SantaCon’s laughs are worth the headaches
To The Editor:
Re “SantaCon Needs a Plan” (Talking Point, Oct. 23):
SantaCon is hilarious. Granted, I’m not the one having to clean up patches of vomit post-facto, but hopefully those that do have a strong pair of gloves and an even more vigorous sense of humor. I don’t participate, mind you, but I love watching giant elves with their underwear sticking out, ill-fitting Santa suits and reindeer heads on pajama bottoms. Each “costume” is just sillier than the next. Anyways, it’s ONE day/night a year — and it’s nationwide. You’re not going to stop SantaCon, so you might as well seek out its funny side. And its funny side is very, very funny.
Sincerely,
Deborah Fenker
Franchise from another planet?
To The Editor:
Could it really be? As I strolled past what was once Chelsea’s 99 Cent store [on 23rd Street, between Seventh & Eighth Avenues], what do I see? Yet another 7-Eleven opening up, and even bigger than the two on Eighth Avenue (within a three-block radius) — Eighth at 25th Street, and at 28th Street.
That’s not counting the one on Sixth Avenue and 23rd and the double-size, two-story 7-Eleven on Fifth Avenue, across from the elegant Flatiron building!
And, worse yet, there was a sign in the window of our former 99 Cent store telling us that there were lots of opportunities for franchisees to open more 7-Eleven stores!
Well, I wondered, with rents for these stores costing $25,000 a month and up, something seems strange. 7-Eleven has now replaced many of our neighborhood stores — even though, to my untrained eye, it seems to be a highly questionable business venture. How can one neighborhood digest this unending flow of junk food? In fact, it seems to me that this might really be an invasion from another planet, sending these 7-Eleven-ers down to Earth with an unending flow of money to open yet more stores.
What could they have in mind? Why are we being invaded? In my memory, a stop at a 7-Eleven would be made because that was the only option one had when traveling small country roads with no McDonalds in sight. And now, 7-Elevens are cropping up everywhere and the money for renting space flows like water.
Who is behind this? Will Chelsea Now be forced to patronize 7-Elevens because there is no choice? Are the unfortunate franchisees being held hostage? Are we being invaded by creatures from another planet?
Gloria Sukenick
NOTE: 99 Cent Creation — the former tenant of the 7-Eleven store on 23rd Street — is open for business, at 149 West 24th Street (btw. Sixth & Seventh Aves.). For info, call 212-627-2983.
Carpe Diem, Mr. [new] Mayor!
To The Editor:
Now is the time to secure an improved city for our children and grandchildren. What better way than to replace lost Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village with affordable homes on the Hudson Rail Yards? Why shouldn’t the rest of us profit from the $330 million gift/tax break the city recently presented to Related?
It is prudent to remember that Stuy Town and Peter Cooper were created with returning GIs in mind. What about our veterans now? Where are they and their kids to live? Be bold! Forget office towers. Middle class New Yorkers desperately need homes. Who will fund such a vision? Why not the high-flying Related Development? Mr. Bloomberg has taught us how often ‘deals’ can be renegotiated. Why not, this time, in our favor?
Permanently affordable housing. What a genuinely meaningful gift that would be for the citizens who make New York the greatest city in America.
Kathleen McGee Treat, Chair
Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association (hknanyc.org)
Hail Mary — she’s right on target
To The Editor:
Re “Senators stymie women’s agenda” (letter, by Mary L. Jenkins, Oct. 23):
I appreciate Mary L. Jenkins’s letter calling on the New York State Senate to return to Albany and pass Governor Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Act in its entirety. As Ms. Jenkins notes, the Assembly has already passed all 10 provisions of the act. Shamefully, though, the Senate failed to bring to the floor the crucial tenth provision that would codify the reproductive-health protections won by women more than 40 years ago in Roe v. Wade. I agree with Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and my Democratic Senate colleagues that it is imperative the full 10-point package be passed.
I strongly believe the Senate should heed Ms. Jenkins’s call and return to Albany as soon as possible to finish our work on the Women’s Equality Act.
Brad Hoylman
Hoylman is state senator, 27th District
What’s with the Deli deluge?
To The editor:
Why has yet another deli arrived on the corner of 21st Street and Seventh Avenue? There is already one on that same block, on the corner of 20th Street, and another large one directly across the street from that. There is also a newly renovated full-service deli near the corner of 19th, not to mention the new 7-Eleven (which we neither wanted or needed), in addition to the smaller bodegas across the Avenue. Where is the zoning?
Dianna Maeurer
E-mail letters, not longer than 250 words in length, to scott@chelseanow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Chelsea Now does not publish anonymous letters.
