W.T.C. safety
To The Editor:
I am a commuter who travels with two small children into Downtown Manhattan every weekday.
Rush-hour conditions facing pedestrians leaving the PATH station at the World Trade Center station have gone beyond inconvenient. They are dangerous and I fear someone will soon be injured or killed as a result.
During rush hours, the area along the northern edge of the ground zero site and south, along Church St. between Vesey and Liberty Plaza, is choked with people. It reminds me of leaving the old Yankee Stadium after the final out of a one-run game. Crowds are something every commuter can deal with, but these crowds are forced to walk perilously close to vehicular traffic on Church St. Buses and taxis are inches away from strollers and briefcases.
It is time the city came up with a better plan. I assume that a second PATH entrance cannot be opened (although this would eliminate the problem). But the city should encourage area companies to stagger their working hours, and put restrictions on vehicular traffic on Church St. during rush hours.
I am certain those in charge of the trade center site are aware of these dangerous conditions. To fail to act will result in someone being injured or killed, and add even more sadness to this wounded part of a great city.
Nathan Brockman
Quinn on garbage
To The Editor:
I am writing in response to a critical letter to the editor regarding the proposed Spring St. Sanitation garage (April 3 – 9, “Quinn ignores community”).
Denise Levine’s letter inaccurately portrays the decision-making process of this proposed municipal facility. While no one in New York City wants a sanitation facility near their neighborhood, the reality is that all five boroughs need to share the burden of finding places to handle our city’s vast municipal needs.
Although some community members came forward to oppose this facility, my office has held countless meetings with community leaders and has been receptive to all channels of community input. We heard quality of life and environmental concerns raised by opponents and took careful steps to incorporate their ideas to improve the design of the site.
While “Hudson Rise” is an exciting concept, it requires developing an alternative site for the District 5 garage. My office has passed along District 5 alternative sites for the Department of Sanitation to review. To be considered viable, however, alternatives must meet a number of requirements and be fiscally responsible.
Additionally, Ms. Levine’s characterization of Community Board 4’s position on citing the District 5 garage in its board is extremely misleading. In fact, in a November 2008 testimony, Mr. Lee Compton, the chair of C.B. 4’s Chelsea land use committee, raised serious concerns and outlined the many D.S.N.Y. facilities already located in C.B. 4, including its own 3-district garage and salt shed at 57th St. and 12th Ave.
If anyone has further questions about this process they can call my district office at (212) 564-7757.
Christine C. Quinn
Speaker, City Council
To The Editor:
During the period described by Denise Levine (Letters, April 3 – 9, “Quinn ignores community”), Speaker Quinn and her staff worked closely and at great length with members of Community Board 4 and the community, visiting and assessing the suitability of sites in our district to accommodate the District 5 garage, including the sites of the four sanitation facilities already located in our district.
While we have long been prepared to consider the possibility of siting a district garage on Block 675, the Dept. of Sanitation has consistently rejected the site for cost and other reasons. We strongly opposed the siting of a district garage in the Manhattan Borough Repair Shop because this facility was specifically designed and equipped for crucial repair functions, not for the different requirements of a district garage.
Jean-Daniel Noland
Chairperson, Community Board 4
Twins won’t take decades
To The Editor:
Re “Digging out of the W.T.C. hole” (editorial, April 17 – 23):
It’s already been about eight years after the 9/11 attacks, yet no buildings on the World Trade Center site have been done yet. Now that I am hearing that the new W.T.C. will not be completed until 2037, it draws even more skepticism.
Even though the Freedom Tower does have a tenant, that is still too little office space. Larry Silverstein wouldn’t have had the money to build what is being planned even if he won all those lawsuits in the past because of how over budget those buildings would have been.
Having the Twin Towers rebuilt wouldn’t just save money, it could also be built faster and be completed sooner than what is being planned, plus the foundation can always be retrofitted rather than just demolishing it and starting over. If they were being rebuilt in the first place, they would have been nearing completion right now and the Lower Manhattan skyline would be restored to what defined it so well. For almost the past eight years, the people have wanted the Twin Towers rebuilt rather than be replaced by something different, because they thought it would be the best way to remember those that died.
Tal Barzilai
Pleasantville, N.Y.
Parking police
To The Editor:
I witnessed something Wednesday, outside of P.S. 234, while I was picking up my grandson, Joseph, from school. It was a rainy afternoon, and, as usual, throngs of parents and caretakers gathered outside of the gates of the schoolyard, waiting for the younger grades to be released. As is the procedure, and, one that I feel is excellent, the children are not released until each teacher acknowledges whomever is picking up each child from the schoolyard and taking them home.
As I was walking out of the schoolyard with my grandson, I witnessed a parent who was being ticketed by a traffic agent because he had double-parked his S.U.V. across the street from the school on Greenwich St. Now, granted, double parking is illegal, but, because of the vehicle’s proximity to the school and the weather conditions, was it so necessary for this traffic agent to be so quick with her pen in writing out a ticket? Again, I am not condoning double parking or any illegal parking, but, to have a traffic agent hiding out, waiting to slap a ticket on an unexpected parent’s car, as he or she darts across the street to pick up their child, seems a little excessive to me. I know the city needs the money but I can name at least a dozen streets in our community where double parking is much more flagrant.
Joe Morrone
POSTED
to downtownexpress.com
“B.P.C. goes for more suburban storefronts” (Posted April 16):
It’s sad that a few gadflies bring so much havoc to so many. I agree completely with John Catsimatidis. Soon these neo-prohibitionists will kill everything except what they approve. Tell them to get a life or get the hell out.
Esin Emko
