Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
Pack it in, Blaz!
To The Editor:
Re “Hey, Bill! Can the campaign”
(editorial, July 25):
Mayor Bill de Blasio for
president belongs in the comics
section.
Democrats Governor Andrew
Cuomo and de Blasio
have a lot in common with
the late Republicans Governor
Nelson Rockefeller and New
York City Mayor John Lindsay,
along with Governor George
Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The same is true for the
late Democrat Governor Mario
Cuomo and Mayor Ed Koch.
Cuomo, like his father Mario,
Rockefeller and Pataki,
and de Blasio, like Lindsay and
Guiliani, will never come close
to winning any primaries, let
alone the White House.
Better to spend your time
packing, Bill, for moving back
to your old Park Slope, Brooklyn,
home when your term
ends in December 2021.
Larry Penner
‘Angel’ on Ave. A
To The Editor:
Re “‘Angel’ buyer saves E.
10th St. Boys’ Club house”
(news article, July 25):
I represent an affordable
housing group in the Lower
East Side and send our deepest
appreciation to whoever, in
his or her private life, provided
this exceptional action on behalf
of the community.
For those of us who cannot,
but have the will to do something
similar for our community,
we thank you.
Herman Hewitt
Hewitt is president of the
board of directors, Lower East
Side People’s Mutual Housing
Association.
Smoke ’im
if you got ’im
To The Editor:
Re “Paul Krassner, 87, Yippies
co-founder, editor” (obituary,
July 25):
I knew Paul Krassner. Your
reporter Mary Reinholz wrote
a great obit that totally captured
this unique character.
In the summer of ’69 on
A homemade kayak overturned — but it was a good day
for a dunk — at the City of Water Day cardboard kayak
race under the Brooklyn Bridge’s Manhattan side on
July 13. The Waterfront Alliance and South St. Seaport
Museum were among organizers of the harbor-wide day
of events, sponsored by Howard Hughes Corporation.
Fire Island, Paul stated his fi -
nal wishes. He said he wanted
to be cremated and his ashes
rolled up in a joint to be
smoked by his friends.
Emily J. Goodman
Goodman is a retired New
York State Supreme Court justice.
No Krassner-
Trump link
To The Editor:
Re “Paul Krassner, 87, Yippies
co-founder, editor” (obituary,
July 25):
I must take issue with the
notion that counterculture
pranksterism paved the way
for post-truth Trumpism.
What Krassner did was real
satire — not fake news.
It is obvious that Trump represents
the backlash against the
cultural and political advances
of the ’60s. He is using Hitler’s
Big Lie technique. Krassner
and the Yippies were tweaking
those in power with biting satire.
They are opposites.
Rex Weiner was an early inspiration.
I read his great stuff
in High Times as a teen. But he
is reading this one wrong.
Bill Weinberg
Kallos will roll
To The Editor:
Re “Kallos/D.O.T. bikesafety
PHOTO BY MILO HESS
forum draws 3” (news
article, July 25):
Ben Kallos will organize a
better turnout as Manhattan
borough president. And he’ll
have those helmets, always a
draw and a real safety gift.
Alan Flacks
Martial arts
good for girls
To The Editor:
“Dr. Sutton on keeping girls
in sports” (Youth and Education
article, July 25):
Martial arts trained my neuromuscular
system so that,
as I age, I can wake muscles
up quickly. It trained me in
self-discipline and concentration,
and the competition was
mainly with myself, my own
ability. I cannot recommend
martial arts enough for girls
(and boys, too).
Lynn Pacifi co
E-mail letters, maximum
250 words, to news@thevillager.
com or fax to 212-229-
2790 or mail to The Villager,
Letters to the Editor, 1 Metro-
Tech North, 10th fl oor, Brooklyn,
NY 11201. Please include
phone number for confi rmation.
The Villager reserves the
right to edit letters for space,
grammar, clarity and libel.
Anonymous letters will not be
published.
Hudson Yards: Big-
bucks panic room
BY MATTHEW SZULMAN
New York is famously known for its fast-changing landscape,
and the newly reinvented Hudson Yards, located
in Midtown Manhattan, is no exception. After a
few short years of planning and construction, Hudson Yards
is up and running.
New Yorkers with deep, eight-fi gure pockets can fi nally fi nd
their dream one-bedroom for a cool $4.3 million. Penthouses
go for up to $32 million to buy, and if you’re inclined to rent,
a two-bedroom apartment goes for $9,000 a month. But what
makes this different from other billionaire enclaves?
For starters, $25 billion — including $6 billion in tax
breaks and government assistance — was allocated to create
this city-within-a-city. Along with being nicknamed the
“New West Side,” Hudson Yards has developed itself into the
1%’s Fortress of Solitude. The other 99% are free to wander
around the streets — gaping and gazing in wonder at the
beauty of it all.
The way we view safety and climate in recent years has given
rise to how city planners build their cities, forcing designers
to create more intricate ways of shielding the public from
manmade and natural disasters. In the case of Hudson Yards,
changes aren’t cosmetic; rather, they are infrastructural.
The ones responsible for these dramatic changes are Kohn
Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), the architecture fi rm that
oversaw the project, and designer Thomas Heatherwick, who
prioritized safety above all else for its wealthy tenants. Designed
to be virtually impenetrable, the neighborhood is expertly
crafted to ward off superstorms and terrorist attacks.
Hudson Yards’ engineers wanted the complex to be adequately
prepared in diverting every conceivable issue their
buildings could face. This includes an intricate electrical system
that could still operate during a blackout, as well as an internal
rainwater collection system that can gather and redirect
water accumulated during fl oods to avoid property damage.
Superstorm Sandy in 2012 caused tenants and property
buyers in Manhattan to be more cautious about where they
rent and own their retail spaces and homes. Hudson Yards’
architects are well aware of this concern and, therefore, built
their mechanical systems on higher fl oors. And they installed
stormproof submarine doors that can be sealed to stave off
the aforementioned fl ood damage.
Starting to sound vaguely familiar? Sounds like a giant
panic room, no? It’s not your average apartment complex, no
matter what angle you look at it from.
Hudson Yards includes its own private power plant, so offi
ce lights and computers can remain on even during a city
outage. The buildings have been built several stories above
ground and sea level, signifi cantly mitigating fl ood risks.
Hmm…self-contained apartments above sea level that only
the superrich can access and be safe in from doom… .
The makers of Hudson Yards are at least doing one thing
right by striving toward environmental protection. Waste
chutes are installed in the development’s residential buildings
that separate occupants’ trash, recyclables and organic waste,
and its kitchens are equipped with choppers and grinders to
further reduce food waste.
Perhaps the city’s wealthy are holding their cards close to
their chest and going into survival mode. Their response to a
potential apocalypse is a sad-but-true reminder that rich can
avert disaster while the rest of us fend for ourselves.
Szulman is a Brooklyn resident and P.R./content coordinator
at Passfeed, an online social shopping app.
Schneps Media TVG August 1, 2019 13
link
link
link