A park — not a profit center
To The Editor:
Re “The time to save the park is now; Let’s work together” (talking point, by Madelyn Wils, May 17):
As we cram more and more people into New York, especially the neighborhoods along Manhattan’s West Side, there is a real question about the societal, and therefore governmental, obligation to provide for open space to ensure a livable city.
If you travel through other boroughs there are magnificent parks, from Alley Pond Park to Prospect Park, and these parks aren’t producing a product. What parks provide for is the health and well-being of people and nature. As we struggle for a more environmentally sound city, huge structures in parks are antithetical to that goal.
I would suggest that if we are to revisit the Hudson River Park statute, it ought to be to move away from the park as a profit center and not to overturn the publicly supported prohibition on huge structures, like high-rise luxury housing or an infrequently used soccer stadium, that alter the character of the park and simply turn it into another overdeveloped corner of New York.
While the task force has been reviewing alternative means for raising revenue, now is not the time to determine that only one course — the irreversible march toward major development — is the one acceptable outcome from these deliberations that have yet to include the public.
Deborah Glick
Glick is assemblymember for the 66th District (Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca and part of the East Village)
.nyc belongs in NYC!
To The Editor:
Re “ ’Net pioneer needs help in fight for rights to .nyc” (Clayton, May 17):
It seems clear to anyone paying attention to this matter that it is in the interest of the city of New York to go with Paul Garrin and name.space, which is based in New York City and which will provide service to and generate income for fellow New Yorkers.
Why should it be more acceptable for an outsider to lay claim to the T.L.D.s that Paul established (and created) long before anything other than “.com” “.net” or “.org” was made available by the secretive, unelected and therefore unaccountable ICAAN?
Who conferred the right to ICAAN to control the Internet and decide who can have what number of T.L.D.s?
Chris Flash
School roof project is GELLin’
To The Editor:
Re “A green roof at P.S. 41 is just about ready to sprout” (news article, May 10):
Principal Kelly Shannon and I wanted to thank you for publishing such a wonderful article (and flattering photo) about our GELL green roof project.
Your writer Terese Loeb Kreuzer did a terrific job in covering all the various aspects of this six-year endeavor. It was also very meaningful to us that she included our supporters and partners on the project. They were all very happy to be mentioned. The feedback has been extremely positive from everyone in our community!
This project has been a real challenge for us to complete, and having it portrayed in such a positive way reminds us that we have really accomplished so much already.
Vicki Sando
Sando is environmental science program developer at P.S. 41, the Greenwich Village School
N.Y.U. caught in its own ‘Zipper’?
To The Editor:
Re “Mercer buildings are tall already” (letter, by George Jochnowitz, May 10):
Jochnowitz is misleading (as usual). N.Y.U. is very inconsiderate of its neighbors on Mercer St. — such as, for example, when it built its co-generation plant between W. Third and Fourth Sts., destroying trees and occupying public land.
And the planned “Boomerang” and “Zipper” buildings would tower over their neighbors to the east, blocking sun and air.
N.Y.U. may get caught in its own zipper as it seeks to commercialize the residential area and build a hotel — profit-hungry much?
Off with the tops of their buildings!
Sylvia Rackow
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.
