Letters to the Editor

Pedicab presence

To The Editor:
I’ve taken a Pedicab. Have you? Everybody is talking about them, but it seems very few of us Manhattanites have actually taken one. Somehow they don’t seem like they’re for us. They’re for tourists, right? After all, we have our own cabs—real cabs. TAXI cabs.

I took a pedicab one night around the 5 p.m. rush because there were no real cabs in sight and I had to get across town. I thought the pedicab might be able to weave and wobble through traffic and get me there a little faster. To the peddler’s credit, he did get me there a little faster. A little friendlier, too. Surprisingly, through all that huffing and puffing he was somehow able to make nice conversation!

There was something a little disconcerting about the whole experience though. In a real cab, I’ve never worried that they might just not make it. The only physical effort I’ve seen expended in this type of endeavor is the application of slight foot pressure to the gas and brake pedals of a car. But this poor guy was applying extreme pressure to bicycle pedals, throwing the entire weight of his body into the effort. As he pedaled furiously across town and up small grades, it finally became apparent that the human body—at least his human body—was capable of far more than I had imagined.

The accomplishment of this physical feat left me with more than a tinge of guilt, though, at tip time. I felt I should give him $100. I felt uneasy about giving him a 10 percent or even a 50 percent tip. It seemed so small compared to the great physical effort he had put into it. As a white-collar worker who expends no physical energy at work myself, how could I justify a paltry 20 percent tip for putting in more physical labor in a single ride than I’d put in during the entire next month?

Perhaps the recent legislation on pedicabs ought to have not banned electric-assist motors, which would help these “drivers” while going a long way toward assuaging passenger guilt. That would be a win-win situation we could all live with—and still good for the environment. Who can argue with that?
Jonathan Couser
Couser is the founder of the blog Clickyourblock.com

Keep Chelsea affordable

To the Editor,
I read with great interest the interview with Velma Murphy- Hill in the September 7–13 issue of Chelsea Now. I might add, I really appreciate the series of interviews with community folks in Chelsea. It could prove to be a tool to encourage more, much needed, participation on the part all of us to keep our neighborhood the vibrant, diverse community that has made Chelsea so special.

I found Velma’s history of her participation in the Civil Rights struggle most moving and impressive.

Just to add to information about the battle for the inclusion of affordable housing during the recent West Chelsea rezoning: The first meeting of what was to become Afford Chelsea was an unimpressive three grown-ups and one child: Miguel Acevedo, Chelsea activist, Miriam Rabban, then employed at Hudson Guild and who came up with the concept, and me, Gloria Sukenick, longtime housing activist, plus Miguel’s young daughter, who slept through much of the meeting.

Ultimately, we reached out to many more Chelsea neighbors and brought the crisis that plagues the whole city—no affordable housing for the many people who make this city work—to the forefront. It could no longer be ignored, not with the huge number of folks turning out at meetings and demonstrations.

The creation of a city that only houses those with very big pockets is where we’re headed. We won the promise of 27 percent affordable housing. but that’s, so far, what it is—a promise.

Much of the struggle for housing remains. Any volunteers?
Gloria Sukenick

Dealing with 9/11

To The Editor:
I have been disturbed by the many comments that were made in the press leading up to this year’s 9/11 anniversary, in which we were told it was time to “get over it.” Like so many others, the course of my life was completely altered when Downtown was

attacked. And, of course, thousands of lives were not only changed but ended. While being ableto live fully and joyfully is indeed healthy, I do not believe it would ever be appropriate to walk away from one of the most traumatic days in our nation’s
history.

I have also been disturbed, however, by the way in which many people have responded by these calls for us to “get over it.” While I agree in principle, but not in practice, with those who responded with name-calling and bitter invectives, there seems to bea knee-jerk reaction among many to interpret a difference of opinion as a personal insult, and to respond with anger rather than logic.

And then there is Alyson Low’s letter of this past week, in which she firmly yet respectfully took issue with your Sept. 14 editorial [“A date that changes with time”]. She did not hurl insults, but rather beautifully explained better that I could that living our lives and mourning our losses are not mutually exclusive.

Thank you, Alyson, for your gracious and compassionate letter.
Rachel Snyder