Fulton plan changes
To The Editor: The cover story in the June 29 edition (news article, “Yikes! Starting in July, Fulton St. will mostly be closed for over 2 years”) talks about planned work on the Fulton St. water mains that will soon close part of Fulton and Nassau Sts. to traffic for a long time.
The city Department of Transportation could do two things:
Leave much of the Fulton/Nassau complex as a pedestrian mall. We all saw again this Fourth of July how many people on foot moved quickly and without incident when Fulton St. was closed in part for the Macy’s fireworks.
Further, pedestrian-only plazas alongside the planned Fulton Transit Center, with blocking posts operable only for emergency vehicles, could alleviate the global tensions surfacing again after the doctors plot at Glasgow’s airport entrance.
Concerning the stop signs that were masked or removed at Battery Park City, D.O.T. should opt for traffic lights or pedestrian plazas. The Transportation commissioner herself should resolve the issue in favor of pedestrians, who are in danger.
Children, seniors and the disabled walk across those streets all the time to Robert F. Wagner Park and Battery Park City events.
The state Senate has congestion pricing on its agenda when it reconvenes. The entire legislature might enact New York City’s environmentally friendly traffic proposal (Senate bill S6068) if the city D.O.T. traffic designs include preserving lives, limbs and property.
Victor Dupont
‘Paradise’ critiqued
To The Editor: Re “Paradise is not lost, W.T.C. architect tells C.B. 1” (news article, July 13 – 19):
Paradise is not only lost, it is occupied by a hideous building. I know the reason for the tumor that bulges from the building (to accommodate large trading floors), but why not make the entire building this size and avoid the goofy looking flower pot?
With the imposition of the Libeskind plan on ground zero, with the Fraudulent Tower sitting atop Raymond Kelly’s bunker, with undistinguished, stunted little buildings ringing the W.T.C. Cemetery, they add this stupid design replacing a perfectly good building. We are witnessing the worst architecture in the history of the country.
Joe Wright Staten Island, N.Y.
Fed up with waste
To The Editor: I would like to know who the rocket scientist was that 1) planted the foliage and baby trees on West St. between Vesey and Murray, 2) allowed the developers to construct the scaffolding over such foliage to block any sunlight or water from such foliage, 3) then had the bright idea to cut small squares in the scaffolding to allow these baby trees some space to grow up through this little space, then when the trees were actually dying because 1), 2) and 3) were a total waste of time, energy and money, decided to chop every one of these brand new trees down. Who is making the decisions and why do they still have a job?
Kerry Farrell
Letters policy
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