Response to NY Times Kahn Editorial By RIRA President - Will Times Print It?

Roosevelt Island Resident's Association President Mathew Katz sent the following letter to the NY Times in opposition to their recent editorial in support of the Louis Kahn/FDR memorial proposed for Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island.

“A Roosevelt for Roosevelt Island?” Absolutely! Just not this three acre anachronism that was repudiated in a public survey taken in October 2004 by Southpoint Park designer, The Trust for Public Land. For seven years we Islanders have been a part of the planning for this thirteen-acre park and there is consensus that it should include an FDR Memorial. But we endorsed a “Wild Gardens/Green Rooms” design concept and rejected the Kahn plan as too formal and too sterile. The Kahn plan has hung fire for the last thirty-three years and now, as the $12.9 million Southpoint Park Phase I approaches the start of construction, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute has put all their eggs in the Kahn basket. If our public officials no longer find the 2004 survey valid, why don’t they commission another? Parks should be built for the public that will use them not for the architectural community that will visit once and never return.

To date, The NY Times does not see fit to publish the opposing views of the President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association on the proposed Louis Kahn/FDR memorial.

The Times did publish a very nice letter by a resident of Portland Maine who illustrated the point that:

There’s more to Roosevelt Island than a tram ride to and fro.
There’s a quiet East River walk with spectacular views of Manhattan, highlighted by the United Nations and arresting river traffic.
A historic lighthouse opposite Gracie Mansion on the north end and preening cormorants on a rocky island on the south end. Traffic sounds are distant.
Occasionally there are lovers by the river railing. Seagulls seem tamer. And on a sunny morning Manhattan seems marvelously manageable.

Image of NY Times building is from Arch News Now.