Irish Cultural Center being forced on neighbors
Dear Editor: In the early 1960s, the urban advocate Jane Jacobs challenged New York City planner Robert Moses and his backers when he planned to shovel under SoHo, Chinatown and part of Greenwich Village for the Lower Manhattan Expressway. She was David against Goliath, using whitings and vociferous protests. And she won.
In our small city, the concerned people of Kingston should voice and write opinions in support of our neighbors on Abeel Street, who are having the behemoth Irish Cultural Center shoved down their throats.
It seems strange that a building that for many years served as an institution on West Chestnut Street is battling zoning codes. Yet almost overnight, the Irish center’s address was changed to meet a zoning code.
The situation is an aspect of urban renewal. In underhanded and disreputable maneuvers, City Hall, its departments, boards and committees disrespected the citizens of all Kingston. And, true to the form of such situations, after the closed meetings and secretly settled ideas, there will be a public meeting where deals and amenities will be offered to assuage residents and other citizens who are protesting.
Without explaining their schemes, the local government and the planners never fully nor truthfully confronted the Abeel Street neighbors nor sought their sense of their own home place.
Intelligent and creative major changes in neighborhoods exhibit balance in scale and use with the already developed place, formed by the community itself in working with the developers. That is a good, creative and mature vision.
Clare McDonald, Kingston
Can’t tolerate intolerance
Dear Editor: The headline om the July 22 Freeman, “Hilary hatred unifies the GOP,” makes me think of the many ways to hate Donald Trump. He has insulted a nation (Mexico), a religion (Islam), a war hero (John McCain) and a person with a disability (New York Times writer Serge Kovaleski). Mr. Kovaleski has what neurologists term a motor disorder and has uncontrollable involuntary movements.
In case you missed his performance, you can watch The Donald mocking and make fun of Kovalevski on YouTube. Why? He asked the wrong question.
For me, that hits home because I have a disability. I lost my lower left leg two years ago due to an uncommon complication of a medication. When I walk in the mall, I often see people in wheelchairs, on crutches, pushing a walker and walking with a prosthesis. Other than access to special parking spots, none of us ask for favors or attention, and certainly not the possibility of being subjected to Mr. Trump’s bad manners. What if I asked the wrong question? Would he yell out, “Get the cripple out of here!” It’s certainly possible.
It’s inconceivable that this man is the candidate of a major party. Is there no correlation between intelligence and being a Republican? This man has no right to be president. Mark Feldman, M.D., Kingston