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« on: March 22, 2012, 04:46:47 PM »
As someone who has lived in Jackson Heights for several years, I am not park-starved and I certainly didn't move here with the idea that the city owed me any green space (Flushing Meadow Park will do just fine). Noone in my building would be caught dead in that pedestrian plaza. Its filth is only matched by the unsavory characters who lurk about there day and night. Mr. Dromm's assumption that the merchants of 37th Road have something to hide is by far the most troubling aspect of that NYTimes piece. Why would anyone in their right mind open their financial records to a total megalomaniac?! And why would anyone expect the head of the 74th Street business association to inform merchants on 37th Road of the impending pedestrian plaza? Their failure just sends more business his way. Unfortunately, Sarah Maslin Nir didn't ask the really tough questions like (1) how coincidental is it that the economic downturn that hit 37th Road started on Sept. 20th--the very day the street was closed to vehicular traffic; (2) why isn't anyone asking the DOT to open their books and show us all exaclty how they spent over $650,000; (3) after repeatedly saying "give it a chance" in the press, when is Danny Dromm going to realize that after 6 months, the plaza continues to be a failure. Being so stubbornly inflexible and refusing to listen to reason only reinforces my image of him as a whiny kid, stamping his feet and leaving nothing but useless dust in his wake.