Rent Misdirection
To the Editor:
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.
Landlord in La La Land
To the Editor:
Landlord James Harmon claimed that rent regulations violated his Fifth Amendment rights re: the “taking” of his property (“Landlord Turns to Supreme Power on Rent,” Dec. 15). Having lost that case, he is now suing under the 14th Amendment over a claimed denial of “due process.”
Setting aside the merits (or lack thereof) of the case, there is one fact that is unassailable: Mr. Harmon purchased the property with the extant tenants. Thus, he knew full well going in that his rental income would be limited by the current rent regulation statutes.
In this regard, it is beyond disingenuous of him to have filed the lawsuit at all, and it should be summarily dismissed based on this single fact.
Ian Alterman
Upper West Side
Double the Trouble
Double the Trouble
To the Editor:
As if we New Yorkers didn’t have our hands full with the rogue bikers who do not believe the rules of the road are meant for them, now we have electric bikes? (“Feds Say You Can’t Restrict It—Eletric Bikes” Dec. 15) They may not be riding on sidewalks as do other bikers, but I see them going through red lights and against traffic. HELP!
Bunny Abraham
Central Park West
Letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.
Sorry For The “Inconvenience”
To the Editor:
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.
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Voice for the Voiceless
To the Editor:
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.”
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Just the Facts
To the Editor:
Regarding “Forty is Still the New 40” (Oct. 13) by Laura Shin:
If doctors urge certain mammograms in spite of the fact that such tests have proven to have a high or even significantly high failure rate, you have to wonder if there are other vested interests at work. If there is “proof” of the worthwhile-ness of certain medical tests, who are the persons who have proven it or which company had the research carried out? The pharmaceutical industry? The medical establishment? A hospital that specializes in mammograms?
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Chopper Danger
To the Editor:
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.
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Not on Our Own
To the Editor:
West 90th Street resident Jane Gabin reports (“No Police,” Sept. 22) that she saw an unattended black wheeled suitcase in her area and went looking for a police officer. Not finding one after quite some time, she says in her letter, “’If you see something, say something’—but what if no one is around? I guess we’re on our own.”
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Broken System
To the Editor:
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.”
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No Police
To the Editor:
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.
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