Ch-ch-changes
To The Editor:
Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2):
Thanks to Mr. Sutter for his years of successfully publishing these vital community papers. Best wishes to Ms. Goodstein as she steers NYC Community Media for the next generation.
Kimberly Donahue
Thanks for a stellar job
To The Editor:
Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2):
John, you have done a stellar job leading a phenomenal team of journalists who so thoroughly, fairly and brilliantly have covered our neighborhoods.
You will be missed — but you leave behind a talented, award-winning team.
Good luck in pursuing new adventures and we will see you in the neighborhood.
Corey Johnson
Please, digitize the archives!
To The Editor:
Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2):
Let’s hope the excellent quality of the paper will be maintained. All best wishes and hopes as well that the archives — which go back to 1933 and are vital to Greenwich Village history, archivists, amateurs, mavens and historians — will now be put online for all to read and use.
Patricia Fieldsteel
Way to go, sis!
To The Editor:
Re “The Villager is sold to I.T. executive Jennifer Goodstein” (news article, Aug. 2):
Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Jennifer, on her new business venture. Very proud of you.
Rochelle Spector
Unify the Village district
To The Editor:
Next week we have the opportunity to put the Village back together again…at the first Districting Commission hearing leading up to the 2013 City Council elections. Greenwich Village used to be in one district, but more recently it has been divided into three districts, with two of the three councilmembers generally deferring to the third on every issue…and thus not representing their constituents. After all, it wasn’t just the residents of one part of the Village who were affected by what happened to St. Vincent’s and Washington Square Park.
Unlike many other geographical areas in the city with somewhat vague boundaries, Greenwich Village has very distinct and clear-cut borders, as recognized by the City Planning Commission when it drew community board lines. Nevertheless, a powerful member of a previous Districting Commission opined that if Fifth Ave. was good enough to be the line demarking East and West in Manhattan, it was good enough to provide a neat divide, wherever possible, for Council districts. And that’s why Villagers living east of Fifth Ave. and south of the park have been gerrymandered out of the district that includes the majority of Villagers.
The Districting Commission is seeking your input at the first Manhattan hearing Thurs., Aug. 16, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., at New York Law School, 185 West Broadway. You can sign in online at www.nyc.gov/districting. Come and testify. This is our chance to make the Village whole again.
Carol Greitzer
Typical N.Y.U. hype
To The Editor:
Re “N.Y.U., affordable co-op reach deal on long-term lease” (news article, Aug. 2):
As always, New York University aggrandizes itself, as do the politicians. We still don’t think N.Y.U. is one of the “good guys” nor are Chin, Quinn and Stringer. The article had no mention of Assemblywoman Glick, who, of all those cited, was the most on-our-side politician of them all. Thank you, Ms. Glick, for all your support!
Sylvia Rackow
Rackow is a member, Committee to Preserve Our Neighborhood
Smart, sexy and powerful
To The Editor:
Re “Burlesque will be on the menu with stripped-down poetry club” (news article, Aug. 2):
I’m interested in learning what it is about the modern burlesque movement that’s so sexist in K Webster’s opinion.
Is the problem that we and the venues we’re working at are making money on an art form that we enjoy and choose to do? An art form, by the way, that is produced almost entirely by and performed mostly for women. Or is it because there’s an element of striptease involved? I’m genuinely curious, and I’m having a hard time accepting the idea that burlesque is an invitation to treat women as anything less than human, unless you feel that way about performance art in general.
My guess is that you just don’t know much about neo-burlesque.
I personally know most of the women in that Duane Park promo photo that was on The Villager’s front page last week. I won’t pretend to speak for them, but they’re incredible, smart, talented women. Some are business owners. A couple produce shows of their own. Throughout the scene there are doctors, professors, mental health professionals — these are not women doing this for lack of other options.
They’re also not performing out of some internalized self-hate. They’re strong, confident women of varying body types who’ve decided that being smart and being sexy need not be mutually exclusive.
Maybe you didn’t say “burlesque is degrading,” but the implication that it’s inherently sexist is completely unfair.
Kita St. Cyr
Love the Ottomanellis
To The Editor:
Re “Peter Ottomanelli, 65, of famed family meat market on Bleecker” (obituary, Aug. 2):
Love this family. Went to St. Joseph’s with them. R.I.P. Peter. The obituary made no mention of Rosemary, the youngest sister.
All of us who were raised in the Village spent all of our holidays on line at the Ottomanellis’. It would not have been any other way.
Condolences to the Ottomanelli family. We share your sadness.
Lisa Kloeppel
Great house, great times
To The Editor:
Re “Key site in early gay rights history faces demolition” (news article, July 26):
I remember this building very well as the home of Bruce Voeller, Arnie Kantrowitz and Jim Owles. I went to several wonderful parties there. It was a time of huge optimism, intense bonding among gay activists, and a feeling of outrage that could scorch the streets.
All of the house’s residents were active in the Gay Activists Alliance, whose clubhouse or community center on Wooster St. in an old firehouse — which became known as The Firehouse — became legendary. Their weekly Saturday evening dances were the forerunners of gay dance clubs in the city. They also orchestrated their famous “Zaps” from The Firehouse.
This house should be preserved for its historic associations. Jim Owles and Bruce Voeller are no longer with us, Arnie Katrowitz is. I’m glad for that.
Perry Brass
Brass is the author of “King of Angels,” a new gay, Southern, Jewish, coming-of-age novel set in Savannah, Georgia, in 1963, the year of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Squawking about Chick-fil-A
To The Editor:
Mayoral wannabe City Council Speaker Christine Quinn calling on New York University to shut down its Chick-fil-A franchise was an attempt to score political points with gay, lesbian and extreme liberal supporters, who also by coincidence are campaign contributors.
Her rationale is based upon the owner’s political beliefs, which I also disagree with. New Yorkers face a 9 percent unemployment rate with an additional 7 percent more who have given up looking, long-term pension funding shortfalls in the billions, along with critical issues dealing with education, housing, transportation, public safety and the environment, just to name a few. A future mayor should clearly have more important issues to deal with than going after Chick-fil-A.
How disappointing to see progressive liberals like Quinn throwing her lot in with the Moral Majority social police and politically extreme conservatives who attempt to use government rules, regulations and the threat of boycotts to impose their own moral values on others. For those who don’t like Chick-fil-A’s owner’s political beliefs, please feel free to purchase a competitor’s product.
Larry Penner
E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to lincoln@thevillager.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to The Villager, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. The Villager does not publish anonymous letters.
