Going back to the drawing board for Pier 40
To the Editor:
Re “Pier 40 faces closure, Hudson River Trust warns” (news article, Aug. 22):
When have threatening tactics ever worked? The issue of Pier 40 is not a new one — yet to hear it from the Hudson River Park Trust, the pier will sink today! That hasn’t happened yet, and it won’t anytime soon, but we do need to generate revenue for the park.
However, these dire warnings are misplaced. I’m sure many people recall the attempts made just a few years ago by the Trust to amend the Hudson River Park Act. At that time, the Trust proposed amending the Act to allow for parkland alienation and for longer lease terms for Cirque du Soleil, which may have brought in revenue. And now they are at it again.
This time, the Trust is trying to alienate precious parkland so that luxury housing can be built. In a community that has very few parks and even fewer open spaces, this new idea certainly is not in the interest of the neighborhood and the users of the park.
Instead, we need to go back to the drawing board and have a robust community discussion. Through community forums, we can look at the many options to generate revenue — including establishing a Park Improvement District, creating more ball fields and building community commercial space. Personally, I would love to see a Community Supported Agriculture (C.S.A.) at Pier 40 that generates revenue and fresh produce.
Now is not the time to trust the Trust. Lower Manhattan and our elected officials have always stood strong for our community — why stop now?
Sheelah A. Feinberg
Former vice chair, Community Board 2
Hey Mike — enforce the speed limit!
To the Editor:
Before Mayor Bloomberg scolds other cities and states for not having stricter gun control laws, he needs to focus more on a neglected issue in his own city: traffic laws. In New York City, drivers constantly exceed the speed limit of 35 miles per hour and run red lights without fear of any enforcement by the police. I have been in cabs going 70 miles per hour on the West Side Highway and cars were passing us! Cars run red lights and fail to yield to pedestrians.
`The result of this vehicular chaos is the loss of life and injuries.
Where is the outrage by the mayor and the public? Traffic laws are strictly enforced in many other cities, resulting in much safer conditions — just try speeding on Collins Avenue in Bal Harbour, Florida, and see how quickly you are pulled over. Recently, I was almost hit by a motorcycle that rode up on the sidewalk going over 70 miles per hour and cops refused to do anything, even though there were witnesses and video cameras.
We need stricter enforcement of traffic laws A.S.A.P.
Keith Rolland
Censorship at Southbridge? No such thing!
To the Editor:
Re Censorship at Southbridge Towers (Letters to the Editor, Sept. 5.
I am incensed by the completely misleading letter Geraldine Lipschutz wrote in reference to messages against privatization being torn down from bulletin boards. For over a year, letters both for and against privatization have been kept behind locked glass bulletin boards in all of Southbridge Towers’ lobbies. Things have calmed down here as we all await the vote. Geraldine’s letter was nothing but a ploy to rile the residents.
Michael Wishner
Southbridge Towers resident (100 Beekman St.)
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