Stories in yesterday’s BroadsheetDAILY leave me so laden with grief and anger that words are difficult.
First, the person who died in the water. This tragedy is a testimonial to the stupidity of the governing entities in Battery Park City. I know exactly what Denise Rubin describes from my calls to *311*, (fortunately, not 911) for much less serious problems, generally about noise. It is impossible to communicate to these operators using any known vocabulary where a problem along the Esplanade is located exactly. The location might as well be Mars, as far as these operators know. Long time residents know that, in the past, local residents have jumped into the Hudson to save drowning persons. Forget civil authorities. The BPCA is much too important to be bothered with this level of community need. They exist in a cloud,striving for political and financial glory. (Not only do the Board members not live in BPC. The staff doesn’t live here either.)
Second, is the story of St. Joseph’s Chapel. Another tragedy, and similarly the blame is with absence of leadership, i.e., the pastor at St. Peter’s. His lack of support for the parishioners and others who were fighting so valiantly to keep the chapel open has been known throughout this process. He was sent to St. Peter’s to balance its books, and the Chapel was expendable to someone who had no direct experience of 9/11 or Lower Manhattan history. It was again about business as usual.
Dolores Dagostino