Daily News from New York, New York • 181

Manhattan and Bronx Daily News, Tuesday, March 30, 1982 my infir fir i HIGHBRIDGE MELROSE junction Sn THE BRONX 1 YANKEE If xivu stadium! II HAVEN OAK POINT YARD II mf JUNCTION II BRONX TERMINAL MARKET Vf OFFSHORE j'TV I 145th sfTR0UTE I jj Bridge SHORE 1 1 1 yyb RxE proposed yi HARLEM RIVER YARD -M 138th )QV I I X( V----w jT cast RIVER MANHATTAN V7 TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE By DON VVEINBRENNER and JOHN LEWIS Public hearings on the proposed South Bronx-Oak Point rail link that already has caused some con- troversy with the New York Yankees over the loss of parking spaces will be held Thursday by the State Transportation Department at two Bronx locations. In announcing the public hearings, to be held at 1 p.m. at IS 151, 250 E. 156th St, and at 7:30 p.m. at the Housing Courtroom, Part 17, 851 Grand Concourse, John Marino, director of the department's New York City region, said the modernization "is the most important rail freight project to be initiated in New York City in the last 20 years.

"Along with other components of our full freight access program," Marino said, the South Bronx-Oak Point link "will modernize the 19th century rail freight system currently serving New York City and Long Island. The completion of this project is essential to a revitalization of the metropolitan area economy." Oak Point yard is Conrail's major classification terminal for New York City and Long Island rail freight traff ic. At a news briefing yesterday at the World Trade Center, Marino said that the link through the stadium parking lot is one of three alternate routes proposed. He said that it would eliminate 85 parking spaces and 1'not the 1,000 as previously reported. THE PREFERRED ROUTE, he said, is the shoreline link but that, too, raises some questions, such as access to the waterfront.

A third alternative calls for an off -shore route extending 30 feet into the Harlem River. proposed link of nearly two miles will connect the Highbridge freight yard to the Harlem River and Oak Point freight yards, enabling rail 4 freight traffic to bypass commuter train lines. At present, there are some 447 commuter trains on the Hudson and Harlem divisions that pass through the South Bronx each day. Only two or three freight trains a day are able to maneuver through these commuter trains. BOB JUFFRAS OAJLV NEWS Proposed South Bronx-Oak Point rail link offers three alternative routes The new route also will bypass several restricted-clearance bridges, bridges that are too low and prohibit the shipping of truck trailers on rail flatcars: and the use of larger modern freight cars.

There are 23 such bridges with low clearances, enabling only the standard but outdated 14-feet-eight-inches-high box cars to use the railway. the freight cars manufactured today, 25 cannot use these rails. It is estimated that by the year 2000, the agency said, 60 of the modernized freight car fleet in the country won't fit in New York without rail modernization. Marino said that rail freight activity in New York, and thus access of shippers to the nation's largest market, has been seriously hampered by these clearance restrictions and scheduling conflicts with commuter trains. "IN FACT." HE SAID, "revolutionary changes in the transportation industry over the past 20 years have rendered our rail freight system virtually obsolete." The program also calls for rebuilding of the 60-acre Harlem River Yard at 132d St in the South Bronx into a modern service facility for flatcars carrying truck trailers, at a cost of $30 million.

It will enable truck trailers to be put on railroad flatcars, wheels and all, and shipped from the Bronx to their destinations by rail. The hearings are to be held in conformance with federal and state requirements for the preparation of an environmental impact statement for the South Bronx. They are intended to complement an extensive public participation program undertaken by the Transportation Department from the initial development of the project. Landmark list is a real 'What's What' in buildings By AL MIELE will be made by the commission. "If I were not responsible, I could have moved everything out in the middle of the night," he added, noting that the interior belongs to him.

THE 35-STORY Helmsley Building at 230 Park Ave. was completed in 1929 and is known for its high pyramidal roof which is studded with elaborate dormers and chimneys. The Level Club at 253 W. 73d St was built in 1926 and originally housed that Masonic organization. The exotic details and secret signs and symbols on the structure are considered a unique and creative blend of neo-Romanesque and art deco styles.

The Starrett-Lehigh Building at W. 26th St and 11th Ave. was constructed in 193L The building, a huge factory-warehouse, was designed to completely de-emphasize vertkality and its 19 stories are composed of alternating ribbons of brick and glass. Salvation Army Headquarters at 120 W. 14th St features extensive art deco detaiL Its three buildings, a four-story audi- ican commercial venture in the international style with its gleaming metal and glass sheathing.

THE HEARST Magazine Building at 959 Eighth Ave. is a six-story structure completed in 1928. Its distinctive features include pairs of statues which depict such themes as sport and industry. The former Tiffany Building was built in 1906 and was modeled after the Palazzo Grimani in Venice. Located at 409 Fifth the massive marble structure was one of the first department stores to open in the midtown area.

B. Altman Co. at 355-371 Fifth one of the flagship department stores of the famous avenue, was designed in the neo Italian Renaissance style and was completed in 1906. Pomander Walk, a residential enclave on Manhattan's Upper West Side on 94th and 95th was designed in 1921 to match stage sets in the play Pomander Walk. Throughout its exist- THE ODD FELLOWS Hall at 165-171 Grand St features Italianate and Queen Anne architecture and was built in 1847.

Luchow's Restaurant at 110 E. 14th St. was founded in 1882 and became famous at the turn of the century as a restaurant 1 and cafe serving New York's old theater district Enlarged and remodeled between 1911 and 1914, the new facade was designed in the German Renaissance tradition. The Apollo Theater was built in 1913 and served from 1934 until the mid-'70s. as the centerpiece of Harlem nightlife.

Located at 153 W. 125th St, the facade of the theater is considered a fine, example of turn-of-the-century commercial theater design. The. Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, is considered one of the city's and country's major architectural monuments. Designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1913 for F.W.

Woolworth, founder of the five-and-dime chain, the skyscraper is carefully detailed in Gothic style. In what promises to be a hectic meeting next month at City Hall, the Landmarks Preservation Commmis-sion will hold hearings on proposed landmark status for the Woolworth, B. Altman Co. and Lever House Buildings, and add Luchow's Restaurant and the Apollo Theater to a list of 13 Manhattan properties under consideration. Reading like a list of Who's Who in properties, the schedule for Ahe April 13 commission hearing also includes the Helmsley Building ex-V terior and lobby, the Level Club, Building, Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters, Odd Fellows i Hall, Hearst Magazine Building, the former Tiffany Building and Pomander Walk.

At previous meetings of the commis- sion, opposition to landmark status was voiced oy some owners, including those of the Woolworth Building. Restaurateur Peter Aschkenasy recently announced that his famous Luchow's wbtrid move -uptown to and Broadway. Aschkenasy said he hoped that "sane responsible tottiubp-'il-story tildin andrij uc2 B'in or tnvi it iw vis'tv! served as the home tor numerous writers, actors and other artists. Liever House ai aiw am avc. was built in 1952 and was the first Amer 17-story residence, were built between 1928 and 1935..