Paul Belden’s characterization of our North Lincoln Park neighborhood (“Bottled Fury,” 3/14) ticked us off bigtime. “Asshole,” we concluded.
We are only mildly acquainted with the article’s subjects, Stew Harris and Karen Currie. We are not particularly active in civic organizations. We’re just a couple of ordinary homeowners who know and greet our neighbors and always pick up after our dogs.
But we live about 100 yards from Trants Liquor Storeas far as it takes to consume a single-serving alcoholic beverage. We pick up the empties and other trash left by some of Trants’ customers as they stagger by. We see them urinate against the wall of the elementary school near our home. Certainly not all Trants’ customers, or even a large portion of them. Many patronize it for groceries without incident, as Belden notes. He doesn’t explain that Currie and Harris helped Trants obtain the grocery license.
Suburbanite Belden doesn’t tell us how long he spent onsite, but his failure to observe any untoward behavior during his research does not mean such behavior does not occur frequently and frighteningly.
We don’t accept the notion that Trants’ owner, Yung Chun Oh, can’t make it financially without selling singles, half-pints, and fortified wine. Other neighborhood groceries, some within three blocks of Trants, thrive without neighborhood opposition and without selling cheap ‘n’ easy booze. And contrary to Belden’s suggestion that alternatives are beyond walking distance, food shoppers have many viable options, including a Safeway six blocks away.
Terry Card confirms in the article that there is drug activity by people who have “been living here for eons.” By that standard, how long do we have to live here before we too can engage in illegal, intrusive activity? We plan on being here for eons, long after Trants’ liquor license is gone and the criminals among its patrons are jailed or worse. And when that time comes, we’ll still know and greet our neighbors and always pick up after our dogs.
Laurie Weiner
Bob Kowlowitz
North Lincoln Park