To the Editor:
Re: Revised BID prop still hot” (Downtown Express news article, Aug. 3)
I see from recent “letters to the editor” that the B.I.D. has finally “recruited” some supporters after SoHo residents have been challenging it for months. These supporters neglect to see that the “inclusiveness” in decision-making that the B.I.D. board promises is not at all “inclusive,” as votes are weighted by property value. To have the B.I.D. in SoHo would destroy the one person-one vote policy which is a staple of democracy. At one of the indoctrination sessions that the B.I.D. held to try to win over us residents. Brian Steinwurtzel admitted that.
For the B.S. B.I.D. (and why is it NOW called the Broadway SoHo BID?) to take over SoHo would lead to homogenization of the area — and not to the “different sort of place altogether” that Councilwoman Chin envisioned at the City Planning Commission in January.
Between the work of the city (as required by law) and the efforts of individual storefronts (also required by law), SoHo can be kept as clean as it was with A.C.E.
And how does one “control” the tourists, Mr. Steinwurtzel?
To let this B.I.D. into SoHo is to take a step toward ending our democracy.
Sally Lindsay
