L.E.S. Pathmark is worth the trip
To The Editor:
Re “L.E.S. Pathmark to close: Residents are distraught” (news article, Oct. 4):
Not only is the Pike Slip Pathmark’s closing tragic because it leaves the community bereft of a large, reliable outlet that’s been in the neighborhood for decades, but their circular sales are usually the lowest in town.
It is the exact opposite of Woody Allen’s joke about the woman at a Catskills hotel who complains that their food isn’t good and also that their portions are small.
Not only was that store spacious, clean, well-stocked and well-kept, but also, depending on the week, it offered the lowest prices for many brands.
And, it’s the only store I know of in Manhattan with a parking lot. I’m not the only one who went down there on alternate-side cleaning days. And many times I’ve taken the M15 there and back — as have many others who board the bus loaded with Pathmark bags.
I hope that our legislators trying to correct this situation realize that the termination of Pathmark’s Cherry St. store is a tragedy that reaches wider than the immediately surrounding residential community.
Billy Sternberg
The Village Moral Majority
To The Editor:
Re “Youth leagues go to bat against strip club near Pier 40” (news article, Oct. 11):
Regarding zealot Paul Fox’s concern’s about, oh my God, a strip club opening on Clarkson St. and the West Side Highway, it’s none of his business what consenting adults do legally inside a club. That club has been there for years and its location is hardly “the heart” of his community. The river’s edge has always been more like the groin. If Mr. Fox wants to protect his precious children from exposure to a salacious environment, he should move his family to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia where women are kept in their proper place or shot.
Carl Rosenstein
a.k.a. The Angry Buddhist
Money from women’s bodies
To The Editor:
Re “Youth leagues go to bat against strip club near Pier 40” (news article, Oct. 11):
First, strip clubs are not about sex. They are about commerce. They are about the selling of human flesh (most always women’s flesh) for profit. This kind of commerce is a multibillion-dollar business. From porn to trafficking of girls and women — it’s on that continuum.
Sex is potentially an elegant and passionate way to be close to another human being. But this is different.
Second, this kind of business turns women into commodities for the temporary assuaging of the loneliness of men. The owners profit, but leave both men and women more isolated than before. What part of that is being a “good neighbor”?
Third, men have never had the experience as a young girl of discovering for the first time the existence of this kind of desperate bartering over a women’s body. Believe me, it is a pretty disheartening glimpse at relationships across gender. And we do notice that it’s our bodies that are targeted. Personally, I wouldn’t want this anywhere near where young girls walk.
Fourth, sometimes it’s O.K. to take a position based on a moral assessment. It really is.
K Webster
Another useless antigun law
To The Editor:
“Politicians call for emergency Senate vote to pass gun laws” (news article, Oct. 11):
New York has been the leader in useless antigun legislation since 1911, when the Sullivan Act, named after Tammany Assemblyman Tim Sullivan, was passed, primarily to prevent poor immigrants from obtaining the means of self-defense. Tim Sullivan died some years later, found dead on a train track after escaping from an insane asylum to which he had been committed. His successors, including the current mayor, are pretty much cut out of the same cloth.
Peter Caroline
Hey, this is the Village!
To The Editor:
Re “Youth leagues go to bat against strip club near Pier 40” (news article, Oct. 11):
OMG, how New York has changed. I have seen the West Side go from Sodom and Gomorrah to a very nice residential scene. I would call it a positive development.
However, enough is enough for crying out loud. I have never been inside the West Side Gentleman’s Club but in almost 40 years I have never heard of any problems either. As far as I know, they have been a very good neighbor.
It scares me when hyper-moralists start beating the drums against sin and sex. Kids have grown up in the West Village for generations and have turned into outstanding citizens with this business in their neighborhood. I do not see why these current kids are any different.
If there are specific issues about the club then deal with them as you would with any other business. But trying to run them out of business or out of the neighborhood after all of these years is wrong in my opinion.
Lawrence White
Left out of the loop by LUNGS
To The Editor:
Re “Harvest kicks it up a notch” (photo):
I’d just like to correct a mistaken impression.
The 6B Garden’s Harvest festival is an independent event of decades-long standing. It is organized entirely by the garden members. LUNGS merely reprinted our program information.
It is a wonder that they did not reach out during the many months of planning.
Roger DeGennaro
DeGennaro is events committee chairperson, 6B Garden
Police in unmarked cars
To The Editor:
Could someone please explain to me how the police are allowed to ride around casually dressed in unmarked cars, making traffic stops?
Perhaps I’ve missed something along the way, but I was taught in school that those are the type of situations used in China, the former Soviet Union and other police states to maintain an atmosphere of paranoia. I suppose it’s all right, though, because not only do we have bike lanes and pedestrian malls, but our streets are clean, and our trains run on time.
Jerry Wade
a.k.a. Jerry The Peddler
We were betrayed on N.Y.U.
To The Editor:
Re “11 groups file suite against N.Y.U. plan for its superblocks” (news article, Sept. 27):
I too applaud the lawsuit against those who betrayed the community’s trust. As someone who testified against the Sexton plan at both the City Planning Commission hearing and the City Council hearing, and who heard copious and reasoned testimony against the plan from neighbors, faculty, merchants and other residents, I continue to be appalled at the charade of pretended interest on the part of our elected (and appointed) representatives. We were betrayed by people who were supposed to represent our interests (Councilmembers Chin and Quinn), and the depth and cynicism of the betrayal are still stunning.
One can also only wonder whether this is part of a larger scheme for developers to acquire NYU properties at fire-sale prices after gutting a living, breathing community, with its small amount of public land and green space and playgrounds, in favor of empty buildings, empty promises, architectural mausoleums and below-grade, air-raid shelters purportedly to be used as classrooms.
I can only applaud the courage of the faculty members (N.Y.U. Faculty Against the Sexton Plan) who have chosen to speak out against this monstrous plan, and hope that the lawsuit has a just outcome.
Rhoma Mostel
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