Bayview corrective
To The Editor
Re “Helping Bayview’s inmates find their way to college” (On the Record, April 27):
Thanks to reporter Chris Lombardi for the attention Chelsea Now has brought to Bayview Correctional Facility, and for the time Chris has put into researching stories about the facility.
As part of her series on Bayview, Chris also did a Q&A interview with me that needs a correction. In response to the question, “How did you come to choose Bard for the degree program?” the article quotes me as stating, “We really wanted a quality institution, and we felt some of the college who approached us were almost predatory, feeding off students just to get their financial aid. We talked to Sarah Lawrence and to Marymount Manhattan College, which runs the program at Bedford Hills.”
Thus far, two readers have contacted me, having interpreted this to mean that I am accusing Sarah Lawrence and Marymount Manhattan College of being predatory. As Chris can verify, I declined to mention the colleges that Bayview’s Learning Center for Women in Prison (LCWP) found predatory. I noted that LCWP also spoke with Sarah Lawrence and Marymount Manhattan colleges, both high-quality institutions, and explained our decision not to partner with them as follows: In the end, LCWP did not partner with Sarah Lawrence College because their class format is five credits, which would have required professors to come to the facility twice a week, which was not practical. In regard to Marymount Manhattan College, the administration had their hands full managing the campus at Bedford Hills and could not expand their coverage at the time.
Thanks for setting the record straight.
An R. Trotter
Trotter is chairperson of Bayview’s Learning Center for Women in Prison
Good-bye Garment District
To The Editor:
Re “Under the tunnel and over the rainbow” (The Buzz, May 25):
I applaud Chelsea Now for being the only New York City paper covering what is happening in the Garment District and other nearby areas, where industrial buildings and lofts are being re-classified and others are being torn down amidst this developer frenzy. You are telling stories that need to be told.
I also wanted to clarify something about our imminent move from the Garment District to Long Island City: We [Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing] are actually not going to be near the Kaufman-Astoria Studios (which is closer to Astoria). We’ll be closer to Silvercup, which is in Long Island City. And contrary to what your Buzz item said, the prospect of moving is, in fact, scary—a big undertaking after having been in Manhattan for 28 years. We just hope that we can hold onto our clients and they do not feel that the outer-boroughs are “out of town.”
In addition, we have to put a lot of work and a tremendous amount of money into a space that has a demolition clause after five years, as all buildings seem to have in their leases, what with Bloomberg’s rezoning and re-vitalization of virtually every formerly industrial area in New York City. Faced with the very real possibility of having to move yet again in five years, we will close for good the next time around.
Meanwhile, kudos to Chris Lombardi and Chelsea Now for alerting the public as to what is actually going on in their city, that their unique mom-and-pop businesses that make the city such a wonderful polyglot of flavors are disappearing fast in favor of more hotels and luxury housing, not to mention ever-growing Benettons and other mega-chains.
Helen Uffner
Uffner is the owner of Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing LLC, which leases antique and vintage clothing to film, TV, video and commercial productions and clients
G.T.S. can get it right
To The Editor:
For the third time, the General Theological Seminary’s plans for new buildings on its beautiful historic square are disappointing. Is it really so difficult to achieve a look and ambiance compatible with Chelsea’s historic district? The seminary’s prime location in the heart of the district calls for designs that are elegant and inspiring. And if lots of glass is obligatory in today’s market, it need not be tedious. Famous English houses offer many exquisite examples of large and beautiful window design.
Jean Hebb
Goldwater on Falwell, et al.
To The Editor:
Your May 25 editorial cartoon, “The Afterlife Adventures of Jerry Falwell” (by Mikaela Reid), reminded me of what the modern-day conservative movement’s founding father, the late Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, would have also said on the subject.
Goldwater believed that what consenting adults consume, inhale, perform, read or view in the privacy of their own home or private social club isn’t the concern of government. Individual economic and civil liberties prosper best when government stays out of both the bedroom and marketplace. Limited government meant that taxpayers dollars should be spent prudently, with the least amount of confiscatory taxation accompanied by real balanced budgets, no deficits and actual surpluses.
He would never support the massive deficit spending that has resulted in today’s $9 trillion long-term debt. He would have also opposed the thousands of Congressional earmarks supporting tens of billions of dollars in pork-barrel spending each year. He was no fan of corporate welfare or spending billions on useless weapons systems supported by Congress but not requested by the Pentagon.
Remember Goldwater’s stand concerning gays in the military? He said, “You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.” About the so-called Moral Majority: “What Jerry Falwell needs is a good swift kick in the ass.”
If Goldwater were alive today, he would disown both President Bush and Congress. Both have morphed into long-term inside-the-Washington Beltway career politicians who have no regard for individual civil or economic liberties and continue spending as if it were “Monopoly” money. Goldwater would also be no fan of GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney or anyone else who emulated the late Jerry Falwell.
Larry Penner
E-mail letters, not longer than 350 words in length, to news@chelseanow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, 145 Sixth Ave., ground floor, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel.
