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Letters to the editor Fuzzy Math In the article headlined “Locals are living longer despite boozing, obesity, lead poisoning,” there are two simple math errors, or the numbers cited are wrong to begin with. The first is in the sentence that says, “In the Chelsea/Clinton area, the H.I.V. death rate per 100,000 residents in 2004 was 27, which was 50 percent higher than Manhattan, 22….” Using those numbers, if they are correct, the percentage works out to just under 23 percent higher, not 50 percent. A smaller error appears in the next paragraph. The 28 per 100,000 H.I.V. death rate on the Lower East Side turns out to be 56 percent higher than the city as a whole, previously cited as being 18, not “also 50 percent higher.” Mathematics is abused again in the first jump, on page 17, of the page-one article headlined “Two visions proffered for single regional rail plan.” There is a citation from the U.S. Census Bureau stating that by 2030, “New Jersey’s 2000 population of more than 8 million is projected to increase by 16 percent, to nearly 1.4 billion.” God help us (and New Jersey) if that’s true. New Jersey’s population increased by only 3.6 percent between 2000 and 2005, about half the national growth rate, according to the Census Bureau, so the 16 percent forecast for 2030 cited in the article is within reason, which means that New Jersey’s population of about 8 million in 2000 would grow to about 9.3 million, not “nearly 1.4 billion.” The sigh of relief from across the Hudson is thunderous. As you can tell, I read Chelsea Now closely. It’s a welcome addition, and much-valued resource, for this longtime Chelsea resident. I read the opinion piece you ran by Tim Gay about the General Theological Seminary and felt it was important to write in and say how much of a role the Seminary and its graduates have played in our efforts to build a network of congregations and leaders of faith throughout New York State — those who are willing to advocate for our community’s equality and justice. We see the Seminary’s positive impact on a regular basis all across the state and always know that General Theological Seminary graduates will be our allies in speaking out against religious-based bigotry. A village is many things, and in the village of New York State, we have seen firsthand how the General Theological Seminary is a good neighbor to our community. I second Albert Bennett and David Chan’s letters of appreciation for Albert Amateau’s fine coverage of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s launch of the Historic South Village Preservation Project, and for your editorial supporting the South Village Historic District. I, too, support designation. Since moving to Sullivan St. in 1985, I have been anxious to protect this gentle area utterly lacking in obvious grandeur and unified instead by a humanity of small scale and pleasing detail. The well-researched South Village Proposal for Historic District Designation seeks such protection. It is replete with careful attention to the history of this working-class immigrant district, not known as “important,” but which over time has sheltered much of the artist/activist soul of the Village. While his campaign ads highlighted smaller classes as one of only three educational goals of his administration, rather than require any school to actually provide smaller classes, this would only be one of a long menu of options districts could consider. His proposals are also contrary to the decision of New York State’s highest court — that class sizes in our schools were too large to provide our students with their constitutional right to an adequate education. The Court of Appeals didn’t say that our school year or school day was too short; the court didn’t say that we needed more charter schools. The court said that the class sizes in New York City schools were excessive, and that there was “a meaningful correlation between the large classes in City schools and the outputs…of poor academic achievement and high dropout rates.” If the governor really believed that inequality in educational opportunity is “morally indefensible,” as he said last week, I don’t know how he can justify the huge disparities in class size that New York City children continue to experience every day compared to students in the rest of the state.
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