Journalism at its best
To The Editor:
Re “Hope or hype? Battle of the small business bills” (talking point, by Sharon Woolums, June 4):
Bravo. Journalism at its best. Sharon Woolums’s probing of the glib excuses from the borough president’s office — great stuff articulated in down-to-earth language that we can all understand.
I read this with no preconceived positions on the issue of commercial rent control. I’m sure it’s complicated. But like many of us, my heart breaks about once a week to see yet another neighborhood store closing up shop.
Ms. Woolums’s column gave me a better understanding of the history of the issue, and the options on the table.
I look forward to reading about this continuing story in The Villager.
Brent Sharman
How the S.B.J.S.A. works
To The Editor:
Re “Speaker commits to hold a hearing on S.B.J.S.A.” (news article, June 4):
A clarification is needed on how the S.B.J.S.A. works.
The article states, “However, a new potential tenant could take over a space if he negotiates terms that the existing tenant refuses to meet.”
The bill calls for a tenant who can’t pay the rent determined by the arbitrator to remain in business paying his old rent, plus a small percentage increase, until the landlord has a legitimate offer from a potential new tenant. The old tenant then has the right to match that offer and remain in business, or if he can’t pay this new rent, must vacate the premise.
Steve Null
Volume, drums, hours, PEP’s
To The Editor:
Re “The ’61 Beatnik Riot and music in Wash. Sq. Park” (talking point, by Dodge Landesman, June 4):
Music is not the problem. One issue is the volume of music at certain times of the day. Another issue is that some musicians are drowning out other musicians, making it difficult to enjoy some performers.
Solo drummers with large drum sets seem to be a problem. When drummers play with other musicians it seems to lower the volume.
The hours when musicians play also appears to be a problem.
Finally, the one thing I think everyone can agree on is that the Parks Enforcement Police are useless in enforcing any rules or regulations.
These issues are going to be very difficult to resolve.
Bob O’Sullivan
Annoying, arrogant…aargh!
To The Editor:
Re “Will Board 2 drum loud music out of Washington Square Park?” (news article, May 28):
All these musicians should go get a real gig and stop inflicting their “art” on citizens who want some space to breathe and not to be hit over the head with some cliché tourist-pleasing noise.
The piano guy is very annoying. He just takes over half the park.
I can get away from the acoustic people if I need to. But the cliché jazz and the piano guys, you can’t get away from.
And then there are the arrogant jazz guys who think some spot belongs to them. They’ll set up right in front of another musician and start farting away.
Jim Hildreth
It’s time to clean house
To The Editor:
Re “Reform of 7th Community Council is long overdue” (talking point, by Clayton Patterson):
Though Mr. Patterson’s question is a good one, the answer is an obvious one. The Lower East Side has been swimming for years in corruption, cronyism and divisiveness. As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head.
While Shelly Silver’s world falls apart and we count down to his inevitable exit, all the double-dealing and wrongdoing that everyone on the L.E.S. accepted — whether out of resignation or fear of retribution — is finally being exposed, questioned and challenged.
The problem, I would say, is not what Mr. Patterson terms the Dwellers’ “mistake” in expecting help from the Seventh Precinct Community Council in dealing with the problems of Hell Square. Rather, the real problem is that everyone, not just the Dwellers, has been forced, at their own peril, to navigate the murky waters of Don West of the community council and Susan Stetzer of Community Board 3 — two egos so big, jockeying for power, desperate for importance and relevance — that they can’t be in the same room with each other. West and Stetzer are the same side of the same coin — often divisive, manipulative and vindictive.
Yet, their dysfunction is cover for Shelly’s puppet, the feckless Councilmember Chin.
The only way things will change is if new voices emerge and challenge the status quo. The politics have to change, or groups like the Dwellers or the everyday citizen don’t stand a fighting chance if Shelly’s machine stays in place.
C.B. 3 and the Seventh Precinct Community Council need to be overhauled. Chin needs to be voted out office and her replacement, C.B. 3 Chairperson Li, needs to rethink her political aspirations.
Erin Harvey
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