Letters to the editor

To The Editor:
Mayor Bloomberg, in his proposal of Gansevoort Peninsula as a site for a sanitation transfer station, has failed to give a valid reason why this use could not be sited elsewhere. No, not in an outer borough and no, not in a community of color. Everyone agrees that Manhattan must do its fair share if New York City is not going to be buried under a pile of garbage. Alternative sites have been proposed for study on both Piers 57 and 76, which are along the West Side, and there is no evidence that any credible study has been made which would cancel either of these sites out. There is also the concept of using rail freight with a rail transfer station at the Hudson Yards. These proposals have been urged, not only by the New York State elected officials from Greenwich Village but from both Chelsea and the Upper West Side.

Contrary to some of the arguments made by the supporters of the transfer station, this is not a matter of NIMBY. The Gansevoort Peninsula was always intended to be a park, and not one with a large sanitation facility in its middle. There are issues of traffic, noise and pollution. Ignored are the pedestrians and bicyclists who pass by the peninsula every day at all hours and who would have to interact with large sanitation trucks. Ignored also is the fact that the Hudson River Park is not a private park for the residents of Greenwich Village but is a public park used by people of all colors and economic classes from all over New York City as well as the world. It is listed in most tourist guides as a wonderful place to visit. Would a sanitation facility be placed in Central Park or Prospect Park?

The attacks that have been hurled at our local elected officials, particularly at Assemblymember Deborah Glick, are reprehensible. At no time did anyone suggest that the proposed facility be placed in a low-income or working class community. The history of New York City in placing odious uses in these neighborhoods is infamous. However, that does not justify New York City’s refusal to investigate alternative sites in Manhattan. The Federation to Preserve the Greenwich Village Waterfront has joined with Community Boards 1, 2 and 4, Assemblymembers Glick, Richard Gottfried and Linda Rosenthal, State Senator Tom Duane and Congressmember Jerrold Nadler as well as many environmental and community groups in seeking viable alternatives to the Gansevoort Peninsula. We call upon the Bloomberg administration to join with us instead of taking the easy way out.
Carol Feinman
Feinman is president of the Federation to Preserve the Greenwich Village Waterfront & Great Port

Build to benefit all

To The Editor:
Something is amiss here. As I glance around our fair city’s skyline, now pierced with crane after crane, I know that these cranes will be followed by giant buildings. And these giant buildings will, for the most part, be adding billions of dollars to already very deep pockets.
So, growth is good? So says our mayor and his various departments. If you’re in New York, you can’t build out. You must build up, we are told.

I, like many other city dwellers who fight for affordable housing and livable density, am not in love with these giant sky-piercers. But what I want to know is, why all that community energy is spent making mincemeat of those developments that give something back to the community, like St. Vincent’s Hospital’s proposed new building, and the General Theological Seminary. Why not put some of that energy into demanding that regulations and zoning serve the community, not just the billionaires?

Having just emerged from a five-day stay at St, Vincent’s, I must concur with their statement that the present facility has seen far better days. As I understand it, they have just emerged from bankruptcy. Funds are needed to build a fully equipped facility that can better serve the community.

So, while I am sympathetic to those who decry the disappearing river view, sunsets and blue-sky views, I am not so sympathetic to those who mount these battles with an eye to property values as their primary concern and with barely a thought of the needs of the community at large.

So, folks, let’s fight the good fight and get the changes to our laws, zoning and planning tools that benefit most of us, not just the wealthiest among us.
Gloria Sukenick

Reinstate bus stop

To The Editor:
Hudson Guild’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) has received complaints from members of the Chelsea community about the elimination of the M23 Fifth Avenue bus stop. The recent change removing the Fifth Avenue stop and forcing people to the Broadway stop has created an unreasonable and dangerous condition for the many seniors using the M23. Now they have to walk back crossing a very hectic and dangerous intersection if they are going to the West side.

NAC believes that the Fifth Avenue bus stop should be put back. We urge all community residents to contact their elected officials and other community leaders telling them of this high risk safety issue. NAC would like to thank Senator Tom Duane for writing a letter to Mr. Howard Roberts, the new president of the NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority. We also urge all community residents to support this request by contacting Mr. Roberts directly at: Howard Roberts, President NYC MTA, 2 Broadway, NY, NY 10004.
Elyce Roberts
Roberts is president of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee