Park or paint?

RE “Prominent Artists, City Divided by an Alley,” by Elina Shatkin, Aug. 20: Two of the most prominent artists in Venice have been fortunate to be allowed to extend their rented studio space with sheds that encroach on public land for decades. The unpaved alley/lot known as Irving Tabor Court is still known more for vagrants, drug dealers and hookers than art. These aren’t even the only encroachments on the railroad right-of-way in question. Are artists more worthy of a break than other businesses?

This “save our most famous artists” campaign hardly justifies stopping a plan to create much-needed public parking for the benefit of residents and visitors to the Abbot Kinney commercial district alike. It’s much ado about nothing.

Steve Freedman

Venice