Daily News from New York, New York • 87

1---" NEIGHBORHOOD PL Operators not standing by By SOW SANGHA DAILY NEWS WRITER On the first day of elevator operator cuts, straphangers at five stations in Washington Heights feared higher crime rates and dirtier stations. The service changes leave one elevator at each station manned 24 hours a day, while the others are self-serve. 1 muters in worrying about "At night, you don't know who you're getting on the elevator with," said a concerned De-serae Getter, a 28-year-old administrative worker from the Bronx at the 1 and 9 station at 181st St The cuts affect the 1 and 9 train stations at 168th, 181st and 191st Sts. and the A train stations at 181st and 190th Sts. Officials say that eliminating 22 elevator operating jobs will save the city $1.4 million annually.

"We have confidence that this will be a safe area," said Deirdre Parker, a Transit Authority spokeswoman. But less than a month after an elevator operator helped save a stabbed passenger in the 1 and 9 station at 181st Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees joined com dime. 'I won't have a co-worker next to me if something happens," said a female elevator attendant at one of the stations. "It gets pretty quiet in here at night." The thought of fewer employees has made some riders reconsider their commute. "I'm angry," said Amy Bea-com, 31, who was taking the 1 train at 168th St.

and was considering moving to another neighborhood. "I won't use this stop at night anymore." Unsupervised, the elevators could get filthy, commuters said. "You can rest assured that there will be more vandalism," said Jerry Lambiase, 69, who uses the 190th SL A station. "In the summer, kids will use the elevators as bathrooms." HOWARD SUMMONS DMY NEWS The 181st SL subway station is one of five in Washington Heights that is af fected by elevator operator cutbacks. H)i.

so2ta cop odd uatafiratt gratis as a wildlife habitat and is now at the focus of a number of greenway projects aimed at increasing public access to the river. The Bronx River Alliance also will receive a $20,000 grant for study and education about environmental resources and restoration efforts along the river through the Bronx River Forest Area between Gun Hill Road and Allerton Ave. There, in the heart of the Bronx, the river runs through an area of the New York Botanical Garden that has been preserved as forest. Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion made waterfront development a priority for the borough when he convened the Bronx Waterfront Task Force more than a year ago. The task force unveiled a comprehensive long-term development plan last summer calling for, among other projects, the preservation of City Island's maritime character.

Reeling in nearly 20 of the $2.2 million coming to the city makes the Bronx a chief beneficiary of the package. Manhattan and Brooklyn each get less than 15, and no money is allocated for major waterfront projects in Queens. The lion's share of the grant money more than 50 will go to Staten Island, where more than 1 million will be spent on projects ranging from restoring salt marshes and heron habitats to turning Fresh Kills landfill into a public park. Island's maritime heritage, state officials said. City Island is the last vestige within the city limits of the maritime culture that once lined New York's waterfront Another $200,000 will be spent inland, funding a comprehensive management plan for the Bronx River watershed from the Bronx waterfront all the way up through Westchester County.

The plan will be developed by the Bronx River Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of community groups, government agencies and businesses that has crusaded for years to bring its namesake waterway back to life. Once written off as a dead waterway, the Bronx River has made a comeback CD By BU. EGBERT DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER More than $2 million in state money has floated down from Albany to the New York City waterfront, with nearly $400,000 for projects in the Bronx. The grants from the state's Environmental Protection Fund are part of the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and will support projects to improve the Bronx River waterfront and the maritime community of City Island. The City Island project will enhance public access to Belden Point at the southern tip of the island.

In addition to creating public amenities, the $170,000 project will educate visitors about City.