Dear Editor:
I can’t tell you how delighted I am with the facade improvement that has been undertaken along Bergenline Avenue between 40th and 41st streets. Although I am not a resident of the area, the facelift for businesses, as well as the buildings above, works its wonders as it would for any business section.
When I read the paragraph about the possibility of purchasing a pressure-steamer to remove gum from the sidewalks, I felt as though my mind had been read. Seeing the gum all over the sidewalks each time I rode through Bergenline Avenue on the bus always bothered me, but what to do about it. I wondered how anyone could deface a sidewalk so spotlessly clean. Some debris is bound to collect in well traveled areas, but it can at least be removed easily. Gum on the sidewalk is another matter requiring greater strategy to do so. Many of the sidewalks in West New York and Union City have been replaced. They are beautiful in design and to see them almost obliterated by chewing gum, is unthinkable, especially when I think of how hard the laborers worked in all kinds of weather to install them. People love to live in attractive surroundings, so how is it possible to think nothing of spitting gum out on the sidewalk when it would be just as easy to dispose of it in a small piece of paper, a tissue, whatever and drop it in a wastebasket or pocket until it can be thrown away the right way.
If the sidewalks can be restored so we can once again appreciate their appearance, I hope those who enjoy a piece of gum, think twice about its disposal.
Anonymous