Letters to the editor

Volume 1, Number 50 | The Weekly Newspaper of Chelsea | Aug. 31 - Sept. 6, 2007

Letters to the editor

Master plan at the Breslin

To The Editor:
Re “Immigrant tenants an easy mark at the Breslin Hotel” (news article, Aug. 24):

In Chris Lombardi’s recent article, please note the following correction: I have always believed that the Breslin management did orchestrate a master plan to have as many of the legally rent-stabilized rooms and apartments in the building occupied by tenants who would be relatively easy to get out.

As Mr. Robert Carolan stated during his testimony at the recent hearings, “We wanted to try to create vacancies in the building.” The plan began to evolve about the time Mr. Carolan officially became the “Registered Managing Agent,” which according to his testimony, “has been for a little over probably 10 years....” The evidence of this can be recalled by the many tenants who wanted upgrades to other, larger rooms, which then suddenly became more difficult. As older tenants passed on, the vacant rooms they left behind became occupied by predominantly non-English-speaking tenants, who may or may not have been offered the protections of the valid rent-stabilized leases which their predecessors held. In essence, these unknowing tenants were vulnerable and were being exploited for some period of time, like “vacancies” waiting to be “created.”

One can argue that this is just a theory, but the evidence in favor of it is present in the memories of those tenants who witnessed it and who still remain in the Breslin Hotel. Today, almost none of those non-English-speaking tenants lives in the building.

Stephen Colvin
Colvin is president of the Breslin Tenants Association

Criticizing a critical look

To The Editor:
Re: “On the Street: Critical Look at Critical Mass by cop who covers it” (news column, Aug. 24):

I was extremely disappointed by Jefferson Siegel’s lack of critical response in his interview with an anonymous NYPD officer.

It is the job of the media not to just repeat what the government official feeds them. Basic journalistic skills require some critical questioning of interview sources. Some important questions that Mr. Siegel neglected to ask in his interview, or even follow up on are below:

This is surprising given Mr. Siegel’s presence covering the Critical Mass rides. He should know better since he has witnessed numerous instances of aggressive behavior by the cops during the rides.

Mr. Siegel failed to question the fact that cops harass cyclists while stopped at red lights and obeying traffic laws.

Mr. Siegel doesn’t bring up the fact that though the cop said, “NYPD had a change of policy,” it was actually the courts back in February 2006 that decided that parading without out a permit as currently enforced by the NYPD is illegal.

Mr. Siegel did not ask the cop about the police assaulting cyclists during the rides. This has been documented in video on many occasions.

And, Mr. Siegel fails to note that just because a group asks for a permit doesn’t mean that it will be granted. That’s part of the problem. Also, just because it is permitted doesn’t mean that police won’t harass or arrest people.

Jessica Rechtschaffer

Quinn bears blame on public assembly

To The Editor:
Re: “On the Street: Critical Look at Critical Mass by cop who covers it” (news column, Aug. 24):

In Jefferson Siegel’s interview with an anonymous NYPD officer, even the officer said that he doesn’t “particularly agree with how...the parading without a permit laws...are set up.” He is referring to the disastrous rules that make it illegal for spontaneous crowds of 50 or more people to process through New York City.

Back in 2006, multiple courts ruled that prior city rules concerning assembly were unconstitutional. These regulations are the province of the City Council. But rather than conduct open hearings and votes to correct the unconstitutional deficiencies the courts found, the leader of City

Council, Speaker Christine Quinn, abdicated her legislative responsibilities: She allowed the police to write the new rules and then rubberstamped them. These anti-assembly rules are bad for New York City and bad for civil liberties. Speaker Quinn needs to act immediately to repudiate them, along with the undemocratic process by which they were written; she needs to conduct open hearings about public assembly and how it can be best facilitated in the City.

As a queer person and a constituent of Speaker Quinn, I’m outraged that, instead of safeguarding our streets for public assembly, she betrayed the political legacy that helped to give her—an out lesbian—the position of power she enjoys today. As a dedicated reader of Chelsea Now, I’m disappointed that none of your reporters have ever connected the dots.

The police could not have written these rules without Speaker Quinn’s permission. She is the elected official most responsible for this debacle.

Tim Doody

E-mail letters, not longer than 350 words in length, to news@chelseanow.com or fax to 212-229-2790 or mail to Chelsea Now, Letters to the Editor, 145 Sixth Ave., ground floor, NY, NY 10013. Please include phone number for confirmation purposes. The Villager reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel.