Ours and Theirs Elevators 

Some New York City Council members are upset. A new apartment building on the West Side has a "poor door." One member said, "About 200 units are for rich people. About 50 units are for poor people. But, only the rich get the river views. The poor get the street views—stop lights and street signs. Even worse, the poor have to use a separate building entrance and a separate elevator. That's discrimination. That's shameful!” The developer responded, "It's totally legal. Other Manhattan buildings do the same thing. Besides, what's to complain about? The lower-income tenants are getting a brand new building. It's in a safe, beautiful neighborhood. Their units have central heat and air. Their rent is only 30 percent of the market rate. And the separate elevator is not discrimination. It's freedom from discrimination. They won't be riding up in an elevator with someone looking down on them." Around the clock, officers sit in two NYPD cars at each end of the Brooklyn Bridge. Said one officer, "Nobody is going to blow up this bridge. This is America's bridge. We watch it like a hawk." About 3 o'clock one July morning, security cameras recorded five people walking on the footpath. Then all five disappeared from view. They climbed to the top of both 276-foot-tall towers. Using tin pans, they covered the lights that shone on both U.S. flags. They took down both big flags. They hung up two bleached white flags about the same size. They walked off the bridge before 4 a.m. Nobody noticed the white flags for several hours. On Channel 7 news that morning, a police spokesman said, "We don't know what the white flags mean." Elmer yelled at the TV, "They mean you guys were asleep! They mean terrorists can strike us anytime, anywhere!"