LifeThyme saved my life
To The Editor:
Re “Raw-food Rashomon as cops remove disruptive man” (news article, Feb. 18):
In contrast to the unhappy incident reported about police being called to remove an aggressive, seemingly mentally disturbed customer from the store, I’d like to submit my account of very benevolent actions by LifeThyme staff, when I, as the result of a defective coronary artery, collapsed at the checkout register a couple of years ago.
Feeling increasingly lightheaded as I approached the register, I asked the cashier if a chair might be available for me to sit a moment. She immediately grasped the situation, came around to me and gently supported me as I sank to the floor, parallel to the line of registers.
A call was made to 911. While I briefly lost consciousness, someone had covered me with a LifeThyme logoed windbreaker jacket, embroidered with the name Jason.
After a ride in a Fire Department ambulance to the nearest hospital, the E.M.T. handed me the LifeThyme jacket.
A few days later, out of the hospital with a brand-new stent in the problematic artery, I returned the laundered jacket, with my thanks, to the store. I now know Jason is the manager whose jacket had covered me in my time of need. I remain grateful to Stasia, the kind and efficient first-responding cashier, and to Jason for their help then, and to the rest of the staff, who, over the years, have always served this customer graciously and well.
The Villager’s good article clearly exculpated store staff from in any way supporting unnecessary use of force to remove the troublemaker, and was mute on whether the police may have been harsher than needed. I wasn’t there to witness what took place. But as so many events in our city have dark outcomes, I just felt compelled to offer my anecdote of a positive outcome of an emergency event well handled at LifeThyme.
Aline Kessler
Clumsy clichés can’t cut it
To The Editor:
Re “Slicing through the Meat Market project’s jargon” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Feb. 25):
Michele points to the clumsy attempt of the developers to seduce us with clichés and fanciful words. Jared Epstein, who represents the developers, is quoted below from his Facebook page. He talks of a great, lost period that he will “recreate” — like a Disney cartoon set. I doubt that he notes the irony of rebuilding history by tearing it down. And how sad it is that the Landmarks Preservation Commission allows itself to be convinced by nonsense.
“Our project will connect New Yorkers to a great, lost period in the history of the Meatpacking District,” Epstein said. “The district has buildings, architecture and a streetscape that are unique, and we’re recreating a valuable piece of that history.”
Elaine Young
Young is a founding member, Save Gansevoort
‘Recreating’ — and elevating
To The Editor:
Re “Slicing through the Meat Market project’s jargon” (talking point, by Michele Herman, Feb. 25):
Excellent column! One fun fact that should also be mentioned is that these tenement buildings of yesteryear were five stories, but their total height was no more than 55 feet, and maybe less. However, the developer proposed buildings that were a maximum of 120 feet tall!
I agree that these buildings — featured on the cover page of the 2003 Gansevoort Market Historic District designation report — should be left alone or rebuilt as market buildings of the same current size. But if the so-called Landmarks Preservation Commission allows them to be recreated as they were previously, then let’s make sure we are talking about limits in feet — not stories.
Keith Anderson
The Stranger: Adam Purple
To The Editor:
Billy Joel once said that “We all have a face that we hide away forever,” and that appears to be the case with Adam Purple.
Adam was a man that, like so many of us, I liked and respected. A rare combination for me because most of the people I have a lot of respect for, I don’t particularly like. I’ve designed one private garden and one public garden on the Lower East Side, as well as three private gardens in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, all using ideas and techniques that I learned from Adam.
So it hurts me to say this, but I have to stand with the victims. I also have to stand with Lincoln Anderson and The Villager for having the courage to write and publish such a sad and painful story.
Jerry The Peddler
Claws come out vs. Scoopy
To The Editor:
Re “There goes the block” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Feb. 25):
Scoopy wrote that 4 St. Mark’s Place was once owned by Alexander Hamilton. This naturally leads us to think that the owner of the house was Alexander Hamilton, the current musical comedy star and Treasury secretary and duel victim.
It’s tough typing with paws, I realize, but a rudimentary sense of history, or a quick look online, would have told Scoopy that the owner of the place was that man’s son. Alex the Great died in 1804 and the house wasn’t built till 1831. Can Scoopy do the math?
Bryan Dunlap
Editor’s note: The letter writer is correct. Scoopy is guilty of reading an article about the building’s sale in The Real Deal too quickly and mistakenly writing that Alexander Hamilton, rather than his son, Alexander Hamilton, Jr., was the first owner of 4 St. Mark’s Place. Despite the letter writer’s sarcastic tone, however, Scoopy will be the bigger cat — and not challenge him to a duel.
Looking ahead to — Rajkumar
To The Editor:
Re “Forget County Committee; We need to look ahead” (talking point, by Chad Marlow, Feb. 18):
I’d say Jenifer Rajkumar is the sort of person Marlow seems to be suggesting we find and elect.
Sylvia Rackow
A great presence
To The Editor:
Re “John Farris, bohemian poet who chronicled life on Lower East Side” (obituary, Feb. 11):
John was a great presence at The Living Theatre from 1989 to 1993 and beyond. A dear friend and mentor.
Tom Walker
E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 1 Metrotech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.
