Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
Mayor, give back
hotel owners’ cash
BY ED HAMILTON
AND DEBBIE MARTIN
Mayor de Blasio, we
are calling on you
to return Richard
Born’s and Ira Drukier’s
campaign contributions and
the $90,000 that was raised
at their March fundraiser for
you. With the presidential
primaries underway and your
reputation for standing up for
tenants on the line, you must
make it crystal clear to them
that they cannot buy a Certifi
cate of No Harassment!
As you know, Born and
Drukier are the principals of
BD Hotels, and they are principals
in an LLC that presently
owns the famed Chelsea
Hotel, where, since 2007,
dozens of residents, most of
them in the arts, have been
evicted to make way for luxury
accommodations.
Since August 2011, the
remaining residents have
endured years of seemingly
never-ending demolition and
construction — often involving
demolishing new construction
and rebuilding over
again.
The Certifi cate of No Harassment
(CONH), issued
by the city’s Department of
Housing Preservation and
Development, is intended to
protect tenants from exactly
this sort of abuse.
Born and Drukier well
knew of the requirement for a
CONH, as they have applied
for CONHs at other buildings
they own. Additionally, they
were fi red from the Chelsea
Hotel once before, in 2008,
for their refusal to apply for
a CONH.
They have been doing
construction without this
required certifi cate for three
years while tenants continue
to experience interruptions
of basic services, leaks, exposure
to toxic dust and constant
ear-splitting noise.
Mr. Mayor, we invite you
to visit the Chelsea Hotel and
experience for yourself the
conditions of the building.
Currently, a portion of the
tenants in the building have
been without cooking gas for
PHOTO BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
The writers say the mayor
must return campaign
contributions he received
from Chelsea Hotel owners
Richard Born and Ira
Drukier, who are seeking
a Certificate of No Harassment
from the city
for the historic building’s
ongoing renovation.
a month and the entire building
has been without hot water
for more than 24 hours.
In any event, you must not
allow your reputation as a
tenants’ advocate to be besmirched
by this appearance
of impropriety. That’s why
we are asking you to return
the $57,000 donated to your
campaign by Richard Born,
Ira Drukier and their associates.
Return the $90,000
raised at the March 4 fundraiser.
Only then can the public
be assured that H.P.D.’s ongoing
investigation into the
harassment of the tenants
of the Chelsea Hotel will be
allowed to continue without
undue interference. We hope
you will do the right thing.
Hamilton and Martin are
Chelsea Hotel bloggers.
Walking tax
coming next?
To The Editor:
Re “Court: 14th St. car ban
can start” (news article, Aug.
1):
The local citizens should be
able to vote on our fate through
a referendum at the ballot box.
The next dictate will be a sidewalk
walk tax.
Perry Rothenberg
It’s ‘Zero Vision’
To The Editor:
Re “Court: 14th St. car ban
can start” (news article, Aug.
1):
Under Bloomberg and de
Blasio, the Department of
Transportation has been ruining
New York City, making every
street more dangerous for
drivers, pedestrians and bikes.
As more and more people
become unwilling to drive into
Manhattan, unwilling to be
subject to the insane chaos of
painted markings, bus lanes,
bike lanes, speed cameras, intersection
cameras and D.O.T.
goons issuing summonses on
every street, more stores will
close, the economy will suffer
and many more bike riders will
be injured or die.
Vision Zero has Zero Vision.
Robert Lederman
Amoral leaders
To The Editor:
Re “Two Bridges project
needs public review: Judge”
(news article, Aug. 8):
The Two Bridges luxury
towers will destroy Chinatown
and the Lower East Side! We
need to vote these people who
approved this out of offi ce!
You don’t need religion to have
morals. If you can’t determine
right from wrong, then you
lack compassion, not religion.
I’m an L.E.S. resident since
1945!
Victor Colon
Enigmatic killer
To The Editor:
Re “Message to Republicans:
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Five-dollar egg creams at
Gem Spa? Could the departed
Zoltar even have
foreseen that?
Do something” (editorial,
Aug. 8):
I’d like to see the evidence
that the Dayton shooter was an
“antifa activist” and “avowed
socialist.” He was an open misogynist
who was in a band
that had songs glorifyng rape,
and apparently maintained a
“rape list.” He made a couple
of tweets in support of antifa.
Please do not play into the bogus
equivalism, Villager.
Bill Weinberg
More than
just ‘anti-vaxx’
To The Editor:
Re “‘Anti-vaxxers’ try to
mob rent-laws town hall”
(news article, Aug. 1):
It’s upsetting to see this
protest made out to be about
being “anti-vaxx.” It’s about
being pro-medical choice, proreligion,
pro-family and proparental
decisions.
Giving the government the
rights over our bodies is a dangerous
decision. This law was
passed on June 13 and there
are already bills to mandate the
fl u and HPV vaccines to attend
school and to give 14-year-olds
the right to make medical decisions
without their parents’
consent or knowledge. We value
certain freedoms in America
and these freedoms are under
attack. That is the reason
for this demonstration.
Heather Clare
Jazzy Gem Spa
hit spot for Monk
To The Editor:
Re “News fl ash: Gem Spa
is struggling” (city business,
Aug. 8):
I once spotted Thelonious
Monk having an egg cream in
Gem Spa in the late 1960s.
Alan Flacks
$5 egg creams?
There goes
the neigborhood
To The Editor:
Re “News fl ash: Gem Spa is
struggling” (news article, Aug.
8):
When I stopped by this afternoon
for a pricey ($5) vanilla
egg cream, the daughter
of ailing owner Ray Patel made
it plain that the landlord is giving
Gem Spa grief. She said
the rent has just climbed to
$17,000-plus a month. So this
is a sadly familiar story about
East Village gentrifi cation.
Mary Reinholz
Please, no
Astor market!
To The Editor:
Re “Astor Place mulled for
a new market” (news article,
Aug. 8):
Hate that bad holiday market
in Union Square and hope
that does not happen here. It’s
not well curated and there is
a lot of kitschy junk. I would
prefer morning tai chi, yoga, a
weekly soapbox opportunity,
learning events and so forth.
Mary Judge
E-mail letters, not longer
than 250 words in length, to
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The Villager, Letters to the Editor,
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fl oor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Please include phone number
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The Villager reserves the right
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letters will not be published.
Schneps Media TVG August 15, 2019 13
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