Letters to the editor

Not too keen on Berger’s letter

To The Editor:
In a letter last week (“Not keen on eliminating leaders”), my friend, Keen Berger, misstates my position in the May 7 Villager by suggesting I support elimination of the district leader position. I specifically did not endorse that position, which was made to The Villager some weeks earlier by the incumbent leader, Aubrey Lees.

My position, clearly stated in the article, is that women today can compete directly with men for the district leadership position, and that separate elections for district leaders by sex is now an anachronism.

We have just witnessed a woman breaking the sex barrier in an important golf tournament, previously a male preserve. There is no reason why women and men can’t compete for the same district leadership post. Only long-standing party tradition gets in the way.

Ed Gold


Use common sense at Pier 40

To The Editor:
Here are five common-sense suggestions for the Hudson River Park Trust (and the selected Pier 40 developer):

1. Preserve the straight lines of the bicycle, jogger and stroller paths past Pier 40. Minimize vehicular disruptions to this flow by using sunken or overhead ramps or bridges for long-term parking and trucking. Encourage “foot traffic” into Pier 40 by providing weather-protected free bicycle racks on the eastern face and pedestrian access at both the north and south corners. Inexpensive food services should be located on the east face (with internal and external entrances); fancy “Water’s Edge/Tavern on the Green” restaurants could be accommodated on the west face.

2. The current exterior of Pier 40 is not a landmark, it is an eyesore. Integrate the appearance into the landscaping of the new Hudson River Park structures already built to the north. Since the rest of the Hudson River Park already provides significant outdoor “passive recreational use” jutting out into the river, Pier 40 need not.

3. November through April — half of the year! — are difficult recreational times in New York City. The current Pier 40 accommodates a winter season of DUSC soccer, an indoor batting cage and a playspace for infant playgroups built and furnished by local parents. The new Pier 40 should be a year-round provider of not-for-profit indoor passive and active recreational spaces.

4. The Hudson River Park area traditionally attracts a significant nighttime homosexual and teenage population. Rather than close the park and Pier 40 at dusk, provide evening commercial entities within Pier 40 that will accommodate this population — small-scale theater, music and dance spaces, cabaret, art-house film and Internet rooms, fashion stores and art galleries — none of which require the movement of large objects or bags of goods onto and off of the pier.

5. Pier 40 is a pier, and should accommodate ferry service to New Jersey, to Yankee Stadium, Bear Mountain and West Point, and to other parks like Battery Park, the Cloisters, Coney Island and Randall’s Island. It should continue to accommodate kayaking, private boats and cruises.

Barry Drogin


BAMRA battle has a background

To The Editor:
I am writing in response to the scurrilous attack Charles Wolf chose to write in last week’s edition “BAMRA board member was a bust” (letters, May 14):

Twice, while Charles Wolf held the appointed, not elected, position of presiding officer at BAMRA, The Villager incorrectly listed him as being the “president” of BAMRA. Wolf was aware of both articles as he forwarded them to the organization’s e-mail list; yet he never sent a Letter to The Editor asking that his “title” be corrected. Why is it that Lois Rakoff, who never said a word about her title(s) past or present, must endure Wolf’s poison pen? To understand this we must look at the time that they served as co-board members.

During Lois Rakoff’s tenure as a board member-at-large, Wolf submitted and demanded reimbursement for a stack of restaurant receipts, totaling several hundred dollars. Rakoff took a strong stand against reimbursing Wolf for these expenses that he claimed to have incurred while wining and dining elected officials and attending community meetings. It should be noted that wining and dining were not part of Wolf’s official duties. Wolf met with the officials and attended the meetings of his own volition and he did not seek approval, in advance, from BAMRA for his expenditures. Wolf simply handed in a stack of receipts and demanded repayment. Lois Rakoff opposed wasting BAMRA funds on Wolf’s dinners, which earned her a prominent place on Wolf’s enemies list.

Rakoff had formed an organization, Friends of Minetta Triangle Garden, which she still maintains, to care for Minetta Triangle Garden. When she asked BAMRA to support her group, Wolf tabled the discussion and has yet to restore it to BAMRA’s agenda. Rakoff has continued her efforts for the garden as a Parks Department volunteer.

Subsequently, Rakoff ran against Wolf for the position of resident chair, and this vote ended in a tie. Wolf won the runoff election only after handing in a large stack of new memberships.

Wolf apparently believes that any organization he participates in is there merely to serve his own needs. Rakoff had the nerve to question his authority, and, as a result, Wolf has chosen to take a dishonest and gratuitous shot at her while also delivering a message to anyone else who might disagree with him.

Michael J. Fingerit