Way to go!
To The Editor:
Re “The new-look Villager wins first-place award for Design Excellence” (news article, April 10):
At a time when print media is in decline, The Villager is soaring. Congrats!
Joseph Hanania
Don’t design us out!
To The Editor:
Re “The new-look Villager wins first-place award for Design Excellence” (news article, April 10):
Most “new looks” don’t have elder people in mind. Redesigned publications are often harder to read, featuring smaller print and colored sections. But then, advertisers aren’t looking for older or old readers. Where’s the protest?
Good luck to you, anyway.
Bette Dewing
Time to give back
To The Editor:
Steve Cannon and Tribes have done much to promote “outsider” art, poetry and fiction — not just on the Lower East Side, but internationally. Many will consider Tribes an encouraging and welcoming hub of creativity in a world full of bombastic, commodified art, no matter where it’s located.
I think the time is due for those who have been affected in some manner by Steve Cannon and Tribes to return the favor and donate something toward the cause of finding a new location for Tribes.
Mark McCawley
Critics’ horse feathers
To The Editor:
Re “Ban the carriage horses; Keep the Citi Bikes” (editorial, April 3):
Thank you for your principled stand supporting shutting down the inhumane and unsafe horse-drawn carriage industry.
Why would so many people care so much about such a tiny business — which has been politically connected for years — until now? The reason is because it has become a metaphor for other enlightened and ethical issues targeted by those who oppose Mayor de Blasio’s progressive agenda.
Tourists come to New York City to visit the museums, see Broadway plays, enjoy the nightlife, world-class restaurants and shopping — not for the carriage horses.
It’s inhumane for a horse to be stuck between the shafts of his carriage for nine hours a day, not even being able to scratch an itch — for what — so a tourist can take a ride? He spends most of his time standing waiting for a fare — pawing at the ground or dozing. Predictably unpredictable, that horse is always at risk for spooking and bolting into traffic possibly injuring or killing himself or an innocent passerby. How many legislators want deaths or serious human injuries on their conscience because they failed to do the right thing and shut this industry down?
Those who do not get this are the drivers who make money off the horses’ backs; they have no compassion for these animals and are content to exploit them for their own needs.
Thanks again to The Villager for having the courage to support this ban.
Elizabeth Forel
Forel is president, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
Hacks can hack it
To The Editor:
Re “Ban the carriage horses; Keep the Citi Bikes” (editorial, April 3):
You made some excellent points and I couldn’t agree more that the time is long overdue to get the carriage horses off of New York City streets. It’s common sense to understand that the number of reported, and filmed, incidents of spooking, running through traffic, crashing into motor vehicles and collapsing in distress must only be the tip of the iceberg.
What I disagree with is this grave concern about the possible job loss, for a few reasons. For the drivers whose ambition is to drive tourists around Central Park, they can use their own blood, sweat and tears and ride pedicabs right now. I was laid off three years ago from a large, multinational publishing company. This happens in life. Sometimes, your job — i.e horse carriage driver in New York City, production editor, typewriter repair person — is deemed outdated or no longer necessary, and you move on, often for the better.
For those in the industry who deem themselves horse devotees, feel free to take your “business” elsewhere.
Mickey Kramer
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, 515 Canal St., Suite 1C, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. The Villager does not publish anonymous letters.
