To the Editor:
Re “Trump Says Kennedy Center Will Close for 2-Year Reconstruction Project” (news article, nytimes.com, Feb. 1):
Since President Trump’s political takeover of the Kennedy Center, artists have canceled engagements, ticket sales have tanked and the audience has turned away. The closing wasn’t dictated by some master construction plan; it’s a gross cover for the people’s rejection of Mr. Trump’s attempt to dictate artistic taste to the nation.
We can only hope that, when whatever happens is over, it emerges again as the Kennedy Center and continues its historical commitment to presenting the best in performing arts. Watching the rest of Mr. Trump’s architectural and cultural undertakings in Washington, that’s a slim hope.
Richard W. Mark New York
To the Editor:
First President Trump brazenly adds his name to the exalted Kennedy Center. Then he has plans to “renovate” it. This madness has to stop. His lack of boundaries and grandiosity know no limits. His audacity and lack of decency are off the charts.
As an American citizen, I am increasingly infuriated and embarrassed by his infantile, cruel, horrific behavior and insensitivity to our cultural norms. I’m tired of the daily chaos, tirades and authoritarian maneuvers.
Our government needs to wake up and stop this madman once and for all. He is destroying our beautiful country and everything we hold sacred and dear. There has to be an end to these horrendous atrocities, and it can’t come soon enough.
Joanne E. Reed Rye, N.Y.
To the Editor:
Regarding your coverage of the Kennedy Center’s “reconstruction” proposed by the Trump administration:
Get ready for the Corinthian columns and gilded finishes.
Preservationists and art historians are on alert already to protect this 1971 masterpiece of modernism by Edward Durell Stone.
Watch for another wrecking ball.
C.C. Sullivan High Falls, N.Y. The writer is a former chief editor of Architecture Magazine.
To the Editor:
I am a native Washingtonian, and some of the most inspirational and formative cultural experiences of my life took place at the Kennedy Center. Thus, to witness what President Trump has done to that institution prompts both sadness and anger.
In “How Trump World Sent Opera Packing,” by Marc A. Scorca (guest essay, nytimes.com, Feb. 1), we learn just how characteristically Trumpian (i.e., transactional) his actions are. Unlike in Europe, Asia and almost anywhere the arts flourish, in America there has been little (and now even less) government support of the arts.
For the Kennedy Center to insist that the Washington National Opera break even based only on ticket sales and corporate support is yet another reminder that to Mr. Trump, only money talks. Now we hear that the “Trump-Kennedy Center” will close for two years. Good! I look forward to attending more performances at the Kennedy Center once our president gets his hands (and name) off it.
Joel Fishman Miami Beach
U.N. Financial Trouble
To the Editor:
Re “U.N. Says It’s in Danger of Financial Collapse Because of Unpaid Dues” (news article, Feb. 1):
It is disconcerting to learn that the United States, entrusted three-quarters of a century ago with the honor and responsibilities attendant to serving as host of the United Nations, is responsible for about 95 percent of the unpaid obligations owed that body — a shortfall that is threatening its existence.
While there are so many issues that are challenging the American experiment that need attention, couldn’t rectifying this be practically and symbolically not a bad place to start for our Congress?
Gregory J. Stamos Woodbridge, Conn.
An Ominous Signoff
To the Editor:
Re “An Oddly Formal Catchphrase Spells Out a Need: Obedience,” by A.O. Scott (Critic’s Notebook, front page, Jan. 18), about President Trump’s phrase “Thank you for your attention to this matter”:
I first heard a variation of this phrase when I was taking a typing class in 1966. “Thank you for your kind attention to this matter” closed most if not all business letters.
Now, 60 years later, I rarely hear it, but when I do, it usually closes a vaguely threatening letter from Human Resources.
Valerie Amato Federal Way, Wash.
The post Trump’s Remake of the Kennedy Center appeared first on New York Times.
