Trump emotional, but evil
To The Editor:
Re “ ‘Trump thumped Clinton’ ” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Oct. 13):
Scoopy was wrong to write last week that I thought Trump won the second debate. Not true. As I said, Hillary showed I could trust her in a crisis: I was awed that she was able to stay with facts on the substance despite Trump’s stalking her and thrusting Bill and sex in her face.
Trump’s actions and words are evil — not only at the debate but also regarding women, immigrants, Mexicans, African-Americans, gays, children.
The mistake in Scoopy’s Notebook might have occurred because I thought Trump was better at expressing emotion — albeit divisive and prejudiced emotion. Did you hear Michelle’s speech in New Hampshire? She expresses emotion and logic.
Keen Berger
Berger is Democratic district leader, 66th Assembly District, Part A
Editor’s note: The Scoopy’s item said that, according to a source, the consensus among a group of Village Independent Democrats club members who watched the debate was that Trump had won it. But the item did not specifically name anyone.
Trump ‘stalked’ Clinton
To The Editor:
Re “ ‘Trump thumped Clinton’ ” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Oct. 13):
Anyone who thought Trump won that debate should listen very carefully to Michelle Obama’s recent speech.
Trump, in his aggressive, looming and stalking behavior during the debate (characterized by Scoopy as “on the warpath”), employed a classic and brutish use of male girth (and the societal context of institutionalized sexism) to try to physically dominate and terrify his smaller female opponent.
If you didn’t already understand what the intended effect was, Trump’s recently revealed relationship to sexual assault made it clear. Or should have.
Men don’t have to do much to kick up the feelings of terror that many women and girls have to live with daily. But the privileged Trump, accustomed to bullying to get his way, tried to use every bit of it as leverage.
It’s not enough to call him names: We have to stop admiring patterns that just aren’t admirable.
For a whole lot of women who understand in our bones what undergirds those kinds of physically threatening postures, it was game over. We knew. He lost.
K Webster
Can Hillary hack it?
To The Editor:
Re “ ‘Trump thumped Clinton’ ” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Oct. 13):
If Mrs. Clinton feels threatened merely by having a tall man stand next to her, she should go home and sit down in Chappaqua.
Diane Whelton
Village 9/11 memorial’s truth
To The Editor:
Re “9/11 tiles return, but ‘fauxcade’ is still a faux pas” (news article, Oct. 6):
This is a great memorial. I’ve referred it to visiting Danish students who were preparing a paper on 9/11 memorials. There’s far more truth and emotion in it than the billion-dollar spectacle Bloomberg had installed at Ground Zero.
Michael Burke
Just stringing us along
To The Editor:
Re “Hearing on S.B.J.S.A. was a sham all the way” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, Oct. 13):
In a Villager article in June 2015, Editor Lincoln Anderson asked Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito when the Small Business Jobs Survival Act would get a hearing. She promised a hearing once the bill got through the legislative process.
That was nearly a year and a half ago. What happened to keeping promises? Is the speaker the ringleader in the rigging process at City Hall?
Steven Null
Buy a cell phone!
To The Editor:
Re “My DSL hell: The K.G.B. had nothing on Verizon” (talking point, by Bill Weinberg, Oct. 13):
Go ahead and get a cell, Bill. You’re in good company. Nothing bad is going to happen. I personally guarantee it.
Aydin Torun
Marte would have my vote
To The Editor:
Re “Challenging Chin” (Scoopy’s Notebook, Oct. 13):
As someone who ran against Chris Marte this past year for Democratic State Committee, I can vouch that he is a hard worker, a progressive and a bridge builder, not a bomb thrower nor a divider, which seems to be the norm in this political season, both locally and nationally.
The potential City Council candidates mentioned by Scoopy — Marte, Don Lee and Rajkumar — would all be an improvement over incumbent Margaret Chin, and I could easily see myself supporting Chris. I would lend a hand in fundraising.
In the recent State Committee race, Chris came out of nowhere and worked hard. His experience in the community and his nonstop campaigning won him a very impressive percentage of the vote. He joined me in my effort to increase visibility for the State Committee race, which was no easy task. His ability to communicate, rally people for important issues, and get the press to pay attention would serve him well in the City Council.
Dodge Landesman
Done to perfection
To The Editor:
Re “A Bride in the Willows: Theresa Byrnes suspends her body to create provocative art” (news article, Oct. 13):
Perfectly evokes what it was like to be witness to a fierce and wonderful performance piece. Thanks, Sarah!
Steve Zehentner
iPic makes him sick
To The Editor:
The opening of the iPic movie complex in the historic South St. Seaport area marks a historic occasion for the Lower East Side.
Instead of being the first major movie house to geographically serve the large population while complementing its unique seafaring location, it vividly illustrates another glaring symbol of how Howard Hughes Real Estate plans to turn the Seaport Historic District into an upscale pricey mall.
There is no list of prices, movies and times anywhere in the lobby. You are told that this multiplex theater has two price scales, one for its registered, paid annual club membership (lower), the other public (higher), with a rising scale of prices according to varying plushy seating and service. In the words of the receptionist, “We are not designed for children and no discount for seniors.”
Food varies from restaurant to faster service, including personal service. What should have been a modern, egalitarian, typical American movie theater is now an elitist cinema club for upscale spenders who don’t ask, “How much?”
This is another dramatic example of the Howard Hughes business plan, with the support of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, adding to the Modernist glass cube building now replacing the period salty redwood multiservice one on Pier 17 to bury its historic identity.
In addition, the attempt to build a 48-story tower in the water next to the Tin Building and the proposal to move the iconic Seaport Museum to the remote Pier 16 from its current early-1800s Schermerhorn Row houses, the heart of the historic district, demonstrates what happens when politicians put business — and the commerce-oriented E.D.C. — in charge of priceless cultural sites.
The South St. Seaport is the last and oldest location where Manhattan’s seaport began. It’s a place that draws visitors from around the world, as well as locals, to view our heritage — not a pricey mall.
Sy Schleimer
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