Daily News from New York, New York • 282

1 1 'V 4 rLyV.ll BROOKLYN i ii in win muni, n.n.n.iii nu n.r-nK.iiii-ir mmm -I'MHnlm f- Ja, Qfv. Bush Terminal and piers, lifeblood of Sunset Park (see map), began to lose business after World War II. GREENWOOD 1 icr COMMUMITY wiiiHivinw. i vJjP CITV OF NEW VOBK jwoptbp: aecamtn mm By ALBERT DAVILA ROBERT JUFFRAS DAIV NEWS have no complaints. I have no complaints with the police and have very little to complain about the Highway Department" Among one of the projects by the Parks Department for the area is the $4-million renovation of the huge Sunset Park swimming pool.

Built on the site of the old Sunset Park lake, the pool was constructed before World War II. Work on it is expected to start at the end of next summer. "The park is beautiful and it is maintained to the best degree possible," Sedita said. "Unfortunately, we get vandals there at night who are bent on the city's Summer Youth Employment Program, were assigned to maintain the park. For five weeks the youngsters, who were paid the minimum wage, scrubbed graffiti, painted benches and planted trees.

"We expect to see them again this summer," Sedita said. But most important Sunset Park banks on its waterfront "Without it, we have nothing," Sedita said. "Developing this industrial sector will stop people from leaving." the lamps and scrawl destroying graffiti" Last summer, 72 teenagers, hired by Currently, a number of projects along the waterfront promises to bring back jobs to Sunset Park. The most ambitious of these projects is the development of the now-abandoned lyn Army Terminal. "If we go through all the hurdles, we can bring the freight rail back to Brooklyn," Sedita said.

"A marine-freight facility at the old Army Terminal can generate 4,000 jobs. Hopefully, many of those jobs will be taken by people who already live in Sunset Park." But development of the facility, which looked so close only a week ago, seems momentarily dashed by the Reagan administration's new austerity program. The grant to help the city buy the terminal may have become a victim of the new administration-proposed budget cuts. Nevertheless, other projects seem to be helping the area. These include the revitalization of housing and the widening of First Ave.

so that it can handle more truck traffic. "We have finally put a stop to the erosion and decay of our housing stocks," Sedita said. "Hundreds of housing units have been renovated and rented out in the last five years thanks to the Sunset Park Redevelopment Committee." The committee is credited with reconstructing abandoned buildings and renting them to low and middle-income families. Also in the last five years, according to Sedita, sanitation, police, fire and other city services in Sunset Park have improved. "The Sanitation Department has treated us very well, despite their cuts," Sedita said.

"They are doing what they can with what they have. I it i. IKE MANY OTHER Brooklyn I communities that face the port L3 of New York or the Atlantic Ocean, Sunset Park measures Its health by the heartbeat of its vast waterfront If cargo vessels line its piers, Sunset Park thrives; if not, it crumbles. In the good old days, from the turn of the century to World War II, boat from all over the nation and world unloaded their cargoes at piers along Sunset Park. The spillover from this freight traffic generated related industries such as warehouses and rail yards and with them came jobs and growth in the community.

During its heyday, people who lived in Sunset Park were likely to work there. If they went for food, clothing or entertainment, they were likely to find all of those services in Sunset Park. "My family has been here since 1908 and I can tell you that until World War II, they didn't need to go to any other area for anything," said Dennis Sedita, manager of Community Board 7, which also covers Windsor Terrace. We had everything here." Things quickly changed when the cargo ships moved to the new container ports that dot the New Jersey side of the bay. The flight of its most basic Industry marked decline in Sunset Park that, officials hope, reached its peak in the 1970s.

And now, in the '80s, Sunset Park is going back to basics, going back to its roots in the waterfront "The waterfront is the lifeblood of Sunset Park," Sedita said. "We can hope for a revitalization of the community only if the waterfront is put back in business." A. 1 0 A. 5 rf 1 Sunset Park pool is slated to get $4 million renovation at end of summer..