Newsday from New York, New York • 25

New Probation Head Inherits Crisis PROBATION from Page 6 pin of the criminal justice system, saving costly jail space and training criminals to be productive citizens, has instead become a catch-basin allowing violent criminals to roam the streets with a minimum of supervision, Smy-ley said. The agencys difficulties include: Caseload: Eight hundred probation officers supervise between 58,000 and 64,000 offenders each year. The average caseload per officer has increased by 23 percent since 1984, department records show. Salary: Probation officers make a maximum of $23,000, almost $9,000 less than city police and about $7,000 less than Btate and federal counterparts. The union representing these officers 60 percent are women has failed to win pay parity with criminal justice agencies in the city.

The result is a turnover of 22 percent of the staff each year, according to probation files. Managing serious offenders: Although probation was designed to rehabilitate first-time offenders, about two-thirds of the clients now are already convicted felons, who have either served jail time or been on probation Smyley and Frawley question whether the probation Bystem can effectively supervise such serious offenders. Recidivism: In 1984, the latest full year for which figures are available, 30 percent of those under probation su- i were rearrested. Of felony of-tenced to probation, the rearrest rate was 48 percent. This year, officials estimate that 35 percent of the total probation population will be rear-rested.

Also, 75 percent to 80 percent of those on probation for a felony already have a prior criminal record. Despite Smyleys track record at 36 he has already played a large part in revamping the city Sanitation Department, serving as inspector general and. deputy commissioner of legal affairs Nevada? PhOUp Davies Kevin Smyley, the citys new probation commissioner, relaxes in his office on a recent evening. fight for a budget when the mayor can say, Give this guy a few dollars. Ive given him a job and hes got an agency thats going down the drain? Cheatham said.

Frawli committ sioner for dollars. There is no question i the mayor has said in the past that If I have a discretionary dollar Im giving it to police, Frawley said. I think we have turned the corner in police and corrections and would be turning the money into probation, which would leverage money from the state which also funds the agency. But Im afraid we are going to be faced with some service cutbacks. some 9,800 offenders who, so far, have committed no probation violation, and begin citywide training programs.

But, he said, his biggest problem will be to find a way to motivate a staff whose 1 he cannot increase. I can tell you there isnt realty too much going on in probation but moving a lot of chairs around, said Wallace Cheatham, head of the United Probation Officers Association, which represents employees. The large history of this department is that the mayor has done absolutely nothing for it in the 10 i he has been in office. Cheatham said mayoral promises for improvement are not backed by hard eauh- Why does a commissioner have to he admits the odds are formidable. Probation has never had the opportunity to be effective.

I know that from my days at Legal Aid, I know that from my month hero, where Ive made an effort to go out and speak to 1,200 employees, Smyley said recently. Pm not a miracle worker I heard comments from Its over, theres nothing you can do, the system has failed to If you can change some things it can T- 91 WOTK. The mqjar problem with the department, Smyley says, is that Its just not set up the way it should be. Its a reactive agency it reacts to crisis. To change that, Smyley plans to create borough offices; reduce caseloads, parity by cutting short the sentences of City, Builder Locked in Towering Dispute sion member, said that when Eichner sues the city to overturn the commissions decision, he will emphasize his 1986 correspondence with city officials.

He said it shows they knew we were moving forward with a project that had grown taller, for those reasons. The citys failure to tell him to stop building, while it pondered the matter, is legal ammunition, Homstein said. Furthermore, Homstein said he will stress in his suit that the Landmarks Preservation Commission wrote to the Planning Commission last August, concluding the taller CitySpire still to be appropriate. Landmarks was involved because CitySpire was built over the historic City Center theater. But in its 10-page ruling, the commission emphasizes that Eichner had options that would have kept the building at 799 feet.

Among them: reduce the ceiling heights, redesign the mechanical ductwork or drop a floor. Eichners reasons for not taking those steps did not sit well with the city. Ceilings werent lowered by a couple of inches, for example, because that would hurt the intended market for condo sales, the commis- ready severely darkened by skyscrapers, the commission said. The taller towers added impact might be small, but must be stacked with what Eichner already received, the commission said. Word of the commissions ruling spread quickly to other cities where officials have grappled with similar, albeit less dramatic cases, of too-tall buildings.

There was only one answer to his Eichners question, and that was to drop a floor, said John Connolly, an adviser on development issues to the mayor of Boston, where a builder is being sued for putting a penthouse the city deems illegal atop a historic Back Bay home. He Eichner decided to be cute, and he got caught. A zoning specialist at the Urban Land Institute in Washington said there has been no case similar to CitySpire in the nation in recent memory. Historically, however, there were two similar episodes involving smaller buildings in Manhattan 10 and 25 years ago, respectively, that resulted in some compromise short of a mqjor tearing down. And currency, developer Albert Ginsberg is fighting the city to keep the top 12 floors of his 31-floor building at 108 E.

96th St. But that case is a battle NEWSDAY, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1907 BUILD from Page 4 aider the added height minor? Or did he, in arrogance, believe his own advertising hype? Above It All, the full-page spreads for CitySpire have beckoned. A place where you never have to do the things you dont want to do. In Manhattans own never-never land. Ironically, those most in the dark about Eichners 14-foot problem may be the people lured by those ads the 164 purchasers to date of the buildings 340 units.

Sales director James Charles Stewart said on Christmas Eve that very few buyers had called to inquire about the legal status of the building, scheduled to open in February, despite headlines about the commissions unprecedented decision. The dearth of concern, however, is possibly due to the habits of people who can afford studios starting at $200,000, and three-bedroom models that average $1 .2 million. The marketplace that were Belling to is not here now, Stewart said. Theyve gone away for the holidays. Eichner, reached on vacation in Arizona last week declined to comment.

It is unclear exactly when Eichner discovered the things that would put his tower 14 feet above the permitted height: a three-foot miscalculation by said only, Good luck. Although Eichner intends to sue, his immediate problem is getting permission to fully occupy the 72-floor CitySpire. He has a temporary permit for the lower, commercial floors, through the 24th floor. Homstein believes hell be able to get another permit for the condo floors up to 46, where the structural changes that violated his permit begin. But interviews with city officials indicate the odds of getting permission to occupy beyond that are long.

Traditionally, according to Buildings Department spokesman Vahe Tiryakian, the agency only issues temporary certificates of occupancy for buildings still under construction. CitySpire scheduled for opening in February is nearly complete. Its unclear whether being under legal siege would similarly quality it for temporary permits. The requirement for permanent occupancy permits is plainer, said Gabriel Taussig, chief of administrative law for the city corporation counsel. Any building must comply with all laws, he said.

CitySpire, as of the Planning Commissions ruling, does not. Stewart, nonetheless, exudes a salesmans confidence. Although none of the units sold to date have formally closed as yet (meaning the buyers could back out), a bedroom model was sold last Tuesday, and another on Wednesday, he said. Newspaper advertising will resume early next year, he said, and wont cite the buildings legal problem. If people ask about it, well certainty tell them, Stewart said.

IS) cn sion said, quoting Eichner: The commission also stressed as did Joseph Rose, chairman of the Midtown Manhattan community board over the integrity of a zoning map and that voted to oppose the taller City- special district boundaries and the jus- Spire the baigbt and bulk of tification in Ginsbergs decision to-ig- his architect, and 11 feet of actual extra thii. hniMing mrm mnttara nf nore a city order to stop construction, building bulk, due to redesign. The lat- tial concern Arguments are scheduled before the ter changes were made largely to help Time and again, F.irtmr had state Court of Appeals on Jan. 11, said prevent the towers top condos from fight phaiH mivara from win- Ginsbergs attorney. Jay Segal, who has swaying in winds, Eichner said.

ing law, including one to reduce the lost up to this last recourse. Asked if he But Homstein, a former commie- impart on light and air in an area al- bad any advice for Homstein,.