Editor’s Note: The following is an open letter from 43rd District City Council Candidate Liam McCabe to Warren Chan, executive director of the Asian Community United Society, in response to yesterday’s KCP story about McCabe’s Neighborhood Beautification Plan concerning the banning of 5-cent recycling of bottles and cans in the district including Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach.
Dear Mr. Chan:
Let’s address a few fundamentals about recycling and our democratic election process.
It is without question that recycling should be encouraged. In fact, as you know, it is the law here in New York City and our Department of Sanitation provides all homes and businesses with the receptacles we need to recycle safely and efficiently.
The recycling program in New York City neither benefits from nor has cause to incentivize third party bottle and can collection. Any argument that maintains that encouraging trespassing onto private property and removing bottles and cans from NYC-approved recycling cans and bags is grasping at best.
And while we’re on the subject of trespassing, let’s get a good working definition of the term. Grassroots campaigns like mine and those of other candidates, including those in the Democratic party, always employ door knocking as part of their community outreach.
In fact, knocking on the doors of registered voters is and has always been an integral part of our election process. Not everyone receives their information about candidates in an email blast, after all, and handing a voter a piece of campaign literature so he or she can make an informed, educated decision on September 12, can not and does not constitute littering.
As is often the case, Mr. Chan, I am certain that if we had the chance to sit down and talk to each other, we would agree on many things about our community and what all of our neighbors need and deserve: clean spaces we can all be proud of and enjoy, safety, and opportunities for people of all backgrounds and financial means.
So let’s do that, Mr. Chan. Let’s sit down and talk with each other, not at each other. My door is always open.
Sincerely,
Liam McCabe
