To the editor,
Your front page story last week about Borough President Markowitz’s supposed flirtation with a run for higher office (“Beep’s run done? Expert: Marty ain’t raising money,” July 19) gives too much credit to Markowitz. Seriously, does anyone think that Brooklyn’s buffoon is actually running for mayor?
Perhaps Marty is the only one who thinks he’s fit for a promotion, but the rest of us think he’s a joke. From his steadfast pigheadedness on Atlantic Yards — that state-sponsored boondoggle whose failure makes Markowitz look dumber and dumber — to his seeming belief that the loudest person in the room must be the smartest, Markowitz reminds me day in and day out that New York can do better.
I do confess that if it weren’t for term limits, I would again vote for him for Beep. The job has no authority, so it’s perfect for this toothless tiger.
Jerry Siemens, Greenpoint
Parking mad
To the editor,
I was quite disappointed that your editorial chose to side with city ticket agents rather than their unwitting victims (“Ticketing the Slope,” Editorial, July 19).
The city has a right to ticket drivers who fail to move their cars for street cleaning. But Slope drivers were given precious little warning that their much-heralded summer alternate-side-of-the-street holiday had ended.
Yes, some newspapers, including your own, covered the changeover, but it’s not fair for the city to expect that everyone is as clued in as news junkies. Why didn’t the city just announce an end date for the parking holiday when it started? Are Department of Transportation sign installers so inept that their own agency couldn’t figure out how long it would take to hang 2,000 “No parking” signs?
Ronald Taveras, Cobble Hill
Photo op (ed)
To the editor,
I agree that people should have the liberty of taking pictures of their own children (“Gotcha! Mom ordered to stop taking pictures of daughter in park,” July 12), yet this mother in your story was not seriously intruded upon in being asked why she was taking those shots.
While memories are important, this was certainly not that mother’s only chance to take photos of her child. You shouldn’t feel harassed for watching your own children; in fact, you can at least be assured that someone is protecting the rest of them (who may not have the time themselves or money for nannies).
I’m certain the child was far less perturbed by this event than the mother — and The Brooklyn Paper — was. Suck it up and grow up.R. Picaro, Bushwick
Now THAT’S a city!
To the editor,
On a recent trip to Montréal, I noticed some interesting developments in making their streets more open to all users, not just cars:
• Increasing use of muni-meter devices on commercial streets, but with bollards along the curb that are numbered (for parking spaces) and that double as bike parking posts.
• A protected bike lane on a neighborhood street, similar to what is in place now on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan (between 23rd and 16th Streets).
• St. Catherine’s Street in “The Village,” similar to the Bedford Avenue commercial strip in North Williamsburg but longer, turned into a public space for the summer, except for three hours in the morning for deliveries. Restaurants have set up tables outside behind attractive wooden enclosures, and some include arbors. Local artists have set up tents where they sell their work. A lot of people were out enjoying this.
Many visitors take the subway (there are three stations along this strip), many others walk, and those who choose to drive (gasoline is more than $5.50/gallon) can park on side streets.
All of these steps are practical and appear to be popular — and, as such, provide some worthy lessons for our city, full of conceit as “the capital of the world,” but often timid and provincial.
Michael Cairl, Park Slope
Whatta dump
To the editor,
Your story last week on the federal plan to permanently close off Washington Street to everyone except federal courthouse workers (“Terror Street,” July 19) showed that they are planning nothing short of a land grab! Many outrageous and unnecessary actions were taken by authorities after 9-11 under cover of “terrorism.”
How do you stop the federal government from taking over our public street?
That’s a tough one.
So thanks for that story.
If you want another one, I recommend that you write one about the illegal water vendors on the Brooklyn Bridge.
These people sell bottles of water for $1. They are not at all concerned with what happens to the bottles after they sell them! They end up all over the place, making the walkway look like a dump! They bob happily into the harbor and onto shorelines, etc.
The title could be “Brooklyn Bridge gets trashed.”
They are unsightly and an insult to the bridge’s beauty, yet city authorities do nothing. PLEASE write a story on this!
Brant Thomas, neighborhood withheld
