Newsday from New York, New York • 28

MMt I I I M.W.W 1 1 Phone items to (718) 575-2550 Fax (718) BROOKLYN CLOSEUP What Price Eastern Parkways Glory? dont know if thats what were getting; he said. Goldstein was somewhat more optimistic. We fought fa 14 years to get the prqject. Were hoping at least it will be somewhat what we hope it will be, he said. We look forward to a beautiful street.

Pladde said the deadline will be met, if we continue on our current schedule without any unforeseen problems and with the antidpated results. The final appearance of the road, he said, is one of our main concerns, adding, We know its a landmark roadway and one of the grandest avenues in the rity if not in the world. Eastern Parkway was the first built in the United States and served as a model for others, according to the New Yak Landmarks Conservancy. It begins at Grand Army Plaza in Park Slope and runs through Prospect Heidits, Crown Heights, East New Yak, Brownsville and ends in Bushwick, passing the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Goldstein said the parkway links all the cultures of Brooklyn.

the mayors Traffic Coordinating Task Face. Joseph Pladde, a spokesman for the DOT, said construction is phased to have eastbound traffic on the main roadway and signs indicating no turns off the roadway. But he said the contractor has beat asked to put up this week advance warning signs on the main roadway, beginning at Grand Army Plaza, indicating that from Washington Avenue to Ralph Avenue no turns are allowed off the main roadway and that turns can be made only from the service roads. He said DOT, the Sanitation and Parks Departments have been waking with tiie contractor to remove not only construction debris, but also discarded refrigerators, sofas and other nonconstruction debris from the malls and that new field personnel are ensuring that cleanliness is maintained. Augustin believes the deadline fa completing the wak wont be met and that when the renovation is completed, the appearance of the parkway will not live up to the DOTs vision of a return to its forma glory.

That is what we fought fa, but I Parkway Coalition, a community activist group. He said water was turned off and the traffic signs changed without notifying the community; that construction materials hazardous to pedestrians have not been cleaned up in some areas; and that some of the trees that are to be retained are not being protected. 'It has been a total inconvenience, Augustin said. The work is going on shabbily. What a mess! If they were doing Ocean Parkway, Im sure theyd not get away with the things theyre doing.

The project, which was planned and budgeted for several years, has been hampered by delays. Naclerio Constructing, a Bronx firm hired about four years ago, went into bankruptcy at another site, Goldstein said, and the city held up his money. Meantime the community got squeezed. They were fighting and we were suffering." As a result, work was halted two years ago and resumed in September, he said. Goldstein said representatives of Community Boards 8 and 9 have discussed the traffic problems with By Merle English STAFF WRITER For the motorists who use it daily and the people living in the buildings along its malls.

Eastern Parkway is two miles of inconvenience as the six-lane roadway undergoes reconstruction. The citys Transportation Department says the $58-million reconstruction is aimed at recapturing the splendor of the roadway, which was designed by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux who also designed Prospect Park. The project includes installation of new sewer and water lines and reconstruction of the main roadways, service roads, sidewalks and malls. That phase of the work, 60 percent of which is completed, according to a DOT spokesman, also involves installation of granite curbs and a bikeway paved with hexagonal asphalt blocks. New benches, new street lamps and new street name and traffic signs are to be installed.

The grassy areas on the malls will be re-established, and 1,000 new trees will be planted. The work is scheduled to be completed this fall. But community groups that have long advocated for the rehabilitation are dissatisfied with the way the job is proceeding. Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, chairman of Community Board 9, said temporary signage erected for the construction is misleading. He said motorists arent warned before getting onto the parkway that there are no left or right turns off the main road along the area being rehabilitated, which extends from Grand Army Plaza to Pitkin Avenue.

There have been numerous accidents because of the way the signs are placed, he said. The drivers are driving nutty. Pedestrian signs have been moved and placed in areas where they cant be seen, Goldstein said. Parking areas set up in sections of the roadway to alleviate the loss of about 2,500 parking spaces have become hazardous, he said, noting that some drivers are using the parking areas designated for parking as a thoroughfare. Theres a lot of enforcement that needs to be done.

Gypsy cabs and vans illegally parked on the south service road have captured the street and compound the problem, Goldstein said. We're not satisfied with anything thatB going on on Eastern Parkway, said the Rev. Owen Augustin, chairman of the Eastern NEWSDAY, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1981 cussed on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at the Brooklyn Womens Campaign for UJA-Federation annual seminar. The history and culture of Sephardic Jews since their pnlnn from Spain in 1492, and efforts to bring Jews out of Ethiopia, Syria and the Soviet Union to Israel are otha topics that will be addressed.

Also scheduled are wakshop sessions on Jewish philanthropy. The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sephardic Community Centa, Ocean Parkway and Avenue 8. A $14 donation includes lunch.

Fa i CONEY ISLAND Jobs, Training at Hospital Coney Island Hospital is recruiting high school graduates and dropouts for its Youth Employment Program which begins a new cycle soon. Participants get free training in clerical and basic skills while waking as clerical aides at the hospital as part of their training. They also receive $3.88 an hour for each hour of wak. Applicants should be between the ages df 17 and 21'ahd'fiomlow-income families. To regiata for the classes, call the Youth Employment Office at (718) 615-5272.

PROSPECT HEIGHTS Free SUNY Courses Free academic, trade and business courses are being offered by the State University of New Yak at its Educational Opportunity Centa, 470 Vanderbilt Ave. The centa is accepting applications from indiyidujdswho are 18gsraoldlf7 olda for enrollment In bookkeepihg', and accounting, computer literacy, computa repair, architectural and mechanical drafting, secretarial science and word processing and otha programs. Registration will be held on Jan. 29, 30, and 31. Classes begin Feb.

4. Fa more information, all (718) 636-7924 a (718) 7928. SHEEPSHEADBAY Politics at Seminar kOohg; fhaf tdhjeaxK mwiKbee 8 Grsenkjr-.