Daily News from New York, New York • 421

Private School Reading Scores page 3 E3 part spiroflofts on wl ETOODB Chelsea's portal to waterfront opened creation with eagerness. "It looks good." Richards said. "There's not much park space around here. I'll definitely come." Area workers also said they looked forward to the park's opening. "They did a lovely job," said Leo Serieux, 24.

of Brooklyn, who toils for a fuel tank installation company based nearby. "I can't help but look at the green. It will be a nice, cool place." The design stemmed from years of discussion with the Chelsea Waterside Park Association and other community groups, officials said. Built for approximately S8.5 million, it will be turned over to the Hudson River Park Trust for day-today operations and maintenance. The trust, a state authority, is building the 5-mile Hudson River Park, which will include permanent bike and pedestrian walkways, a grassy strip along the highway and renovation of some 13 piers for lounging, fishing and soccer, among other uses, officials said.

That $330 million project is underway and is expected to be completed around January 2002. ROBERT ROSAMIUO DAILY NfcWb Gates bar entrance to new Chelsea Waterside Park, which will be officially By PETE DONOHUE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Billed by state officials as Chelsea's grand portal to its waterfront, a new park that includes picnic areas and recreation facilities will officially open today. The Chelsea Waterside Park, located between 22nd and 24th from the West Side Highway to 11th is an important component of the 5-mile Hudson River Park being built along the Hudson River from Battery Place to 59th Gov. Pataki said. "The new Chelsea Waterside Park is a wonderful addition to New York City and a great illustration of what the future holds for the West Side of Manhattan," Pataki said.

"The new park will mean countless hours of fun for local families, and is important part of our effort to provide a revitalized Hudson River opened today by the state. The 2Vacre park runs from 22nd to 24th Sts. along the waterfront. ways and an overlook providing a glimpse of the river. "There's nothing wrong with some green on a gray, asphalt island," said Chelsea musician Mike Errico, 30, walking past the fenced-off oasis yesterday.

Nanny Noellene Richards, pushing her toddler charge Tommy Eldridge along the park's edge, eyed the soon-to-be- Thomas F. Smith Park and built in 1923. Features of the new park include a basketball court, children's play areas with mosaic tile water sprays, a dog run and a multiuse sports field with spectator bleachers and lighting. Located across the highway from Chelsea Piers, it also has picnic areas, gardens, walk waterfront for future generations." The new Chelsea Waterside Park was built as part of the state Department of Transportation's reconstruction of the West Side Highway. About 2'i2 acres, the park is an expansion of an approximately half-acre, uninspiring triangle at 23rd formerly known as tier CBtdzeous ter's 16th birthday.

Illegitimate children cannot get derivative citizenship through their fathers, even if the father had legal custody andor the mother was deceased. That's the law as now understood by the INS. The good news is that a recent federal court decision gives hope that the law may be declared unconstitutional. In a case decided on Sept. 12, the 2nd Circuit U.S.

Court of Ap Keep reading the Daily News for more on this issue. If your daughter isn't a U.S. citizen already, you might still be able to get her citizenship. You can file for her if she was born legitimate (in or out of wedlock), or she gets legitimated before her 16th birthday. After a divorce Suppose a U.S.

citizen files for his wife and stepchildren. IMMIGRATION Then he separates from the wife and they divorce. Will the INS deport the mother? Can the stepchildren still get permanent residence through the peals (the circuit that includes New York City) ruled on a similar issue. The court found that a law giving different rights to U.S. citizen mothers and fathers vio ply for my married daughter? I am a 62-year-old Russian-born permanent resident.

I'm about to apply for naturalization. I'd like to apply for my daughter as soon as possible. How long will it take for her to come to the United States? L.W., New Jersey A. Once you naturalize, you can immediately apply for your daughter. Get the petition ready, so immediately after your swearing-in ceremony you can copy your naturalization certificate and put "the papers in the mail.

Your daughter can come to the United States five or six years after you file the papers. That 's a guess at the current waiting period under the Third Family Preference, where your daughter now qualifies. Her husband and her unmarried children younger than 21 at the time she immigrates can accompany her to the United States Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York's Citizenship and Naturalization Project. The advice presented here i.s general in nature and is not a substitute for the advice of an immigration law expert in a particular case. He is the author of "U.S.

Immigration Citizenship: Your Complete Guide," the Revised Second Edition. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, Daily News, 450 W. 33rd New York. Y. KXKjl.

By ALLAN WERNICK I think my daughter is a citizen, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service says she's not Who's right? I became a U.S. citizen in January. My 15-year-old daughter has been living with me since her birth. At my naturalization interview, I asked the INS examiner about whether my daughter would get citizenship when I did. He said that for her to get automatic citizenship, her mother would have to get her citizenship first.

My daughter's mother is not in the country as yet. I thought my daughter would get citizenship since I naturalized before she turned 18. Name withheld, Jamaica, Queens A. This is a complex area of law. A lot of readers write with similar questions.

Let's try to sort it out. If you were married to your child's mother, then your daughter has U.S. citizenship only if you and your wife are separated or divorced and you have legal custody. That's because her mother is alive and not yet a U.S. citizen.

If your daughter was born out of wedlock but legitimate under the laws of your country, or legitimated before her 16th birthday, she'll get automatic citizenship (what the law calls derivative citizenship) only if her mother naturalizes or dies before your daugh- stepfather's petition? Robert B. Cole, Bronx A. In most cases, the INS won't try to deport the woman you describe, but she would be "removable." However, the INS wouldn't make a priority out of her case. Plus, she may have some alternatives or defenses to deportation. As for the stepchildren, the stepfather can continue to petition for them if he maintains a relationship with them after the divorce or separation.

Waiting to enter U.S. How soon after I naturalize can I ap lated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. That case. Lake vs.

Reno, involved a birth abroad to a U.S. citizen father. The child was illegitimate, and the court said he got U.S. citizenship at birth. The law didn't give the child that right, so the court found the law to be unconstitutional.

According to the court, the illegitimate children of both fathers and mothers should be treated the same. Arguably, a similar rule should apply in your case. If it was and your child was born illegitimate, she'd now be a U.S. citizen. NEWS BUREAU (718) 822-1174 FAX (718) 822-1562 HOME DELIVERY 1-800-692-NEWS.