Daily News from New York, New York • 195

FMmmm To many, it smells of garbage By WARREN WOODBERRY Jr. DAIUT NEWS STAFF WRITER Sometimes the stench from Flushing Bay gets so bad, say people living along Ditmars they can hardly breathe. "It's like walking by piles of garbage. You just hold your breath and rush through it," said Portia Berry, 30, a technician from 94th St. "Unfortunately, over the years, after living with it, you kind of get used to it." The stink is blamed on a dike that extends into the water 2,800 feet from LaGuardia Airport near runway 31-13.

Better known as "the finger," the dike was built in the 1960s to prevent strong waves from damaging boats docked at the World's Fair Marina. But over the years, the finger has done more harm than good by disturbing the bay's natural cleansing process. At high tide, the dike sits below sea level as currents bring debris ashore. At low tide, the finger is above water level, which prevents the bay from flushing its shores and allows silt buildup. People who live in homes along Ditmars Blvd.

said the odor is at its worst in the hot summer months. "Sometimes I just turn on the fan, or sometimes I just leave the area," said United Valerio, 21, a student. "In the summertime, it really SUSYE GREENWOOD City Councilwoman Helen Marshall views area of Flushing Bay suffering from excessive silt buildup. off Grand Central Parkway became contaminated with odorous silt. "The bay has been neglected for many, many years.

We got this beautiful promenade; how are people going to enjoy it?" asked Marshall, who visited the bay one afternoon to see birds slush through silt. "The ducks look like they're walking on water, but they're not." does smell," said Dorothy Minto-George, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years. "It's never that serious for me to get sick, but I do smell it in the summertime when the water gets low." In recent years, the 'Army Corps of Engineers lowered the finger by a few feet, and a new dike was built near the marina to adjust water currents. City Councilwoman Helen Marshall (D-East Elmhurst) said the new dike does its job, but the finger was "merely shaved" down and needs to be significantly lowered to reduce the silt. There also is an ongoing $2.7 million Army Corps feasibility study of a planned cleanup, which is expected to culminate in dredging and environmental restoration of the bay that could begin next year.

But after numerous studies and planning, some residents say it will be several years before the bay is restored. They find little enjoyment in visiting the Flushing Bay Promenade, which is under extensive revital-ization. "The renovation is good, but what good is it if you can't clean it up," said Harry Wareham, 49, who remembers fishing in the bay as a kid before the waters fflDsiirj feces a afeSaatrlMong wtoir foreoudl By BOB LIFT DAliy NEWS STAFF WRITER Little-noticed primary returns from Brooklyn and Queens assembly districts carry i hints of trouble for Hillary Rodham Clinton. The First Lady is counting on a strong She got 90 in Lopez's heavily Latino 53rd District. One place Clinton counts on a strong get-out-the-vote bid is southeast Queens, where veteran City Councilman Archie Spigner's Guy R.

Brewer United Democratic Club vows to go all out. The way Spigner sees it, Queens will need lots of friends in high places be hurst's 49th. In Queens, McMahon got 37 in the 23rd District, which includes mainly white parts of Far Rockaway, 38 in Richmond Hill's 38th, and 31 in Elm-hurst's 30th. Since nobody knew who McMahon was, those votes can only be seen as anti-Clinton sentiment among Democrats. It also is clear why her campaign is putting so much effort into get-out-the- late Arthur Katzman, who represented Forest Hills and Rego Park.

"Nobody will ever beat me as long as there's term limits," said Povman, who succeeded the late Borough President Donald Manes in the seat. Staten Island Conservatives bounced chairwoman Mary Lou Shanahan this month in a power play orchestrated by Deputy Borough President Jim Molina-ro, who wants to succeed his boss Borough President Guy Molinari in the 2001 elections. Carmine Ragucci, who runs the How-land Hook container terminal for the Port Authority, is the new Conservative leader. The question now is whether Molina- vote efforts in black and Latino strongholds, in- cause term limits will wipe out all 14 Queens City Council members Democratic turnout next month to beat Rick Lazio in the Senate race. While Clinton beat unknown primary foe Mark McMahon by a ratio of more than 4-to-l statewide, he ran much more strongly in mostly white areas in southern Brook eluding a scheduled visit Bl ITI wkB aw this week to Assembly next year.

Mark McMahon lyn and Queens. In Brooklyn, McMa man Vito Lopez's Bushwick clubhouse. By comparison, Lazio is scheduled to campaign this weekend in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst. Clinton nearly shut McMahon out in the minority community. She tallied 95 in Fort Greene's 57th District and 94 in East New York's 40th both have mainly African-American populations.

She got 93 each in three largely black Queens districts St. Albans' 29th, Queens Village's 33rd and the 31st, which includes mostly black areas "We have the chairs of the rules committee, housing and buildings, public safety, aging, higher education and consumer affairs, two of the three subcommittee chairs on land use and the speaker," Spigner said. "I don't think you'll ever again see such a concentration of influence as you now see in Queens." Among those being forced out of office next year is Councilman Morton Povman of Forest Hills, who will retire as the longest-serving councilman ever. First elected in 1971, Povman's 30 years hon beat Clinton in Borough Park's 48th Assembly District. That could be one reason Assemblyman Dov Hikind has been holding back on endorsing her.

McMahon's 1,861 votes were 59 of those cast, compared with Clinton's 1,305. He also got 43 of the vote in Sheeps- ro can parlay Conservative support into backing by the larger Staten Island Republican Party. Assemblyman Robert Straniere a registered GOPer also is eying the beep job. A Republican-Conservative split could benefit likely Democratic nominee Jay 'Donovan, who is barred by term limits from keeping his Council seat-. i JT It" ro will ieat by one the record held by the pf head Bay's 45th District,.