Goldman cars
To The Editor:
Since Goldman started occupying their new building, town cars have been lined up for blocks up Murray St. as far as W. Broadway as well as Greenwich St. They block intersections, double park, honk and idle for long periods while they wait to take scores of Goldman employees home each night. Most of these spaces are dedicated for no standing or idling during the day but the car services do not care. It’s a big detractor to quality of life on Murray St. where my family lives, and it really underscores how out of touch Goldman is. Goldman needs to be a better neighbor and figure out how, if so many of their employees need to take private cars, to make it less of a nuisance to their Tribeca and Battery Park neighbors. This is a company that is in need of some good P.R., rather than moving in and coming off as wasteful and inconsiderate.
John Sandler
Alcatraz East
To The Editor:
Re Terror trials Letters to the Editor:
We cannot afford to spend $400 million, with still escalating estimates ($216 million the first year with ongoing annual cost of $206 million for as many as two to three years) to protect the city when the terror trials are held at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Federal Court on Worth St. Let’s move the trials to Governors Island or Randall’s Island as suggested by former Councilmember Alan Gerson at a recent terror trial town hall (news article, Dec. 11 – 17 “Chinatown activists press fight to move terror trials”).
These federal funds could be used to build a permanent complex at an isolated and underutilized section of one of the islands. This could start with a small federal court for high profile trials and include a federal detention center, One Police Plaza headquarters as well as the proposed $30 million Joint Operations Command Center (high tech). Locating our most sensitive and vulnerable facilities on an island where it could be more easily secured and would not jeopardize neighboring residential complexes, schools, children’s playgrounds, houses of worship, businesses, Downtown’s only full service hospital and the critical intersection at Chatham Square/Worth St. that links interstate/inter-borough bridges and tunnels — would certainly increase traffic flow and the blossoming of Lower Manhattan.
Jeanie Chin
Chatham Towers board member
School fight
To The Editor:
It looks like “he who shouts loudest gets heard” and the folks supporting Option 2 seem to be better organized, at this point. This is largely because the majority are located in a two square block area and are thus much easier to organize.
However, the facts are the facts — and I note the following, in kind:
Yes, safety is a very important issue and yes, I understand how upon initial reflection — crossing an 8-lane highway (West St.) seems more treacherous than crossing “smaller streets” (Broadway, Park Row).
West St. has an approved pedestrian walkway that has been in operation for over a decade. It is not dangerous in any way! Crossing Broadway and Park Row on the other hand is far from easy. Park Row has the on ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, is a busy street filled with cars “making the light” to get on the bridge and the thought of young children crossing this street is horrifying to me.
Further, Broadway was just this week, I believe, voted the second most dangerous street in Manhattan.
Folks at the meeting at 234 on Jan. 7 complained that the crosswalk bridge at West St. is “always broken.” Well fix it! You don’t re-zone a neighborhood because a bridge is broken.
Yes, proximity is important. The advocates for Option 2 say “I am one block away from 234 — my kids should automatically go there”. I live on Murray St. and am two blocks away — but under Option 2, my address is excluded.
Yes neighborhood and community is important. The character of both should be maintained though thoughtful analysis. Drawing a line down the middle of Tribeca (Option 2) and cutting it in half, fails this test miserably. Residents that have been long-time members of the community will be excluded. Of course they will still be living in the community — but we all know that where our children attend school determine a significant amount of the community we construct for, and live in, with our families.
I note also that the buildings which are fighting tooth and nail for 234 here in Option 2 are new buildings and the residents mostly are not long time residents of the area – unlike a large portion of those that will be excluded if Option 2 is adopted.
Declan Hanlon
Bike helmets save lives
To The Editor:
Re “Woman cyclist killed by bus” (news article, Jan. 6):
Lincoln Anderson quotes someone saying,
“…[H]er head had been crushed under one of the bus’s rear wheels.” Perhaps her life could have been saved if she was wearing a helmet? I’m assuming she was not wearing a helmet.
I have never understood why so many cyclists do not wear helmets, and do not use front and rear lights at night.
I do know that rearview mirrors of buses, trucks, cars, etc. have blind spots.
God bless my fellow bicyclists. But many of them are extremely reckless and impatient and endanger themselves and others. Just observe the speed and aggressiveness of cyclists entering and exiting the Williamsburg Bridge bike path on the Manhattan side.
Michael Gottlieb
McCourt brother
To The Editor:
Re “Silent night and Frank won’t be calling this year” (Downtown notebook by Alphie McCourt, Dec. 25 – 31):
Alphie McCourt is a wonderful writer himself. He writes with the same ease as Brendan Behan. And I hope he keeps on writing for us.
Pat Fenton
Koch’s ‘Avatar’ aversion
To The Editor:
Re Ed Koch’s review of “Avatar” in “Koch on Film” (Dec. 25 – 31):
I found this review to be sad and out of touch. Mr. Koch should read Manohla Dargis’s review in The New York Times: “A New Eden, Both Cosmic And Cinematic.”
T. Blum
“5,000 FiDi apartments could be eligible for rent regulation” (news article, posted Jan. 14):
“The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal referred comment to the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which did not comment. The city Department of Finance declined to provide a list of buildings receiving 421-g abatements.” This may be the most interesting and annoying aspect of the whole story: Patterson’s DHCR and Boss Bloomberg’s HPD and tax-collectors are stone-walling. The question is, to protect the citizens and voters, or to protect campaign finance sources as we head into a state-election year?
Donald Jenner
“Magna Replica” (UnderCover, posted Jan. 14):
Thank you, Roger Byrom, for your support. On a “brighter note” you will find the lighting by the Magna Carta display much brighter now that we do not have to keep it low to protect the 800-year-old original. Lincoln Cathedral’s chief executive, upon seen a photo of the reproduction now on display, exclaimed it was an amazing copy. Plus, the Museum has many other authentic treasures on display. “Foundations of Freedom” will be on exhibit until April 1. Best wishes.
Tony Wellman, Fraunces Tavern Museum
Letters policy
Downtown Express welcomes letters to The Editor. They must include the writer’s first and last name, a phone number for confirmation purposes only, and any affiliation that relates directly to the letter’s subject matter. Downtown Express reserves the right to edit letters for space, clarity, civility or libel reasons. Letters should be e-mailed to news@DowntownExpress.com or can be mailed to 145 Sixth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10013.
