Daily News from New York, New York • 419

CO if I i 'j News Bureau (718) 8754455 Fax (718) 875-7795 Home Delivery 1-800-692-NEWS LMEW iff By LAURA W1LUAMS i Daily News Staff Writer Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew has chosen Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the superintendent of Community School District 17, to head his "chancellor's district" of 10 of the most troubled schools throughout the city. Byrd-Bennett THICK CLOUD OF SMOKE rose from Whitehall Ferry Terminal as blaze ferfFfw '-mffiffwrffl 1 Not everyone is wild about the latest plan. Tamara Coombs, chairwoman of the Ferry Riders Committee, said: "I'm unhappy with the new design. It's bland, bland, bland. No one bothered to consult the public for ideas." But Molinari proclaimed that he was "very happy," adding: "We are getting something that is not the least bit garish and will take advantage of the beautiful views of the harbor and the Manhattan skyline." By BOB GEARTY Daily News Staff Writer Christian Velasquez had been preparing to open his used auto parts store in Williamsburg this week and had been painting the outside wall bright blue.

Yesterday, the shop was shuttered, the wall unfinished and a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk marked the spot where Velasquez and another man were slain Monday in a brazen daylight shooting. Velasquez, 33, and Nelson Rodriguez, 43, were shot and killed at the corner of Leonard and Meserole Sts. when a gunman walked up to them at 12:35 p.m. and opened fire, said police. Rodriguez was hit twice and Pnrm Slapigs liiw ps 7T Byrd-Bennett "I'd hate to hold her back.

This opportunity may not come around again." Byrd-Bennett did not return phone calls. Some are wondering why Crew would choose to take her out of the district at the beginning of the new school year. "ICrew is not giving us a chance to succeed," said Agnes Green, a member of the ousted school board of District 17, who was reelected last May. Green is not serving on the school board pending a court battle between Crew and the ousted board members who were reelected, but she still attends board meetings and is active in the district "If he Crew had made his decision in June this year, we would have had two months, time for a selection process that would not be pushed by expediency," she said. Crew formed the special district last spring in order to whip low-performing schools into shape and avoid having the state take them over.

The schools are on the state's SURR- -or Schools Under Registration Review -4 I rmnirr -rni iiiir.iijiriT.iimi nrrn. iiiiiiitn will continue to run District 17 made up of 27 elementary and intermediate schools in Crown Heights and Flatbush until the local school board chooses an interim superintendent, say board officials. The interim leader will serve during the process that district parents, the local board and the central Board of Edu-cation must go through to choose a permanent superintendent The top job in the chancellor's district opened up last month after Barbara Crew appointed its previous superintendent, Maria Guasp, to the helm of the scandal-scarred District 9 in the Bronx. Byrd-Bennett, whose contract at District 17 is not officially up until next year, is ac-customed to the task of turning around troubled districts. The former principal was appointed to head District 17 in December 1994 by then-Chancellor Ramon Corti-nes.

Cortines ousted the previous superintendent and board because infighting killed their ability to make decisions. One of Byrd-Bennett's first acts as superintendent of District 17 was to fill several principal vacancies, a task the previous regime could not do. Math scores in the district jumped from 36.3 of the students performing at or above grade level in 1994, to 41 at or above grade level in 1995. Comparable statistics for reading went from 38.5 in 1994 to 40.2 in 1995. "I hate to lose her, but Crew needs a top person," said Frances Hagler, president of the District 17 parents council.

"She brought stability tothis.district, she brought-to-. getherness and she weeded inriTMM.in destroyed it Sept. 8, 1991. EDC President Charles Millard said construction on the $81 million terminal is expected to begin in two years, after working drawings for the structure are completed. Construction will take several years because the work must be done in phases so that the Staten Island ferry can still be used by commuters and tourists every day.

In the meantime, commuters are using a temporary upstairs waiting room in the old, overcrowded building. wounded after being hit by four bullets. He died Monday night at Woodhull Hospital, said police. Both men were shot in the head. Police said Rodriguez was the owner of a social club that operated out of a run-down, one-story building across the street from Velasquez' store.

They said the two men had been talking when they were shot. It appears Rodriguez was the intended victim and that Velasquez may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, said police. Police knew of no motive and had no suspects. Little was known of Velasquez. Neighborhood residents said he livedin the Bronx with his wife and was the father of ff 2 mm toafff ii 11 m- By MARY ENGELS Special to The 4ews About five years to the day after a spectacular fire destroyed the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, a new plan to replace it has been released by the city's Economic Development Corp.

It is the third design to be released in as many years, and this time the architectural team on the project Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates of Philadelphia and Anderson Schwartz Architects of New York have chosen to go with a typical glass-walled building. Their first design, featuring a large clock, was submitted in November 1992 and was immediately rejected by the pub-lic and Borough President Guy Molinari, who called it "a major disappointment." In August 1995, a second design, which included an electronic message board facing New York Harbor, was immediately labeled "the zipper." Although the interior of the second plan was deemed acceptable, it too received only lukewarm response. This time around, the architects opted for a wall of glass panels facing New York Harbor, and a 114-foot glass facade facing Manhattan, offering views of lower Manhattan. A series of shops and stores would be located on the ground-floor level and along the eastern side of the second floor. An outdoor promenade is also featured.

In addition, the waiting room of the new building would be about 8,000 square feet, about Ithe size of the one destroyed in 7 a (A 3 (A 3 pronounced dead at the scene. ii.