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 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

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.

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 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

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?

Who benefits besides the patient if she undergoes a medical procedure? These are important matters that the article did not urge the reader to discuss with her physician.

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Lucy Martinez
Upper West Side

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

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.”

Although I commend her for her vigilance, if she had been seriously concerned about the item, she should have called 911. Or, as an alternative, she should have called her local precinct. After all, if it had actually been an explosive or other device, it could easily have gone off in the 10 to 15 minutes it took her to walk around looking for a police officer.

We are not “on our own” when we see a suspicious item. Most of us have cell phones. For those we do not, there are pay phones everywhere. And while there can be “consequences” to reporting unattended items (the NYPD closing off a block or two, resultant traffic problems, etc.), if you are truly concerned about an item, don’t waste time looking for an officer: call 911 or the local precinct.

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Ian Alterman
Upper West Side, President of the 20th Precinct Community Council.

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