Can’t stop the plane
To The Editor:
Re “Thinking about Berry Berenson, who wore barefoot” (notebook, by Jerry Tallmer, Sept. 7, 2005):
I, with great sadness, was surfing this 9/11 eve for an article about my college-era friend Berry.
I was a very young 19 when I first met her in 1973. Just heading off to college from a small Kentucky town, earning my way through college knitting sweaters. She was encouraging and just amazing…and everything I wanted to be. A grand inspiration.
I read your column and still wish I could reach out just before that plane in the film hits that tower. That I could rescue her from her fate and gently set her back onto the safety of the ground. It breaks my heart every time that I cannot.
I am pleased as someone who only chanced through her exciting life that she is remembered so fondly. And I grieve for her sons. My children are of the same age.
Diana Mains-Welte
Why help tenants profit?
To The Editor:
Re “Back the tenant-backed buyout at Stuyvesant Town” (editorial, Sept. 6):
Middle-class housing is a real concern for the people of New York City. However, the various plans to permit tenants to buy their apartments are all a double-edged sword.
I have heard many tenants at Penn South and other middle-class enclaves say that they want the right to sell their apartments for as much money as they can get. If this is permitted to happen at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village it will only enrich the current tenants who have had enjoyed the advantage of low rents for decades. Those who buy the apartments from these new owners will not be middle class but the wealthy. This is an issue that must be looked into very carefully before we jump into the idea of using taxpayer funds to help current tenants buy their apartments so they can sell them at a huge profit.
Tom Connor
26 floors of disrespect
To The Editor:
Re “N.Y.U. dorm is built on air, neighbors say, in new lawsuit” (news article, Aug. 30):
Andrew Berman’s Enron analogy (quoted in your article) is brillant and cuts through 26 stories of Hudson Companies/N.Y.U. dishonesty and disrepect to our community. And add the United States Postal Service selling “air” for multimillions to the equation. Lower the elevation. And to Cardinal Egan — stop selling the churches off like you are having a bake sale. And if you must sell, sell to someone with some humanity who will continue the churches’ role as safe haven and resource center for education and more.
David Kramer, N.Y.U. and other developers seem to have the deepest pockets, the most powerful connections and stealth tactics to exploit and destroy the beauty of this historic area. John Sexton, N.Y.U.’s president; David Kramer and Robert Scarano are just a few that should perform 500 hours of community service — and far more — for this area which they harmed.
Suzannah B. Troy
Money is now their mission
To The Editor:
It’s painfully clear from the recent articles regarding New York University’s plans for a megadorm on the former St. Ann’s site and the threat to historic St. Brigid’s Church that both New York University and the Archdiocese of New York have forgotten the reasons for their existence. Neither institution was created to become a greedy, grasping real estate company with no regard for the communities they were created to serve.
The archdiocese’s “dog in a manger” attitude toward St. Brigid’s is appalling — how can they turn their back on a site that is so important to the Irish community in New York? Every house of worship, whether church or synagogue, is an important thread in the fabric of our city’s history.
And N.Y.U. — well, they are up to their old tricks of deception and destruction. Has anything changed since we fought for the Poe House and against the Kimmel Center? N.Y.U. needs to realize that if they destroy the ambience of the Village — a major draw to potential students — they are simply biting the hand that feeds them.
We need to keep on fighting for every historic building and every precious square foot of this wonderful neighborhood. N.Y.U. and the archdiocese may have forgotten their reasons, but let’s not forget ours!
Marilyn Stults
9/11 article not suspect
To The Editor:
Re “5 years later, 9/11 skeptics feel they’re close to truth” (news article, Aug. 30):
Much thanks for this very straightforward report on the 9/11 Truth movement.
Although I am new to this movement, I realize the importance of getting the message out, that the official story must be questioned and reinvestigated by a truly independent body. Personally, I think that should be the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Lou Rosenberg
Anarchy on wheels
To The Editor:
Re “Pedalers and politicians get pumped about Houston lanes” (news article, Sept. 6):
Your sympathy for bike riders is misplaced. Numerous times I, like many people, have almost been hit or grazed by a biker. Only when bikers begin to stop for traffic lights, stop riding on sidewalks and stop riding against the traffic in the street will reasonable people take an interest in their complaints.
Thomas McGonigle
Meat Market mayhem
To The Editor:
For the last five hours I have been unable to sleep because of the raucous and rude shouting, screaming and partying going on in Gansevoort Plaza. I eventually called 311 and spoke with a very efficient young man named Marcus. The minute I hung up the phone the noise in the plaza escalated and I called the Sixth Precinct directly, three times. There was no answer.
I am well aware that the Sixth Precinct is woefully understaffed. There are some 175 officers assigned when 250 would be more appropriate. But to get no answer is pretty scary.
It may be difficult to balance the advantages of commercial development in an area with the longtime, 100-year history of a stable residential neighborhood, but I believe that something needs to be done. The excesses of the Meatpacking District have become so appalling and so disruptive to a longtime, stable West Village neighborhood that we must beg for an examination of how zoning, development and permits are dealt with.
The screamers are still going on. And I can only wonder why.
Nancy Blanford
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