DRUG-GANG ARRESTS SEEN AS POSITIVE STEP AT BROOKLYN COMPLEX

The five gangs sharing 30 acres of turf got along splendidly. For at
least the last five years, the police say, "The Rough Riders," "The
Little A-Team," "The Front Crew" and the other gangs agreed to
detente. Business was thriving in each little slice of the sprawling
Cypress Hills housing complex in Brooklyn, and there was little need
to fight.

"These groups, for the most part, peacefully coexisted with each
other," Inspector Steven Powers said.

Gangland bonhomie.

But what made for an ideal market to sell more than $1.5 million in
crack, cocaine and heroin annually resulted in a living prison for
many of the community's 3,600 residents.

"They would shoot the lights out on the sidewalks and shoot the lights
in the hallways," said Johnny Robinson, a resident and a maintenance
worker at the complex. "People couldn't come in and out through the
lobby. They couldn't go up and down on the elevators. The old folks
couldn't sit out on a park bench. It got so ridiculous, tenants got
used to it."

However, with the arrests of 45 people over the past week, including 8
described by the police as "top-level gang leaders," the residents in
Cypress Hills say that may be changing.

"Now that the police came," Mr. Robinson said, "it's
beautiful."

Cypress Hills was completed in 1954 when Robert F. Wagner was mayor.
Older members of the community remember when residents were so
meticulous about keeping the place gleaming that fines were issued
just for walking on the grass.

While the grounds are still relatively clean, the reinforced steel
doors and metal grates on windows, even seven stories above ground,
betray the hard times the community has had over the past 20 years.

Allison Villanueva, 26, said she felt safer walking her 20-month-old
baby, Lamont, after the police sweep. Still, she worried that it would
be temporary. "A while back there was a rape in one of those buildings
and the police was all around," she said. "After a while, you didn't
see them." She feared the police would disappear again.

Joseph Campbell, a police captain whose responsibilities include
supervising officers in the complex, said the police were making a
determined effort not only to clean up Cypress Hills, but to keep it
clean. He said that while the drug dealing there might not have been
the worst in the city, the impact on quality of life was one of the
most severe.

"Now that the narcotics police have swept that place and removed 45
bodies, we have to make sure the good people can come out and the bad
people stay away," he said.

One of the ways the police will do that is by actively involving the
residents in what he called "tenant patrols" watching for suspicious
activity. "They don't need to tell us everything," Captain Campbell
said. "Just point us in the right direction." Captain Campbell said
the six-month investigation that led to the recent arrests would not
have been possible without help from the community.

Captain Campbell said it was also important to get the younger
children involved in activities that kept them off the street.
Detective Walter Brant, who has worked in Cypress Hills for nine
years, said he was about to get the touch football season under way.
He was hoping to field a team of about 15 boys, ages 13 to 16. "There
are a lot of good kids who live here," he said. "And they couldn't
even go into their own lobbies."

Antonio Baker, 14, described life under gang rule as "hectic." He said
he often could not get into his apartment, but he minded his own
business, concentrating on doing his homework and practicing to make
the high school basketball team. "I just stay focused," he said.

In the past, that has been difficult. Like many of the people in this
community he has a story about a shooting that was a little too close
and a little too recent.

"About three weeks ago I was walking toward my house, and I heard this
shot," he said. "I didn't turn around to look. I just kept running.
But I heard later that somebody had gotten their face blown off by a
12-gauge."

As the rain and chilly air added to the calm mood, and with the
lobbies clear so residents could come and go as they pleased, Antonio
Baker said today was not hectic. "Quiet is good," he said.