‘A fitting remembrance’
To The Editor:
Re “Hammons ‘ghost pier’ at Gansevoort takes shape with Whitney” (news article, Oct. 12):
Thank you for your article on the Whitney Museum’s proposal to install a public artwork by David Hammons at Gansevoort Peninsula.
David Hammons, a truly remarkable artist, proposed this project to the Whitney as an homage to the work “Day’s End,” by my late husband, Gordon Matta-Clark, which some of your readers may remember from the 1970s.
David’s vision not only honors Gordon’s idea of a light-filled sanctuary and post-industrial community park, but pays tribute to the waterfront, the neighborhood and our city’s history.
David Hammons’s proposed installation honors the past and looks forward to the future. I hope it is realized. It would be a fitting remembrance of Gordon and his work, a tribute by one “poet” to another.
Jane Crawford
Not just any cutout
To The Editor:
Re “Ai Weiwei ‘Fence’ in full effect underneath the arch” (news article, Oct. 19):
The silhouette in this piece is not just any silhouette. It is a reproduction of a door designed in the 1930s by Marcel Duchamp for a surrealist gallery in Paris. The name of the gallery, “Gradiva,” is an homage to an early book by Sigmund Freud. This is admittedly all very elitist while the traditional Christmas tree is not.
Surely, the Christmas tree can be moved for this Christmas. The urgency of reminding this country that it is by definition not a country of fences cannot.
Monique Fong
It’s no time for Con Con
To The Editor:
Re “Why politicians fear constitutional convention” (talking point, by Curtis Sliwa, Oct. 12):
Curtis Sliwa confuses caution with fear when he urges a vote to organize a constitutional convention. At this moment, the president, the U.S. attorney general and Congress seem poised to bulldoze the terrain of American society.
Think of the dangers facing a woman’s right to choose, immigrant rights, workplace protections, preservation of the environment and clean water, support of public education, voter access, civil rights and regulation of big money in all its forms.
There are rights and freedoms that the New York State Constitution protects. There are regulations that the New York State Constitution enables.
The framework that the New York State Constitution constructs empowers our state attorney general to protect our rights in court. It is important that New York State acts with caution and waits before making our state constitution vulnerable.
Mr. Sliwa hinges his argument on the goal of increasing voter turnout. He lists several issues that would energize voter turnout if New York State held a constitutional convention. He includes the value of an honest discussion about term limits, plastic bags and red-light cameras. These are issues that legislation and a healthy public-information campaign can address.
In these turbulent times, a constitutional convention creates an opportunity for divisive and energized factions. It is the power of faction that concerned James Madison at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. These factions may attack cornerstones of our community.
In the flurry of an enormous lawmaking undertaking, the moment to change something or everything can emerge. Now is not the time to open that rabbit hole.
Debra Michlewitz
Back Marte and businesses
To The Editor:
Re “Utilizing all the tools to save small stores” (talking point, Oct. 19, Corey Johnson):
Delighted to see that Councilman Johnson seeks to help our small business owners. Too many have been forced out of their stores by ultra-high rents and other costs. I do believe that Mr. Johnson would find an ally in Christopher Marte, who is running on the Independence Party line for District 1 City Council.
So, I suggest District 1 voters go to the polls on Tues., Nov. 7, and vote for Christopher Marte on the Independence Party line. And let’s save our city’s small businesses.
Sylvia Rackow
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