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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NYPL leaves students in lurch Meanwhile (and in some cases, permanently), all of the unique, system-wide facilities, collections, programs and services at these only two central libraries in the Branch Libraries system will be lost. These include, but are not limited to, the World Languages Collection (40-plus languages), the Central Children’s Room, Teen Central—the only auditorium with theater, concert and film-projection facilities (all at Donnell); and the computer services, major periodicals collection, Picture Collection, Job Services and special services for people with disabilities (at Mid-Manhattan). Among these, a major disaster is the termination of Teen Central, which was brought into the 21st century with a major high-tech renovation—funded by N.Y.C. taxpayers, I believe—within the past five years. Among other teenagers, tens of thousands of students at 32 public high schools in what could be called Donnell’s “catchment area” in central Manhattan will have the Teen Central resources removed, with no replacement. That need not happen. I hope that some of the dedicated, savvy volunteers who serve on Community Boards 5 and 4 will join with concerned members of the City Council, and with wealthy individuals, including owners of Midtown real estate, to provide a suitable location, and sufficient funding, to continue Teen Central. The members of the Board of Trustees of The New York Public Library, in collaboration with billionaire Bloomberg and quisling Quinn, have arrogantly and callously left our teenagers in the lurch, while sanctimoniously feeding statements to the media that 60 percent of NYPL users are “minority groups,” and 60 percent live in households with annual incomes below $50,000. The appropriate City Council committees have done nothing during the two years, while these plans were being made without taxpayers’ knowledge. We must demand, at least, that our high school students and other teenagers get back what they need, by the time school starts in September 2008. I would like to address some misperceptions that were in Brad Hoylman’s recent talking point in Chelsea Now about the new St. Vincent’s Hospital. Hoylman accurately lays out some of the issues that both Community Board 2 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission must examine. However, he asserts that there is “widespread community opposition” to the plan, which just isn’t the case. While many thoughtful and concerned individuals have come to the C.B. 2 meetings on the project and expressed their opposition to aspects of the project, so far, more than 1,800 people have joined Friends of the New St. Vincent’s and more than 1,000 letters and e-mails have been sent to C.B. 2 and our elected officials advocating for the new hospital. These individuals’ input and support should not be ignored. Additionally, regarding a letter to the editor published in that same issue (“Post-article traumatic shock,” by Andrew Berman, Zack Winestine et al.), I disagree with the characterizations made by the individuals with whom St. Vincent’s met regarding a proposed alternative plan. At the suggestion of the elected officials and C.B. 2, we asked the plan’s proponents to come and present to St. Vincent’s their suggestions, since the plan had been publicly discussed but never shared with us. It was subsequently sent to us, and we met with the group to receive a fuller presentation. Over the past year, to understand the numerous concerns, we have had dozens of meetings with stakeholders in this project, including elected officials, block associations, co-op boards, affordable-housing advocates, public school advocates, unions, social-service agencies, local businesses and tenant organizations. At this time, Board 2 is appropriately holding public hearings as part of the public review process. The community board is now the fitting focal point in the public process for the community to raise its concerns and for St. Vincent’s to reply, as St. Vincent’s did when it responded to the alternative plan. One emerging trend from the public hearings to date has been both clear and heartening: Regardless of the position taken on the Landmarks application, support for a new, efficient and green St. Vincent’s Hospital has come from every quarter of the Greenwich Village Historic District and the larger community we serve. We look forward to continuing our work with Community Board 2 and hope that we can reach the ideal of a “community consensus” outlined by Brad Hoylman at the hearings on the project. E-mail letters, not longer than 250 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. Chelsea Now reserves the right to edit letters for space, grammar, clarity and libel.
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