Won’t be voting for Fouratt
To The Editor:
Jim Fouratt’s candidacy to become my New York State Assemblymember is most troubling. While I truly believe his heart is in the right place, I have all too often witnessed the fact that his head is not. What a waste of a sharp mind! So often facts get distorted and the ensuing rants become personally insulting and offensive. My observation over the many years I have known Jim is that he regards anyone elected for anything as deficient.
For example, the last three presidents of the Village Independent Democrats have been the recipients of constant insults. On another level, that holds true for anyone in a position of authority, including our elected officials.
The community has been made aware of his devotion to the cause of keeping St. Vincent’s Hospital open; it was strident and prolonged. To this day, he proclaims at every opportunity that none of our elected officials did anything or made any effort to keep the facility open. That is just so not true! Their fight was channeled and informed, not geared toward press notoriety and drama. The fact that no efforts were successful was an inevitability from the start, but the differences between Jim’s approach and that of so many others is what worries me.
In many decades of political and community involvement, I have learned that governing is, in a democracy, wholly a matter of cooperation. If you function under the premise that your way is the only way, you lose every time. Jim is like that. He cannot move his perceptions and opinions to encompass even the slightest variation. In other words, he cannot negotiate and work with other people whose views differ from his. That renders him powerless and totally ineffective. In the Assembly, that would be a disaster. Democracy has always encompassed compromise.
On the other hand, Deborah Glick, in her two and a half decades as our assemblywoman, has represented our community well. Without caving in on principles and by championing great causes, she has built effective coalitions and gained the respect of her colleagues. Even if you are not devoted to leaders like Shelly Silver, you either find ways to work with them amicably or you might as well stay home. Deborah has learned that fact. But Jim could neither accept it nor actually function with that in mind.
Do not get me wrong, there is much that I like in Jim, but it frightens me to even imagine him as my representative in Albany. I am, and will always, be a supporter of Deborah Glick as the right voice of our community in Albany.
Frieda Bradlow
LA II feels the streets
To The Editor:
Re “LA II tagged with robbery, menacing with a knife” (news article, Aug. 4):
I have been in the arts for over 40 years. I work with urban artists. I know Angel Ortiz was a great friend of Keith Haring. Please give Angel another chance. He is a social artist and this guy lives and feels the streets.
Big hug from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Melton Magidson
Remember Tony, too!
To The Editor:
Re “Remember ‘The Alamo’? … Well, it’s coming back!” (news article, Aug. 11):
You don’t mention the artist’s name: Bernard (Tony) Rosenthal. The sculpture is 8 feet long and weighs about 1,800 pounds. I miss it, but I prefer the historic name Astor Place. How will redubbing this spot “Alamo Plaza” jibe with the subway stop’s Astor Place name? Will that be changed, too? Just too confusing. If it ain’t broke… .
Bonnie Rosenstock
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