Letters to the editor

Volume 1, Number 46 | The Weekly Newspaper of Chelsea | Aug. 3 - 9, 2007

Letters to the editor

Housing series a hit

To The Editor:
Re “John Raskin: the accidental organizer” (news article Q&A, July 27):

Congratulations on your in-depth interview with John Raskin in last week’s Chelsea Now. If pursued with this fervor, the series on housing and real estate in the following weeks should prove highly successful. It will also form a base where renters, being squeezed out of affordable housing in our community, can find a forum to discuss and take action on important issues facing them. Currently, as Mr. Raskin reported in your interview with him, “We have no ability to go up to state legislators versus urban legislators to ask to get a hearing, because they have no reason to respond to us.” This ironclad politics as usual must be reversed. The tide must—and will—turn in part thanks to efforts by your paper in bringing these facts on the housing crisis to the public’s attention. Our elected officials must answer to their constituents instead of lobbyists and land developers. Keep up the good work in bringing these concerns to center stage. It’s time for the readers and public to become part of the main act, which is not part of a fictional play on a theatrical setting but the real-life performance. Thanks again.

Peter Zaccone

New approach to traffic

To The Editor:
Re “Taking a hard look at Hudson Square” (editorial, July 20):

I noticed in your editorial regarding Hudson Square that you mention once again the Holland Tunnel traffic on Canal St., which is obviously an issue for all residents in the area, and I am surprised that nothing has really been done about it to date.

The problem stems from the multiple feeder and access points slowly winding into a single tube tunnel. Now is the time to take a hard look at moving the West Side Highway approaches to the Holland Tunnel underground.

This change would eliminate the rather unseemly pileup of cars that queue up indefinitely in the adjacent neighborhoods of Hudson Square and Tribeca, simply waiting only to get into the tunnel. Their waiting in standing cars performs absolutely no commercial benefit for these neighborhoods at all and, in fact, has a rather adverse impact on the quality of life here.

The fact that the city has repeatedly chosen not to enforce any gridlock penalties — by using cameras — or honking fines only further exacerbates this problem.

Implementing such a plan not only would significantly improve the quality of life in these neighborhoods, but would also free up traffic flow on the West Side Highway, as well as improve the daily commute of many people who enter the city through this tunnel.

I hope Community Boards 1 and 2 and other neighborhood groups will study such a proposal and move it forward through the appropriate city agencies.

Rohin Hattiangadi

Prosecute the prostitutes

To The Editor:
Re “Sex workers swept out of Gansevoort as the new clientele move in” by Lucas Mann (news article, July 27):

If you would like to know where the transgender prostitutes have gone, ask anyone living on Christopher St., W. 10th St., Weehawken St. and surrounding areas. This summer has been better, thanks to the officers at the Sixth Precinct.

Prostitution is illegal and draws other criminal elements into the area. Those engaging in this illegal activity should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Prostitution is not an acceptable form of business and would not be acceptable in any neighborhood.

If there is a problem with unruly clubgoers, that is a separate issue for our city officials and the police, working along with residents, to address.

Our neighborhood historically has been one of openness and acceptance of all who live in or visit the Village, but that should not include criminals.

Glenn Berman

Schnabel’s pink castle

To The Editor:
Every morning when I brush my teeth, it’s there in my mirror. A streaked, pink apparition. While it was under construction, I was thrilled to see the arched windows and high ceilings. So much better than the glass boxes that proliferate in my neighborhood.

I’ve lived on the corner of Bank and Washington Sts. since 1982 and have watched the skyline become crowded with thoughtless, large buildings. So, I was optimistic, until the day I saw the exterior finish. It’s pink, as we all know — but the upper four floors — which fill my mirror, are streaked and shabby. Quite a contrast to the unusual 1920s Moorish windows and balconies. Was all of the budget spent by the time they got to the exterior? Was this building designed exclusively for its interiors?

I know that the windows frame wonderful views of the West Village and beyond. But pink is discordant with the surrounding landscape, like a tacky princess who came to the ball without a gown.

Painted exteriors don’t live well in New York air. Even brownstones find the maintenance of paint, which streaks, cracks and bubbles, excessive. Most owners sandblast it off to show the natural brick.

Couldn’t Schnabel afford a real stone or brick exterior? Of course, you don’t see this from the inside. This neighborhood can enjoy his eccentric windows and balconies, but a tacky, pink exterior paint is a stick in the eye. Schnabel, be a good neighbor — and change the facade. I have my eye on you.

Joan Kadushin