Is the movie United 93 ("The 9/11 Show," April 26-May 2) too soon for America? Yes-because 2001 was too soon for this country to go through a 9/11.
Ron Schalow,
Fargo, North Dakota
Mr. McCauley may regard celebrities as a vacant addition to campaigns to preserve the quality of life in NY ("Information Agent," May 10-16), but he fails to note that-as with the Ratner MegaMess in Brooklyn-the media neglects these issues as if they were not happening. Ratner's plan is a shameless boondoggle with no financial oversight, no thought to traffic flow, sewerage or the quality of life surrounding it. When celebrities are enlisted to point that out, suddenly the press takes the ham on rye out of its mouth and looks up. If that were not enough, Ratner's company has an appalling record of completion and financial practices. They want to build a city in the middle of Brooklyn that has a larger tab than the economy of many states in the union, and all of it up for grabs in the grand tradition of NY state graft. The governor has even allocated state education funds ($33 million) to do god knows what about, or for, Ratnerville. Mr. McCauley cannot seem to get that one into his thoughts.
Steve Hart,
Brooklyn, NY
Er, was that a review ("J.R. Taylor," May 10-16), a critique, a fluff piece or what? And what exactly is "a false memory of when the '80s were actually catchy?"-they were catchy. And please explain this: "Fortunately, there's a New Europe nowadays, and privileged frontman Diego Garcia does his best to make his native Argentina seem like part of the Union." How on earth can you reference Argentina and Europe as part of a "Union?" I'm confused.
Dave Allen,
Gang of Four
We need to impress upon these young artists that when this art form ("Bomb The City," May 3-9) is done well, it can help them to lift themselves out of poverty, crime and the other pitfalls they face growing up in "the hood." Mayor Bloomberg and Peter Vallone should research this topic a lot more before making such rash decisions that will criminalize America's budding artists.
Frank "Rek" Santiago,
Red Hook, Brooklyn
Look, obviously, to have stereotypes is not a good thing ("Finding The Face Of Asian NYC," May 10-16) but having them is not, in any way, limited to USA/NY culture-if there's only one stereotype that is true, it is that all cultures have them.
Gerry Koval,
NYC