12
August 15 - 21, 2013
editorial
A Downtown champion There might be people who love Lower Manhattan as much as Liz Berger did, but we doubt anyone loved it more. Berger had an enthusiasm for Downtown that was infectious, and her dedication to our community made it a better place to live and work. Like many others, we were saddened to learn of her death from cancer last week at the far too young age of 53. Berger was the president of the Downtown Alliance business improvement district for the last six years. She had been a Community Board 1 member prior to that, and also served the city in many other capacities over the years. A hardworking woman of great intelligence, she and her work live on in the many people she led, touched or inspired to do more for our neighborhood and for the world. Last fall after Hurricane Sandy ravaged parts of our community, the Alliance BID, led by Berger, rushed in with help to small businesses, a mere three weeks after the storm hit, and long before any other financial help came. She had so many great ideas or projects she championed. One of our favorites is “Re:Construction.” It typifies what we admired most about Berger, her ability to take a negative — Lower Manhattan’s ubiquitous construction sheds and scaffolding post-9/11 — and make something better of it: namely, art to hide the eyesores so as to brighten the day for hundreds of thousands of workers and residents. Her accomplishments are particularly remarkable considering her 10-year battle against pancreatic cancer. We are also grateful to another leader in the community, Madelyn Wils, for sharing her insights into her friend Lizzie’s inspiring attitude in the face of death — making every moment count for her husband and children, her friends and for Lower Manhattan. We offer our condolences to her family and friends. Berger was not the first to move to the Financial District, but she came Downtown a decade or two before most residents and long before it was called “FiDi.” She was often writing and commenting in our sister paper, Downtown Express, about important developments, and we close with some of her words from columns she wrote in 2010: “I moved to Lower Manhattan almost three decades ago. It was the frontier, and only my banker friends knew how to get here, but I loved living Downtown. Fred [her husband] followed the next year. It was an adventure. We loved living off the (street) grid, the huge buildings on the tiny streets, being close to the water and, back in the day when walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was a novel experience, knowing in some powerful, visceral way that Manhattan was an island. We loved the views, how all the subway and bus lines came together and the feeling that we were at the center and beginning of everything… . “The happy truth is that Lower Manhattan, home to some of the world’s biggest businesses and tallest buildings, is also a little village, a place where neighbors know each other, shopkeepers wave and everyone gets together on the ball fields.” Alas, our village has lost one of its pioneers and genuine and true leading members in Liz Berger.
letters to the editor REBNY’s disconnect with reality To The Editor: Re “Don’t buy REBNY hype: Landmarking helps affordability” (Andrew Berman, talking point, Aug. 8): One of the statements in REBNY’s recent report was that the Landmarks Preservation Commission bars modifications in historic districts. A remarkable comment. The fellow who wrote that should get out more. If he did, he would see scaffolding, permit signs and construction all over the place. Within 150 feet of my apartment on E. 10th St. in Greenwich Village, for instance, there are five townhouses undergoing modifications, all of them major jobs and all of them approved after review by L.P.C. Somebody should let that fellow at REBNY out of his cage. Penelope Bareau
REBNY’s hypocrisy is rich To The Editor: Re “Don’t buy REBNY hype: Landmarking helps affordability” (Andrew Berman, talking point, Aug. 8): The Real Estate Board of New York has been consistently wrong about historic preservation since the landmarks law was passed in 1965. In opposing the law, the executive secretary of REBNY was quoted in The New York Times, warning that the law would “seriously impede the modern expansion and progress of the city.” In reality, New York City’s historic districts have been a boon to the city! Thanks to Andrew Berman for making that point, and for exposing the hypocrisy of REBNY’s anti-affordability attack on preservation. Anthony Wood
A bad combo for landmarks To The Editor: Re “Don’t buy REBNY hype: Landmarking helps affordability” (Andrew Berman, talking point, Aug. 8): Community Boards 1, 2 and 3 have among the greatest number of historic districts in the city, and the Real Estate Board of New York is funneling a small fortune into Margaret Chin’s re-election campaign. Chin already made a mockery of the landmarks law, when she pushed through legislation at the City Council to help demolish 135 Bowery, an 1817 Federal gem, at the behest of an international bank that has contributed an additional
EVAN FORSCH
$6,000 to her Council campaign. Were she to be elected, preservation would grind to a halt in Lower Manhattan. Sean Sweeney
W.V.H. article was wonderful To The Editor: Re “Renters hoping to remain at West Village Houses” (news article, Aug. 1): On behalf of the Renters Union at West Village Houses, I want to thank Clarissa-Jan Lim for her wonderful article about our complicated and tenuous situation. The R.U. board members all felt that the article was well-written and we appreciate that you included many points of view. There was one point mentioned in the article that we think is inaccurate, though. The article states: “The 2006 agreement did commit the co-op to establishing a subsidy fund to protect low-income residents who did not buy their apartments from overwhelming rent increases.” As far as we know, this is not true! A subsidy fund was mentioned in one of several “red herrings” offered before the co-op conversion, but it was not part of the final offering plan that was accepted and put into effect in 2006. Despite this small factual error, we are grateful for the article’s fair and balanced presentation, and for its bringing attention to the plight of the renters remaining here at West Village Houses. James W. Lister Frania Zins Wendy DeRosa Jessica Tomb Lister and Zins are co-presidents of the board of the West Village Houses Renters Union; DeRosa is the board’s secretary / treasurer; Tomb is the board’s renter / owner liaison
In defense of Tania Grossinger To The Editor: I very much resent your continuous presentation of letters regarding Jerry Tallmer’s “Peeling the Layers of Tania Grossinger’s cocoon” (V Lit, July 25). You were aware the day after publication that among many of his other mistakes, I had been totally misquoted
Continued on page 14