The Manitoba says: Tina rocks!
To The Editor:
Re “A punk rocker ponders his bar’s future” (news article, Aug. 27):
At first I didn’t know who this woman writer was. After 40 years of giving interviews and occasionally being the interviewer, I am hesitant to do interviews more times than not.
I feel that the people did not properly represent me in the past, and were very poor at doing interviews.
I looked into Tina Benitez-Eves’s background a little and made the decision to be interviewed.
I think Tina did a fantastic job. I feel very accurately represented. I feel my own personal voice was heard the way I’d like it to be heard, and I have no complaints.
Tina is a professional and very talented.
Handsome Dick Manitoba
Manitoba’s was made for me
To The Editor:
Re “A punk rocker ponders his bar’s future” (news article, Aug. 27):
I’m saddened by this. But I do understand, in this world of greed and rising rents, the difficulties of keeping an interesting piece of history like this open.
For me, Manitoba’s was my home and still is — even though I’m a little far away from it right this minute.
Richard and Zoe gave me a home, and my obvious love for punk, rock ’n’ roll and being a musician of this genre naturally drew me there. They encouraged my wild persona as a bartender, welcomed me and made Manitoba’s a huge part of my life.
See you in 2016. Don’t you dare close without me!
Labretta Suede
Some ideas for new park
To The Editor:
Re “Hospital triangle goes ‘back to the land’ as new park opens; AIDS memorial is coming next” (news article, Aug. 27):
So, that’s it?
Rudin development produces a vest-pocket, tax-deductible-in-perpetuity parklet, and The Villager rolls over and says, “You tore down the only hospital from Hell’s Kitchen to Battery Park and replaced it with a doc-in-the-box, and a gated community for the super-rich, but you gave us a water feature and a couple of verses from Whitman, so that’s O.K.”?
It seems all that’s missing is a flowery inscription: “In honor of those whose lack of political integrity, failure of community planning, mismanagement, and greed made this something-like-a-park possible.” Or perhaps tasteful floral plantings spelling out, “Shame!”
Paul Scoles
Political profile par excellence
To The Editor:
Re “A socialist presidential candidate — no, not that one — looks back” (news article, Aug. 27):
An excellent, well-written profile of McReynolds: both his career as well as his legacy. In fact, I think I met him in 1984 when he ran for U.S. Senate in New York versus Chuck Schumer.
You can almost feel McReynolds’s fierceness and dedication. But Joseph Mulkerin does a great job of bringing out his humanity and caring as well.
Jeff Jacobs
Thoughts on Theater Trump
To The Editor:
Trump, so far, triumphs. I do not believe he will be the Republican candidate. But, his popularity is most curious and interesting. The surge of support is indicative of the souring of the American people’s mind regarding the American candidates.
Clinton is hated. Bush is part of a dynasty. Who cares about each of these people?
At the recent Republican debate, only Trump said what he thought. There was no self-censorship, despite the absence of concrete solutions offered.
I speak with so many of the lower classes who make up our country’s population. The press and its fellow travelers, along with the celebrities, the politicians — or so they think — are members of the ostensible elite. They are a small elite, with attendant fame.
Trump is one of the elite, the moneyed elite. Trump’s money gives him membership, since there is no real class system here in the U.S. of A., as there remains in Europe.
The elite feel superior to the rest of us, and so hate the traitor Trump, since such betrayal shakes the established order of the permanent government in place. How, they ask, can this man — one of us, rich as us — try to run as a common man?
Will the Trump method of thinking infect the other candidates and allow them to break the carapace that hides them, so that they cannot say what is being thought by the unwashed?
The left and the right are one and the same, the same rotten bunch, as they delude the unwashed.
About time, isn’t it? So, it is not so much about Theater Trump, but us, the audience who applaud him for his courage.
Perhaps we shall find the authentic candidate — if not Trump, or it might be Trump.
Bert Zackim
She’s crazy for Skenazy
To The Editor:
Re “How town, smellin’ in the city; A lovin’ noseful” (Rhymes With Crazy, by Lenore Skenazy):
I just started reading the East Villager, given to me by a friend two issues ago. (How the hell did I miss it? I’ve been down here for years.) I’ve been living in New York City from 16 to 62 years old. (How the hell did that happen? I’ll tell you how: When you gotta escape from Ohio, you really gotta go!)
As a social worker who has been doing contracting work for the family courts of New York City (a nightmare, I assure you, even when it’s rewarding), I take my damn laughs wherever I can get them, and I find Lenore Skenazy’s columns delightful.
I was thinking fondly of my late, sainted older brother — who I lost in May of last year — who left the city. But while you can take the boy out of New York, you could never take New York out of the boy. One of the things he always wanted to know on a regular basis in the summertime was, “So, what’s l’air du temps this week?” And he wanted details!
Thank you for the laughs, really. And I only wish I could send your articles to my brother. He needed his laughs too, may he rest in peace.
Lia Brigante
Cheered and educated me
To The Editor:
Re “New York’s nightclub queen was as big as Texas” (Rhymes With Crazy, by Lenore Skenazy):
It’s Thursday morning and I’ve just read this wonderful column. Some people are born with a talent for living large and joyously; but if you’re not inhabiting the same years, you never get to share the excitement and the fun.
Thanks, Ms. Skenazy, for cheering up a difficult morning and giving me a new association to enjoy each time I pass the Jefferson Market Library. I mentioned Thursday because, if I had known in time for LindaAnn Loschiavo’s presentation, I certainly would have been there — though I probably would have been part of the crowd extending out the door.
Jeannie Segall
Time to snip those pits
To The Editor:
Re: “Crusty pit bull victims hurt and howling mad” (news article, Aug. 20):
Roberta Bayley, whose dog died after allegedly being attacked by a pit bull, suggests that it may take a pit bull eating a celebrity baby for the city to do something to prevent more attacks by unrestrained dogs. But pit bulls and other dogs have attacked and killed babies — and each one was a celebrity to his or her family.
The city is being pressured to increase “save rates” at its animal shelters at any cost, making it much more likely that aggressive and dangerous dogs will remain on the streets and even be released into the community. This pressure also results in animals being handed over to anyone who will take them, including people who are unable to properly care for them. Many shelters are concentrating solely on statistics and throwing out vital safeguards in attempts to avoid euthanasia. Irresponsible “life at any cost” policies are a formula for more suffering, not saving lives.
The humane way to reduce the need for euthanasia, as well as the incidence of dog bites in the city, is to focus on spaying and neutering — which prevents more animals from being born only to end up homeless, and can reduce dogs’ aggression, making them less likely to attack. We must work together to push for mandatory spay/neuter laws, lobby to outlaw pet shops and puppy mills, and make sure that every animal in the community is sterilized and being humanely cared for. Visit www.PETA.org to learn more.
Teresa Chagrin
Chagrin is an animal care and control specialist, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Walk on the wild side
To The Editor:
It is Friday, 8:23 p.m, and I just got off the bus at Astor Place. I try to use the sidewalk on the west side of Cooper Square, when construction is not blocking my crossing to E. Fifth St. It is the only decent sidewalk to get me to my senior housing and being a senior, alas, I walk less securely than I used to.
Today, I’m walking there when a noiseless electrical Vespa-style scooter zips past me at full speed. Outside the deli on E. Fourth St. and Second Ave. I’ve counted a dozen or more of them. They need no registration, no permit of any kind, and can freely ride on the sidewalks, and I feel very menaced by them.
Add them to the wild bicyclists, roller skaters, skateboards that also now come motorized, the gizmos people stand up on — and last but not least, motorized wheelchairs that go faster and faster — never mind the speeding cars and cars ignoring poorly placed traffic lights — I now say a prayer every time I leave the house.
Marianne Landre Goldscheider
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, 1 Metrotech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.
