Resist this law change
To The Editor:
Re “Bratton plan to felonize resisting arrest sparks alarm among activists” (news article, Feb. 12):
This article makes a very strong case against any such law. In fact, I think the penalties should be minimal, given the fact that people can be wrongly accused of resisting arrest, and can even lose their lives in the process. Witness Eric Garner.
At most, a desk ticket or even less than that should serve.
Carol Yost
Lent diet is a real savior
To The Editor:
This Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter, when many Christians abstain from animal foods in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert before launching his ministry.
But meat-free Lent is much more than a symbol of religious devotion to Christ. It helps reduce the risk of chronic disease, environmental degradation and animal abuse. Dozens of medical reports have linked consumption of animal products with elevated risk of heart failure, stroke, cancer and other killer diseases.
A 2007 United Nations report named meat production as the world’s largest source of greenhouse gases and water pollution.
Undercover investigations have documented farm animals being beaten, caged, crowded, deprived, mutilated and shocked.
Lent offers a superb opportunity to honor Christ’s powerful message of compassion and love by adopting a meat-free diet for Lent and beyond. After all, it’s the diet mandated in Genesis I-29 and observed in the Garden of Eden.
Our supermarket offers a rich array of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives, as well as the more traditional vegetables, fruits and grains. Entering “vegan recipes” in our favorite search engine offers more products, recipes and transition tips than we can use.
Nico Young
Art park is a beautiful gift
To The Editor:
I have been a resident of Chelsea for 24 years. My three daughters all attend New York City public schools: Manhattan Academy of Technology, the Clinton School for Writers and Artists, and LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
I am so excited, as a member of this dynamic community, to welcome Pier 55, another venue for arts and recreation, into the neighborhood! I love Hudson River Park and marvel at the improvement along the riverfront from what used to be there. When the kids were little, we played at Pirate Park (the Jane St. Pier) and on Pier 46 a great deal.
This new park, Pier55, offers more opportunity for older kids to enjoy the beauty of our waterfront and our cityscape. I can’t wait to see what programming the people involved come up with. And I hope very much that local schools will get a chance to use these unique performance spaces, which I see as inspiring venues for dance, music and theater for young artists.
I went to the first public hearing about Pier55, to learn and to listen, and came away with a very positive perspective. Most of the complaints against the project are either about noise or traffic, which I can’t see being a problem, or worries about control of the pier, which seem to have been hashed out already.
I cannot come up with additional concerns, though I have tried, for the sake of being thorough. What a beautiful gift the city has been offered! Let’s move this forward!
Liz Craig
A lot to fear about Pier55
To The Editor:
There is little to say that is good about the Pier55 development. The organizers are real estate speculators who are making this project a linchpin of their privatization of the West Side waterfront. It is not being reviewed by anyone and is being rushed through as if the world is coming to an end.
The community board, which should be protecting the area from this, is instead a front for the real estate interests in this case, just as it was in the privatization of Washington Square Park.
Projects that are set up in secret are invariably bad and will not withstand extensive and professional examinations. The lack of vetting will speed things up, but not for the better. The governing structure for Pier55 is dubious and appears to be beyond public review.
This all comes because the Hudson River Park has no dedicated source of funding. We have already seen legislation passed to allow the unwanted and unnecessary transfer of air rights from Pier 40 to real estate speculators so that the Pier 40 park could be “saved.”
It is a vicious and bitter blow to have $35 million suddenly appear from the state and the city for Pier55 when there was “no money” to help Pier 40.
This will continue until all of the waterfront is privatized and it becomes a “destination,” like the High Line.
This will be worse for everyone but a wealthy few. Projects like this in the city are engines of inequality. We are driven down by our own government.
John Wetherhold
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