Newsday from New York, New York • 122

Part III York December 5, 1988 Union Square Wont Let Glory Days Pass It By Monday By Harry Berkowitz IN ITS MANY transformations, the Union Square area has gone from a celebration for George Washington in 1783 to rallies for Communist causes in the 1930s, from grand opera and burlesque to rock music and disco, from Tiffany jewels to discount towels, from elegant mansions to tenements to $700,000 condominiums, and from a drug-ridden park to a thriving greenmarket. Now a further metamorphosis is under way that thrills some community members who see controlled renewal of a bustling-but-shopwom area and worries others who fear a runaway overhaul of an eccentric and gritty neighborhood. With the success of the 27-story, pyramid-topped and multi-spired Zeckendorf Towers condominium and commercial 'complex and the cleanup and redesign of Union Square Park big developers such as Philip Pilevsky and Jeffrey Glick are planning a spate of apartment and office buildings in spaces they have gobbled up in recent years. They also are attracting retail tenants often seen in suburban shopping malls, including a Kiddie City toy supermarket, Pergament Home Center, Marshalls clothing store, Hermans sporting goods and a Wal-greens discount store. The issue used to be to get someone to invest in the area, but that changed with the Zeckendorf building and the park renovation said Norman Cohen, executive director of the 14th Street-Union Square Local Development Corp.

Now the issue is the extent to which the decision-making process includes the people who are here and how much it strengthens the neighborhood and protects the things that are good. Some of the developers see nothing but improvement for an area they say has lacked identity a closing of a gap be- Continued on Page 10 Neighborhood tries to hold on to the good and bring in better A revitalized Union Square Park and Zeckendorf Towers, Just right of center, have given the area a boost Nnwhal Jon Nuo Holiday Ads Getting You Into the Christmas Spirits. Page 3 Cutting Costs Anesthesiologists Make 'House Calls in Mobile Van. Page 5 1 1 I i 9 i.