The Dec. 5 article, "No Easy Answers: Lexington Avenue's Uncertain Future," paints Lexington Avenue as a street of violence, crime and gentrification. Do these things exist on Lexington? Of course they do. However, these are not the defining characteristics of the street.
Lexington is, for the most part, a vibrant and bustling, culturally distinct district. I ask reporter David Forbes: Where are your sources? Where are your interviews with business owners? Where do you draw your conclusions from? Interviewing one disgruntled business owner on his way out doesn't suffice in painting a real picture of what is actually happening on the rest of Lexington.
The north end of Lexington has had some drug problems, but what about the other 10 blocks of the street? Ask business owners here, of which I am one. Rents are stable, business is flourishing and the over-the-counter drug problem stemming from Octopus Garden ended during the summer. How did you miss that one? You missed it because you didn't ask.
You cited two business sources on a massive street, but paint this as a neighborhood problem. Even your article states that the cops find Lexington's crime stats stable and in line with the other parts of downtown. So what are you left with? Primarily, one business owner's opinion of an entire district. I find the article misleading and poorly written.
— Alex Carr
TOPS for Shoes
Asheville
