Letters to the Editor
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‘Telegrams Are History’
Thanks very much for Stephen Miller’s article about the end of the telegram, which I found online [“Telegrams Are History Stop End of Era Stop,” Page 1, February 2, 2006].
From the early 1920s through the 1960s (with a pause due to layoff during the Depression), my grandfather was a telegraph operator for the Central & Southern Railway. When first given the job, he was terrified of that awesome machine, constantly afraid that he would transcribe an important message incorrectly and cause ruinous harm somewhere along the rail line.
How amazed he would be to know that the nigh-magical instrument of his livelihood was no more, relegated to inconsequence by time and progress. And – more amazingly – if Mr. Miller’s article hadn’t appeared, I never would have known that it was gone.
How the world changes!
DEBRA HELWIG
Athens, Ga.
‘Andrea Bronfman Is Killed’
Your account of the tragic death of Andrea Bronfman reports that “a black Lincoln Town Car ran her down” [“Andrea Bronfman Is Killed by a Car As She Walks Her Dog on 65th St.,” Stephen Miller, Page 1, January 24, 2006].
As a New York pedestrian working in Midtown, it has been my – admittedly anecdotal – experience that when I observe reckless driving, as I do every day, in the form of speeding, lurching, or driving calculated to intimidate pedestrians, it is at least 90% of the time by town car and limousine drivers. You can generally identify them by the letter “T” in their plate numbers or the “T&L” legend on those plates.
Strict enforcement of the laws and licensing regulations against these drivers would quickly improve pedestrian safety.
PETER M. COLLINS
Manhattan
‘Tax-Raising Kaine’
Cal Thomas is so dismissive of Virginia’s governor, Timothy Kaine, you might think he was afraid of him. He should be [“Tax-Raising Kaine,” Opinion, January 25, 2006].
Mr. Kaine represents everything that doesn’t make sense to a conservative like Mr. Thomas. The governor is smart but modest, compassionate but tough, religious but tolerant. In other words, he’s a man who defies liberal stereotypes and appeals to independents.
Mr. Kaine was elected in my traditionally conservative state because voters were tired of a Republican Party that offered only arrogance, incompetence, corruption, and debt. While his opponent ran on expanding the death penalty, Mr. Kaine ran on good management and fiscal responsibility.
It took Virginia four years to raise itself out of the billion-dollar debt incurred under the last Republican governor, James Gilmore, who risked the state’s credit rating by recklessly cutting taxes. Mr. Kaine understands that public institutions and infrastructure cost money, and that borrowing is not the answer.
So Mr. Thomas and other Republicans are right to be fearful. Mr. Kaine stands for a new wave of Democrats they can’t understand, can’t intimidate, can’t control, and can’t defeat.
ROBERT J. INLOW
Charlottesville, Va.
‘Not Everything Old’
The title of James Gardner’s critique, “Not Everything Old Is Beautiful,” is no doubt correct. But the standard for a landmark designation is not just beauty [Arts & Letters, December 13, 2005].
The industrial buildings featured in our exhibit, “Preservation on the Edge: Our Threatened East River Heritage,” don’t just have charm, they have historic importance.
The Domino Sugar Plant, Austin Nichols Warehouse, and other structures featured in the exhibit housed industrial businesses that made enormous contributions to the development of the city.
Without them, we lose the history of the neighborhoods they are in and how “the oldest modern city in the world” evolved. This is why we believe it is so important to preserve those icons by reusing them, so we can continue to surprise the tourists Mr. Gardner mentions with the history of our great city.
KENT BARWICK
President
The Municipal Art Society of New York
Manhattan
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