidence , knowing that we will be checking on them . '' taxes paid by ossining 's 32 , 000 residents will handle the 6 , 999 cost of the computer system . ''any time you can save even one life , '' mr . dekruif said , ''it 's worth it . ''	has a location of america
lead closings in the week ending april 16 manhattan carnegie_hill 265 , 000 16 east 96th_street 2 bedroom , 1 bath , 1 , 100 sq . ft . prewar co op entry_foyer , high ceilings , original moldings and details maintenance 473 , 52 tax deductible ( broker wallach management ) closings in the week ending april 16 manhattan carnegie_hill 265 , 000 16 east 96th_street 2 bedroom , 1 bath , 1 , 100 sq . ft . prewar co op entry_foyer , high ceilings , original moldings and details maintenance 473 , 52 tax deductible ( broker wallach management ) greenwich_village 675 , 000 77 seventh_avenue ( vermeer ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 200 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , dining_area , wrapped terrace maintenance 1 , 048 , 54 tax deductible ( broker kingman associates ) inwood 70 , 200 70 park terrace east 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 618 sq . ft . prewar co op windowed dining_room , hardwood floors , high ceilings maintenance 447 , 59 tax deductible ( broker c uptown realty ) kips bay_area 155 , 000 140 east 28th street 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 720 sq . ft . co op in a recently renovated prewar building manned_elevator , dining_foyer , fireplace maintenance 764 , 49 tax deductible ( broker h.h . kleigerman associates ) upper east side 830 , 000 870 fifth avenue ( 68th st . ) 2 bedroom , 2 1 2 bath , 1 , 500 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , manned elevators , dining_room , parquet_floors , central_park view maintenance 1 , 423 , 51 tax deductible ( broker william b . may ) upper east side 345 , 000 111 east 85th_street ( savoy ) 1 bedroom , 1 1 2 bath , 1 , 000 sq . ft . postwar co op 24 hr . doorman , concierge , large dining_area maintenance 770 , 58 tax deductible ( broker b.j . gottesman ) bronx dyre avenue area 130 , 000 3711 rombouts avenue 3 bedroom , 1 bath , single family , attached brick house dining_room , finished_basement , 25 by 100 ft . lot taxes 800 ( broker cancro realty ) riverdale 80 , 000 3875 waldo avenue 1 bedroom , 1 bath , 700 sq . ft . co op in a recently renovated prewar building new windows , remodeled_kitchen , high ceilings maintenance 240 , 50 tax deductible ( broker marilyn morris b . sopher ) brooklyn green wood terrace 200 , 000 210 23d street 3 family , attached , frame house 1 bedroom , 1 bath , dining_room , large kitchen in each unit large closets , original moldings and details , 19 by 100 ft . lot taxes 950 ( broker renaissance properties ) sunset_park 240 , 000 438 50th_street 2 family , 3 story , brownstone rowhouse 4 bedrooms , 1 1 2 baths , large kitchen in primary duplex 2 bedrooms , 1 bath in floor through rental unit dining_room in each full cellar , 20 by 100 ft . lot taxes 920 ( broker mcpyel associates ) queens cambria heights 179 , 000 119 45 234th street 4 bedroom , 1 1 2 bath , single family cape_cod dining_room , large kitchen , second kitchen and 1 2 bath in finished_basement , 40 by 100 ft . lot taxes 900 ( broker john e . miller realty ) forest_hills 160 , 000 72 10 110th_street ( euclid ) 2 bedroom , 2 bath , 1 , 000 sq . ft . postwar co op part time doorman , dining_area , windowed_kitchen maintenance 591 , 50 tax deductible ( broker m.j . raynes ) staten_island huguenot 225 , 000 763 ionia avenue 4 bedroom , 1 1 2 bath , single family high ranch_dining_room , large kitchen , family room , attached 1 car garage 42 by 100 ft . lot taxes 1 , 500 ( broker victoria realty ) west brighton 239 , 000 582 delafield avenue 5 bedroom , 2 bath , single family , detached_colonial_dining_room , large kitchen , fireplace , full basement , detached , 1 car garage , 50 by 150 ft . lot taxes 1 , 000 ( broker otto vitale real_estate )	has a location of america
the once squalid holland hotel has stood empty since the city closed it in 1988 , a hulking symbol of the bureaucratic bungling and waste associated with the city 's homeless policies through the 1980 's . now , in a new life indicative of the city 's current move to shift homeless care to private nonprofit groups , the building on west 42d street is about to be resurrected as holland house , with 306 apartments for needy people . midtown community leaders and advocates for the homeless , who criticized the city 's earlier efforts to turn the welfare hotel into a homeless_shelter as classic mismanagement , are predicting holland house will be a great success . renovations are expected to be completed by july 1 , after which residents will start moving in . the 21 story holland , at 351 west 42d street , is managed by project renewal , formerly the manhattan bowery corporation , an agency specializing in drug and alcohol treatment and job training that manages four residences and shelters . " it 's going to be wonderful , a model residence , " said the chairman of the 42d street civic_association , william j . rappaport , whose group filed a suit to close the old hotel . now he hopes to help raise donations for amenities at the new holland . another former critic , the 42d street development corporation 's president , frederic s . papert , calls the current project " just terrific . " holland house will draw its residents from applicants referred by social service agencies . the mix of residents , worked out in negotiations with community board 4 , will include about 40 people with aids , 40 who are mentally ill , 100 who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and 120 who are homeless . the income ceiling is 22 , 000 , and monthly rents will range from 400 to 480 . a typical vinyl tiled room is 10 by 12 feet with a closet , private bathroom and kitchen alcove with a sink , small refrigerator and microwave oven . the modest furnishings include a bed , a table and chairs . every other floor has a laundry room and lounge . lower floors have offices , counseling and meeting rooms , an exercise room , an auditorium and a kitchen and dining_rooms , where some residents will prepare low cost meals as training for jobs in private business . the holland was built in 1919 as a women 's residence , then became a mid priced hotel and went into a slow decline until about 1981 , when it spiraled downward as a crowded single_room_occupancy hotel with vermin , shootings , drugs , prostitution and more than 1 , 000 health and safety code_violations . in the mid 80 's , the city spent millions of dollars a year on the holland rates were as high as 1 , 800 a week to cram a welfare family of four into one room . eventually the city , hoping to turn the holland into a temporary shelter , paid 13 million to buy it and another 12 million on a botched and unfinished renovation overseen by the human_resources administration . for years , officials were unable to find someone to run the hotel . last year , the city sold the 21 story building to project renewal for 2 . its current 11 million renovation , using federal money funneled through the city department of housing preservation and development , started in june and is running two months ahead of schedule and within its budget . " this is undoubtedly going to stand as a textbook example of how nonprofits can outshine government in providing better housing and services for fewer dollars , " said mary brosnahan , the executive director of the coalition for the homeless . " you could n't write a more classic scenario . " bruce lambert neighborhood report midtown flatbush	has a location of america
lead the apartment building that general_atlantic realty is erecting on the former site of the children 's aid society will be tall . not twin tower tall , not even trump tower tall , but its 46 stories will make it a giant for the southwest corner of the 88th_street first avenue intersection . the apartment building that general_atlantic realty is erecting on the former site of the children 's aid society will be tall . not twin tower tall , not even trump tower tall , but its 46 stories will make it a giant for the southwest corner of the 88th_street first avenue intersection . the building will be so tall that its marketers are already hawking its corner windows and its unobstructed views of the city west over its short neighbor , the church of the holy_trinity , and of the east_river over the four short row_houses lined up just south of it . it will be so tall that its architect , james stewart polshek and partners , added horizontal bands and started the balconies at lower levels than normal to make the whole thing look shorter . but although the slender pinnacle of red brick and aluminum is rising from a small piece of ground , it was begun last fall as of right without zoning reviews . the project was made possible when general_atlantic transferred air_rights from the row_houses , 1681 to 1689 first avenue , which it owns , to the corner site , home to the children 's aid society before it moved to east 22d street . general_atlantic also received a_20 percent building bonus under the city 's inclusionary_zoning program for constructing an 18 unit moderate income apartment house nearby at 96th_street and second avenue . it is among the first companies to take the city up on the inclusionary_zoning offer . its president , philip e . aarons , is a former president of the city 's public development corporation . the building will be finished by the summer of 1990 . prices for its 167 condominiums , ranging from studios to four bedrooms , have not yet been set .	has a location of america
lead the landlords of rent_stabilized_apartments in new york city said yesterday that they wanted rent increases of up to 18 percent on apartments whose leases are due for renewal in the 12 months beginning oct . 1 . the landlords of rent_stabilized_apartments in new york city said yesterday that they wanted rent increases of up to 18 percent on apartments whose leases are due for renewal in the 12 months beginning oct . 1 . at a news conference at its midtown offices , the rent_stabilization association , which represents landlords , said it would request an increase of 14 percent for one year leases and 18 percent for two year leases . the increases for tenants of 450 , 000 rent_stabilized_apartments are to be determined by the end of next month by the city 's rent guidelines board . the board begins hearings on the increases today at 1 police plaza . last year , the board granted rate increases of 6 percent for one year leases and 9 percent for two year leases . the landlords' initial request last year was for increases of 10 and 15 percent , respectively . almost one million apartments are covered by rent_stabilization . 'bleak future of rental_housing' the president of the landlords' group , john j . gilbert 3d , said the requested increases were based on a study for the landlords that concluded that their operating costs had risen 5.9 percent over the year that ended last month , led by a 62 percent jump in insurance costs . the study was prepared by the arthur d . little company . the issue before the board , mr . gilbert said , was ''whether that body is going to take seriously the bleak future of rental_housing'' in a city where ''nearly 2 , 000 apartments still are being abandoned each month because property owners cannot collect enough rent to pay their taxes . '' last month , the board received the annual price survey required by the rent_stabilization system . the survey , prepared by the urban systems research and engineering company of cambridge , mass . , found landlord operating costs had risen 2.1 percent , led by a jump of 33 . 7 percent for insurance . the chairman of the new york state tenant and neighborhood coalition , william rowen , described the landlords' requests as ''an expression of their greed . '' he added that he thought ''there ought to be a freeze , if not a rollback , '' of the increases granted last year . low rent surcharges mr . rowen said that although his group favored opening landlords' books to help determine rents , the finding of urban systems on costs was , ''in my estimation , a reliable figure . '' in addition to the percentage increases , the landlords' association is seeking additional monthly low rent charges of 30 for apartments renting for less than 200 and 40 for those renting between 200 and 400 . last year , the guidelines board approved an additional 15 for apartments renting for less than 350 a month . the landlords are seeking the end of a 7.5 percent vacancy allowance that applies when a stabilized apartment changes hands . it would be replaced with what mr . gilbert described as ''temporary decontrol , '' to allow an apartment to attain market rates before reverting to stabilized control . the landlords are also requesting a_10 percent rise for apartments that have been continuously occupied for at least eight years and that rent for more than 400 , as well as a once a year 10 surcharge on all stabilized apartments to cover an administrative fee paid by landlords .	has a location of america
fourteen mostly wooded acres overlooking the mohingson creek in the center of aberdeen township will soon be transformed into a new neighborhood 290 upscale rental_apartments spread over six victorian style buildings , four stories tall . the 38 million gated_community , jefferson at aberdeen station , is the first development of any significant size in two decades in this nearly fully developed 5 . 4 square_mile monmouth_county municipality . it will rise over the next 20 months on the site , which is near both exit 117 of the garden state parkway and new jersey transit 's aberdeen matawan train_station , with direct service to manhattan , at the corner of atlantic avenue . the apartments will have one or two bedrooms and sometimes a den as well and such features as nine foot high ceilings , washers and dryers and high tech wiring , said jack englert , regional area managing partner for the developer , jpi . the company , based in dallas , is among the nation 's largest developers of rental_apartments . he said jpi , with ge_capital as an investment partner , builds an average of about 13 , 000 units a year and leases and manages more than 24 , 000 apartments nationally . the aberdeen project , which marks jpi 's initial foray into new jersey , will also include a 5 , 600 square_foot clubhouse with an exercise room and a business conference center , as well as an outdoor swimming_pool and garage parking . monthly rents for the units , with 767 to 1 , 297 square_feet , will range from 1 , 250 to 2 , 300 when leasing begins in august . mr . englert said the aberdeen location ''was perfectly suited'' for his company 's development , which he said is tailored to young professional couples as well as empty nesters . one reason is that few luxury rentals have been developed in northern monmouth_county in 20 years , he said . in addition , he said , the site is visible from the parkway and is close to ''a decent number of jobs in that part of the county , as well as a 45 minute train commute to manhattan . '' as part of the project , whose main entrance will be at the intersection of lower main_street and central avenue , there will be a walkway extending from the rear of the property two tenths of a mile to the rail station . the township welcomes the project because it will not strain services , said mark coren , the township 's manager . he pointed out that 40 percent of the units are one bedrooms , limiting the project 's impact on schools . the project is part of a larger redevelopment plan to revive the area adjoining the train_station . with 3 , 000 riders a day , the station is among the busiest on the north jersey coast line , according to new jersey transit , which oversees the state 's mass transit system . the plan is being pursued by the transit agency , aberdeen township and the neighboring matawan borough . the borough encompasses less than 2.3 square miles , is mostly developed and is nearly surrounded by aberdeen . the redevelopment district consists of 100 acres straddling the two communities . of the total , 60 acres are in aberdeen and are dotted with an empty paint factory , a warehouse , woodlands and some residences . the 40 acres in matawan , not far from the borough 's downtown , are laced with mostly old industrial buildings and vacant parcels that double as parking_lots . new jersey transit owns more than 20 acres that it now uses for two parking_lots . the area sits roughly between the garden state parkway to the northeast , matawan creek to the west and commuter parking_lots to the southwest and it is bisected by main_street and atlantic avenue , which form the border between aberdeen and matawan . explaining the importance of the redevelopment for aberdeen , mr . coren said that the only way for the township to grow or diversify ''is to change land use patterns . '' joseph p . leo , the borough administrator for matawan , added , ''with so many people coming into the borough to use the train and leaving , we can , '' through new development , ' 'reverse that flow into the community . '' at its heart the redevelopment plan , which still is being negotiated by the three parties , calls for transforming the now underutilized area into a vibrant patchwork of offices , stores , residences and entertainment uses . for aberdeen that translates to what mayor david sobel called ''a public place , '' where people could go to live , work and play . in matawan , mayor robert clifton said the train_station area could become an extension of the downtown and help turn the borough into a destination . both men said they also hoped the redevelopment would diversify their economic bases and , in turn , keep a lid on property_taxes and perhaps even lower them . the two communities have increasingly become more reliant on residential property owners for their tax revenue as industries close or move away . and matawan 's downtown a half mile strip of stores , offices and restaurants along main_street has also suffered as retailers fled to nearby routes 34 and 35 , where shopping centers and strip malls had opened . the plan also seeks to mitigate traffic , a major concern , by improving roads and traffic signals . new jersey transit is also contemplating expanding shuttle bus service to the train_station from surrounding communities . another hope is that having projects like jefferson at aberdeen station , with its direct walkway to the rail station , will promote use of the train . increased ridership would benefit new jersey transit , which for years has been encouraging mixed_use_development around its stations . last summer the agency awarded aberdeen and matawan a planning grant to help them ' 'define how best to approach redevelopment around the train_station and to crystallize development opportunities , '' said mark v . gordon , senior director of real_estate and economic_development at the transit agency . ''cooperation among the three parties has the potential for leading to an improved land use and plan for the area . '' agreeing with that assessment are officials from aberdeen , which has had its redevelopment plan in place since 1999 , and from matawan , which is to adopt its plan by april . the redevelopment area could also be designated a ''transit village , '' under a program administered by new jersey transit and the state 's department of transportation . under the program , participating communities are eligible for certain state and federal financing and grants . construction of jefferson at aberdeen station , mayor sobel said , ''will send the message that we are serious about the redevelopment plan . '' mayor clifton of matawan added that the project would also spur additional interest in the area . mr . englert , the jpi executive , said having the project in the redevelopment zone helped with ' 'securing permits'' and provided a ''cooperative environment'' for creating a rental project . the company will also receive a partial tax abatement from the township over a period of 20 years . for its part jpi agreed , among other things , to contribute 1 . 8 million to aberdeen 's affordable_housing trust fund . the project is proceeding at a time when new jersey 's rental market remains tight and the vacancy_rate low . it is about 5 percent for the state and less than that for northern monmouth_county , where development of luxury rentals has been limited , said nathan slovin , executive vice_president of the new jersey apartment association , a trade group in east_brunswick . jefferson at aberdeen station , designed by edi architecture of houston , is one of two major rental developments planned for monmouth_county . the other is a 296 unit project being developed on 70 acres of former farmland off route 79 in nearby freehold township by avalonbay communities of alexandria , va . there , the one to three bedroom apartments will have 750 to 1 , 325 square_feet , and monthly rents are expected to be 1 , 000 to 1 , 600 , according to the developer . several residential brokers said the highest rents proposed for apartments at jpi 's project 2 , 300 a month would test the upper limits of the area 's apartment market . ''i do n't know if there will be enough people willing to pay that much when a four bedroom colonial in the area rents in the 2 , 000 range , '' said deborah venedam , manager of the aberdeen office of weichert_realtors . mr . slovin added , ''the project will not be a slam_dunk , but there will be an audience for it because there is an extraordinary need for housing , whether upscale or any part of the scale . '' mr . englert of jpi said his company was willing ''to take the risk'' because ''there was a pent up demand for luxury rentals . '' he also said the project 's proximity to the train_station would increase its attractiveness for people living in north_jersey and working in new york city as well as for manhattanites seeking lower rents .	has a location of america
lead over the years the board of estimate which can veto or modify landmark designations has seemed both the last hope for developers and a dreaded hurdle for preservationists . over the years the board of estimate which can veto or modify landmark designations has seemed both the last hope for developers and a dreaded hurdle for preservationists . now that it is about to be superseded by the city_council , a review of its record suggests that the board 's direct effect on actual landmark designations has been so unusually benign that the preservation community may someday even wax nostalgic about it . the first substantial interference followed the 23d designation in october 1965 by the new landmarks_preservation_commission , established the previous april . it involved the 1897 bronx borough hall , at the northwest corner of crotona_park , fronting on the southwest corner of third and east tremont avenues . in 1890 , the bronx was still manhattan 's ''annexed district'' but growing rapidly . in 1891 , it elected its first districtwide official , a commissioner of street improvements . his agency and others that followed required room and in 1895 , commissioner louis haffen , serving since 1893 , successfully organized a campaign for a new building . designed by george b . post prominent in civic and skyscraper work the bronx municipal building , as it was originally known , was renaissance in style , three stories high , with light yellow brick contrasting with brown terra_cotta . according to an article in 1969 by lloyd ultan in the bronx county historical society journal , the interior had both gas and electric lighting and fireproof document vaults on each floor . the building was completed in 1897 . russell sturgis , writing in architectural record in 1896 , called it a ''common_sense building with pleasant architectural results . '' in 1899 , a grand stairway was added down the steep slope to third avenue , perhaps also designed by post but possibly instead by the chief engineer of the bronx , louis risse , who had laid out the grand_concourse in 1892 . the elevation of the building , which was renamed bronx borough hall in 1898 when the ''annex'' became part of new york city , gave it excellent views to the south and west , and the third avenue elevated stopped right in front . but in 1909 , louis haffen , president of the borough since its creation , called the building he had promoted ''entirely inadequate'' and ''impossible to enlarge or adapt'' to the needs of the new borough . later in the year , he was forced to resign because of charges that he used borough construction projects as sources of graft . in 1934 , most borough offices relocated to the new bronx county building on the grand_concourse , and some of the space in the old borough hall was given over to veterans' and community programs . by 1964 only the marriage_license bureau remained and , amid reports of impending demolition , lloyd ultan , roger arcara and william romkey all bronx residents began efforts to save the structure , even though other groups sought to replace it with a neighborhood sports center . over the objections of newbold morris , the parks commissioner , the new landmarks commission designated the building a landmark . it was the first bronx landmark . the landmarks law gave the board of estimate 90 days in which to veto or modify any designation and in december commissioner morris wrote the board , calling the building ''rundown , unsightly'' and of ''no architectural importance . '' borough_president joseph f . pericone had supported the designation , but he was succeeded in january by herman_badillo . on jan . 27 , 1966 the last possible day of review the board of estimate deferred to mr . badillo and voted to overturn the designation . in 1968 , there was a major fire in the building , by then vacant , and it was demolished late that year , although the grand staircase was retained . the society for the architecture of the city , a preservation organization , said that of nearly 1 , 000 designations the board of estimate considered through 1989 , it vetoed or modified only 21 . of these , several were later successfully redesignated as landmarks , among them the coney_island parachute jump and the queensboro_bridge . all but five survive intact . besides bronx borough hall , loew 's triborough theater in queens ( vetoed in 1974 ) has been demolished the lalance grosjean factory in queens ( vetoed in 1981 ) has been brutally altered and the walker theater and rko keith 's flushing theater , in brooklyn and queens , respectively ( vetoed in 1984 ) , have been radically changed . but 5 such instances over 25 years and hundreds of contested cases is pretty conservative . whether the city_council will be as favorable will become evident only after it begins hearing landmark cases on aug . 1 . as for bronx borough hall , it was never replaced by a sports center . but preservation is returning nonetheless the department of parks is working on a 711 , 000 restoration of the deteriorated grand stairway that now leads to a parking_lot . when finished , it will memorialize an early chapter in new york 's preservation history . correction april 29 , 1990 , sunday , late edition final a streetscapes column on april 8 about the bronx borough hall erred in stating that the restoration of its grand staircase would cost 711 , 000 . that figure is for the entire project , including landscaping . work on the staircase alone will cost 175 , 000 .	has a location of america
lead for a quick glimpse of the problem , take a two minute walk in brooklyn_heights , new york city 's best preserved enclave of 19th_century brownstones , its first landmark district and a neighborhood with a glut of religious real_estate . for a quick glimpse of the problem , take a two minute walk in brooklyn_heights , new york city 's best preserved enclave of 19th_century brownstones , its first landmark district and a neighborhood with a glut of religious real_estate . preservationists , clergymen and congregants in this brooklyn community and others across the nation are struggling to find ways to restore their old churches and synagogues . organized religion 's membership and financial resources have been dwindling for decades , and hundreds of its buildings are scarred by neglect . aggressive new fund_raising techniques are being employed . some congregations have opened their doors to commercial tenants . others have sold their buildings to developers to be rebuilt into housing or offices . in all cases , paying the bills for restoration has required a delicate balance between the goals of worship , community_service and preservation . the difficulties are not new , but deteriorating houses of worship are attracting a fresh surge of attention in communities that range from the impoverished inner cities of the northeast to small desert hamlets in the southwest . ''the bills to repair and restore these buildings can be quite staggering , '' said representative peter h . kostmayer , democrat of pennsylvania and chairman of the house subcommittee on oversight and investigations , who held a hearing last week in philadelphia to explore ways the federal_government might help finance restoration of religious structures . in brooklyn_heights , with more than a dozen ornate 19th_century churches in less than half a square_mile , the tour might start at the corner of clinton and montague streets , where the 146 year old church of st . ann and the holy_trinity looks forlorn , its entrances covered by protective sidewalk bridges and four of its 66 stained_glass_windows the earliest detailed , large scale examples of stained_glass produced in the nation temporarily replaced by plywood . st . ann has become a preservationists' cause celebre . about 15 million is needed to complete its restoration over the next 10 years . its congregation is sharing the landmark sanctuary with a church related performing_arts group , which has booked everything from chamber_music to a recent performance by the rock singer lou reed , best known for his 1988 hit ''dirty boulevard'' and his classic of the 70 's , ''walk on the wild side . '' one block south , at the corner of clinton and remsen streets , is the former first church of brooklyn , a 140 year old building . developers bought it in the early 1980 's , restored its exterior and , despite neighborhood protests , rebuilt its interior into cooperative apartments . two blocks farther south , at clinton and livingston streets , is the venetian gothic st . anne 's church , designed in the 1860 's by renwick and sands , the architects of st . patrick 's cathedral in manhattan . the deteriorating building is surrounded by sidewalk bridges . ''this could be a model of the dilemma facing a lot of wonderful landmark churches , '' said hal wilke , spokesman for the packer collegiate institute , a neighboring day school that bought the church from the episcopal diocese of long_island in 1968 and uses part of it for classrooms . but packer , unable to find uses for all the space in the church , has spent more than a decade looking for someone who could . it has sought other churches that might buy it , and talked to developers who proposed apartments , offices and even a nightclub . so far , the search has been futile . ''it would take enormous dollars to renovate that building , '' said mr . wilke . ''our mission is education , not renovation . '' the problems in brooklyn_heights are not as severe as those in many poor urban_areas . ''it has been a long time since this community had the financial strength to maintain a building like this , '' said the rev . isaac miller , rector of the george w . south memorial church of the advocate , a huge , 100 year old french gothic structure in a predominantly black area of north_philadelphia . the congregation of this episcopal_church has shrunk to less than a third its size before world_war_ii , when its vaulted sanctuary would be filled by more than 700 worshipers on a typical sunday . today its congregation numbers 200 . its financial resources have dwindled even more rapidly with the flight of affluent congregants to the suburbs . nonetheless , mr . miller said , the church has raised 600 , 000 in donations , principally from philanthropic foundations in philadelphia , to repair the badly deteriorated roof . another fund_raising drive is planned , he added , with a goal of 1 million more to have the facade repointed and waterproofed and to make other long delayed repairs . ''the building has incredible needs and the only way we can deal with this is with support from beyond our walls , '' mr . miller said . although paying for expensive restoration work is the overriding problem , the questions sometimes are more complicated . clergymen say many churches and synagogues , particularly those more than 100 years old , are now far too large for the smaller congregations of the 1990 's , and have too few meeting rooms suitable for neighborhood groups , day care , services to the poor and homeless and other functions . landmark regulations in many areas have added another layer of complexity . in new york city , designated historic landmarks cannot be torn down without the approval of the landmarks_preservation_commission , and any work on their exteriors can be done only with the permission of the agency and if it conforms in materials and design with the original structure . dozens of churches and synagogues have been given landmark_status in the city , but not everyone is pleased by the distinction . ''the question becomes whether we should struggle to maintain a building we would rather not have , '' said edward c . horn , pastor of the church of st . paul and st . andrew , a 100 year old methodist church at the corner of 86th_street and west_end avenue in manhattan whose 200 congregrants attend services in a huge , badly dilapidated structure capable of seating 1 , 200 in its nave . the church has been struggling for a decade for approval to demolish and rebuild . it was designated a new york city landmark in 1980 , waged an unsuccessful challenge in court to have the designation removed and now plans another challenge under financial ''hardship'' provisions of the city 's landmark laws . church officials across the nation say membership has been declining most rapidly among long established denominations , which built most of the large religious structures in the 19th and early 20th centuries . the national council of churches , an umbrella_organization of protestant and eastern orthodox denominations , said that although the number of people attending church has remained constant over the last 20 years , ''old line denominations , '' including the presbyterian church , the united church of christ , the episcopal_church and the methodist church , together have lost more than 5 million members . membership in the roman_catholic_church , the nation 's largest christian denomination , has not fallen off , the group said . but it added that demographic shifts had removed large numbers of catholics from urban neighborhoods where they had previously supported large old religious buildings . representative kostmayer said one way of tapping federal support may be to direct the national_parks service , either through legislation or congressional pressure , to set aside money to restore important , landmarked religious buildings . the agency has declined such support in the past , saying it might be challenged on constitutional grounds related to the separation of church and state . foundations in some regions of the country have been increasing their support . for example , the new york landmarks_conservancy , a preservationist group , established a fund for sacred_sites and properties in 1986 , and has so far raised 650 , 000 from the j . m . kaplan fund and other donors to be distributed in grants for the restoration of religious buildings . the conservancy 's fund has distributed 500 , 000 in grants to 129 projects . they include the repair of the roof at the church of the holy apostle , a 142 year old episcopal_church at ninth_avenue and 28th street in manhattan and the installation of an elevator and other work necessary to improve access for handicapped congregants at the brotherhood synagogue , a 131 year old building originally erected as a quaker meeting_house on gramercy_park south . ''the preservationist community recognizes that these churches and synagogues are important structures , and it is putting its money where its mouth is , '' said edward t . mohylowski , director of the fund for sacred_sites and properties , which has scheduled an exhibit of photographs of some of the churches it is working with from thursday through april 14 . the exhibit , ''landmarks of hope preserving sacred_sites in the empire state , '' will be held at the urban center , 457 madison_avenue at 50th_street . but even with expanding foundation support and calls for assistance from washington , no one holds out hope that money can be raised to repair and restore all the historic religious structures that are suffering from declining membership and scant financial resources . ''these buildings are immense and complicated , but that is their glory , '' said a . robert jaeger , a co founder of partners for historic places , a nonprofit preservationist group established in philadelphia last year to advise religious institutions around the country on restoration of their properties . ''without an awful lot of money , we are going to have to be inventive , '' he added . one unusual approach is in the blighted central_ward of newark , where the 115 year old roman_catholic st . joseph 's church was acquired for 130 , 000 in the early 1980 's by a nonprofit community group . it has since spent 2 . 5 million in a painstaking restoration of its facade and stained_glass_windows and a complete renovation of its interior . the building has been transformed into st . joseph 's plaza , a complex of two restaurants , a health spa , a group medical practice and offices for several nonprofit agencies . it is fully leased , with commercial tenants paying enough rent to support other operations of the community group , new communities , which has built more than 2 , 000 units of low and moderate income housing in newark . ''the church offered an excellent opportunity to provide something of a unifying force in the central_ward , a place that had a lot of negative feeling , '' said bill linder , a roman_catholic priest and founder of new communities . on a typical weekday , the building 's health_club and restaurants are patronized by a multiracial mix of professionals from the central_ward and elsewhere in newark . toward the other end of the preservationist spectrum is a project in new mexico to restore dozens of small 18th and 19th_century adobe churches and chapels scattered at remote crossroads in the state 's rural landscape . many of the congregations and communities they once supported have dispersed with economic shifts and urbanization . nancy arnon , project director for the new mexico community foundation , a rural economic_development group , said 800 of the historic adobe structures have been catalogued , most in need of repair . the principal problem , she said , is that adobe , a mix of soil , sand , water and straw , disintegrates when left to the elements without routine maintenance . since organizing a restoration campaign two years ago , she said , her group and others involved in the effort have had little trouble finding volunteer workers . she said hundreds of people with family roots in the rural towns had attended ''work weekends , '' some of them traveling hundreds of miles from their homes in larger southwestern cities , to work on the churches of their ancestry . one of the churches that has been almost totally restored is la capilla de san_antonio , built in 1865 in chacon , a community with less than 40 families northwest of santa_fe . ''work on our church has been a tremendous point of pride for all of us , '' said mary romero , an accountant in chacon who , with her husband , a firefighter , are caretakers of la capilla de san_antonio . last year they organized their community to provide food and lodging for dozens of people who visited on 10 work weekends and repaired the badly weathered adobe structure . the rocky road to restoration even when religious institutions succeed in raising outside financial support , the process of restoring their buildings can be difficult . take the case of st . ann and the holy_trinity , an episcopal_church in brooklyn_heights . renovation of the church , built in the gothic revival style in 1844 with the first detailed , large scale stained_glass_windows produced in the nation , has been going on slowly and erratically since 1979 when the new york landmarks_conservancy began raising money for the work . it raised 300 , 000 . in 1983 , when it became clear that a much larger fund_raising campaign would be needed than was originally planned , the st . ann center for restoration and the arts was created and took over the project . the group 's board includes the rector and members of the church , preservationists and an artistic director who books performances in the building . more than 1 million has so far been raised from individuals and foundations , including a 250 , 000 grant announced this month by the getty foundation of california . a stained_glass shop has been set up in the rectory , and 13 of the 66 badly deteriorated stained_glass_windows have been cleaned and rebuilt . lower portions of the church 's facade have been restored . but much more work is required , and much more money must be raised . members of the board of st . ann center say it will take 15 million more to complete the restoration of the church . a_10 year plan now being circulated spells out what work is to be done , but provides no assurance the funding can be obtained . those in charge of the restoration say the performances in the church , conducted most weekends in its 700 seat sanctuary and a separate auditorium , are an integral part of the effort . although ticket sales are devoted to the center 's support and do not generate enough money to contribute to the restoration unless performances are staged as fund_raising benefits , they say the performing_arts venture has drawn widespread attention to the building from people who otherwise might not have visited it or any other church . among performers who have appeared there are bob wills and the texas playboys , a country and western group john cale , the avante garde composer mariann faithfull , the rock singer , and peter serkin , the pianist . ''we sometimes feel as though our space is being invaded , '' said the rev . william d . persell , the rector of the church , whose 200 congregants often find themselves sharing space at sunday morning services with saturday night 's props . ''it is not my mission to produce rock concerts , '' he added . despite the aggravations , he said the mixed use of the church had succeeded in drawing new members , including young people who first attended performances and later joined the church . leaders of the st . ann center say the restoration plan , besides the ongoing work on the stained_glass_windows and facade , includes replacing the church 's heating , electrical and plumbing systems and making alterations in the sanctuary to more efficiently accommodate its combined use for worship and performance . one plan is for a moveable stage in front of the altar for performers and their props . on sunday mornings , the stage would be lowered and removed from view . thomas j . lueck	has a location of america
you live where ? such is the reaction that ron saleh and other new residents of this long suffering city inevitably get when they tell friends they have moved here from new york , hoboken or one of the region 's manicured suburban bubbles . but the question , frequently delivered with an expression that combines awe with disgust , is often followed by another you pay how much ? mr . saleh , 37 , a public_relations executive who most recently had addresses in washington , atlanta and roosevelt_island , takes a certain pleasure in forcing manhattan centric friends to cross the hudson , and watching their skepticism melt to envy as he shows off the smartly restored two bedroom house he rents for 1 , 400 a month about 1 , 000 less than he would pay for a two bedroom apartment in manhattan . ''when they realize this is 20 minutes from midtown and they see all the energy and all the hip people living here , they want to make the move , too , '' he said last sunday as he mixed cocktails in his kitchen for a crowd of friends , most of them recent transplants like himself . ''it 's not quite there yet , but newark is about to get hot . '' after four decades of economic_stagnation and bad publicity , new jersey 's largest city stuck in the public imagination as a place of stolen cars , ailing public schools and a busy international airport is sprouting stylish new restaurants , art galleries and bars that dispense 10 cocktails . a new indie music_festival is expected to draw thousands to the heart of downtown next month , and city officials say that applications for 22 condominium projects have poured in since january , twice the number for all of 2006 , with shaquille_o'neal , queen latifah and tiki barber among those kicking around development proposals . though its struggle against blight and crime is hardly past , some residents say newark is enjoying the kind of psychic rebirth that has helped transform scores of other downtrodden cities into nesting grounds for the young , the creative , and , with time , the well heeled . adjectives like bohemian and funky are increasingly tossed around , and even some skeptics are starting to believe in the moniker newark adopted two decades ago renaissance city . ''i think there 's a growing sense that it 's cool to live here , '' said joseph aratow , a real_estate_broker who has persuaded some of his deep_pocketed clients to give their vacant commercial property to gallery owners in the hope of encouraging more artists , and the people who love them , to migrate here . last month mr . aratow helped deliver rent free for at least a year a 30 , 000 square_foot furniture warehouse on market street to rupert ravens , a curator who will turn it into new jersey 's biggest gallery . mr . ravens , who helps coordinate the city 's annual artist studio tour , dreams of a newark biennial to rival art extravaganzas in berlin , venice and miami . ''this is the first time in my life i feel like i 'm in the right place at the right time , '' he said . to describe newark as chelsea on the passaic would , of course , be a bit hyperbolic in many of the city 's neighborhoods , ''funky'' is a generous euphemism for dandelion choked lots , tumbledown houses and malodorous bodegas . residents both new and old complain about shattered car windows , sparse population and the lack of decent shopping . ''if you live downtown , you still have to drive to buy a banana , '' said ade sedita , who opened an arts supply store in the city in march . ''if you 're comparing newark to new york city , it 's still a tough sell . that said , the opportunities here are endless for the right person . '' after decades of depopulation since the 1967 riots , newark has gained more than 10 , 000 residents in the past five years , including jennifer girardier , a wall_street hedge_fund broker , rachel robbins , an actress who moved here from california , and ms . robbins 's husband , michael saltzman , an urban planner who is working on several local development projects . in a city whose residents are largely poor or working_class and more than 70 percent minority , many of the new arrivals are white and upwardly_mobile , though neither the census_bureau nor city officials have demographics available on the newcomers . ''sometimes i feel like i 'm in a foreign country , '' said ms . robbins , a platinum blonde known for her impolitic humor . ''let 's just say we 're pioneers on our block . '' last sunday , ms . robbins and a racially_diverse mix of two dozen newcomers and old timers gathered in the courtyard of mr . saleh 's home near lincoln_park , sipping vodka tonics and dragging on camel lights as a pair of chihuahuas darted through their legs . known as the beach , mr . saleh 's cape_cod is the scene of frequent soirees that draw rehabilitated gang members , underemployed artists , investment bankers and members of mayor cory a . booker 's inner circle . many who were originally drawn here by the inexpensive housing say they have become gripped by a passion for the city 's resurrection . ''i think all of us envision what newark can be and we all feel we are the seeds of that change , '' said mr . saltzman , 36 , who bought a three family house near lincoln_park five years ago that has since doubled in value . a dozen blocks south of the park on halsey street , a low rise neighborhood that once teemed with small shops now is largely forlorn after nightfall . but boosters have rechristened the area halsey village , and city planning officials say five new restaurants are on the way along with 650 condo and rental_units . ms . sedita , the owner of newark art supply , imagines the area as new jersey 's version of the east_village , its raggedy brownstones full of artists , office workers and students from rutgers , seton_hall law_school and the new jersey institute of technology . on june 9 , the first annual newark arts and music_festival will try its luck along halsey street . david anstatt , one of the festival organizers , said he thought the time was right to capitalize on the emerging buzz about his new home . ''i think people finally realize newark is more than just about crime and drugs , '' said mr . anstatt , who is an owner of 27 mix , one of the city 's new high end restaurants . ''everyone here feels like the city is going to pop in five years . '' that popping sound can already be heard around the corner at 1180 raymond boulevard , where cogswell realty is almost finished carving 317 rental_units out of an art_deco beauty that was once the city 's most prominent office tower . arthur stern , cogswell 's chief executive , boasts that more than 80 percent of the tenants , most in their 20s and 30s , work in new york city , suggesting that newark is drawing refugees priced out of manhattan and brooklyn . many people peg the city 's nascent resurgence to the inauguration of the new jersey performing_arts center in 1997 , followed by the opening of a baseball stadium for the newark bears , though the minor_league team has never drawn the crowds boosters hoped . while a drop in crime and new york 's soaring real_estate prices have helped polish the city 's appeal , some say the spirit of change was enhanced by last year 's election of mr . booker after two decades of rule by sharpe_james , who is under investigation by state and federal authorities . steve iglesias , an entrepreneur born and raised here , says the overhaul at city hall helped persuade him to turn his family 's sporting_goods store in the ironbound section into a tapas lounge that has become a popular draw for locals who used to trek to manhattan for designer meals and late night revelry . ''there 's a feeling here of endless possibilities , and a lot of that has to do with booker , '' he said one recent saturday night , as a d . j . played a medley of music from the 1970s and 80s . ''at this point , if you build it , they will come . '' the heavily portuguese and brazilian ironbound , with its low crime rate , teeming commercial corridor and proximity to new york bound trains , has become relatively expensive , and that has been a boon to nearby lincoln_park on the other side of the tracks . the young and the intrepid have been filling up a smattering of renovated buildings near the 19th_century greensward named for president lincoln , which was once known for its constellation of jazz clubs but is now dominated by a string of drug treatment facilities . the city 's oldest gallery , city without walls , forms the nucleus of the enclave , which includes apartments inside a former carriage factory and a graphic_design studio , tritonic , whose three young partners are the toast of newark 's corporate and political set . although the neighborhood is decidedly edgy balloons tied to a stretch of fencing mark the most recent homicide three dozen ''green'' lofts and town houses are just coming on the market . the lincoln_park coast cultural district , as its promoters call it , will ultimately be anchored by a smithsonian affiliated museum of african american music . ''the amazing thing is that we never have to advertise our apartments they just rent by word of mouth , '' said tony gibbons , a real_estate developer who , along with two partners , is turning the former mccarter mansion that faces the park into a lavishly appointed home for foundations and nonprofit groups . for now , mr . saleh 's house is the most happening spot in town . a white_house aide during the clinton_administration who learned the art of hospitality working for club_med , mr . saleh 's gatherings are part salon , part bacchanal , with revelers , goblets in hand , vying for seats last sunday on the oversized lifeguard chair that dominates his tiny backyard . as guests nibbled gouda and tossed around a giant rubber ball , the sinking sun cast a pinkish glow on the colleoni , a stately apartment building facing lincoln_park that is being turned into luxury rentals . in the foreground , a pack of stray cats roughhoused in the debris of a vacant lot , and a few paces away , recently paroled felons did pull ups in the yard of their halfway house . at one point , mayor booker 's father sauntered through as hip hop music blared from living room . day turned to night , someone called out for another cocktail , and nobody seemed to notice as a hungry cat howled and the halfway house residents , perhaps stirred up by the party on the other side of the fence , shouted at one another , their voices filled with joy .	has a location of america
lead the sacred_sites and properties fund , a matching grant program for the preservation of architecturally significant religious sites in new york city , is a year old this month and once again is looking for beneficiaries of its largesse . the sacred_sites and properties fund , a matching grant program for the preservation of architecturally significant religious sites in new york city , is a year old this month and once again is looking for beneficiaries of its largesse . the fund , a program of the new york landmarks_conservancy , is inviting religious institutions to apply for its grants , which can run as high as 15 , 000 . the deadline for applications , originally set for may 1 , has been extended to may 11 . to be eligible , a property must be owned by a religious institution and be either designated as a new york city landmark or listed on the national_register of historic places . although priority is given to essential repair and restoration work , the grants also are available for planning aspects of a restoration project , including engineering analyses and feasibility studies . since last may , the fund has approved 40 grants totaling 145 , 750 to religious properties in every borough but queens , from which no applications have been received . institutions interested in the grant program should call the conservancy at 736 7575 or write to the fund , in care of the conservancy at 330 west 42d street , n.y. , n.y . 10036 . postings	has a location of america
students at nontraditional employment for women , a nonprofit_corporation that trains women for jobs in the building trades , will participate in a " practical exam " this year as they perform much of the work on a renovation of the organization 's quarters in the old chelsea firehouse at 243 west 20th street in manhattan . in the mid 1980 's , nontraditional employment for women took over the abandoned , century old firehouse after winning a 35 year year city lease on the property . two years ago , a 1 million project to restore the building was completed . the " spirit " of the three story firehouse " was retained , " said the architect , barbara neski , including the facade with its arched lintels and federal style coping . but the old wooden door through which horse drawn fire wagons once raced was replaced , and the interior was gutted for classrooms , a tool shop , a fitness room and offices . what was not anticipated , said martha baker , the school 's director , was a backlog of applications from women , many on welfare , who want to be carpenters , electricians and construction workers . the organization teaches about 300 students a year , but has a waiting list of about 200 . to create room for more students , ms . neski said , the renovation will enlarge the " tool shop " in the basement where the basic use of all types of tools is taught by relocating the fitness room to the ground floor , where it will share a classroom . office space on the third floor will be concentrated " to create a new large classroom in the entire front of the building , " she said . up to 50 students will work on the 100 , 000 project , " taking down walls , doing electricity , painting , plastering , " ms . baker said . " we are getting blueprints from the architect so that we can study them now . " the project should be completed by the end of the year .	has a location of america
lead first , vaudeville stopped being funny . then a fire burned off the top floor . finally , jersey_city , itself , began to slip . all in all , florida flats had hit hard times . first , vaudeville stopped being funny . then a fire burned off the top floor . finally , jersey_city , itself , began to slip . all in all , florida flats had hit hard times . an apartment building on barrow and york streets near jersey_city 's van vorst park , florida flats had once been a hotel favored by such entertainers as mae west , w . c . fields , george burns and the marx brothers when they performed at the majestic theater a block away . but then the theater was made into a movie house and later it was closed . the hotel was converted into apartments after a fire and fell into disrepair . in 1985 , as perceptions of jersey_city changed and it became an attractive alternative to high priced manhattan , sal dipaola , a partner with 424 baldwin associates , purchased the gray brick building for 2 million . a year later he began a 2 . 5 million rehabilitation . completed last month , the renovations created park house condominiums , 32 one and two bedroom apartments priced from 126 , 000 to 220 , 000 , of which 16 have been sold . in addition to restoring the fifth floor , mr . dipaola added two penthouses and a duplex to the building 's roof . to preserve the building 's street appearance , the additions are set back and disguised by a parapet . apartments above the second floor have views of new york harbor .	has a location of america
the white_house said today that it would propose legislation to set legal requirements for surveillance in cyberspace by law enforcement authorities similar in some ways to those for telephone wiretaps . privacy advocates and civil_liberties groups welcomed some aspects of the proposal but said they remained alarmed about a new f.b.i . computer system that searches and intercepts private e mail and can easily capture communications of people not suspected of crimes . the legislative proposal was made as the administration also announced today that it had eased export controls on encryption technology , making it significantly easier for american companies to sell software products to the european_union and eight other trading partners that can be used to keep computer data and communications secure . both the electronic_surveillance proposal and the export control changes are part of a broader policy outlined in a speech today by john d . podesta , the white_house_chief_of_staff . he said the policy tries to balance the privacy rights of computer users against the needs of law enforcement to be able to monitor digital communications . congress and federal regulators have done little work in the area , even as the world has quickly come to rely heavily on communications through cyberspace . more than 1.4 billion e mail messages change hands every day . the administration 's legislative proposal on electronic_surveillance tries to fix the inconsistent patchwork of laws that apply different standards to telephone , cable and other technologies with a single standard for those systems and the internet . prospects for the proposal in congress are uncertain . until now , law enforcement agencies have been able to monitor electronic communication with only modest court supervision . the proposed legislation would require that the same standards that apply to the interception of the content of telephone calls apply to the interception of e mail messages . specifically , it would require law enforcement agents to demonstrate that they have probable cause of a crime to obtain a court order seeking the contents of a suspect 's e mail messages . the proposal would also give federal magistrates greater authority to review requests by law enforcement authorities for so called pen registers lists of the phone numbers called from a particular location and the time of the calls . the magistrates now have no authority to question the request for such lists , which are frequently used by the authorities . in the context of the internet , existing laws are ambiguous about what standards apply for different kinds of surveillance . many limitations imposed on law enforcement in the context of telephone wiretaps like the requirement that such taps be approved at the highest level of the justice_department do not appear to apply to e mail surveillance . moreover , the cable act of 1984 sets a far harder burden for government agents to satisfy when trying to monitor computers using cable modems than when monitoring telephones . that has proved troublesome for law enforcement authorities as more americans begin to use high speed internet_service through cable networks . the cable act also requires that the target of the surveillance be given notice and an opportunity to challenge the request . ''it 's time to update and harmonize our existing laws to give all forms of technology the same legislative protections as our telephone conversations , '' mr . podesta said in a speech at the national_press_club . ''our proposed legislation would harmonize the legal standards that apply to law enforcement 's access to e mails , telephone calls and cable services . '' white_house officials said today that they hoped the proposal would break a logjam in congress where a variety of different measures have been introduced dealing with electronic_surveillance . the administration 's proposal adopts some elements of both democratic and republican bills . but congressional aides said there was too little time left in the legislative session and that the matter would in all likelihood remain unresolved until after the next term begins , in 2001 . administration officials said the proposal would apply to communications that either begin or end in the united_states . it would not apply to e mail messages transmitted entirely outside the country . privacy and civil_liberties groups criticized the administration 's proposal because it would continue to permit the government to use a new surveillance system that the groups say may be used far more broadly than older technologies , enabling federal agents to monitor an unlimited amount of innocent communications , including those of people who are not targets of criminal investigations . the system , used by the federal_bureau_of_investigation , is called carnivore , so named , agents say , because it is able to quickly get the ' 'meat'' in huge quantities of e mail messages , so called instant_messaging and other communications between computers . carnivore is housed in a small black box and consists of hardware and software that trolls for information after being connected to the network of an internet_service_provider . once installed , it has the ability to monitor all of the e mail on a network , from the list of what mail is sent to the actual content of the communications . marcus c . thomas , section chief of the cyber technology section of the f.b.i. , said the technology was developed 18 months ago by f.b.i . engineers and has been used fewer than 25 times . mr . thomas said that carnivore had potentially broad capabilities and that he understood the concerns of privacy groups . ''it can do a ton of things , '' he said . ''that 's why it 's illegal to do so without a clear order from the court . '' he said that most internet_service_providers had cooperated with requests to use carnivore . privacy groups and some internet_service_providers have been deeply critical of the use of carnivore because , once installed on a network , it permits the government to take whatever information it wants . moreover , the government has not said what it does with the extraneous material it gathers that is not relevant to the particular surveillance . the issue does not often arise today with the monitoring of telephone conversations because when a law enforcement authority wants to see a list of telephone calls made by a suspect , the agent gets an order from a magistrate , presents the order to a telephone company , and the company then turns over the list . in at least one instance , an internet company did not cooperate so readily with the government . in december , federal marshals approached the company with a court order permitting them to deploy a device to register time , date and source information involving e mail messages sent to and from a specified account . concerned the device would record broader information , the company countered with a compromise it would provide the government with the requested information about e mail senders and recipients , according to robert corn revere , a lawyer for the company , in recent congressional testimony . the company was later identified as earthlink , a service provider with 3.5 million subscribers . mr . corn revere said the government initially accepted the compromise but later became dissatisfied and wished to use its own device . earthlink objected but was overruled by a a federal court , which ordered the device deployed . other internet companies have also been critical of carnivore . william l . schrader , chairman and chief executive of psinet , a major commercial internet_service_provider , said that the system gave the f.b.i . the ability to monitor e mail messages of every person on a given network . he said he would refuse to permit the government to use the technology at psinet unless agents could prove that it could only sift out the traffic from a given individual that is the target of a court order . ''i object to american citizens and any citizens of the world always being subject to someone monitoring their e mail , '' said mr . schrader , whose company serves about 100 , 000 businesses and more than 10 million users . ''i believe it 's unconstitutional and i 'll wait for the supreme_court to force me to do it . '' civil_liberties groups , meanwhile , said that today 's policy announcement was an inadequate response to the growing controversy over the deployment of carnivore . ''today 's speech was camouflage to cover the mess that is carnivore , '' said barry steinhardt , an associate director of the american_civil_liberties_union . ''in light of the public and congressional criticism of carnivore , we had hoped and expected far more from an administration that likes to tout its sensitivity to privacy rights . rather than glossing over carnivore , podesta should have announced that the administration was suspending its use . '' facing growing concerns about carnivore , attorney_general janet_reno said on thursday that she would review whether the system was being used in a manner consistent with privacy rights in the constitution and in federal law . a subcommittee of the house is set to hold a hearing next week on the system . while the civil_liberties and privacy groups applauded giving judges greater discretion to review certain kinds of requests for surveillance , they were critical of other aspects of the proposal . marc rotenberg , director of the electronic privacy information center , a research organization that studies privacy issues and technology , criticized the administration for lowering the standards for surveillance of cable modems rather than raising the standards for telephone surveillance . ''the cable act provides for one of the best privacy protections in the united_states , '' mr . rotenberg said . ''the question is whether to harmonize up or harmonize down . our view is this harmonizes down . '' but administration officials said the cable act never contemplated that there would be broad use of cable modems for e mail traffic and that the standards used for obtaining warrants for telephone surveillance should also apply to digital communications through cable networks .	has a location of america
lead in most cities the phrase luxury apartment refers to an apartment in a new building . but in new york , increasingly , it is also being used to describe a renovated apartment in a former tenement . in most cities the phrase luxury apartment refers to an apartment in a new building . but in new york , increasingly , it is also being used to describe a renovated apartment in a former tenement . a century after developers started building them to house the city 's immigrant poor and nearly 90 years after the city outlawed their construction nearly 200 , 000 apartments in so called old law tenements are occupied in new york city . in the areas where they are concentrated , such as on the lower and upper east sides , the tenements are a major source of new housing and the pressure to convert them into cooperatives or condominiums has increased . as architecture , they are among the city 's most familiar facades . usually five stories tall and built on a 25 foot lot , their exteriors are hung with fire escapes and the interiors are laid out long and narrow in fact , the apartments were dubbed railroad flats . along with its more recent sister style , the bigger and less confining new law tenement , the buildings are deeply_rooted in the housing market in manhattan . ''the inventory is still shrinking , and we would expect it to , because we are dealing with the most obsolete housing in the city , '' said michael a . stegman , professor of city planning at the university_of_north_carolina and principal author of new york city 's triennial housing and vacancy survey . ''what is extraordinary is that so much of it has managed to survive and , indeed , to prosper , '' he said . ''this very old housing stock has proven itself to be extremely adaptable . '' according to professor stegman 's figures for 1984 , the latest year for which numbers are available , some 6 , 400 old law tenement apartments have been converted to co op or condominium ownership . it is a small number by citywide standards a total of 57 , 000 rental_apartments were converted to co ops and condos between 1978 and 1984 . but at prices that usually stay below 200 , 000 , the new apartments represent relatively affordable_housing in a city that has little of it . over the years , tenements have continued to set the architectural tone of some streets of the lower east side , where the largest group of undisturbed tenements remain , as do the wooden triple deckers in parts of boston , or row_houses in baltimore . by 1929 , more stringent fire codes and the growing acceptance of elevators led to a new housing code in new york city that effectively replaced the tenement with the lighter and better laid out french flats that stand at some of the cities plushest addresses today . to some urban experts , the survival of any of the old tenements is a kind of blight that an unfettered market would have eliminated entirely and replaced with newer , better buildings . but new rules of the housing market , including rent control and tenant lease renewal rights , have preserved some of the old tenements for the latest twist of the new york city housing saga the mass conversion of rundown rental_units into renovated co ops and condominiums . in better neighborhoods , or even just close to them , these old buildings are being resurrected as middle range to luxury housing . ''you can do a lot with a tenement for less than building a new apartment , '' said j . harvey rosenthal , who owns more than a dozen tenements on the east side and is renovating them for conversion as quickly as vacancy_rates and the state 's real_estate laws will allow . ''you end up with something that more people can afford . '' converters of the buildings are , when possible , combining two structures into one or knocking out walls to afford a wider floor span . air shafts and stairwells are replaced by elevators rooftops sprout skylights and shiny steel chimneys for modern wood burning stoves grimy brick facades are repointed and steam cleaned . what emerges are dwellings at prices far below those of most of the newer condo or co op buildings . for example , a one bedroom co op in a renovated tenement on east 98th street , adjoining a public_housing_project , is on the market for 120 , 000 . a dozen or so blocks to the south , apartments in former tenements that have been redesigned for a more modern layout can cost a half million dollars . ''one of the questions we should ask is why we still have so much of that stuff around , '' said peter salins , chairman of the department of urban affairs at hunter_college , who says the city was unable to maintain the high rate of replacement of the old tenements with modern elevator apartments in the 1920 's . along with some other experts , he says , ''the city has created a whole bunch of conditions that prevent that kind of natural regeneration , and the result is that we 're stuck with a lot of that kind of building , a kind that has been obsolete for years . '' professor salins acknowledged the rehabilitation work that such developers as mr . rosenthal are doing to extend the lives of the old tenements , but says that in the long run modern apartment designs would serve the city better . ''you can always squeeze another couple of decades of life out of the shell , '' he said , ''but optimally you should n't have that quality of housing around this long . '' it is not the shell itself that is at fault , he said . in fact , new york was ahead of other cities in its requirement for masonry construction . ''but the layout , the amenities and facilities , are bad , '' professor salins said . ''these apartments are very narrow , there is a very high ratio of depth to width , which makes it hard to get air and light into them . there is a great meanness about them , and ordinarily they would really not be worth lavishing a lot of money on . '' but george sternlieb , who is on leave from his post as director of the center for urban policy research at rutgers_university in new brunswick , n.j. , said land acquisition and construction costs in new york city are so high that even the oldest building becomes precious . ''you have a very old housing stock in these tenements , '' mr . sternlieb said , ''but your big problem is that they are your only cheap housing stock , so you 've got to nurse them . '' narrowness and all , that is what the city 's tenement refurbishers are doing . stephen corelli , an architect and developer , has found that rebuilding old tenements for conversion is a good way to get a start in the city 's high powered building and development industry . his latest project is a five story walk up at 104 east 98th street , on the edge of east_harlem , where many of the problems of layout that prof . salins complains of are evident . built on the standard 25 foot lot , the apartments are only 11 feet 6 inches across at their widest and about 55 feet deep . this works out to about 550 square_feet for the upper floor apartments and less on the ground floor , where the living rooms are but eight feet wide , the width of a standard sofa . despite this layout , mr . corelli argued that , at 120 , 000 for the ground floor apartment to 145 , 000 for one of the third or fourth floor units , his project offers ownership in a ''new'' building for about the same monthly costs about 1 , 400 a month , including maintenance of about 200 as a one bedroom rental apartment in normandie court , the new , block size development on east 96th_street at third avenue that is visible from his building . the size and style of normandie court , where rents for one bedroom apartments begin at about 1 , 300 , amounts to ''architectural vandalism , '' mr . corelli said . he would prefer to see developers working to rescue more old tenements like his instead of demolishing them to build modern towers . he concedes , however , prof . salins 's point about the troublesome layout of the old apartments . ''there is a negative side in the way these buildings are laid out , particularly with the old law tenements , in terms of interconnecting rooms with inadequate light and air , '' mr . corelli said . ''but it is possible with a little imagination and scale to re configure the interior layout and come up with something that is as good or better than anything you get with new construction . '' ceilings tend to be higher than the usual eight feet in new apartment buildings , he pointed out , while the varied facades of the old buildings give a human scale to the street . one way to overcome the shortcomings of a long and narrow design is to assemble two or more buildings and remove intervening walls to create 25 foot_wide apartments , which mr . corelli did with his first project at 175 east second street on the lower east side . in that project , he and his partners invested 1 . 6 million to remove walls and to install new stairs , an elevator , hardwood floors and new kitchens and baths . mr . corelli calls the resulting studio a ''loft style'' apartment . they are about 800 square_feet in size and sell for close to 200 , 000 . about one third of the building 's 24 units have sold since going on the market in october . at the other extreme , mr . rosenthal 's ''gut rehab'' of his old law tenement on east 63d street at first avenue changed original layouts very little ( although he , too , followed the standard practice of putting his elevator in the former air shaft ) to end up with four co op apartments on each of his five floors . the apartments are small even by new york standards , with studios of about 300 square_feet and one bedroom units with 376 square_feet . but the location , near sutton terrace , which is an example of the french flats style , makes the apartments a good buy , mr . rosenthal believes . he did the original rehabilitation work on his 63d street building in 1962 as a rental project , meaning that he has had to convert to a co op with some rent controlled tenants still in residence . this is a common practice in the city , although it requires care to avoid running afoul of city laws against warehousing too many empty apartments in order to obtain a conversion . mr . rosenthal is investing heavily in such expensive design details as marble bathrooms , polished brass trim and built in microwave ovens in his co op apartments . under rent control , the developer said , putting in such improvements is uneconomical , while conversion to co ops makes such upgrading a natural marketing tool . one of mr . rosenthal 's tenants is paying 380 . 60 a month rent on a one bedroom apartment , for example . its renovated double , on the floor below or above , will be on the market for about 170 , 000 , with a monthly_maintenance charge of more than 600 . ''the controlled rents and allowable yearly increases the city permits unfortunately are not enough to let you keep operating a building , even an old building , as a rental , '' mr . rosenthal said . ''that 's why so many buildings , and even little buildings like mine , are being converted . ''	has a location of america
lead mark green , who ran unsuccessfully against senator alfonse m . d'amato in 1986 , asked the senate ethics committee today to investigate the new york republican for ''questionable conduct , '' citing accusations that the senator was linked to the wedtech , pentagon and housing_and_urban_development department scandals . mark green , who ran unsuccessfully against senator alfonse m . d'amato in 1986 , asked the senate ethics committee today to investigate the new york republican for ''questionable conduct , '' citing accusations that the senator was linked to the wedtech , pentagon and housing_and_urban_development department scandals . mr . green filed a complaint with the committee seeking ''a preliminary inquiry and ultimately a full investigation'' of mr . d'amato , noting articles that ' 'reveal a pattern of exploiting his public office for the private benefit of his contributors and cronies . '' in new york city , mr . d'amato declined to comment on the complaint and called mr . green ''obviously a distraught former candidate . '' in the complaint , mr . green , a democrat and former associate of ralph_nader , said ''i 'm filing these papers not because of my campaign but despite it . also , this complaint is based almost entirely on public evidence disclosed since his 1986 re election . '' the complaint by mr . green , head of the democracy project , a liberal public_policy institute , contends that mr . d'amato lobbied h.u.d for low_income_housing subsidies for puerto_rico after several puerto_rican developers contributed 18 , 000 to his campaign . the complaint also cites apparent rigging of bidding for h.u.d . subsidized homes in mr . d'amato 's hometown of island park , l.i. , and possible conflicts of interest involving campaign contributions to the senator from wedtech , unisys a defense_contractor under investigation and some wall_street investment_banking firms .	has a location of america
the first thing that david ling noticed one really could n't avoid it was the accident directly across the street from the plain brick building for sale on a corner in the clinton_hill section of brooklyn . a shiny black car , its front end completely smashed , was just sitting there empty next to a police_car with its lights flashing . the second thing mr . ling noticed was the junkyard on the side of the brick building , a wide lot full of trucks , buses and cars . ''it 's a context i 'm not used to , '' he conceded , ''but it 's exciting , especially the car wreck . it 's like a chamberlain sculpture . and the junkyard , too '' mr . ling , a 47 year old manhattan architect who has designed boutiques all over the world for alberta ferretti , came to brooklyn to create plans for the red building , currently on the market for 1 . 14 million . for his sketch pad project , the architect , whose transformation of a connecticut barn can be seen in the july issue of architectural digest , chose this building from a handful for sale in brooklyn . some had been pretty white columns on a perfect miniature yellow temple . some had been grand a queen anne mansion with angular towers . but this rather nondescript three story building at 46 putnam avenue seemed to him like the cleanest slate . ''i wanted to create a dialogue on several levels , '' he said . the building is larger than it looks , and the rents most of the apartments are occupied are higher than one might think , considering the context the downstairs duplex rents for 3 , 000 the two upstairs three bedroom apartments bring in almost 2 , 000 apiece . ''it 's a wonderful neighborhood , '' said tom le , one of the listing agents . ''it 's in the middle of everything , and the subway is only three blocks away the fulton_street station . '' the apartments were redone in the last five years in sheetrock and new strip flooring , but it was the basement where mr . ling spent the most time a catacomb with stone walls 16 inches thick punctuated with massive arches . from the tarred roof sticky on a hot day ''you can see the empire_state_building , '' he exclaimed , ''and there 's the williamsburg savings bank , and look ! there 's the woolworth building . '' from this height , the nearby view of the street was completely different , too much more charming , to say the least . on the side street , irving place , the brownstone row_houses , lower in scale and more ornate in detail , were set off by locust trees ( ''mies 's favorites , '' the architect said ) . to the right , putnam avenue , the street that runs in front of the building , led to a church , with wide steps and a garden . to the left was a senegalese restaurant where mr . ling ate_lunch . what would he do with this urban m lange ? ''i do n't want to say , '' mr . ling replied a little over a week ago , toward the end of his first visit . ''sometimes i just stand in front of a building and let the idea come to me . '' he paused . ''i like context , perimeters , a riff on what 's already there , like the junkyard and the beautiful houses , the church and the wrecked car , having lunch in a senegalese restaurant , eating plantains and watching a guy sell haring esque woodcuts at a table nearby . it 's a pretty intriguing mix . '' only five days later , mr . ling produced his renderings definitely an intriguing mix . the plans show a complete transformation the building 's facade and its double hung windows would be replaced by a glass curtain wall and a moat . but the most remarkable thing may be the solid sheet of steel or aluminum he 's not quite sure which that rolls right up one side and over the roof , creating another story beneath it . this metal side faces irving place and is perforated only by slotted windows in an abstract pattern , placed to frame the view of neighboring houses and a particularly lovely rose garden next door . this imaginary building now has two pools one on the top floor , visible from the floor beneath it a ceiling of light reflected through water and one in the catacomb like ground floor , spilling out to form the moat . ''in a transitional neighborhood , the moat is a security measure , '' mr . ling said , ''to protect the curtain wall . '' he also called it a buffer_zone ''between the street and the nest and the water is calming . '' the wall toward the junkyard will remain exactly the same a solid brick wall , which is one of the reasons that mr . ling estimated the cost of this highly original makeover at 950 , 000 to 1 . 5 million , and not more . ''the foundation is the same , '' he said . ''two walls remain the same and then the floors remain pretty much the same . and the basement 's already excavated . what we 're really talking about is the new metallic wrapper , the new glass and whatever one wants to do on the inside . '' in getting ready to sketch , mr . ling said he looked at a dozen art books about his favorite sculptors john chamberlain ( famous , of course , for his assemblages of crushed car parts ) and richard serra , whose metal works take up entire rooms . he also refreshed his memories of the painting and sculpture of eva hesse , brice marden , ann hamilton and martin puryear . ''i combined their art with the varied urban environment , '' mr . ling said . ''we taped up all our contextual photographs and sketched on scrap paper . the first sketch was more rectilinear i liked the cornice and the brick walls . i was dealing with the tension between new and old , but i still wanted to insert something to clad , or clamp on , something that evoked modernism . '' in the end , mr . ling came up with the curve . titanium was rejected ''i did n't want to copy gehry , '' he said . he likes the shine of aluminum , but rusted steel represents the strength of gritty urbanism . who would live here who are his imaginary clients ? ''an art collector who 's fascinated by the transitional nature of the neighborhood , '' he replied instantly . ''young youngish . i do n't want to lock myself into a certain age . it 's a couple of any gender , and the key is that they 're interested in collecting art and space and views . ''in the end , i wanted to create a lyrical curve to bookend the block , '' he said , laughing . ''i guess i was inspired by the car parts . '' the specs sketch pad focuses on an apartment , loft , house or shack now for sale that has unrealized potential . each month , a different architect or designer is asked to create a vision of what the place might look like . architect david ling ( 212 ) 982 7089 property 46 putnam avenue ( listed by the real_estate company as 70 irving place ) in clinton_hill , brooklyn a three story brick building , currently divided into apartments . price 1 . 14 million renovation cost 950 , 000 to 1 . 5 million real_estate agents tom le and dennis mccarthy corcoran group ( 718 ) 923 8024 sketch pad	has a location of america
bruce b . dayton , a longtime trustee at the minneapolis institute of arts , is a nudger and risk taker . in running the dayton hudson corporation , the retailing giant that his grandfather founded in 1902 , he was known as a man who said little , relying on firm but gentle prodding to get people to do what he wanted . two years ago , mr . dayton nudged robert d . jacobsen , the museum 's curator of asian art . the two men were looking over the 75 pieces of ming and ching furniture that mr . dayton and his wife , ruth , had bought and given to the museum since 1991 . construction of its expanded galleries was beginning , and mr . dayton and mr . jacobsen were discussing ways that the furniture could be exhibited . ''bruce always thinks about how things will look in the museum , '' mr . jacobsen said . ''so he asked me about how the furniture would be shown , saying , 'ca n't there be some context ? ' '' the result will be seen in two period rooms that are the centerpiece of the asian art complex , part of the museum 's expanded galleries , which will have their grand opening next sunday . initially , the men talked about making a replica of a period room . then mr . jacobsen proposed an alternative . ''it 's a long shot , but let me go to china and find an authentic period room , an all purpose space like a reception hall , '' he said recently . architectural elements from chinese buildings were showing up at that time in antiques galleries from hong_kong to new york and london . but no one had brought a room or house out of china in more than 50 years . backed by mr . dayton , who said such a trip might be risky and costly but was worth the gamble , mr . jacobsen flew to shanghai and traveled west to suzhou near lake tai . it was in that area that the literati style of furnishings flourished among the elite in the late ming period , when men preferred to write music and poetry rather than go to war . after inspecting seven structures in five villages , mr . jacobsen flew back to report his findings to mr . dayton . he and mr . jacobsen decided which structures would be most appropriate for the museum , and mr . dayton bought two a 17th_century house with a soaring reception hall , graced by a glorious carved ceiling , and an 18th_century lattice framed scholar 's studio with an adjoining garden . ''i never thought we 'd find a room you could prove was a library or scholar 's studio , '' mr . jacobsen said . ''the one we bought was storing iron pipes and beehives , but it had its own plaque , dated 1797 , and an inscription on a beam that described the room as 'the studio of gratifying discourse . ' '' a year ago , a crew of 13 chinese artisans spent five weeks dismantling the two structures . last winter , after the parts were cleaned and repaired , they were shipped here . and in april , four of the workmen who had disassembled the structures were flown in from china to reassemble them at the museum , a three month task . ''our timing in pursuing rooms was sheer luck , '' mr . jacobsen said . until the 1990 's , when the shift to private ownership began in china , the communist government had forbidden the export of houses and rooms . other american buyers have followed suit . a year ago , edward c . johnson 3d , chairman of fidelity_investments , the mutual_fund giant , bought a 16 room 18th_century merchant 's house and donated it to the peabody essex museum in salem , mass . mr . dayton , who is 80 , has been a trustee and generous donor to the minneapolis institute for more than 50 years . until 1991 , his gifts to the museum were mostly european art mondrians , manets , monets , matisses , maillots , renoirs and rodins . then the francophile collector became a sinophile . he said the change occurred around the time he and ruth stricker were married . mrs . dayton , who is 63 , is the founder and the executive director of the marsh , a health_care and meditation center , with a staff of 175 , where yoga and tai chi are taught . she also collects chinese bamboo furniture . ''it 's strong and flexible , so i admire it as the chinese do , '' she said . mr . dayton had never bought antique furniture until he gave the museum his first chinese pieces a scholar 's cabinet and a pair of chairs , all ming . chinese furniture had struck a chord with him the plain surfaces and stark silhouettes , the high backs on chairs , the legginess of lean , long tables , and the practicality of folding_chairs . they seemed akin to bauhaus designs and the mondrian paintings he collected . his love of landscapes , well known from the french paintings he has donated to the museum , is also seen in a ming marble screen , the stone striated with an image resembling mountains . ( he bought it at christie 's in new york in 1996 for 1 . 1 million , a record for chinese furniture . ) mr . dayton paid all of the costs to buy the structures , dismantle , ship and reassemble them a total of 1 million . the 75 pieces of ming and ching furniture cost 10 times that . the daytons' generosity , mr . jacobsen said , cut through a lot of red_tape . ''if we would have gone through an accessions committee , piece by piece , these chinese galleries never would have happened , '' he said . ''we were able to act quickly . '' for mr . jacobsen , the settings offer museumgoers the serenity that many people are seeking today . for mrs . dayton , they reflect chinese ideals ''oneness with nature and our surroundings . and tranquillity life is a dance , not an argument . '' arts artifacts	has a location of china
to the editor re ''malarial treatment for chinese aids patients prompts inquiry in u.s . '' ( march 4 ) aids patients who voluntarily submit as a last resort to dr . henry j . heimlich 's malaria treatments are at the least making a contribution to our knowledge and may , in the process , have their lives prolonged . innovative thinkers like dr . heimlich make tremendous contributions toward solving problems medical , social , technological . not all of these ideas will prove successful , but ask the people who are alive because of the heimlich maneuver whether it 's worth trying to find new ways . phyllis bogen cresskill , n.j .	has a location of china
when a new digital music player lands ( and that 's about every week ) , there are three questions to ask how big is it , how much music does it hold and how much does it cost ? the arrival of the new bantam interactive explor ba350 provokes another question what color is it ? the ba350 , which comes with seven interchangeable faceplates in a range of colors , manages some telling answers to the first three questions as well . about the size of a stack of credit_cards , the ba350 can hold 128 megabytes of music , with more room in its expansion slot , and it costs just under 200 , which includes headphones and a car adapter . the biggest decision may be what faceplate to put on each morning . if deep blue had to choose its own colors , it might still be playing garry kasparov . bruce headlam news watch audio	has a location of china
there is a common bond among teachers of young children the world over , says dr . anne h . o'neill , a prekindergarten teacher at rye country day school who found this bond on a trip last fall to china where chinese and american teachers of the very young exchanged ideas . dr . o'neill has headed the prekindergarten program at rye country day school , a private_school , for 14 years and also teaches a course on child_development for parents . she has gone on study trips to poland , italy and estonia and expects to attend a world conference on early_childhood_education in copenhagen this summer . dr . o'neill recently completed a two year term as co chairwoman of the westchester association for the education of young children . she is also an adjunct professor at long_island_university 's campuses in rockland_county and west_point . here are excerpts from a recent conversation with her q . what surprised you most about china ? a . i was primarily in the cities and from what i have read and seen in pictures there is a great difference in what goes on in the major cities and elsewhere . i was astounded about how many similarities there were between shanghai and new york . in fact , my friend commented that if people do n't get to shanghai soon it 's going to look just like new york . q . was a class of 4 year olds doing the same things as a similar class in the united_states ? a . of course , when you visit a country and it 's specifically aimed at a particular thing , such as early childhood , they are going to show you the showcase things . we were taken to certain places . we saw a day care center in shanghai , which was just incredibly excellent . you would be hard put to find something better here in the united_states . we went to one elementary_school where i counted 40 children in a second grade classroom . but they were all completely enthralled with what the teacher was saying . the large number of students just did not seem to impact them . it has been common in my experience that no matter where you go in the world , when you talk to people who work in childhood programs they just are more relaxed if they know that 's what you do also . i think that 's primarily because the mantle of motherhood that falls over those who care for small children is much less threatening to other people . little children are basically the same from country to country . their needs are the same developmentally they need care , they need attention , materials to play with , time to play . q . did you witness a political bias in their education ? a . there is a course that they call politics in the elementary_school . it was explained to us that it 's really sort of like our citizenship courses your responsibility to your country and your countrymen , behaviorwise , and regarding honesty and following rules . it 's much more clearly stated in china for young people than it is in this country . their political course is a continuing class , something they want to inculcate early on . the child is part of the group , and the child has responsibility to the group . like certain ''virtues'' that would apply to a well run state , such as loyalty to the state , that the state has provided for you in many ways . the idea to me that was very interesting was that a state could sell a one_child_policy , and now they are reaping some of the unintended_consequences . i saw so many cute children . you 'd see one child with four grandparents with him . the change they 've been observing is that this little chinese child is becoming what they call the emperor or the empress because it is the only one . they had n't realized how much that impacts how a child learns and sees himself . if there are no peers in the family that has an impact . q . in your opinion , should we in the united_states give more attention to teaching morals ? a . that 's a question that teachers look at all the time . it 's my personal feeling that most of us make our moral decisions based on things that were taught in the home . it 's expressed this way in a frame on my door ''what parents teach stays with you always . what they fail to teach can never be learned from others . '' and i think that 's true . i think it 's part of our current view of schools that here 's what i want and the schools should provide it , that more and more the burden is being placed on the schools to do all this . and it 's not just by working parents and people who do n't have the opportunity to be with their children . that 's a failure of our thinking . parents have to assume more responsibility for their children and for how their children learn about the world and about their responsibilities . schools should reinforce it . q . but when parents do not accept responsibility for teaching morals , what can be done ? a . it 's not always that parents are n't doing it but the kinds of things they 're letting slide also teach the children . if you 're going to talk about honesty , then a parent has to be aware that anything he or she does in the sight of the child must hold up to what the parent has mouthed about that particular virtue . if you 're going to talk about kindness , if you 're going to talk about that we 're all the same regardless of our skin color , then you have to believe that yourself and act in such a manner that your children will accept that . q . you used a key word talk . a . yes , that 's very important . one of the things that has always amazed me is that people will sit through the 6 o'clock news , and i find the 6 o'clock news a very dangerous thing for small children . people presume that they are not paying attention there is never a time small children are not paying attention . if you look at the 6 o'clock news sometimes it looks as if the only people who get arrested are people of color . you have to explain to children why people are being arrested , why people create violence , about the anger how injustice breeds violence and the failure to regard your neighbor as a person of value breeds local violence . these are things that take time to teach . you ca n't just sit down with your 14 year old and talk about anti bias . it 's too late they already have too much baggage with them what they 've observed , what you 've said . i do a program on anti bias , and one of the things we do is ask people to assess their own biases . i ask how many of you have ever said ''is she jewish ? '' ''are they black ? '' ''is he baptist ? '' not one of us has not . what information are we exactly trying to get ? it is that most of us have learned induction and deduction methods of reasoning , so whatever our stereotype of that is we want to put somebody in some kind of stereotype . you can do that with oranges and with apples , but you ca n't do it with people , and we fail to make that distinction clear to children or to ourselves . q . the chinese are more homogenous than people in the united_states . how does that play out ? a . they said that the chinese are very respectful of their minority groups . for example , take the country 's one_child_policy . you can have a second child if you are a member of one of the minority groups . q . what would you change about early_childhood_education here ? a . we 're so busy filling the curriculum with a lot of ' 'memorize this , memorize that'' that sometimes we do n't take time to wait in our conversation with children and our behavior with children to give them some of the things that are really the basis of our civilization which are not academic . most kids learn to read and write , but we get people who want the child at age 3 to learn to read . they say , he really wants to read . well , i 'm sure he really wants to drive a car and fly a plane , too , but the child has no concept of how one develops the skills . the skills for reading and mathematics are learned by living life so that when you need those things they are there . there 's a developmentally appropriate time . it 's not the same for every child . we have to address that . most children do n't have a childhood anymore . it 's terrible . and it 's more important because that 's where you grow into yourself as a person and what you do comes out of that and whether you will see yourself as someone who is competent , who has social_skills , who is liked and knows how to deal with other people , who has problem_solving skills . it 's that kind of sturdiness that you want to build into children . but children are too programmed today with activities .	has a location of china
the government 's frantic attempt to control political views on the internet has taken a new twist with the detention of a man whose only apparent trespass was to help his father maintain web_sites featuring the father 's obscure , left_wing writings . the father , lu jiaping , 60 , a retired army officer , is free and still living in beijing , where he spends his days writing essays from his own cranky perspective . he has lambasted the authorities , for example , for indulging the united_states after the recent spy_plane collision , and he has questioned the 1989 massacre of student demonstrators at tiananmen_square , not because of the blow to democracy but because it derailed a drive against an ''unstoppable black tide'' of corruption . to publish his views , mr . lu , who is not adept with computers , mailed his articles to his son hu dalin , 30 , who posted them on the web_sites he had created for his father . but while the father remains free , the son , who dabbled in computers , the stock_market and an art supply business in their hometown , shaoyang , in hunan_province , was jailed on may 18 . that night , state security agents entered his house with a search_warrant and confiscated his computer and copies of his father 's articles , and told his girlfriend that this was a sensitive political case . ''this is very strange and i 'm very angry , '' said mr . lu . ''if i were detained there would at least be a reason , but my son has nothing to do with politics and this whole thing is illegal . '' he added indignantly that the family had been required to pay a 46 fee to the district police to cover 15 days of incarceration . ''you have to pay them to be kept in jail , '' he said . mr . hu 's parents and his girlfriend , he ying , have not been allowed to contact him . the police said to check on his status after 15 days , she said . mr . lu says he has published two books and occasional articles in chinese newspapers . but his main outlet recently has been two personal web_sites . they are among thousands of such sites in china today and are not widely known , though one of mr . lu 's home pages records nearly 27 , 000 viewers since it began last sept . 3 . one of the strangest aspects of the case is that mr . lu 's web_sites remained accessible in china today ( www . a2053 . home . chinaren . com and www . a2053 . myetang . com ) . the government has increasingly worked to block what it considers objectionable foreign and domestic sites and requires internet companies to censor their chat_rooms . many of mr . lu 's views are associated with the disaffected group here known as ''old leftists , '' though he denies the label . he says that mao 's disastrous cultural_revolution , for example , was a noble anti corruption drive , later perverted by bad elements . the article that appears to have triggered the detention , according to li qiang , head of china labor watch in new york who first reported the case , however , was mr . lu 's recent homage to an against the grain article that appeared in global times , an official newspaper . that original article , published may 11 , said the spy_plane case was further evidence that china must prepare to confront the united_states . mr . lu 's article , posted soon after on his web_site , was called , ''there is finally a different voice in the official media , '' and accused chinese leaders of ''fawning on'' the united_states .	has a location of china
men climb high up tall poles and jump between them to the sound of drums . a woman in a shining gray python colored body stocking balances a lamp as she twists upside down on a pedestal , her body bending like cooling taffy so that it is hard to see where her limbs begin and end . paper umbrellas twirl effortlessly , held by a pair of upturned , kneading feet plates spin three at a time atop long , slender sticks and a man juggles balls at the top of a three man pyramid , effortlessly dropping down to the ground afterwards to screams from the audience . the golden dragon acrobats have arrived . from the central chinese city of xian , the troupe consists of jugglers , contortionists and prize winning acrobats , some still in their teens . a good deal of imagination has gone into devising colorful ways to use their skills and take advantage of their apparent total lack of fear as they form human totems and balance on perilous looking stacks of ladders that lean like the tower of pisa when it is time for the performers to return to earth . in one act , men and women circled and crossed the stage grasping the innards of fast moving neon bright hoops that spun them every which way , sometimes with a squishy look that drew giggles from the children in the audience at the new victory theater . ''how did they do that ? '' a small boy asked his mother , so intrigued by the mechanics of it all that he nearly did n't make it out for an intermission brownie at the theater 's concession_stand . those who did may have regretted it , staring up at the stomach churning tower of chairs act , in which a blithe young man hopped higher and higher as attendants brought him more and more chairs on which to balance , upside down , so high up that his feet could have touched the top of the proscenium arch . ''one more ? '' he asked the audience , holding up a single finger . yells of encouragement welled up from observers of all ages , faces upturned , until he balanced on one hand atop an eighth chair , legs opening into a 180 degree split and turning slowly as he balanced on the tilted back of the top chair . that exchange with the audience was charming , as were the performers' matter of fact trots off stage after seemingly defying death . watch out , ''nutcracker . '' performances continue through jan . 1 at the new victory theater , 209 west 42nd_street , manhattan , ( 212 ) 239 6200 . acrobatics review	has a location of china
the mayor of beijing ordered all internet cafes in the city today to shut down temporarily after at least 24 died in an early morning fire in an unlicensed cafe in the university district . the fire , said to be the deadliest here in more than 50 years , started at 2 40 a.m . in the lanjisu internet cafe in northwestern beijing . like many similar establishments , the internet cafe was crowded with students who cannot afford personal_computers and visit the cafes at night to take advantage of lower rates as they surf the web , play internet games , dawdle in chat_rooms and exchange e mail . and like many similar cafes in beijing and around china , it was a firetrap . dozens of computers were crowded into a second story room with barred windows and just one door that witnesses said was bolted shut , requiring customers to knock to be let in or out . neighbors described hearing the screams of students pressed against the windows , unable to escape . firefighters broke into a back window and rescued several patrons , according to a report by the state run new china news_agency , and had the blaze under control within about two hours . the authorities released no information today about the cause of the fire , and the police were reportedly trying to find and arrest the owner . past efforts by beijing and other cities to regulate the proliferating internet bars have involved more threats than effective action . in beijing alone , there are some 2 , 400 computer cafes , only 200 of them licensed , the news_agency said . but the new tragedy evoked unusually strong vows from beijing leaders , who know that the country 's widespread problems with fire and building safety have become politically sensitive . in december 2000 , when a disco fire killed 309 in the central city of luoyang , official careers were derailed and 23 people deemed directly responsible for the unsafe conditions in the building were sent to prison . today , after an emergency meeting , mayor liu qi said all internet cafes , legal or not , must close down immediately , the news_agency reported . no new licenses will be granted to internet cafes , the mayor reportedly decreed , and those previously licensed will have to reapply and certify that they ' 'meet relevant requirements . '' any illegal cafes , the mayor said , ''will be severely punished . '' the mayor also announced a special three month inspection of fire safety in all the city 's enterprises and commercial buildings . officials have been frustrated not only by safety lapses in the cafes , but also by their alleged use to spread pornography , provocative rumors and unapproved political ideas or information . school officials have also fretted that computer rooms are luring teenagers away from their studies and are a bad social influence . but the demand for computer services is huge and growing , and officials did not say how they will stamp out the thousands of establishments , which range from store fronts with a few machines to large scale operations like the one that burned today . by this evening , a computer bulletin_board run by people 's daily , the newspaper of the communist_party , carried several messages criticizing the beijing authorities . the underground internet bars are so popular , one writer said , because the local police and officials make it so difficult to obtain a license . another person , noting the city government 's urgent new safety measures , wrote , ''everyone is asking what they were doing before this happened . ''	has a location of china
the 50th_anniversary of the people 's republic of china is being heralded here with a celebration intended by the government to top all celebrations . on friday morning , half a million invited citizens will gather in tiananmen_square in beijing for a speech by president jiang_zemin , followed by the biggest military_parade in the country 's history , with 90 floats , 140 , 000 marchers , numerous tanks and weapons , and 130 sorties by chinese air force planes . at dusk , 100 , 000 dancers and singers will perform . when darkness finally falls , fireworks displays with names like ''chanting the eulogy of the motherland'' will burst forth simultaneously from 10 locations around the capital . meanwhile , a performing_arts festival in beijing , which began an aug . 1 and runs until oct . 15 , is presenting theatrical and operatic groups from around the country . organized by the ministry of culture , it includes 100 different productions of traditional opera , western opera , drama , dance , symphonic music , puppetry , acrobatics and more . ''they represent all the different performing_arts in china , '' said wang wenzhang , the director of the ministry 's arts department . ''seventy seven come from outside beijing . these include troupes from the army , the railroad , the coal mines and the handicapped , but most are professional companies . also , 23 performances will be staged by the 11 companies that the culture ministry manages directly . '' preparations for the festival began in 1998 , when each province and region was asked not only to select two of its best stage performances to send to beijing but also to organize its own festival . ''most of the performances are intended to represent the new society , '' mr . wang explained . ''in the 50 years of new china , except for the cultural_revolution , literary and artistic thought has been liberated . '' in fact , the 50th_anniversary performing_arts festival underscores not so much the liberation of the performing_arts as the extent to which further liberation is needed . for , 50 years out , china 's performing_arts are stifling under the weight of the system created to support them . communist_party policies , some well intentioned and others deliberately repressive , have accomplished what no emperor ever could the virtual silencing of the performing_arts as an alternative voice in society . ''the speed at which culture has developed has no comparison to the economy , '' said jin xing , a modern dancer and choreographer . ''we have a very rich culture full of artists , but we do n't have art . propaganda and politics have messed everything up . '' the extent to which propaganda and politics have messed things up varies among the art forms . while film is subject to strict censorship , china has produced several acclaimed directors whose movies take top prizes in international competitions . pressure from hollywood helps the government does not want to see china 's film_industry supplanted by foreign movies , and it likes seeing chinese directors acclaimed abroad . and television the realm of schlock and kitsch , to be sure still attracts talent because it pays well . visual artists in beijing and shanghai increasingly push the limits of government control by staging unauthorized exhibitions that would shock even in the west with their explicit sexuality or extreme morbidity . though they may be closed within a day , exhibitions can be held almost anywhere , and others soon crop up . but with few exceptions , the performing_arts offer little innovation or creativity . and the prime factor keeping them moribund is their age old link to politics . the tradition of holding a performing_arts festival , which dates from the 10th anniversary of the people 's republic , is a contemporary illustration of this link . but antecedents are as abundant as some of them are ancient . a famous example was the celebration of the 80th_birthday of the qing_dynasty emperor qianlong in 1790 . opera was the main performing art in traditional china and troupes from around the country were invited to beijing for the occasion , touching off a major opera revival . as far back as the sixth century_b.c. , confucius considered music and dance so integral to political power that he fiercely opposed performances staged just for entertainment . history records that when the great sage found himself at a merry show mounted by jesters , singers and dwarfs in the home of a lord , he protested furiously ''commoners who beguile their lords deserve to die . let them be punished ! '' the performers were promptly killed . as china grew increasingly confucianized , so did its official arts policy . by the ming_dynasty , in the mid 14th century , all dramas critical of emperors , princes or sages were prohibited , while those about ''righteous men and chaste women , filial sons and obedient grandsons , and those who encourage the people to do good'' were encouraged . to give teeth to this policy , the yongle emperor ordered that those found with banned works ' 'should be killed , together with their entire families . '' the qianlong emperor adopted a more modern approach to censorship , establishing a committee that collected 1 , 000 dramas from around the country and expurgated or destroyed those deemed morally or politically suspect . of course , imperial efforts to foster pro confucian dramas and ban all others were far from uniformly successful . the mere fact that one emperor after another felt obliged to issue bans shows how popular heterodox dramas remained . still , by the 20th_century , traditional_chinese opera was so closely associated with confucianism , and confucianism with backwardness , that reform minded intellectuals argued for the abandonment or modernization of the ancient art form . they orchestrated the creation of ''new dramas'' with antifeudal and anti imperialist themes , featuring actors in contemporary costumes . they also introduced spoken drama to china , staging plays like ''uncle tom 's cabin'' and ''a doll 's house'' to encourage social and political change . ''spoken drama , opera , it was all in the service of revolution , '' said liu housheng , a drama critic who specialized in opera before 1949 and spoken drama afterward . when the overthrow of the qing_dynasty in 1911 failed to bring about constructive change , many intellectuals and artists pinned their hopes on the communist_party . the party widely employed performing_arts troupes to spread word of communism and the party 's own goals . art had always been a tool of ideology and regime maintenance in china , but mao_zedong made this relationship more explicit . in a 1942 conference on arts and literature held at the communist base in yanan , the future chairman of communist_china stated bluntly ''there is in fact no such thing as art for art 's sake , art that stands above classes or art that is detached from or independent of politics . '' that speech became seminal in determining arts policy in the people 's republic and remains influential to this day . once in power , the new regime built institutions through which art could be used to promote political goals . the ministry of culture sank roots throughout the country , setting up bureaus on the provincial and local levels and bringing all performing_arts companies under its umbrella . cooperation with the soviet_union was critical in that period , and the arts system that china established was essentially a mirror of that in the u.s.s.r . although mao stressed the political nature of art , he did not ignore the importance of artistic standards . if art was to serve politics , it had to be good . to insure high standards , and proper political thinking , training schools were set up nationwide , replacing the system of indentured apprenticeships that had long been the norm . indeed , one of the first and most laudable goals of the new regime was to improve the social status of actors . confucius 's attitude toward performers was not exceptional until the 19th_century , actors were commonly sold as slaves . the system of indenture that replaced slavery eight years of apprenticeship followed by three years of unpaid labor was only a minor improvement . many child actors were sexually_abused , and the profession was so closely associated with prostitution that its members could never mingle in polite society . reformers worked to remedy this situation in the early 20th_century with only partial success . in shanghai , for instance , gangsters demanded payoffs before shows right up to 1949 actors who refused found their performances interrupted by barrages of eggs , garbage and human waste . in the 1950 's , subtle battles were waged between political dogmatists and those who believed that the quality of art should take precedence over its politics . some forms of opera that had died out were revived , including kunqu , the style of ''the peony pavilion , '' which was performed at lincoln_center in july . previously ignored folk_art forms , like dance , puppetry and acrobatics , were given government support . efforts were also made to create performing_arts that were neither ancient nor western . one result was a kind of song and dance spectacle that combined folk_dance and melodies with western instruments and orchestrations . overall , however , the trend was toward increased politicization . ''art served politics , '' said mr . liu , the critic . ''everything was propaganda , about land reform or about opposing america and supporting korea . '' the politicization of the performing_arts reached its height in the 1960 's . in a perverse repetition of history , mao 's wife , jiang_qing , reviewed more than 1 , 000 operas and concluded that nearly all should be banned because they were about ''ghosts , emperors , officials , scholars and concubines . '' during the cultural_revolution , from 1966 to 1976 , all traditional operas were banned , along with virtually every other performing art . jiang_qing then engineered the creation of a new genre of ' 'revolutionary modern model operas , '' which featured heroic socialist archetypes . the model operas , which remain popular , were based on peking opera but incorporated western instruments , which she considered ''heroic'' and thought better inspired revolution . several of the eight model operas were also adapted for regional opera forms , symphony orchestras and minority nationality song and dance troupes , and even made into piano concertos . arts schools that had been established in the 1950 's closed down , and countless actors , musicians and dramatists died in prison or were driven to suicide . the cultural_revolution left all performing_arts utterly debilitated . but when it finally ended , a slow rebuilding began . artists were rehabilitated , and government controls were loosened by new officials , many of whom had suffered themselves . the subsequent flowering of the performing_arts , which lasted into the mid 1980 's , is widely considered the golden age of theater under the people 's republic . ''the period 1976 to 1986 was a high tide for drama , '' said mr . liu , the drama critic . but in the late 80 's , a slow decline set in . economic reforms brought reduced government financing of the arts and greater competition from movies , television and karaoke . the crushing of student protests in 1989 led to a tightening of restraints on all forms of public expression , including the artistic . the number of arts troupes began to fall according to mr . wang , of the ministry of culture , there were 4 , 000 performing_arts companies under the ministry 's supervision in 1978 as against 2 , 640 today . many of these companies exist in name only they are so short of cash that they almost never perform and must run side businesses just to meet payroll and pensions . performers' salaries failed to keep pace with inflation , and the average pay today barely amounts to a living wage . audience interest has also gone flat a survey last year in shanghai found that 75 percent of respondents had not entered a theater in years . if there is a bright spot , it is the decision of major cities like shanghai and beijing to invest heavily in world class theaters , which both excites public interest and creates a need for more and better performing_arts productions . the legacy left to the performing_arts by their age old linkage to politics is complex . government recognition of the importance of the arts remains strong , and relatively speaking , so does government support . most asian nations do not have even one western opera_company china has one in nearly every province . schools and conservatories continue to churn out actors , singers , dancers and musicians , giving china , in technical terms , one of the most artistically trained populations on earth . though performing_arts workers are not well paid , neither do they have to struggle and starve . yet official recognition of the power of the performing_arts is a double edged sword , bringing with it control . though deng_xiaoping denounced cultural_revolution era arts policies as ''preposterous , '' mao 's opinions on the arts have never been displaced , and official guidelines have been left conveniently vague . ''deng_xiaoping said that there should be no arbitrary meddling in the arts , '' mr . wang noted . that such arbitrary meddling still occurs is all too obvious . indeed , a classic case was played out in the international spotlight last year , when shanghai cultural officials banned the lincoln_center festival production of ''the peony pavilion . '' though many officials considered the action ludicrous and embarrassing , the decision was allowed to stand , because the ultimate right to judge the quality and usefulness of art belongs to the government , not to artists or audiences , and certainly not to foreigners . to emphasize this point , shanghai 's culture bureau has invested more than 350 , 000 to produce its own version of ''the peony pavilion , '' which will be performed in october as part of shanghai 's 50th_anniversary celebrations . the extent of meddling and control varies greatly , depending on region , art form , economics , personal relationships and the preferences of individual bureaucrats . beijing , for instance , is considered a more arts friendly environment than shanghai . ''beijing is much more free than shanghai , '' said a shanghai opera director who would speak only without attribution . ''shanghai is closed . in beijing , you have all the bureaucrats . if one says no , another will say yes . but in shanghai , it 's just shanghai . '' broadly speaking , there is greater freedom to innovate in imported theatrical arts than in traditional_chinese arts , about which many officials and ''experts'' have opinions , a lesson brought home by the ''peony'' debacle . the most innovative theater in beijing is spoken drama , with a heavy emphasis on works by western playwrights . classic dramas or new adaptations of old stories are also easier to stage than original works few of the productions traveling to beijing for the 50th_anniversary are actually brand new . there are , for example , two versions of ''wilderness , '' a play by the renowned dramatist cao yu one performed as western opera , the other as sichuan opera . to entice writers to produce new plays that could be staged for the 50th_anniversary , the shanghai government last year offered an award of more than 10 , 000 for a quality script , but none was found . indeed , many artists sneered at the offer , saying that no amount of money was worth the grief that would come when bureaucrats on every level capriciously demanded rewrites . while control of the performing_arts may vary , it never vanishes . ''the arts have always been a tool of politics , '' said a former arts official , who , once again , insisted on anonymity . ''after opening up , there was ping_pong diplomacy , and then there was cultural diplomacy . all the traditional arts troupes went overseas , and foreign ones came here . '' yet if the performing_arts remain a tool of politics , the nature of their political role has changed . audiences and officials alike still tend to scour even the most innocuous performances for hidden political meaning . but overt political content and blatant propaganda , still offered up by some theater directors , are for the most part just as actively discouraged by most officials . xie boliang , a drama professor and a member of shanghai 's committee to select 50th_anniversary productions , scoffed at the politicized pieces one local opera_company offered up . ''they were all about being a good comrade , '' he said . ''too political and too realistic . this is not the leftist era . you ca n't oppose politics or government , but your drama should still be art . '' mr . wang , at the ministry of culture , echoed these views . ''we stress artistic quality , '' he said of the performances chosen for the 50th_anniversary . ''this is not propaganda . the performances should reflect the lives of the people , but using artistic methods . this is an important principle . '' the adjective ''artistic'' crops up often in conversations with officials and critics , as does the seemingly innocent imperative that art should ' 'reflect the lives of the people . '' reflecting the people 's lives was , in fact , a key part of mao 's philosophy of art as espoused at yanan the only legitimate raw_material for art is the life of the people . while many artists are perfectly happy to reflect the people 's lives however ''people , '' ''life'' and ''artistic'' might be defined by prevailing authorities others chafe under such ambiguous constraints . some struggle on , but others turn to more lucrative work in television or business , or vote with their feet by moving to cities like new york . this more pragmatic approach may be one reason no influential arts underground has developed in china , as it did in the u.s.s.r . audiences , for their part , still tend to prefer pirated movies to theater , unless the show is an international co production or comes from overseas . there is no mad scramble for tickets to 50th_anniversary performances few outside arts circles even know the festival is going on . and china 's performing_arts , despite their rich traditions and talented performers , continue to make virtually no impact on the global stage . ''the talent is definitely there , but the support needed to give that talent direction and funding , and create an environment in which it could feed off itself , is n't , '' said william brent , the executive director of art and culture promotion , a company that specializes in performing_arts exchanges between the west and china . ''without it , it 's going to be really hard for anything exceptional to come out of here . '' a wish list of support would include a drastic increase in private financing of the performing_arts , especially in the form of endowed foundations backed by tax incentives . the dated quota system that requires troupes to perform hundreds of times a year in factories , schools and the countryside also needs to be relaxed . the fulfillment of such quotas is usually pro_forma a troupe that has not met its quota by early autumn will suddenly go to the suburbs and stage the same opera excerpt three times a day for several weeks but it is still a managerial and financial burden . the mainstream press , even leaving aside political considerations , could play a more constructive role . as it is , audiences know that most press coverage in beijing must be purchased the ''transportation fee'' for a print journalist to attend a press conference announcing a new production is typically 25 to 50 . theatergoers therefore believe nothing they read and rely almost exclusively on word of mouth in deciding what to see . indeed , so perverse is the relationship between the press and the public that if a production receives a strongly negative review , people will clamor to see it , though by that point it has usually been shut down . ''it 's a question of legacy versus creativity , '' said the former arts official , as she considered the current state of the performing_arts . ''china has the legacy , but the creativity ? i think first we need political change , then maybe there will be changes in the arts . '' still , like ms . jin , the choreographer , she is quick to point out that much progress has been made since the start of reform and ''opening'' in 1978 . ''twenty years is n't that long , '' the ex offical said hopefully . ''it seems long because human lives are short . but in the history of china , it 's not much time . '' music sheila melvin is a freelance writer based in shanghai .	has a location of china
an article yesterday about private investigators who pose as journalists misidentified an internet publication that became the target of one investigator after it criticized a hong_kong real_estate project . the publication is webb site . com , not cyberport , the name of the project .	has a location of china
in the winter of 1944 , near the close of world_war_ii , two austrian mountaineers escaped from a british prison camp in india and fled on foot over the himalayas toward tibet . after an arduous journey of two years , they reached the " forbidden_city " of lhasa , the capital of tibet and the home of its incarnated god king , the dalai_lama . once there , they stayed on for five remarkable years , first as tolerated refugees , then as trusted officials in the tibetan government . one of the men , heinrich harrer now 81 , with a distinguished career as a photojournalist behind him recorded his experiences in the now classic book " seven years in tibet , " first published in 1954 . part field report , part diary , it is the study not only of an insular culture but of the author 's gradual shift in attitude from skepticism at what he took to be the crudities of a foreign land to a profound sense of respect and finally love . at least as evocative as his words , however , are the hundreds of stunning photographs that mr . harrer took during these years . using a leica camera and film that had serendipitously found its way to wartime lhasa , he became the first person to visually document a centuries old culture that is all but extinct today . a show of 42 black and white photographs titled " seven years in tibet , 1944 1951 " is on view , through dec . 19 , at the newark museum . organized by leslie dirusso , it has been touring the united_states since 1991 . but it can surely have found no more apt or receptive a venue than the newark museum 's himalayan galleries , which hold not only the religious objects including a full scale altar dedicated by the dalai lamai in 1989 but also a gathering of artifacts of tibetan material culture . the world that mr . harrer chronicles was in every sense extraordinary , and little of it escaped his fascinated eye . he recorded the topography of lhasa the great pyramidal western gate through which he first entered the city , the monumental obelisk , dating from the 8th century a.d. , whose inscription celebrates an ancient victory of the tibetans over the chinese , and the 17th_century potala place , looming as vast and white as a glacier over the city . ceremonies of state are documented , with ministers dressed in fabulous robes , an example of which , made of layers of french , indian , tibetan and chinese silk , is on display in the museum collections . although mr . harrer also photographed many details of daily life in lhasa its beggers and children and laborers few of these images are included in the exhibition , a curatorial decision that unfortunately skews the show away from the realities of the rigid hierarchical structure of tibetan society , with its wealthy aristocracy and impoverished underclass . ( for such images one must turn to the book of mr . harrer 's photographs titled " lost lhasa , " published in 1992 . ) what is ever present in these pictures is the evidence of religion . the image of 30 joyous monks carrying an immense , rolled up tanka , or religious painting , on their shoulders is matched by the shot of a similar tanka identified as the world 's largest hanging , several stories in height , from the walls of the potala . no object , however , embodies the spirituality of this culture as completely as the dalai_lama himself . born in 1935 , he is regarded as a living incarnation of the buddha , and his authority is absolute in matters temporal and spiritual . it was the present , 14th dalai lama , deeply interested in western technology and fearful of the threat posed to his country by international postwar politics , who encouraged mr . harrer 's interest in photography and commissioned him to document a tibetan way of life . these premonitions were realized with the chinese takeover of the country in 1951 . in november of that year , with mao tse tung 's troops advancing on lhasa , the dalai_lama left the city and headed south toward india , knowing that as long as he eluded capture , the spiritual core of tibetan_culture would be preserved . mr . harrer ruefully records the progress of that flight . the last photograph of the dalai_lama taken in a free tibet shows a frail looking 16 year old blessing an urn holding relics of the buddha . the final photograph in the show is of four small figures the dalai_lama among them hurrying on foot across a frozen , wind swept plain . in 1982 , mr . harrer returned to lhasa and found it dramatically altered . the great_western gate was gone , the inscription on the obelisk obscured , and many of the monasteries and schools were destroyed . no great tankas remain to adorn the potala walls , and the palace presides not over public gardens and a vibrant tibetan community but over a bleak military encampment . without the photographs in " seven years in tibet , " in fact , there would be little evidence of the rich culture that once filled this himalayan vastness . much of what remains of that culture is , in fact , now found in countries that 40 years ago knew tibet only as a myth . this fall , monks from the dalai_lama 's namgyal monastery , in exile in india , will create , entirely from loose , colored sand , the elaborate and minutely detailed religious design called the kalachakra mandala , or " wheel of time . " ( work on it will begin at the world trade center on oct . 19 ) . traditionally , when the mandala is finished , the sand is swept into a little pile , and the resident spirits are dispersed . to the buddhist way of thinking , the material world is transient everything is in the process of passing away but also of returning . seen in that light , the vanished tibet captured in mr . harrer 's images may hold the seeds of the free tibet of tomorrow , a tibet for which many observers , tibetan and non tibetan alike , continue to wait in vigilant patience . photography view	has a location of china
in the dead of winter , gray clouds hang ominously over the campus of beijing_university and bare trees rustle in the wind . but inside the dank , putrid dormitories , students complain that a spiritual bleakness chills the bones even more than the outdoor cold . ever since its students joined the famous democracy movement of may 4 , 1919 , beijing_university has nurtured a tradition of political fervor and rebelliousness . at that time , the authorities turned part of the old campus into a jail for student protesters . but the stopgap_measure failed , and the political momentum led to the communist movement in china . beijing_university is the most prestigious chinese university , a national_symbol of intellectual life , equivalent to harvard , yale and princeton rolled into one . the offspring of china 's leaders have gone there for decades , and it is the alma_mater of the children of the senior leader , deng_xiaoping . its intellectual exuberance was precisely why beijing_university became the center of the 1989 tiananmen_square democracy movement and of smaller protests throughout the last decade . but now , students and faculty say , the authorities have suppressed the school 's vitality . they fear that china 's greatest educational institution is being suffocated . " our freedom of political expression and our freedom of movement is suppressed , " said a young teacher at the university who insisted on not being identified by name . " but the impact is probably more serious here than elsewhere because beijing_university carries so much prestige and influence . " suspicions are fostered many employers say they do not want to hire beijing_university graduates , out of concern that the students are too politically active , and some of the brightest high_school students are considering alternatives to beijing_university , applying elsewhere or arranging for study abroad . school authorities also have fostered suspicions and tensions among students and teachers . after the tiananmen military crackdown on june 4 , 1989 , the school closed the history department and three other faculties to incoming students , reduced the size of the freshman class from 1 , 400 to 900 , then sent them off to a year of military training . now , a year and a half later , the effects of the government 's measures to politically sanitize the school seems to have squeezed the life out of the students , most of whom have reacted not so much with fury as with apathy about politics and studies alike . during the last semester , the libraries were often more deserted than the movie houses , and the recent political trials of fellow students involved in the tiananmen democracy movement hardly sparked interest . teachers say students have turned from their studies to more superficial , even traditional , pursuits . men are playing basketball , women are learning to sew and cook , and posters on campus advertise sales rather than lectures . tiananmen rarely discussed even among close friends , the tiananmen democracy movement is rarely discussed , teachers and students say . teachers have been especially prudent about not discussing politics during class , and they point out that students have reported several instructors who have appeared too westernized in their thinking . the freshman class is often scorned because it spent all of last year in military training and political indoctrination . new regulations dictate that freshmen live in a special dorm apart from the other students , have separate student unions , and their own exercise drills . " there is only a one or two year difference between the class entering in 1989 and the class entering in 1988 , " said a third year student . " but it seems as though we are an entire generation apart . " by this summer , half of the undergraduates will have had a full year of military training , but many students say the government will not be able to control their thinking . aware of their isolation , some freshmen insist they have not been brainwashed . " i absolutely hated that military experience , " said a freshman , who completed the training . " now when i think back on it , i find that the negative aspects of that one year of military training have made me understand the value of freedom . " campus political cleanup ends at the end of 1990 , the last government inspection_teams cleared away their pens and notebooks and pile of files from the various university departments in a long campus wide cleanup of the tiananmen democracy movement . in december , 18 months after the crackdown , teachers were expelled from some faculties , including the history department , where a prominent student leader , wang_dan , majored . control measures have not abated . the authorities are sending a senior party official from the hard line city government , wang jialiu , to replace the current university communist_party secretary , wang xuezhen . university officials declined to comment , but teachers say that the current party secretary is considered too lenient to the students . more than a year ago , the university president , ding shisun , was replaced by a party hardliner , wu shuqing . mr . wu declined to be interviewed . university officials refused to arrange other interviews , and reporters are officially barred from campus and are not allowed to talk to students . " the goal of the university leaders is to shape our consciousness so that it is just as innocent as that of our parents' generation , " said another third year student at the school . " they want us to believe in communism , to firmly believe in the leadership of the chinese communist party . they want to pull us east , so that we cannot go west . "	has a location of china
four friends who met on university campuses to discuss politics and who posted occasional essays on the internet were sentenced here to long prison terms on wednesday , convicted of ' 'subverting state power . '' the beijing intermediate people 's court sentenced xu wei , 28 , and jin haike , 26 , to 10 years . yang zilin , 32 , and zhang honghai , 29 , were sentenced to eight years , according to human_rights groups and relatives of the men . the case has long enraged human_rights advocates , in part because the group 's activities seemed to be innocuous and in part because the four men had been imprisoned for over two years without a verdict in their trial . calling the verdict ' 'sickening , '' mr . yang 's wife , lu kun , said in a telephone interview ''they all said they were innocent . they said that everything they said and wrote was within the limits of what is permitted by the constitution . '' the four were first detained on march 13 , 2001 , just months after they had formed the new youth study group , a small group of like minded friends who met occasionally outdoors at beijing_university to discuss political change in china , according to friends . the meetings involved well under a dozen people . while the group 's members generally agreed that china needed a multiparty democracy , press_freedom and free elections , their discussions and their internet essays were about political theory , according to their supporters . the group had no plans to foment change actively . still , in china such groups are supposed to be registered with the state . today 's verdicts reflect the reality that in this communist dictatorship publicly raising the notion of alternative political systems still carries risks . even so , many human_rights advocates and china scholars considered the harsh sentences surprising , given that many of the liberal ideas expressed by the men in the new youth study group are now regularly published in academic journals here and are the fodder of discussions in university classrooms . ''it is ridiculous that the chinese government considers the peaceful expression of one 's views a subversive act , '' said ann cooper , the executive director of the committee to protect journalists , in a statement . ''these four young writers have already wasted more than two years of their lives detained in legal limbo . '' before their detention , mr . xu was a reporter for the consumer daily , mr . jin was a geologist , mr . yang was a computer entrepreneur , and mr . zhang was a freelance writer . the four were detained after another member of the group informed china 's state security bureau about their activities . it is unclear why the verdict took nearly two years to decide , since the initial hearing took place in september 2001 . while china 's criminal_procedure code stipulates time limits to prevent such extended detention , the limits do not apply in cases where the police say that breaches of state security are involved . relatives of the men have not been able to visit them in prison , seeing them only at occasional courtroom hearings leading up to the trial , said lu kun , mr . yang 's wife . she said the prosecutors had produced no new evidence since the initial hearing nearly two years ago . she added that the four seemed to be in poor health , having lost weight . mr . xu , who received a_10 year sentence , became agitated in the courtroom , claiming he had been beaten and denied his right to see a lawyer .	has a location of china
when li you picks up a pen , he finds that with increasing frequency he ca n't remember how to write the chinese_characters he learned to write as a child . the delicate strokes scramble themselves in the hazy recesses of his memory , eluding his brain 's insistent summons to order . ''there are some characters that i ca n't write with a pen , but if you give me a computer i can type it out , '' said mr . li , a 23 year old computer teacher who lives in rural yangshuo in guangxi province , in southern china . it has been more than six years since mr . li started using a computer for chinese word_processing . it has been just under six years since the characters started slipping away . he estimates that more than 95 percent of his writing is now done by computer . ''i can go for a month without picking up a pen , '' mr . li said . among chinese speakers , anecdotal_evidence suggests that the use of computers for word_processing is mounting a slow but steady assault on their ability to write characters by hand . many chinese say that could undermine the written language . ''it 's a cultural loss , '' said ye zi , a coworker of mr . li 's . ''a long time ago , we all wrote much better . '' but mr . li waved off the idea of sentimentality . ''i have no regrets , '' he said . ''this is the natural trend of societal progress . you use your hands less , but you use your brains more . '' the problem faced by mr . li and others as old skills yield to advancing technology is nothing new in china or elsewhere . educators , for example , engage in fierce debates about whether the calculator has decreased or increased students' mathematical skills . for many people , language and literacy are intimately linked to what it means to be human . for the chinese , writing has additional cultural weight . throughout the country 's history , written language has played a critical role in china as a symbol of both unification and division . it was used to bridge the hundreds of variations in spoken chinese , but it has also been a symbol of political division , as evidenced by the different writing systems used by taiwan and china , one traditional and one simplified . and handwriting is often used to evaluate character . the slow erosion of writing skills is the frequent subject of conversations , jokes and self consciousness in china and taiwan . the characters are not forgotten completely , but the writer often simply needs prompting from a dictionary or a friend . or the writer 's memory is jogged by trial and error . but chinese writers say that in the last five years or so , their lapses in memory have become more frequent and more annoying . complicated and rarely used characters are usually the first to fade from memory , but even common characters are being lost . ''my friends will tease me , 'how you can forget such a simple character ? ' '' mr . ye said . the chinese have a name for the written equivalent of having something on the tip of the tongue that translates as ''forgetting characters upon lifting the pen . '' but many in china take a pragmatic approach to the language , not a sentimental one . ''the role of language is communication , '' said zhou liwei , a consultant in beijing who said he had not written in chinese without a computer for several years . he carries a laptop with him wherever he goes . the conflict is a result of forcing the complexities of the chinese_language to conform to a standard roman alphabet keyboard . becoming literate in chinese requires mastering characters that range from the simple to the intricate . pupils spend thousands of hours copying character after character for homework . ''the task of chinese_characters is enormously complex , more than any other language or any other script , '' said dr . brendan weekes , a cognitive neuropsycholinguist at the university of kent in england who has done research on chinese character recognition . but chinese typing requires users only to recognize characters and not construct them from scratch . more than 97 percent of computer users in china type by phonetically spelling out the sounds of the characters in a transliteration system , called pinyin , that is based on the roman alphabet . the software then either offers users a choice of characters that fit the pronunciation , or it automatically guesses the characters that the user wants , based on context . as spoken , chinese is a tonal language , and typing ' 'ma'' on a keyboard , for example , will bring up a list of numbered choices for characters that include ''horse'' or ' 'mother , '' which have different tones . entering a number selects one of the characters . on average , there are 17 characters that correspond to each typed pinyin spelling like ' 'ma . '' the pinyin system of typing and selection is time consuming and awkward , but it is popular because it requires less training . other systems involve a large amount of memorization but are faster . the japanese , which also use chinese based characters in writing , have long complained about the effect of word_processing on their writing abilities . but computers have become widespread in china only in the last five years , although they have had a sizeable presence in taiwan for almost a decade . there has been little if any research on the effect of computers on the written language . ''scientifically , we have n't established the phenomenon reliably , '' said ovid tzeng , minister of education in taiwan , who has done research in cognitive neurolinguistics . ''we have heard people anecdotally speaking talking about it , but we need to examine in detail . '' it is notable that the chinese contend that only their writing skills , not their reading skills , are eroding . neuroscientists have long established that writing and reading are handled separately by the brain . some patients with brain_damage are able to read but not write , and others may have the opposite problem . ''reading involves recognition , '' said prof . alfonso caramazza , a harvard professor of cognitive neuropyschology who has also done research on the chinese_language . ''you do n't have to generate the parts . they are given to you . the task of the brain is to find the match for the parts that are given to you . '' writing something , whether it is an english word or a chinese character , involves retrieving the basic elements of the word either letters or brush_strokes from memory . it is the recurrent construction of a word or character that reinforces the writing process . ''if you were to try to retrieve a word as a whole without going through parts you would not be practicing with letters and strokes , '' professor caramazza said . ''you are short circuiting the process . '' also , since many chinese_characters resemble each other or share a sound , it is easy to mistake one for another . it is not just the chinese who are vulnerable to having the computer usurp some of their skills . american children growing up with word_processing aids like spelling checkers are also becoming dependent on computers for literacy . ''my mom tells me all the time 'spellcheck has made you not be able to spell , ' '' said ehren fairfield , a 22 year old senior at dickinson college in carlisle , pa . , who spent a year studying in beijing . ''chinese people will ask me how to spell something , and i 'll say 'i do n't know . give me a computer , and i 'll tell you . ' '' this is not the first time that chinese writing has come under assault . until the 20th_century , the calligraphy brush was the dominant writing instrument . with its rich cultural undertones , calligraphy took many years to master , an investment that also meant that the vast majority of chinese remained illiterate . when the pen became popular in china after the turn of the 20th_century , it was furiously attacked , accused of undermining the country 's cultural_heritage . while the characters written were identical , critics said that it removed the expressiveness found in traditional calligraphic writing . but now calligraphy has largely retreated to an aesthetic form that is practiced by only a small segment of people . in the same way that the pen increased literacy in china , computers may help pull down barriers . ''why would you still spend so much time on handwriting chinese_characters when you are eventually going to use computers ? '' asked ping xu , a professor of chinese_language at baruch_college . professor xu has obtained a federal grant from the department of education to develop a penless approach for students learning chinese as a foreign language . students start using computers for writing almost immediately . professor xu says that the approach can be extended to pupils in china . ''in spite of the opposition against the pen , why did the pen prevail ? '' professor xu asked . ''because the pen is much easier to use and much easier to carry around . '' he extrapolated the idea to the historical inevitability of the dominance of the computer . ''if the computer can provide an easier way of learning chinese_characters and all the chinese_language skills , eventually it will prevail . '' some parents are already criticizing schools for not adapting quickly enough to the educational advantages of the computer . li li chuan , who teaches at an elementary_school in taiwan , said that a parent had recently complained about the many hours her child spent practicing characters . ''she asked , 'what 's the point of making students practice characters , when now , with computers , they only need to recognize them ? ' '' said ms . li , who says she herself often hesitates before writing some characters . ming zhou , a microsoft researcher based in beijing , also takes a more neutral view of the tension between modern technology and traditional skill . ''you ca n't say it 's a cultural tragedy , '' mr . zhou said . ''it 's just the way it is . '' mr . zhou has worked on sophisticated chinese typing software that even eliminates the need to choose characters . the computer can automatically convert entire sentences from phonetics into characters using the context . ''if people use this system , they will forget how to write even faster , '' mr . zhou joked . ''what we are chasing is speed . when culture and speed come into conflict , speed wins . '' character recognition most computer users in china rely on a transliteration system called pinyin to render chinese_characters from a standard roman keyboard . there are two approaches to using pinyin . the first searches for the characters one by one . for example , to write ''beijing , '' which means ''north capital , '' in chinese 1 . type ''bei'' in pinyin . the software presents a list of characters fitting the pronunciation ''bei'' in a toolbar . 2 . the correct answer is no . 4 , for ''north . '' when selected , the character appears on the screen . 3 . type ''jing . '' the software presents a list of characters fitting the pronunciation ''jing . '' 4 . the appropriate ''jing'' is not among the first 10 choices , so the user must scroll to the next 10 choices . 5 . the appropriate character , meaning ''capital , '' is no . 1 . choose it in the toolbar . the full word is rendered on the screen . alternatively , an entire term can be entered in pinyin and the software will search for all possible combinations . 1 . type in ''beijing'' as a single entry . 2 . the software offers all phrases matching ''beijing , '' including characters referring to the city and the term for ''background . '' the city name is the first choice .	has a location of china
zhongmei li moves like mist across the stage . offstage , she looks like a small , fragile boned bird . but there is steel in those bones . the young chinese dancer has resolutely made her way from a small farming village to the beijing dance academy , to the joyce_theater , where her zhongmei china dance company , which includes seven other young performers from china , is opening a week of dance tonight in " dynasties china in dance . " the first of two programs , the company 's new york city debut , will feature dance dramas based on chinese legends , created by miss_li , weiya chen and faculty_members of the academy . the dances in the second program are ones inspired by research into the music , dance , art and literature of several dynasties , beginning with the chou dynasty of nearly 3 , 000 years ago . but it is her own story that might make the most dramatic of dances . as a small child , miss_li loved to dance . " i always danced on the flat earth , " she said recently in an interview . " that was the most happy thing for me . " one day , when she was 11 , she and a sister found a small notice in a newspaper that the beijing dance academy would , for the first time , audition children from all over china . her parents were adamantly opposed to her auditioning , much less becoming a dancer . it would take her two days and three nights to reach beijing , sitting up in a train all the way because there were no sleeping cars . in any case , they did not have the money for a ticket . and besides , what was the point ? she had no training at all . the competition would be fierce . " i went on a hunger_strike , " she recalled . her parents gave in , borrowed 200 yuan ( about 24 now ) for the ticket and sent her on her way . she arrived at the academy to find thousands of children waiting to audition , in a line that snaked around the building and a nearby park . " i had never felt so nervous , or so excited , " miss_li said . when her turn came , she was measured , and then she danced . when she made a mistake , she told the auditioners she had to start again . " i had come so far , " she said . " i wanted them to know i was a good dancer . " out of 3 , 000 children , she was one of a handful chosen . " i do n't know how , " she said . " there were some pretty , elegant girls at the audition . " but dancing , she soon discovered , was not at all the joyous undertaking she had anticipated . she had no weekly allowance , and because she could not reciprocate gifts of candy , she pulled away from other young dancers and became solitary . some teachers at the academy looked upon her as an unpromising country bumpkin . " i had to show my family i was happy , but i felt i wanted to kill myself , " she said . " i did n't know how to dance any more . " the school , she said , was like an army , very strict . " we worked from 6 in the morning to 9 at night , " she recalled . " i got up early to practice , before anyone else . but i had no alarm , so i put a string down the wall and tied it to my wrist . " the night watchman agreed to tug the string at 4 every morning . by graduation time in 1986 , after eight years of study , she realized her teachers and the other students cared for her , miss_li said . she had won an impressive four major awards in national dance competitions and was taken into the academy 's youth dance ensemble . on tour in hong_kong , miss_li was exposed to western modern_dance and fell even more irretrievably in love with her art . " i thought , 'the world is really big , ' " she said . the director of the ensemble allowed her to leave the group and even gave her a solo program of her own , an unusual honor for a young dancer , which miss_li described as " a very special present . " she arrived in the united_states in 1990 to train as a dance teacher , with a scholarship at tarkio college in missouri . during summer break that year , she visited new york city . exposed to the city 's dance life , miss_li decided that training as a teacher was not for her . she wanted to perform , and began to study on scholarships at the alvin_ailey and martha_graham schools , working in a chinese restaurant to help support herself . she performed with several small groups before deciding in 1993 to create a company and a program of chinese dance for american audiences , with financial help from asian and american foundations . ( miss_li is still based in new york , but maintains strong ties with colleagues in beijing the other dancers in her company are visiting from china . ) professors from the beijing dance academy helped miss_li with research on ancient chinese dance forms . but she stresses that although she received intensive training in chinese folk dances , classical_dance drama and other traditional techniques , her modern_dance schooling could not help but temper her re creation of those dances at the joyce . she sees her work as a merging of old and new forms and techniques and as a bridge between two worlds . ( she and her dancers will participate in a free symposium on chinese traditional and modern_dance forms on friday at 11 a.m . at the loeb student center at new york_university . ) " the modern sensibility will creep in , " miss_li said . " but i 'm comfortable with that . " " we are trying to let people see something different , " she continued . " i hope the company can go on , but for this time i 'm just testing myself . "	has a location of china
lead yesterday the new york times published what purported to be an account by a witness of troops attacking students on tiananmen_square in beijing before dawn on june 4 . the article was published by the hong_kong newspaper wen_wei_po , which said it was the account of an unidentified 20 year old chinese student , and was republished in the san francisco examiner . yesterday the new york times published what purported to be an account by a witness of troops attacking students on tiananmen_square in beijing before dawn on june 4 . the article was published by the hong_kong newspaper wen_wei_po , which said it was the account of an unidentified 20 year old chinese student , and was republished in the san francisco examiner . nicholas d . kristof , the beijing correspondent of the times , reports that the article does not correspond with accounts of other witnesses on important points . this reporter and many other witnesses saw troops shoot and kill people before dawn on june 4 . but these shootings occurred in a different place from that described in the wen_wei_po article and in somewhat different circumstances . the question of where the shootings occurred has significance because of the government 's claim that no one was shot on tiananmen_square . state television has even shown film of students marching peacefully away from the square shortly after dawn as proof that they were not slaughtered . the disagreement is partly one about definition of the square . the central scene in the article is of troops beating and machine gunning unarmed students clustered around the monument to the people 's heroes in the middle of tiananmen_square . several other witnesses , both chinese and foreign , say this did not happen . troops fired on civilians in many parts of the city , but the shooting was concentrated along the avenue of eternal peace , or changan avenue , which runs on the north side of the square . there was heavy shooting in the muxidi district to the west of tiananmen_square , and there were also many casualties along the avenue of eternal peace to the immediate east of the square , as well as on streets to the south of the square . this reporter saw troops fire on and kill people on the avenue of eternal peace on the northern part of the square as well as some who were on a segment of the square just north of the avenue , near the tiananmen gate . but there is no firm indication that troops fired on the students occupying the monument in the middle of the square . on the museum 's roof there is also no evidence of machine_gun emplacements on the roof of the history museum that were reported in the wen_wei_po article . this reporter was directly north of the museum and saw no machine_guns there . other reporters and witnesses in the vicinity also failed to see them . the information in the wen_wei_po article about students having 23 assault_rifles and trying to return them to the army does correspond to a rumor that may have been correct . the rumor also reported , as does the article , that the army refused to take them back so that it could accuse the students of staging an armed rebellion . but the article reports that the weapons were destroyed on the steps of the monument and this would have been difficult to do covertly . this reporter and many others were wandering about that day and some were constantly stationed on the monument . none of the correspondents there are known to have reported seeing any weapons destroyed . the article reports that the lights on the square were extinguished at 4 a.m. , and this is confirmed by three people who were on the square all night , two chinese students and one french correspondent . the central theme of the wen_wei_po article was that troops subsequently beat and machine gunned students in the area around the monument and that a line of armored_vehicles cut off their retreat . but the witnesses say that armored_vehicles did not surround the monument they stayed at the north end of the square and that troops did not attack students clustered around the monument . several other foreign journalists were near the monument that night as well and none are known to have reported that students were attacked around the monument . the witnesses give the same account . while troops were shooting in all areas around the square , they did not attack the students clustered around the monument . instead , the students and a pop singer , hou dejian , were negotiating with the troops and decided to leave at dawn , between 5 a.m . and 6 a.m . the students all filed out together . chinese television has shown scenes of the students leaving and of the apparently empty square as troops moved in as the students left . few could have remained the witnesses do not definitely assert that nobody was killed in the center of the square . some workers and students may have remained behind , but they would have numbered not more than in the dozens . some protesters may also have been in the tents and been crushed by tanks , but they too would have been a relatively small number . the great majority left unhurt and were not shot at , the witnesses say . the wen_wei_po article also reported that the author had returned to the square in the early morning . but other witnesses say that the area was blocked off by thousands of soldiers and that there was still shooting going on in the area , so that it would have been difficult to go back . the wen_wei_po article catches the atmosphere and the terror but it has the clashes unfolding in the wrong place . on the avenue of eternal peace , on the northern edge of the square , protesters were being killed by machine_gun fire , but not at the monument .	has a location of china
for years , the last place to look for a modern display of chinese_art was in china . now that may be changing with the opening of china 's first western style museum here , more than a dozen years after its original sponsor first conceived of it . the arthur m . sackler_museum of art and archeology , which opened in beijing on may 27 , has joined a string of sackler galleries and museums around the world . this one primarily displays relics and fossils discovered by chinese archeologists . the opening was the culmination of years of trans_pacific dreams and headaches . but running a museum in china entails special challenges , and the headaches could get worse . it is not even clear , for example , whether the museum will be opened to the public , except to specialists who make appointments or to those chinese and foreigners pushy enough to talk their way past the guards . the museum is inside beijing_university , where guards stand at each gate to keep visitors out . for now , by appointment only " they have assured us they will let in outside visitors , " said jill sackler , mr . sackler 's widow , on a visit to beijing for the opening ceremony . still , for now , visits are by appointment . dr . arthur m . sackler , a psychiatrist and medical publisher who donated millions of dollars to the arts before he died in 1987 , gave 10 million to have the museum built in beijing in partnership with a group of chinese archeologists . but the sackler team has just handed over control and responsibility to the chinese partners and the authorities , who have no experience operating a modern museum . one major challenge is how the chinese will pay maintenance costs , including an estimated 70 , 000 a year in electricity bills . the museum was designed with two separate lighting systems , so the chinese can turn the lights up to make it look like any western museum , or dim them to save money . the success of the museum will hinge on how well the chinese manage it . one parallel , and it is not encouraging , is of western designed hotels that have been handed over to chinese management . inevitably , six months after they are turned over , cockroaches emerge , the plumbing leaks , the wallpaper and carpets accumulate a camouflage pattern of stains and the staff members replace their smiles with scowls . indeed , the american architect i . m . pei declined an offer to design the sackler_museum in beijing , apparently for just that reason . his previous effort in china , the fragrant hills hotel in beijing , is run by local managers and has quickly degenerated into a second_rate establishment . the bills are especially onerous for the chinese partners , the archeology department of beijing_university . the university may be among the nation 's leading institutions , and the department may be the best in the nation , but neither has much money to pay for the museum . so the department is seeking to raise money through a new museum shop and entrance tickets . but neither the shop nor the tickets are likely to raise much money if the public is not invited . while the department says it wants outsiders to visit , the university seems reluctant to ease its restrictions on visitors . in fact , university officials hesitated before allowing foreign reporters to attend the museum opening , and they escorted a restricted number of journalists in and out of the campus . " we are in the middle of negotiating a way to resolve this problem , " said li boqian , the director of the new museum and the chairman of the university 's archeology department . " we want this museum to be a window for cultural exchange between china and the rest of the world . " where to display artifacts ? with 4 , 000 years of history , china may have more archeological artifacts above and below ground than any other place in the world . today 's economic boom is sending construction shovels into the ground at breakneck_speed , so the number of accidental finds is growing every month . the problem is that there has been nowhere safe and attractive to show them off . in a typical local museum , most pieces sit_in dirty showcases under a faint yellow lightbulb . but at the new sackler_museum , 800 year old porcelains , 2 , 200 year old bronzes and 4 , 500 year old ceramics are displayed in pristine cases , like pieces in sackler galleries in the smithsonian institution in washington , the royal academy of art in london and at harvard_university . the new museum occupies a pavilion with a spacious courtyard recalling the imperial style residences in the summer palace , where chinese emperors would read poetry and listen to the lute . inside , however , a visitor walks through wide , open corridors and rooms painted in subtle tones of beige and white that reflect light . the inaugural exhibitions featured a few remarkable relics , including the fractured skull and bones of a golden buffalo mountain man the chinese call jinniushan man . the fossil , which chinese scientists say is 280 , 000 years old , is early and different enough that it has led some experts to cast doubt on the theory that all people are descendants of a single african ancestor . after the exhibition ends , the fossils are to be returned to a secret vault , and copies will be displayed instead . most chinese museums , which have poor security , do this , and the archeology department will do the same with its prized possessions . chinese archeologists say they hope the museum will inject new life into a field that is underfinanced and understaffed . these days , with money becoming the major focus of chinese society , the life of a chinese archeologist does not inspire envy , and its organizers say they hope that a modern museum will lure students who are genuinely interested in the field . from the start , chinese authorities said they considered the museum a sensitive project . initially , the government was even hesitant to accept the museum as a gift from mr . sackler , partly because it was generally suspicious of westerners . the project finally got under way in 1986 , but ran into many snags and the opening was delayed several times . one mundane , time consuming task , for example , was to properly clean and repair the collection 's 10 , 000 objects , many of which had never been restored . correction june 30 , 1993 , wednesday an article on june 30 about the new arthur m . sackler_museum of art and archeology in beijing omitted the name of the architect . he is lo yi chan of prentice chan , ohlhausen in manhattan .	has a location of china
when zhuo ling was declared second runner up at the miss universe contest in puerto_rico in may , the tears and the tiaras masked a secret because chinese officials do not approve of such beauty pageants , her ''miss china'' title had been bestowed in an underground competition , held despite official threats and bans . in fact , the miss china contest nearly did not happen , after officials in the southern city of enping raided the auditorium . ms . zhuo the first contestant had just come on stage in a bathing_suit when they rushed the dais , shooed out contestants and informed organizers that they had broken the law because cultural events require permits . determined nonetheless to have a queen , the judges and contestants sneaked back in at night to restage the event , awarding ms . zhuo the crown . but while most miss universe contestants got a royal send off to puerto_rico , ms . zhuo left quietly from the shanghai airport , escorted to the ticket counter by her father . ''i was lugging two huge suitcases , '' she said . ''i felt very alone . '' with her big eyes and earnest delivery , ms . zhuo , a_20 year old dance student turned model , hardly seems a subversive force . she says she wants to serve her country , and when the judges in puerto_rico asked about her role models , she quickly cited her father . but her strange odyssey displays communist officialdom 's deep ambivalence about the vibrant consumer culture that has evolved in china 's cities today a frankenstein 's monster that was unleashed by the communist_party 's own market reforms , but that quickly moved beyond its understanding and control . ''this is 2002 , we 've joined the w.t.o. , we 've been selected to hold the 2008 olympics , '' said shi sizhi , a private beijing businessman who organized the miss china contest , with approval from the miss universe organization in new york . ''all i 'm trying to do is to bring miss universe to china . what 's to be afraid of here ? '' at a first pass , ms . zhuo 's travails are indeed perplexing , given that more young chinese girls aspire to be models than model workers these days . but there have been no actual beauty contests in china since the communist takeover in 1949 , and that apparently makes some officials nervous when it comes to approving such an event . some argue that modeling involves skill , while beauty is more superficial a bourgeois concern even though the miss universe contest involved speeches and other performances . a more important issue might have been control over the nation 's image . chinese officials apparently could not fathom yielding power over the choice of such a representative to a private group . mr . shi spent four years appealing , unsuccessfully , to the ministry of culture and other government offices for approval to hold a miss china contest here . ''no one was willing to take the responsibility , '' he said . this year he thought he had a wink and a nod when culture officials , while refusing to issue the legally required approval , offered the pesky promoter an olive_branch ''we wo n't criticize you , but keep it quiet and do n't make it a big deal , '' they said . to comply , he scheduled the miss china pageant in the obscure city of enping in guangdong_province , without much publicity . to prepare for puerto_rico , mr . shi 's business , the beijing golden international investment and consulting company , hired a designer to make ms . zhuo 's wardrobe . it bought her plane ticket as well . ''generally when you 're picked as your country 's representative there are some special events and you 're given some tutoring , '' said ms . zhuo in a telephone interview from her home in shanghai . ''i did n't have a chance to help my country . and i did n't have a former miss china at my side . it made me pretty sad . '' she and mr . shi fretted that chinese authorities might prevent her from going . but when she picked up her visa at the united_states embassy marked ''miss china , going to miss universe contest , '' they relaxed . so it was something of a miracle when ms . zhuo came from underground in china to take third place on stage in puerto_rico , trailing only miss russia and miss panama . but with her surprise win beamed to television sets all over the world , it became increasingly hard to keep her existence under wraps . ms . zhuo 's modeling agency in shanghai quickly capitalized on the win , arranging activities in san_francisco and honolulu . ''i have plans for her to go into movies and tv , '' said her agent , song meiyin . when ms . zhuo arrived back in shanghai last month , a host of reporters met her at the airport , although the state controlled news organizations have said little about her as yet . mr . shi said official attitudes had run hot and cold toward ms . zhuo 's amazing victory . the city government of shanghai , which earlier this year had threatened to cancel a local miss china preliminary contest , recently sent her as its representative on a business delegation to france . in puerto_rico , ms . zhuo was surprised to find government delegations from beijing and from china 's eastern shandong_province both vying to be the host of a future pageant . mr . shi hopes that ms . zhuo 's victory will change official attitudes and help bring a miss universe finals to china by 2004 . ms . zhuo herself has remained ever gracious , mostly keeping above the fray . ''if you 're the first at anything there are always some difficulties , '' she said , exercising the poise and diplomacy that wins pageants . ''i hope my win will help chinese change their minds about this and see that it 's an opportunity for our country to be on the world stage . '' beijing journal	has a location of china
lead the message went up on the international computer network that links thousands of corporations , universities and research centers around the world the students demonstrating in tiananmen_square in beijing needed garbage bags . the message went up on the international computer network that links thousands of corporations , universities and research centers around the world the students demonstrating in tiananmen_square in beijing needed garbage bags . through the cooperation of chinese students at the university of california 's campuses at davis and berkeley and at stanford_university , 1 , 800 bags were bought at a discount store near the san_francisco airport and sent to beijing on thursday night along with a few pairs of walkie talkies by way of a trusted courier . the garbage bag airlift was the latest in the efforts of chinese students studying in the united_states to assist students in beijing by raising money and keeping information flowing . participants in the computer network also discuss the meaning of democracy and how freedom of the press is supposed to function . some have recommendations for the students at the square . they should build shelter , divide people into shifts to save energy and ' 'devote great care to sanitation , '' suggested a berkeley student . another expressed the wish that the beijing students had taken control of a television or radio_station . there is also discussion of prime_minister li_peng , whose resignation has been one of the demonstrators' demands . one anonymous writer said , ''the problem of china for thousands of years is that the emperor wo n't retire . '' the writer suggested that mr . li be killed ''before all the soul of spirit of china be killed . '' another suggested that mr . li be sent to the soviet_union , but added , ''some friends say that i am too lenient . '' one exchange that has recurred throughout the week concerns a rumor that mr . li 's son is a student at a major united_states university . an anonymous writer asked that he be found and identified , prompting a series of exchanges . ''what is the purpose of identifying li_peng 's son ? '' one writer asked . ''even if li_peng is a murderer , that is nothing to do with his son . '' 'a potential spy' ''because he is a potential spy , '' came the reply . ''if li_peng were a murderer , his son is possibly his informant . '' others responded to an anonymous threat that read simply ''blood must be paid in blood . where is li_peng 's son ? '' ''please do not stoop to this low level , '' replied a student at the university of washington in seattle . a student from the massachusetts_institute_of_technology responded ''calm down victory is at hand . let 's not become red guards . '' on wednesday , students at the university of california 's los_angeles campus were celebrating having received a response from china to the information they had been blindly faxing to a number of machines in beijing . they posted the message as it had come to them ''we welcome and are truly grateful to you for sending us the message . the country is under news blackout , so your message is really valuable to us . hope to receive more latest news from you . '' by thursday , morale was sinking . ''the situation is terrible , '' an unsigned message said . ''i think nobody will admit that he is going to give in to the li regime . '' upheaval in china	has a location of china
charges are mounting here that bad policies and official neglect have worsened this summer 's disastrous flooding in china , and the government has made the unusual admission that its land use mistakes are partly to blame and announced sweeping policy changes . officials have clearly been shocked by the vast scale of damage in southern and northeastern china , where severe flooding persists . this year 's rains have been torrential , but not as great as in some years when the extent of flooding and the damages were less . in the last few weeks , the official press has carried increasingly sharp articles and editorials on the harmful_effects of clear cutting timber along the upper reaches of the yangtze_river , for example , and the human invasion of vital wetlands along the river 's course . in private , some experts are making more pointed charges that , despite repeated warnings , the upkeep of important dikes along china 's flood prone rivers has been badly neglected . at a government news conference today , zhao qizheng , chief of the state council information office , said the government had decided to shut down logging activities in the upper catchments of the yangtze_river . the deforestation has led to more rapid runoff of rain waters and increased silting of river and lake beds . he said all cleared areas would be replanted in a long term strategy of ecological restoration . he also said that large areas of lakes and wetlands in the yangtze flood plain , which have been drained to make farmland , would be restored to their natural condition . these areas formerly absorbed huge volumes of water during flood periods . now , instead of easing the problem , these lands claimed from the water are being desperately protected by soldiers stacking sandbags to make crude dikes . they are exhorted by the official slogan ''fight to the death . '' ''we have asked a lot of nature , and now we are returning what we have acquired , '' mr . zhao said . how effectively these new policies can be carried out remains a big question , because the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of poor people will be affected , including loggers upstream and farmers in the middle and lower reaches of the river . while critics of the government are saying they welcome the new attention to ecology , they make more specific charges of official lapses . many water experts are also calling for fundamental changes in the approach to flood control , reflecting a debate over strategy that has continued in china for thousands of years . lu qinkan , a retired government hydrologist and flood prevention expert , said that in 1980 an important report by the ministry of water resources laid out plans for reinforcing and raising the main dikes along the yangtze . but by 1987 , only 48 million of the 1 . 2 billion that was called for had been spent on the project . ''eighteen years have passed , '' mr . lu said in an interview , ''but the main dikes are in a state of disrepair , leading to breaches this year . '' the neglect of downstream dikes , mr . lu and other critics say , reflects a bias toward building dams and reservoirs to battle floods despite their inherently limited capacity . though the topic is too politically sensitive for the official news_media to explore , this year 's floods have revived private debate about the giant three gorges dam under construction along the upper reaches of the yangtze . on television and in newspaper interviews , officials involved in the project have tried to capitalize on the crisis , contending that the dam will greatly reduce if not eliminate flooding like this year 's . mr . lu , who was involved in feasibility studies for the three gorges dam but who refused to sign the recommendation to proceed , said its effect could only be small . in 1954 , he said , in the last great flood comparable to this year 's , water flowing into the dam site totaled about 300 billion cubic_meters . but the flood retention capacity of the dam is only 22 billion cubic_meters , he said . and another 359 billion cubic_meters of water flowed into the river below the dam site . along with improving dikes , critics of the dam centered approach to flood control say , more must be done to protect natural waterways that can soak up water and to set aside basins downstream where overflows can be diverted . but china 's intense population pressures and poverty make this ever more difficult . hubei_province on the middle reaches of the yangtze , where this year 's damage is worst was once known as the province of 1 , 000 lakes , many of them linked to the yangtze system , said zhou kuiyi , vice director of the government 's research center on flood disasters . but because of draining projects and siltation , many of the lakes have simply disappeared , he said . the huge dongting lake in hubei is the most important single lake for retaining excess waters along the yangtze . according to a new report by the state environmental_protection_agency , the lake borders , again because of drainage for farms and the inflow of silt , have shrunk drastically . its capacity has fallen from 29 . 3 billion cubic_meters in 1949 to 17 . 8 billion cubic_meters today . decades ago , a large basin near the yangtze in hubei was designated as the major emergency water diversion area when floods grew too high , dikes there would be intentionally breached , relieving pressures elsewhere . the waters were so diverted in the great floods of 1954 , when 170 , 000 people lived there and had to be evacuated . but today , 550 , 000 people live in that diversion zone , said mr . zhou of the disaster research center . this makes it nearly impossible to open the floodgates . instead , the government has poured hundreds of thousands of troops onto dikes throughout the region , and they are working around the clock to fend off breaches . at today 's news conference , officials said it had not been possible to finish updating the number of flood related deaths . mr . zhao , the information chief , said a total would be announced by the end of the week . the last figure , on aug . 6 , was 2 , 100 deaths . yang yongliang , a senior communist_party official from hubei_province , said at the news conference that , through the valiant efforts of 2.3 million flood fighters , ''we have identified and removed 4 , 492 dangerous situations , '' where dikes were threatened . gen . ma shukuan , of the general political department of the central_military_commission , said that the soldiers , in their greatest concentration since 1949 , ''have displayed a revolutionary spirit of fearing no hardship nor death . '' film clips of soldiers in chest high water fortifying the dikes appear nightly on the news . the people 's liberation army is clearly using the flood battle to build morale and to improve its public image , battered by military involvement in smuggling and by its role in smashing the tiananmen_square student demonstrations in 1989 .	has a location of china
officials in beijing said two teenage_boys had been arrested for intentionally setting the fire that killed 24 people last weekend in an unlicensed internet cafe . the boys , who were identified only by their surnames as zhang , 13 , and song , 14 , were detained tuesday and have confessed to setting the fire out of revenge after a dispute with staff members , the city government said in a statement . the disaster led beijing 's mayor to order the temporary closure of the estimated 2 , 400 cybercafes in the city , all but 200 of which are unlicensed . erik eckholm ( nyt )	has a location of china