Daily News from New York, New York • 4

4 DAKJlY.iNfiWK SUNDAY, yyyyt YONKERS "1 jT WHITNEY YOUNG 11 354 NEPPERHAM AVE. 4 I 'S" X-v 160WARBURTONAVE. "1 I 41, I 35.fOTMST, 1 J. 1S90MAPISON My I 1 1 250 5TH AVE. STATEN ISIAND Kgjmhj MONX Vf jTiiM TWIN PARK NORTHWEST 1 y- UPACAcompUx 333 E.

181 ST ST. A 1 LEXINGTON AVE. 355-365 E. 1 84THiL EASTWOOD compUx ANX ''y I 5 10-580 MAIN ST. f-X 7 ROOSEVELT L'-.

ISLAND 2920 W. 21 ST ST. i f53l 2940W.2STST."" 2A f'lESs 295SW.29THST. BROOKLYN 1 2950W.24THST. fc; 2960 W.

24TH ST. Mr? Fvtl1! 2970W.24THST. 4 JfjS? MC5 2828W.28THST. Bm 1 3- IiIt2930W.30THST. bv.

I QUEENS i I 2929.3 1ST ST. I j'X MARCUS GARVET 1 tJTraS OS 327-470 CHESTER ST. NASSAU I Id --4; 323-407 BRISTOL ST. If -3 KISl tfc220-260DUMONTAVE. ----i '4 ifelllk.

2727 SURF AVE. JPiiXLkM 297QW.27THST. 1 2730 33D ST. XXZ1 4 2750 W. 330 ST.

VA 2770W.33DST. i Jk 'V" a' 3325 NEPTUNE A "V- S. 3405 NEPTUNE AVE. 7 3415 NEPTUNE AVE. Map locates UDC structures where inspectors with the Board of Fire Underwriters found building violations of an electrical nature.

Insert: Schomburg Plaza. Unsafe Fire Wamin 1 UPC Buildings May 1 a fire that endangers the lives of municipal residents; a small defect can make even a modern "fireproof" building uninhabitable. But the legislation that established UDC in 1968 authorized the agency to issue its own Certificates of Occupancy and freed UDC projects from all local building codes and Jocal inspections. The recent examinations by the Fire Underwriters marked the first time outside inspectors had ever examined most of these buildings. Among' the other projects criticized by the underwriters are the Eastwood section of Roosevelt Island, Marcus Gar-vey Houses in Brooklyn.

Whitney Young Manor in Y'onkers, Twin Parks in the Bronx, several high-rises in East powder keg," warns Sam Parnas, operations vice president of SK Management, the award-winning Los Angeles company that manages the damaged Rochester complex. As it turned out, repairs on the Rochester project cost $55,000. But estimates by David Silverman, chief of elec- -trical design for the State Housing Division, indicate that the repair costs for all the 40.000- plus apartments built by UDC around the state may run as much as $10 million. On" the other hand, Robert Jacobs, UDC director of construction, insists that the inspectors from the Fire Underwriters applied the wrong electrical codes when examining the buildings But UDC has already paid most of these contractors and has no authority to compel additional work from them. Assistant State Housing Commission-, er Milton Duke is concerned that the dangerous wiring conditions remain while UDC and the contractors haggle over who pays to correct them.

"Where there are hazards, they will be eliminated," he said. "We will make UDC pay, whether they like it or not." Among the most serious problems the Board of Underwriters found were: Overheated and deteriorating wires and an absence of crucial fuses at Schomburg Plaza. Experts consulted by The News said such conditions, particularly in a development so new, indicate shoddy workmanship or design and a Behind the walls of UDC buildings, there may be overheating electrical wires and other fire hazards. The cause: faulty design and installation. By MARTIN MAYER and MARTIN GOTTLIEB First of a series Daily News reporter Martin Gottlieb and author Martin Mayer collaborated on this investiyative report.

Mayer, who irroie "The Bankers" and boots, first learned abot'l the lire hazard in Urban Development Corp. projects while working on new book, "The uhi--h nill be pblis.ed this, winter. The tenants who moved into Schomburg Plaza in 1974 surely must have thought their new apartments were the sort of housing only the rich could afford. Located on Fifth Ave. at the north end of Central Park, the 35-story octagonal buildings were hailed by community groups that h.id sponsored the project as "The Gateway to Harlem." The American Institute of Architects even awarded a special citation for innovative' design to the builders of Schomburg Plaza, the New York State Urban Development Corp.

But behind the walls of Schomburg Plaza, according to a recent inspection ordered by the State Housing Division, there are overheating electrical wires and other fire hazards resulting from faults of design and execution in the electrical system. And Schomburg Plaza only one of at least 17 UDC projects where inspectors from the Board of Fire Underwriters an insurance industry group found what engineers who examined the reports for The News called "dangerous" or "potentially dangerous" defects in electrical wiring. Electrical defects are considered especially serious violations of thousands, minor. flay may cause 1 1 1 Li. badly functioning, dangerous system.

Ungrounded motors and sockets, improperly wired' hallway lights, and "overfused" lines that carry too much current at the Park West development in Coney Island. Each of these situations could cause fires, the experts said. Loose connections on heavy-duty wires, overheated circuit breakers and aluminum cables not protected against physical damage at the 626-unit Marcus Garvey development in Brooklyn. Again, the electrical engineers said, these findings indicate sloppiness that could result in tragedy. Poorly ventilated transformer rooms packed with deteriorated and overheated wires at 1990 Lexington Ave.

Poor ventilation leads to rapid deterioration, the experts said. Inadequate spacing between metal parts in key sections of the electrical systems at 2726 Surf in Coney Island and at the Twin Parks development in the Bronx. This often leads to "arcing" a condition in which a live spark passes between the metal parts --one'of the most serious fire-produc Harlem, and a large group of UDC buildings in Coney Island. -Several UDC projects have not yet been inspected, including three other sections of Roosevelt Island, which are outside the jurisdiction of the State Housing Division. The inspections were ordered by former state Housing Commissioner John G.

Heimann, now U.S. Controller of the Currency, after a spate of fires in high-rise UDC projects in Rochester. Indeed, one such fire forced the evacuation of several hundred elderly tenants for six weeks, until electrical repairs could be made. So far, there have been no major fires in UDC projects in New York City, although the danger is there. and, as a result, cited as violations many installations that were entirely proper.

At UDC's request, the Board is taking another look at the buildings. But Albert J. Reed, general manager of its bureau of electricity, does not expect many changes. Reed points out that most of the conditions discovered by the inspectors would not be permitted under any code. Overheated wires, for example, are forbidden by all codes.

And UDC. itself, after inquiries by The News, has sent out letters to the general contractors who worked on the buildings, enclosing copies of the Fire Underwriters reports. UDC ordered that all. code violations be corrected. ing nazaras.

of the owners- who took over the buildings on completion from UDC on page 17 col. 1) Iti r. The electrical wiring systems are. a )r hf p'-.