No leader? No riot
To The Editor:
“Village gay rights museum?” (Scoopy’s Notebook, April 24) refers to the “Stonewall Riots.”
As one who was there four of the five nights, there was no leader to manage a riot. This is why it is called an “uprising.” I also refer to it as a “happening” that is known about worldwide.
Warren Allen Smith
Alas, the allée…
To The Editor:
The 22 — 22! — cherry trees are in bloom in the lovely allée that serves as the Barrow St. entrance to the gardens of Church of St. Luke in the Fields.
I wish one of your photographers would take a photograph of the allée, in color, of course — and send it to every member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. They voted unanimously in favor of the destruction of the allée so that a monster residential tower (100 Barrow St.) could be erected adjacent to the three Federal-era townhouses at No.’s 92, 94 and 96.
The new mayor, by the way, has made no appointments to the L.P.C.
Albert Bennett
Police harassment?
To The Editor:
Re “RID leader faces rap after gun is found in her home” (news article, April 24):
I read this article and then later realized that there are important civil liberty issues here in the behavior of the police.
I really fear a police force that acts beyond the call of duty by punishing individuals who are excited or rude or appear to be nutty. This extra-legal enforcement, done sometimes to aid people who have complained about, say, the loud noise in clubs, can become harassment and can lead to quasi-legal “sting” operations.
While it seems impossible to get the bars and nightclubs to quiet down, I don’t want the police to feel that they are doing all of us a favor by solving problems with harassment and becoming lawbreaking vigilantes.
Minerva Durham
A true fighter
To The Editor:
Re “Radical lawyer pleads guilty on tax charges, calls it a ‘witch hunt’ ” (news article, April 24):
Stanley, you are a true fighter and defender of the U.S. Constitution.
All people, no matter what they are accused of, are to be given representation in a court of law. The accused are innocent until proven guilty. Like, no-brainer, no? Also, all speech is to be protected, even if an individual and/or group finds it abhorrent.
Sending the I.R.S. goons on you just shows that the U.S. government had to stoop again to its lowest in order to shut you up.
Terry Zarelli
Horses, not cars!
To The Editor:
I’ve been watching from the sidelines, while the conversation about Mayor de Blasio’s wrongheaded push to send New York City’s carriage horses away to certain doom has raged on. I’ve been hoping the mayor would come to his senses and drop this senseless campaign. With ever-more ridiculous measures being sought by the mayor to achieve his unwarranted aim, I’m now writing to add my dissenting voice against his plan.
My family has been involved for many years in animal rescue and animal rights activities, including the care and welfare of horses. So I come from a position of concern, not casual comment. I firmly believe that ridding the city of its carriage horses and replacing them with one or another unnecessary gewgaw would not promote the horses’ welfare at all.
New York City has a very strong set of regulations guarding carriage horses’ health, safety and welfare. For example, these regulations require sufficiently large, clean, comfortable, temperature- and ventilation-controlled, vermin-free stalls. Also, there are weather restrictions on operation, required work-hour limits and breaks, required regular veterinarian visits, grooming guidelines and provision of fresh food and water, not to mention frequent government inspections and a requisite five weeks off per year.
Drivers are required to undergo training and also are subject to the same strong regulations. They have deep and affectionate bonds with their horses and treat them with care.
This is in contrast to an uncertain future the horses would face if banned. At this economically pressing time, when increasing numbers of horses are being abandoned, equine rescue and retirement facilities have less money and room to accommodate them. Thousands of horses are fending for themselves and starving in the process or being sent to slaughterhouses. No magic bullet has been cited to prevent this for the carriage horses.
As for the proposal to replace the horses with electric vintage cars, this totally flies in the face of Mayor de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” initiative to make New York safer for pedestrians. If there’s one thing we don’t need, it’s extra cars in any form to further congest our streets and Central Park and cause more fatal crashes or injuries.
All this is now compounded by the news that this thoughtless proposal may well be rooted in a move to facilitate a real estate deal, one that would free the valuable property where the carriage horses reside for more unneeded and high-priced development.
One can only hope that Mayor de Blasio will rethink this untenable plan and keep the carriage horses in New York City, perhaps in Central Park. It’s where they belong — where they’re well-loved, well-cared for, and fervently wanted.
Shirley Secunda
Secunda is chairperson, Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee
In it, reading it
To The Editor:
Thanks so much for citing my current “lo-show” at Dorian Grey Gallery in the March 20 Scoopy’s Notebook column.
By the way, after I picked up the April 17 issue of the East Villager last week, by dinnertime I had read the articles on de facto racial segregation in School District One and the anti-Eva rally at the New York Public Library.
I’ve always found The Villager invaluable.
Philip Van Aver
E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to news@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.
