Cars detract from Market Square, police station site is sad: Letters
Cars detract from the vibrancy of Market Square
June 5 − To the Editor:
Some of the recent letters to the editor against pedestrianizing Market Square remind me of the old Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” They worry needlessly that if we take away space from cars and give it to people the downtown will fall into disuse. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Downtown Portsmouth was clearly not built for cars and despite the regrettable razing of the North End during Urban Renewal to make it more car accessible, no remediation is ever going to make it a good place to drive. And so for someone hoping to park right in front of their favorite restaurant on a summer evening, downtown Portsmouth just isn’t the place for them.
Virtually every successful commercial district in any town that visitors flock to in Europe has been pedestrianized and this has been increasingly repeated in many North American cities as well. If a place is charming and vibrant enough, throngs of people will gladly park on the outside and walk a few blocks to get to the center. Portsmouth’s authentically dense walkable downtown is quite rare and is a strength that we ought to lean into; it could be vastly improved if so much of our precious real estate wasn’t given to cars. Automobiles detract from Market Square because they are dangerous, loud, foul the air, and take up way too much space.
Making the downtown more pedestrian friendly does not require completely eliminating cars. We could employ automated bollards that descend to limit access on certain days (say, summer weekends) to emergency vehicles, downtown residents, and delivery vehicles. Or we could simply shrink Congress Street from three travel lanes down to one and make it so vehicles travel at parking lot speeds.
But whatever we do, if we really want to optimize Market Square as a vibrant gathering place that the community can be proud of and visitors will marvel at, we need to design it to be a place that makes people the priority, not cars.
Jonathan Sandberg
Portsmouth
Proposed site of police station is a very sad idea
June 4 − To the Editor:
Placing the police station extension in the location of the design published in the Portsmouth Herald is a very sad idea.
Here’s why:
It would block the only such view of the city, from the only hill, where people climb, walk or drive to paint, photograph, take their daily jaunt for a dose of beauty, picnic under the tree or sit on the bench to imbibe the atmosphere. Plenty of tourists and locals visit this very location to admire the city, or enjoy the unique Farmer’s Market location.
Why would you do that? There is no other angle in the city that offers this view and beauty.
It is just one more sad ideathat is harming the charm of our beautiful gem of a city. Blocking the view, along with all the boxy looking buildings sprouting up all over the place, in every square inch available, is completely incongruous with the history and architecture of Portsmouth.
Please stop it before it is ruined! I love Portsmouth. I hope you do too!
A very sad resident.
Lucie Therrien
Portsmouth
Republican hypocrisy regarding prosecutions is mind blowing
June 6 − To the Editor:
Here is something that I just don’t understand. How is it that the entire Republican establishment is so upset about political motivations behind the four Trump prosecutions while doing the exact same thing with regard to Hunter Biden, and Jim Biden, now are topping it off by threatening to do the same to Anthony Fauci?
Look, A jury of 12 were convinced that Trump did what he was said to have done, so the complaint is about the process, not about guilt or innocence. He actually did give a sex worker an audition for his TV show by having sex with her, paid her hush money in advance of the 2016 election and covered that up with fraudulent books.
With regard to the classified documents he withheld from the FBI, the fact is that they were found in his bathroom and elsewhere at Mar-a Lago after his having refused many requests to hand them over voluntarily.
With regard to the Georgia case, he was caught on tape attempting to pervert the election results, and his activities with regard to January 6 and the fraudulent elector scheme are also well documented.
Hunter Biden has yet to be convicted, but evidence seems to indicate that he really did purchase a handgun while signing a document saying that he was not drug involved when he was, and Antony Fauci really did recommend people maintain 6 foot spacing in public places, though I fail to see what law he violated for which he could be arrested.
To say that Trump should not be held accountable solely because of the political implications, which is what the Republican leadership is saying, while at the same time pouncing upon Hunter Biden, Jim Biden and Anthony Fauci solely for political purposes seems to me to be the height of hypocrisy.
Now, talking points of the right wing talk show hosts are that Judge Merchan and the 12 jurors were all bought and paid for well in advance of the trial, (Yes, they really do say that.) but as I see it the corrupt judges are those who have slow walked the remaining three trials until after the election, depriving the American public of full accountability prior to it, and that includes Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States, two of whom have acted in such a way that rational people could reasonably view as having been a supporters of the insurgency. That’s what’s truly despicable here.
Jeffrey Cooper
Portsmouth
Biden finally wakes up regarding the southern border
June 4 − To the Editor:
Finally!
Our president must have been awakened after only three plus years to learn that we have a problem on our borders. Do you suspect that this is the reason that his polling numbers are in the hole, and he had better do something about it? Or do you suspect that he has finally awakened to the fact that his “border czar” has been absent without leave and not done her job? No, Uncle Joe is not that dumb. Or is he?
Ray P. Hutchinson
Hampton
Trump: Winner or whiner?
June 9 − To the Editor:
According to Trump and his backers, there’s more rigging going on than you could find aboard a clipper ship! The election was rigged (Trump knows that’s a lie), the polls are rigged (if Biden’s ahead). Most of all, Trump whines his trial and guilty verdict were rigged. The judge was unfair, the jury was biased (Trump’s lawyers were full partners in jury selection), and the sentence will be unfair.
As sportscaster Colin Cowherd pointed out, “If everybody in your circle is a felon, maybe it’s not rigged.” Maybe you’re a felon! I mean, “his campaign chairman is a felon. So is his deputy campaign manager, his personal lawyer, his chief strategist, his National Security Adviser, his Trade Advisor, his Foreign Policy Adviser, his campaign fixer, his company CFO. They’re all felons.” And Trump is too.
Trump is 34 counts guilty. He has been impeached twice: rigged. His supporters, most of whom watch Fox or some other sensationalist “news” outlet, seem to have no idea how compelling the evidence against him in the January 6 hearings is or that those with the most damning testimony were not only Republicans, but people appointed by Trump!
There’s lots more: the E. Jean Carrol rape case, the forced closing and payback for both Trump University fraud, and phony Trump charities, the 6 bankruptcies, the $355 million in penalties he was assessed for duping banks, three more pending criminal cases, and others….
No, everything isn’t rigged. Trump is just a whiner—and a convicted felon.
Michael Frandzel
Portsmouth
Editor’s note: This file has been updated to correct the name of writer Michael Frandzel.
