Glick: If PATH’s unsafe, close it
To The Editor:
Re “PATH unsafe without more exits” (letters, Nov. 5, by Giuseppe Scalia):
I am writing in response to Giuseppe Scalia’s letter in the Nov. 5 issue of The Villager wherein he alleges that my opposition to the proposed expansion of the PATH train station at Christopher St. is misguided. I am opposed to this project because it will negatively impact the community in a number of ways.
First, Mr. Scalia cited the alteration of the streetscape as the basis of my opposition to this project. While this is a serious concern, it is not the primary basis of my opposition. The larger problem is the dislocation of businesses and the potential damage to many of the historic structures in the area. Christopher St. merchants are already facing a difficult economy and the situation would only be made worse by the inevitable obstructions created by a major construction project. Furthermore, the unnecessary destruction of the historic and aesthetic character of the neighborhood is an unacceptable price to pay for a project that is so questionable and expensive.
The Port Authority has had this plan on the shelf for innumerable years. It was only when FEMA money became available to New York, in response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, that these ill-conceived and unnecessary plans were resurrected. The Port Authority has been unwilling to meaningfully consult with the community and has not discussed options such as using emergency-only exits like the ones currently used in the New York City subways. Furthermore, the Port Authority has provided incorrect information to the public and other government agencies about this project. In fact, the FEMA inspector general determined that the Port Authority’s statement that it examined 34 alternatives to the project implementation was not true. Finally, if the station is unsafe, as Mr. Scalia alleges, then it should be immediately closed.
I stand by my opposition and am proud to have the support of most Villagers.
Deborah J. Glick
Glick is assemblymember for the 66th District
Glick fires waterfront broadside
To The Editor:
Re “Glick takes the gloves off on rink” (news article, Oct. 29):
Deborah Glick’s courageous attack before the community board on the proposed skating rink near Pier 40 was outstanding. Her arguments were passionate, dynamic, compelling, rock-solid (compared to the Waterfront Committee, which continued to skate on thin ice).
It is well known that powerful real estate and financial interests — from outside the community — are attempting to exploit, exhaustively, the West Village waterfront. The skating rink is merely another glossy, “gateway” sortie, a small part of a major strategy for massive, profit-driven waterfront development. It is the same development juggernaut that wants to build the new West Side stadium, a Robert Moses-like monster that will not only cost many Chelsea-Clinton people their homes, but radically and forever change the whole configuration of our city, change the way we all live here.
Deborah Glick has been the best — the most intelligently aggressive, effective, and human-values-oriented — Village politician in a generation. She has been our “touchstone,” the one we can always count on to point us in the right direction, to show us the right thing to do. And if we have an ounce of collective sense left, we will follow her leadership and do everything we can to defeat this badly conceived proposal.
This skating rink could not only help postpone a “plan of lasting substance” for Pier 40, but do immediate and irreparable damage to the already fragile logistical infrastructure of our unique community.
Jim Brennan
Oh spirits, we need you now
To The Editor:
Re “Building conjures up angry feelings” (letters, Oct. 15):
Glenn Bristow’s letter regarding the destruction of the mural on Charles and West Sts. is thought provoking.
Here’s another case of history, beauty and people’s feelings being trampled by the (greedy) wealthy and powerful. Bristow’s point that there might be a solution to this in the spirit world is exciting. No one gets hurt, just financial failure after failure. The new (probably incredibly homely) structure would be the “bad luck” building.
I’ve lived for many years in the growing, ugly shadow of N.Y.U. I actually protested in the ’80s when they threw up D’Agostino Hall on W. Third St. They didn’t notice.
Here’s hoping the spirits can do what living folks can’t in stopping this epidemic destruction of our beautiful Village.
Joanne Milazzo
Quoth the Raven, ‘Triangulation’
To The Editor:
Re “Nevermore, well maybe once more, but only sort of” (news article, Nov. 5):
You might have included in your sum-up article a mention of the fact that the resistance to N.Y.U. was an interesting triangulation of the neighborhood groups that you mentioned with well-known Poe-lovers such as Jane Jacobs, Lou Reed, but in particular E. L. Doctorow and then the third force — the folks who repeatedly read “The Raven” in front of 85 W. Third St., where Mr. Poe had finished writing the poem. “The Raven” is a meditation on his wife Virginia’s coming death. Mr. Poe had moved there originally because he thought that the garden in back would be healthy for her. The power of the poem itself, and our love of repeating its 18 stanzas, did contribute to the construction of this room where kids can learn about the great poet’s life.
Bill Talen, a.k.a. Reverend Billy
Harlem rules in Little League
To The Editor:
Re “Gauchos corral Millan championship” (sports article, Oct. 8):
While we salute the Gauchos in beating the South Harlem Reds’ 14-year-old team and keeping the title on the Lower East Side, please note that for the past four years the South Harlem Reds 12U Team has won the Little League Division — the last two in the Felix Millan Little League and the previous two in the O.L.S. Little League.
South Harlem Reds
