To The Editor:
Re “Board can vote for owners” (letter, by Alan Ballinger, Nov. 17):
Mr. Alan Ballinger: Your name is not found in the Department of Finance records as an owner of any condo unit at 40 Mercer St. Yet you claim to be a “Residential Representative” on the Broadway Soho Business Improvement District Steering Committee. So why aren’t you meeting with other residents of the area?
Come out of your condo and get to know the neighborhood. What are you doing to solve local issues other than trying to force this unnecessary plan down the throats of Soho residents and property owners who do not want the B.S. BID?
And since you state you are “president of the condo board” you must be aware that half of the 41 condo units at 40 Mercer St. are shown to be owned by non-New York City residents per documentation found at the Department of Finance.
You must also be aware that individual owners at 40 Mercer are opposed to the BID. And that the five commercial condo units at 40 Mercer submitted ballots in opposition to the BID — and those owners are the ones that you want to tax to pay for your bad B.S. BID plan.
And you must be aware that those Broadway property owners who the BID claims “voted” in support of the BID constitute only one-third of all the property owners within the BID boundary, hardly the “substantial support” required by the BID laws.
Since you’ve only lived here for a few years, let’s get together and talk, so your Soho neighbors can better understand what you have planned for Broadway and Soho. Meanwhile, please stop pushing your agenda of retail real estate interests only onto Soho.
Reject the bad B.S., and say no to the Soho BID.
Pete Davies
