To the editor,
Kudos on your most original issue of The Brooklyn Paper to date — your coverage of the Iowa caucus from Brooklyn, Iowa (“Brooklyn votes,” Jan 5)!
I liked your coverage of “the other Brooklyn,” though I was disappointed that you did not show us a picture of their “Brooklyn Bridge”. It’s probably anticlimactic, but I’d love to see it.
Also, your feature about the 80 people and things to watch in ’08 was great. Thank you for the mentioning BCAT, where Greg Sutton is doing a great job.
Then again, I don’t think Marty Markowitz is going to be mayor — especially as Atlantic Yards continues to blow up.
Steve DeSève, Brooklyn Heights
Editor’s note: Obviously, omitting a photo of the Brooklyn (Iowa) Bridge was a tremendous oversight. So here it is, at right!
• • •
To the editor,
I enjoyed meeting your reporter, Gersh Kuntzman, during his trip to our Brooklyn and wanted to pass on to him that everyone read his stories and watched the video clips, and we all loved his coverage of the Iowa caucus.
I even learned a few things about my little hometown thanks to his reports (though I was relieved I didn’t end up in our town paper’s gossip section).
My jaded California friends thought there was no way Barack Obama could pull off Iowa, but when he did, they were very inspired. They loved seeing how the caucus worked in Gersh’s video.
Laura Calderwood, Brooklyn, Iowa
Good Purchase
To the editor,
In your recent article regarding the beginning of construction at Brooklyn Bridge Park (“ ‘Construction’ of ‘park’ ‘begins’ with demolition,” Jan. 5), you incorrectly reported that the Purchase Building under the Brooklyn Bridge is not a landmark. The building is within the Fulton Ferry Historic District and therefore falls under the oversight of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The LPC’s action to allow the building to be demolished without even a clear plan of what is going to be erected in its stead was a low point in the agency’s 42-year history.
There is no legitimate reason for the demolition of this distinguished public building and its proposed demolition casts a pall on protective oversight of the Landmarks Law.
Simeon Bankoff, Windsor Terrace
The writer is executive director of the Historic Districts Council.
Rats! Column unfair
To the editor,
Rats get no love at all and if Juliana Bunim gets her way, it will get savagely worse (“Brooklyn’s rat killer fights on,” Dec. 22). Bunim seems to want them shot or smashed.
Behind this hysteria, of course, is a dirty little truth: Rats proliferate because humans are so messy. Anyone who has ever seen a rat die of poison knows what a long, agonizing process it is. But even if you hate these clean, curious rodents (who mate for life, by the way), consider how truly ineffective “rat abatement” programs are.
Our job is to keep Brooklyn Heights a lot cleaner than it is now.
Wayne Johnson, Brooklyn Heights
Bitter beef
To the editor,
Gersh Kuntzman was so right about Peter Luger (“Beef battle begins: Peter Luger faces meaty competition,” The Brooklyn Angle, Dec. 22). We took our daughter and her husband to Peter Luger for a treat last spring, and were totally disappointed.
The steak was not tasty and had so much gristle that there was no possibility of overeating — or any need for a doggie bag!
And since nothing else on the menu at Peter Luger has ever been worth going for, it was a pathetic, expensive meal, enhanced by the usual surly service.
Never again, especially with so many great places to eat in Brooklyn.
I read the Times, but it’s your paper that I really love. Keep going!
Rona Schneider, Brooklyn Heights
Some expert
To the editor,
I. Donald Weston’s recent letter to the Editor (“Expert: There is a way to fix Atlantic Yards traffic,” Dec. 22) accused the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods of a “lack of understanding” — a wrong accusation.
Before criticizing CBN’s understanding of building design, it would behoove Mr. Weston to take a closer look at the Atlantic Yards site and plans. With the planned arena setbacks just 20 feet from both Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, it would not be possible to relocate the “stadium” further from the street, unless the Nets intend to play half-court games or drastically reduce the number of planned seats.
And CBN, of course, understands that better blast-resistant materials exist today, but a glass-walled building still presents significant safety challenges. While we hate to dwell on the potential for terrorism, it does exist, and like structural engineers and their modern materials, terrorists and their weapons are getting more sophisticated, too.
We also understand that measures can be taken to keep vehicles from getting “too close” to the planned arena and other glass-walled buildings. But Mr. Weston conveniently disregards the fact that an NYPD spokesperson has said that the department doesn’t foresee a need for bollards. In that case, unless someone plans on digging a moat, vehicles would not be kept from getting too close.
And better blast resistance hasn’t kept Newark police from closing streets adjacent to that city’s new Prudential Center arena.
In addition to his misunderstanding of CBN’s concerns about security, Mr. Weston offers several traffic “solutions” that are not solutions at all. His proposal to relocate surface parking lots to the less-affluent neighborhoods of Brownsville or East New York smacks of classism, and would make fact the fears that some neighborhoods have about being turned into vast park-and-ride areas by congestion pricing.
Mr. Weston’s proposal to eliminate on-street parking on major thoroughfares around the site would have the unintended consequence of causing serious hardship to merchants. Atlantic Avenue business owners have been working feverishly to eliminate the elimination of metered parking currently in effect from 4–7 pm on weeknights, which has been a detriment to businesses there. Sacrificing established local businesses and entrepreneurs for the sake of Atlantic Yards is no solution. And creating more traffic capacity will only encourage more people to drive.
While Mr. Weston’s intentions appear noble, his suggestions are a dollar short and a day late. Where were Mr. Weston and the Brooklyn Chapter of the American Institute of Architects when the Environmental Impact Statement for the Atlantic Yards project was being developed?
CBN hired experts who analyzed the project’s myriad environmental impacts, and we submitted extensive testimony on a wide range of the project’s potential effects. We, and the larger community, would have valued input from the AIA in their areas of expertise.
Eric McClure, Park Slope
The writer is a member of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods’ Steering Committee
Food no-op
To the editor,
I loved the Park Slope Food Co-op when I lived in Park Slope, but I’m not sure if that’s what’s best for Fort Greene and Clinton Hill now (“A Food Co-op of their own?” Dec. 22).
There is a small co-op already in existence and a vegetable/fruit service called the Clinton Hill CSA, which has been growing by leaps and bounds the last few years.
It seems it would make sense to work on something already, rather then to take the Slope model and transplant it to Clinton Hill.
Eulalia Brooks, Clinton Hill
Clarke hailed
To the editor,
I have not been terribly enamored of Rep. Yvette Clarke’s first year in Washington, but kudos to her for having the political courage and common sense to vote against the “Christmas is nice” resolution (“Yvette votes ‘No’ on Christmas,” Dec. 22).
At best, this was bit of pointless legislative fluff that could have well been amended to include the statement that “puppies are cute” — factually true, but accomplishing nothing useful.
At worst, the resolution was a cheap attempt to score political points by showing “resolve” against the fictitious — but frequently hyped — “War on Christmas.”
In either case, the result is the same: the ability of Christians to practice their faith has been neither strengthened nor weakened, and the Congress has now set the precedent that the hundreds of other religions practiced in America are equally deserving of a resolution of support, as are those who practice no religion at all.
Chris Bastian, Brooklyn Heights
• • •
To the editor,
The only thing more idiotic than Rep. Yvette Clarke’s reason for voting against the Christmas resolution was Rep. Steve King’s self-pitying rationale for introducing it. Nobody I know, Christian or not, is trying to deny the importance of Christmas. If anybody is trying to eradicate the meaning of the holiday, it is the mass merchants with their constant Christmas promotions, not the ACLU, as King claims.
PS: On a positive note, the Smartmom column was thoughtful and perceptive (“Hepcat can’t wait for 30th reunion,” Dec. 22).
It’s disturbing to think that a college could determine an alumnus’s worth based on a questionnaire. I feel this is a result of many students’ view of the university as an upscale trade school that one attends solely to be qualified for better employment.
Richard A. Presutti, Carroll Gardens
Wait gain
To the editor
So, once again I was standing at the bus stop for half an hour, waiting for a bus that’s supposed to arrive every 10 minutes and it dawned on me that if I had walked, I would’ve been home by now! That’s when I realized that these lousy buses must be part of Marty Markowitz’s anti-obesity campaign!
Nice one, Mr. Borough Prez!
Henry Hook, Park Slope
Editor’s note: For the record, the Borough President has no control over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the timing of buses.
