Peace on the pier more precious than beer
To The Editor:
Re: “Private Investment, Public Enjoyment” (Talking Point, August 20, 2015):
Long before the Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) was even a glint in Senator Ohrenstein’s eye — indeed, while many were still either smarting or celebrating over the defeat of Westway, the Chelsea Waterside Park Association (CWPA) was organizing an all-out effort to create a plan to build a world-class park at 23rd St. on the Hudson River. That plan was to encompass Piers 62, 63 Maritime and 64, creating a loving embrace of the river. And so it does.
After endless negotiations to establish a funding stream for the park’s maintenance, an agreement was made that established Chelsea Piers as we know it today: Piers 58, 59, 60 and 61. The rent from that commercial entity was to be the cash cow that made our park viable. Our only ask was to keep the perimeters of each pier open as a public passage. Within a few years, the cow ran out of milk. Governor Pataki agreed to a deal to rewrite their lease for far less money, and CWPA saw none of it.
Nearly three decades later, HRPT looks to make the same kind of bargain; but this time within the established park, and with no assurance that the meager funds derived from the rent will be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of Chelsea Waterside Park.
Madelyn Wils’ argument that Pier 62 is underutilized is the very reason it is so valuable to its users. It is a calm, quiet corner of refuge from the activities to the east.
An obscure fact is that when the “finger piers” (62 and 64) were rebuilt, the Trust decided to downsize Pier 62 — for financial reasons, they said. We lost many square feet of open space, and the pier now becomes narrower toward the western end. To propose encumbering that very space with a commercial (not just beer, but a hard alcohol-serving) establishment, is adding insult to injury.
Pamela Wolff
MTA is trashing us
To The Editor:
Garbage cans are a wonderful invention. They have existed since time immemorial. They make it easier for people to dispose of trash, and thus, they contribute to cleanliness and health.
In 2011, for reasons unknown, the MTA removed all garbage cans from the N and R station at Eighth St. and Broadway. It did so from a second station, as well: Main St. in Queens. The MTA apparently trusted subway riders to keep their litter until they reached a station with trash cans, or until they got out of the subway.
Mysteriously, the plan worked for a while. It is hard to imagine why it should have been effective, but on Jan. 27, 2014, the MTA announced that it would expand the program. Joe Leader, senior vice president of the MTA’s Department of Subways, said, “The results have been for the most part very positive and we have seen some behavioral changes by riders.”
Subway riders are responsible and try to be clean and helpful. Most of them held on to their litter. It was an inconvenience. It is so very much easier to dump your garbage into a convenient trash can. Nevertheless, many people put up with the inconvenience.
Consequently, the MTA increased the inconvenience. They removed trash bins from 29 additional stations, mainly on the J and M lines. It was too much for subway riders. Littering increased. It increased even where there were convenient garbage cans. Once people get into the habit of dropping their garbage on the platform, they do so even if there is a convenient alternative.
When I get off the N or R train at the Eighth St. station, I often see litter or even uneaten food on the benches. This is more common on the Downtown side in the evening. There are also lots of loose scraps of paper on the floor after one passes the turnstiles, but before one starts climbing up the steps. Riders who have been carrying their trash with them just give up when they see no relief when they finally arrive at their destination.
The MTA should be happy to make life easier for its riders. It should take advantage of the wonderful, historic invention that our remote ancestors gave us. Please, MTA, bring back the trash bins.
George Jochnowitz
Feedback from Facebook
Re: “Apartment Building Caught Behaving Like a Hotel” (news, Aug. 27, 2015):
We’ve told DOB that when landlords lie on DOB forms, that’s a felony that should be reported to the District Attorney. DOB must stop coddling felons who endanger tenant lives and destroy housing.
Richard N. Gottfried
New York State Assemblymember
Re: “Her Chance to See Again Comes at a Cost” (news, Aug. 27, 2015):
I know the Hobbs family very well, and what was written in the paper was wonderful. They are a very special family to me. Elijah and Alexandra look in on me to see if I am okay, since I live alone. Elijah and Anna Polowitzer and Lenny Gaskin all came to my door one morning and said, “You must go to the hospital.” Well, I did — and if I had not, I would have died.
The Hobbs family is most deserving of the eye operation, because they are one of the nicest families I’ve ever met. I do hope Alexandra reaches her goal to see again, to see her most wonderful family. So please give to a most deserving woman, so she can see again. Thank you, from a neighbor of the Hobbs family.
Helen Murphy
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