1) The effect on traffic. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) admittedly did not perform a traffic feasibility analysis. Currently, traffic often backs up onto the FDR Drive in either direction. Currently, traffic backs up onto the Queensboro Bridge. This will worsen considerably.

Consider this: MSKCC’s building will have no garage, only a driveway. Post-operative patients, by law, must be accompanied out of the building by someone. Do you think they will walk with their escort up the hill to the subway? No! Someone will be waiting for them in a car, probably on York Avenue.

2) MSKCC’s unwillingness to even talk to its neighbors. MSKCC filed its request for variances (allowances to build beyond what New York City code allows) and fast-tracked approval just as the holiday season began. Perhaps our all-volunteer board was remiss, but the residents of the building learned of the Community Board 8 meeting with only a week’s notice.

3) Our building supports a MSKCC facility here. This is what prompted me to write this letter. Overwhelmingly, the people who spoke that night clearly stated that they had no problem with MSKCC building next door. They only wanted MSKCC to respect previous agreements negotiated with the help of Community Board 8.

Many current and former MSKCC employees live in this building. Several people living here are patients of the hospital. They merely want the building to fit into the neighborhood.

4) While residents of the affected building learned of MSKCC’s plans only a week before the community board meeting, somehow, a patient managed to show up with a prepared speech, a speech that had nothing to do with the debate or even with reality. The speech cast my building’s residents as rich people trying to deny convenient medical care to poor people like him. This is a ridiculous and insulting lie.

Your paper purports to serve the Upper East Side. Sadly, you missed the points that affect this community, namely a neverending traffic nightmare foisted on us by an uncaring, rich organization that indeed has alternatives. MSKCC has 20 other sites and presumably other “sleeper” sites like the one under discussion. Surely, a wiser location can be found.

Steve Edelstein
440 E. 62nd St.

Letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.

After reading about the Harmon family’s “plight” regarding rent-regulated tenants (“Landlord Supreme Power on Rent,” Dec. 15) and Harmon’s legal efforts to challenge rent regulations, I feel that I have to respond.

I am the president of the block association where the Harmons reside and know them as I knew Harmon’s parents when they lived here decades ago. 

Harmon and his brother inherited the building in question.

Increased property taxes, water taxes, city agencies’ frivolous code enforcement, increased fuel costs and additional operating costs are the reason so many small mom and pop owners continue to sell to developers.

On our landmark block alone, we have had over seven of 40 brownstones converted by developers in the last nine years, which resulted in the loss of over 80 residents on our block.

The fact that operating costs have increased exponentially in recent years should really be the focus. Three rent-regulated tenants are not the primary cause of Harmon’s business crisis.

Incidentally, the millionaire families now residing in the converted brownstone contribute nothing to our block or our association; so much for community improvement through social assimilation.

If tenant-caused hardship was indeed the cause of Mr. Harmon’s legal drive, he could easily sell the building and rid himself of the burden called rent regulation. Properties like Harmon’s fetch handsome prices on our block.

I think that the issue here is a disdain for people who are misportrayed as self-serving parasites when, truth be told, they are hard-working individuals who are residing in Harmon’s walk-up building because it’s the only place they can afford to live. They were the pioneers of our community long before there was a demand to live here.

Two of the three rent-regulated tenants in question are over 62 years of age. Anyone who knowingly attempts to profit from creating a financial or emotional burden on a senior citizen is in a category unto him or herself.

Harmon would be doing himself, and others, much good by lobbying and focusing his legal prowess on changing the laws in our city to allow for senior residency tax credits and rent regulation tax benefits for small property owners.

Those seem like noble efforts worthy of legal judicial consideration that could effect positive change. In the long run, such efforts would be the most equitable for all parties involved.

Joseph Bolanos

President, Landmark 76

West 76th Street Park Block Association

Letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.

Right now, about three-quarters of all of the waste that New Yorkers create goes to the South Bronx, Williamsburg-Greenpoint, and Jamaica, Queens. Even if they are less densely populated, these communities have kids, elders and other vulnerable populations and they get stuck with a far greater amount of the city’s waste (not to mention other burdens) than the East 91st Street MTS would handle. It is fundamentally unfair to put the burden on these communities because they happen to be less densely populated. There is no way to eliminate human exposure to the environmental impacts of managing waste; wherever we send it in the city it will affect people—people on truck routes and people near the facilities.

That said, the MTS system will significantly reduce those impacts over the near future. It would be great if folks could focus their energy on long-term solutions that would reduce the impact for everyone, like reducing the waste stream and improving upon the city’s woeful 15 percent recycling rate.

It is worth mentioning that the trucks going to this MTS are collection trucks picking up garbage generated in and around the UES. Eliminating the MTS will not eliminate the need for these trucks.

Gavin Kearney

Manhattan

Letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.

I had to give up my apartment on 96th Street and 2nd Avenue due to the constant noise. (“Pounding Away: Is Second Avenue the Noisiest Street on the Upper East Side?,” Dec.15) After three years of constant invasion by sound, vibration and exhaust, we gave up the neighborhood we loved and moved elsewhere. It was truly a sad day. The Second Avenue Subway is a much-needed addition to the city, but the people responsible have no desire to plan their work around residents. They will bend to the orders of the DOT, making certain transient cars are impacted only as much as necessary, but little concern goes into minimizing the long-term impact on those who call the area home.

Mark Lyon

Manhattan

Regarding an “Open Letter to OWS” (Nov. 24), I guess Mrs. Merkl has forgotten that real change is not easy, that it’s messy and that sometimes people are unintentionally hurt, yes, and even inconvenienced along the way.

These people are struggling to find a way that is as inclusive as possible to make real and serious change. They will make mistakes. As with any movement, there will always be wackos and people who will try to exploit it. However, it is the majority of people in a movement who define it, not those on the fringes.

This movement is made up of the employed, the unemployed, the underemployed, those seriously underpaid and the retired. What we all have in common is that if we’re not homeless now, we’re merely a catastrophe or two from losing our homes. I have relatives who have saved their whole lives and are now being nickled and dimed into poverty. Is Goldman Sachs offering them a hand up?

So I’m sorry a group of 7th graders missed a field trip; perhaps they should have visited Zuccotti Park. The teacher missed a huge teaching moment. One can only hope that their teacher and parents talk about the issues that the Occupy protesters are trying to discuss: not having enough to eat, being thrown out of a fair-paying job to work for minimum wage, parents having to work several jobs to make ends meet, joining the military because it’s the only job you can get, choosing between paying for prescriptions or for food and rent—and this is only a partial list.

Maybe they should learn about of their fellow students, who graduated college owing tens of thousands of dollars and are unable to find a job to pay that money back.

Your summary of “Get a job!” sounds a lot like our parents, who told us to “take a bath” and “cut our hair” in the ’60s and ’70s.

Hopefully, you will be able to avoid catastrophes in your personal life so you won’t have to feel first-hand the need to go to Zuccotti Park and participate yourself, thereby “inconveniencing” others.

Mike Glick
Manhattan

Thanksgiving is almost here and it’s time to give thanks to community people and writers for sharing their talents. Bette Dewing is one of those people whose column I’ve read for years because, as one friend put it, “She writes about issues that concern me and my neighborhood.”

Another friend said, “She gives voice to the voiceless.”

And when Doctor’s Hospital (Beth Israel North) closed several years ago, her account was the only one that captured the rage and despair many of us Upper East Side residents felt. She also wrote about the closing of the restaurant Le Boeuf a la Mode, which is very much missed.

Our Town’s 40th anniversary issue contained so much important Upper East Side history along with Bette’s thoughtful memories—because she has attended many civic and other community events, she really knows who we are!

Thank you, Bette, for giving voice to what I feel. Can’t wait to read your next column.

Sincerely
Rosalind Panepanto
E. 82nd Street

“Protesters Hit Wall Street Where It Lives” (Oct. 12) made me wonder if anyone noticed the irony that many of the celebrity visitors to the Occupy Wall Street protest, such as Kanye West and Russell Simmons, are multimillionaires. Democratic Congressional minority leader Nancy Pelosi (personal net worth: $35 million), who supports the protest, has raised millions of dollars in campaign contributions over recent years from the same crowd. They are all part of the 1 percent of America who Wall Street protesters claim are not paying their fair share of taxes that the other 99 percent of America contribute.

By the way, the infamous 1 percent already contribute 40 percent of all taxes paid. It is the billions in taxes on profits, income and bonuses that Wall Street companies and their employees pay that fund many of the essential public services we count on from both city and state government.

Haven’t they already done enough? Can’t some of the 46 percent of Americans who pay nothing contribute something? Did the bright lights of Broadway, Hollywood hip-hop and VIP visitor celebrity status blind the protesters from their hypocrisy?

_
Larry Penner
Great Neck

The Helicopter Noise Coalition of NYC has called for a ban on nonemergency helicopters from city land and waterways since 1996 (“Chopper Madness,” Oct. 13), due to concerns about safety, noise, health, air pollution and national security. In 2000, New York City had the most nonmilitary helicopter traffic of any place on earth. These flights imperil civilized life and must end.

This recent crash illustrates the dangers we face. It is not only a matter of death, injury and property damage from known crashes. The countless near misses and undocumented emergency landings compound the threat exponentially. Pilot error, mechanical difficulty, the inability to steer a damaged helicopter, our small heliports surrounded by hazards—all of these reflect the magnitude of the problem. It is only a matter of time until a helicopter crashes into a building, highway or ferry. We cannot afford to wait.

People cannot thrive with helicopter flights overhead every few minutes, often at a volume that inhibits speech and can damage hearing. Patients near heliports and flight paths cannot rest, babies cannot nap, students’ learning suffers, worker productivity declines and noise blankets city parks. Unregulated helicopter airspace over southern Manhattan as well as the Hudson and East rivers is an invitation to terrorists.

A ban on nonemergency helicopters would substantially decrease traffic in our air corridors and is long overdue. We call on the FAA, mayor and City Council to protect us from this scourge.

Joy A. Held
President, Helicopter Noise Coalition of New York City

I’m extremely disappointed in the City Council, particularly Christine Quinn and (my UES representative) Jessica Lappin (“Who Will Save Them?” Sept. 22) for fast-tracking the bill that will excuse the city of its obligation to build desperately needed animal shelters in both the Bronx and Queens. As Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said, “This might increase the number of staff people, but there will be no room. This is sentencing thousands of animals to death by not following up with building new shelters.”

Shame on the council, the ASPCA and the Mayor’s Alliance for Animals, among others, for not fighting for what’s best, instead adding dollars to an already broken shelter system.

_
Mickey Kramer
East 75th Street

On Friday evening, Sept. 16, I was walking home from dinner on Amsterdam Avenue with a friend. It was about 9:45 p.m. As I passed the church on West 96th Street between Amsterdam and Broadway, I saw an abandoned black wheeled suitcase set against the railings. There was nothing else and no one nearby.

With “If you see something, say something” ringing in my head, I approached the busy intersection at Broadway looking for police officers. Seeing none, I went to the clerk’s booth at the subway station. He told me that there were no officers in the station, but that there were usually some outside. I looked again, and saw only a transit police van. I told the officers in the van that I was looking for police to report a suspicious abandoned suitcase. They did not seem particularly interested, but told me that police officers were often just up Broadway outside the Europan Cafe. I walked up there, looked around, no police. I had now scanned about six intersections at a very busy time and there were absolutely no police officers in sight.

“If you see something, say something”—but what if no one is around?

I guess we’re on our own.

Jane S. Gabin
316 West 90th Street