Daily News from New York, New York • 166

03 fin Yin CO News Bureau (718) 8754455 Fax (718) 875-7795 Home Delivery 1-800-692-NEWS I i I I I i it 1 Tl DrunEi driver faces jail in fatal hit-run 2- aZL TOODMAISEL BROOKLYN HEIGHTS waterfront is again the focus of a move to develop recreational facilities. xhmt rasft(gDfrDirS polls By BILL FARRELL Daily News Staff Writer Flush with $1 million in state seed money, civic leaders may make 1998 the year they finally begin transforming the Brooklyn Heights waterfront into a recreation area. BUSHWICK A Queens man has pleaded guilty to killing a 5-year-old Bushwick boy while driving drunk, and then fleeing the scene. William Meyers, 42, of Ozone Park, struck Sylvin James Lovell on Aug. 4 as the youngster crossed Cooper Ave.

with a friend. Meyers then drove away. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter with the understanding he would receive a sentence of three to nine years, prosecutors said. Willowbrook Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari will deliver his ninth State of the Borough Message on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.

at the Willowbrook Campus of the College of Staten Island. In previous years, Molinari gave the address at a Staten Island Chamber of Commerce luncheon. He said he wanted to reach a larger section of Staten Islanders than ever before at the new location. "By holding the event at night and in the 430-seat Williamson Theater, I can deliver all the good news I have planned to a representative group of our residents rather than one specific group," he said. Despite the increased space, only invited guests will be admitted to the speech.

The invited group will include representatives of civic associations, community board members, religious and ethnic leaders, college and school faculty, PTA representatives, business leaders, borough commissioners and other government officials, Molinari said. Downtown A Long Island landscaper who plotted to kill his girlfriend's husband has been sentenced to one to three years in prison. Alan Heitman, 29, who met with an undercover cop he believed to be a hit man on Jan. 17, 1997, in Brooklyn, also was barred from having contact with the husband, Jamie DeNaro, 40, until 2O04. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes denounced the sentence handed down Tuesday by Supreme Court Justice Sheldon Greenberg as too lenient.

East Flatbush Robert J. Benowitz has been elected president of the Board of Trustees of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, the center announced. Benowitz, an attorney with the Manhattan firm of Lester Schwab Katz been general counsel to Kingsbrook for eight years and a trustee for two years. He replaces Michael Krasner, who resigned after two years as president of the board. MAN.

A EAST VW II Ik DOWNTOWN A BROOKLYN JM WLU DAILY NEWS $1.5 million to pay for the preliminary studies on a plan to create a waterfront park from the tip of Pier 9 on Atlantic Ave. to the Manhattan Bridge. Before the money made its way to Brooklyn, Dugan died of cancer. "When Eileen died, the money died with her," said one activist "There was nobody there to fight for the money." Park advocates were given new hope last fall when, during funding talks in Albany for the development of Manhattan's West Side waterfront the Brooklyn piers were added to the discussions. "During the last month of the session everyone came real close to a mega-waterfront development deal," said one insider.

"But at the last minute, problems over the Manhattan aspect came up and the whole deal fell apart" That's when Connor and Millman were able to work a compromise and get the $1 million to keep alive at least the portion of the development plan involving Piers 1-5. According to a study done last year by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition, development of Piers 1 to 9 would run in the $100-million range. Officials agree that, compared with the total cost, $1 million isn't a lot of money. "But the bottom line is the money is there, and it's keeping the plan alive," said Fisher. "Hopefully, with the creation of the LDC, the Port Authority, the state and city will roll up their sleeves and get this thing going." Golden plans to fast-track the LDC to attract developers.

"The establishment of the LDC will serve as a clear signal to the Port Authority we are The state cash, obtained through the efforts of State Sen. Martin Connor and Assemblywoman Joan Millman, will be used to create a Local Development Corp. The LDC, which will focus on Piers 1-5, will have 15 members representing local community boards and community groups along the Downtown Brooklyn waterfront. "The LDC will serve as an interim entity until the establishment of a public benefit corporation," said Borough President Howard Golden. He plans to call a meeting of the LDC's board within the next two weeks.

Brooklyn residents who think they've heard all this before are partially right Downtown Brooklyn activists and politicians have sought to turn the mile-and-a-quarter stretch of the vacant Port Authority Piers 1 to 9 into a public space for more than a decade. But every time it appeared the money and political support was in place, things fell apart "Every four years the concept of tak-ing over and converting the piers comes alive," said Brooklyn Heights Councilman Ken Fisher. "It's like it was yesterday when then Gov. Cuomo was standing on the piers with state and city officials promising a park for the site. As we all know, he lost the election." Along with the new administration came the announcement from the Port develop Piers 1 through 5.

Unable to meet the demands of modern-day shipping, the piers are of no practical use to the interstate port agency. In response, Golden created a Downtown Brooklyn Waterfront Task Force, comprised of elected officials, community groups and representatives from state and city planning and economic development agencies, which convinced the Port Authority to hold off on the sale. At the same time, Assemblywoman Eileen Dugan worked a deal in the ready ajidtwiUing ot proceed. Authority that it ws a buyer, Legislature Jht caljed for a s- ar a- if.