Nice going, M.T.A.!
To The Editor:
Why does the Second Ave. subway have an anti-Semitic mural? One would have to assume a massive degree of historical and social ignorance on the part of the artist to believe this image was innocently invented. Likewise with the M.T.A., which had to pre-approve the art.
People who create conceptual art start with a concept, and the concept here is unquestionably anti-Semitic. A Jew clutching a globe is one of the oldest anti-Semitic memes, dating back at least to czarist Russia.
Why does the politically correct to an absurd fault de Blasio administration promote anti-Semitic art in a public forum?
Robert Lederman,
Lederman is president of A.R.T.I.S.T. (Artists’ Response to Illegal State Tactics)
These trying Trump times
To The Editor:
Re “Nadler: We have to fight, snap out of Trump funk” (news article, Dec. 22):
Terrific article…a great summary of a remarkable event. Trying times, well described. Good job, Lincoln Anderson!
Diane Lebedeff
City’s H.D.F.C. travesty
To The Editor:
Re “C.B. 3, Mendez: Let us vet affordable co-op plan” (news article, Dec. 22):
Lesley Sussman writes a fair article but many things are left unknown or unsaid.
Nobody, but nobody can understand the hard physical labor and the expenses involved in rescuing an unsafe city-owned building abandoned by the landlord. This so-called “gift” — the $250 sale price — is astounding if you don’t consider what the real cost to the shareholders has been in terms of the amount of their life spent in the building, cleaning out debris and repairing it brick by brick, beam by beam, hauling sand and concrete, lumber, sheet rock, etc.
There are years of applications, meetings and discussions, city approvals (partially paid for by the city to mostly incompetent architects, system contractors and / or other experts) required to bring the building up to legal habitability.
For 30 years, the city turned its back on these buildings, did not respond to the ones in trouble, gave no help or guidance. But when a report on affordable housing was due — bingo, we were it.
Developers just plop down their dollars and receive tax abatements and funding, and supply a few so-called moderate-income housing units for limited years. Deed restrictions miraculously disappear and the buildings are sold for millions. Profit. Profit. Profit. H.D.F.C. buildings are not created for profit, but for the stability of families that will pass them on, like any other house a family purchases.
The last insult carried out at the Community Board 3 full board meeting vote was the requirement that community board members of H.D.F.C.’s were required to vote “present not voting,” totally negating their votes. Meanwhile, employees of the various housing groups seeking perpetual funding as future managers of these H.D.F.C. buildings were allowed to vote.
Susan Leelike
Stinging critique
To The Editor:
Re “Scorpion bite? Don’t bug out!” (Lenore Skenazy, Dec. 15):
I have a house in Nevada and scorpions are not so benign — especially in Nevada. According to the Mayo Clinic, among others, scorpion stings — although painful — are mostly harmless. But worldwide, about 30 of the estimated 1,500 species of scorpions can inflict potentially fatal stings. In the United States, the bark scorpion, found mainly in the desert Southwest, has venom potent enough to cause severe symptoms.
Funny topic for New York.
Alex Smythe
Umm…not a fan
To The Editor:
Re “Close Encounters of N.Y.U. Kind: Massive Mercer design revealed” (news article, Dec. 15):
Monstrous and ugly. It will transform that part of the Village and make it post-post-modern institutional, nondescript and fugly.
Donnie Moder
More ‘write stuff’
To The Editor:
Re “Westbeth has write stuff to deal with this mess” (news article, Dec. 15):
As a resident of Westbeth, I want to clarify that the majority of apartments are rent-stabilized, not Section 8.
Also, the reporter forgot to mention the “Write Now” event was a fundraiser for several charities. People were encouraged to make a donation, to toss a dollar into one of the jars, for each post-it note they put on the gallery walls.
Kate Walter
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, 1 Metrotech North, 10th floor, Brooklyn, NY, NY 11201. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel. Anonymous letters will not be published.
