Forcing Out Workers

To the Editor:

The people celebrating District Council 37's elimination of residency requirements for its members are mistaken. This is a setback, not a gain. Those of us in the lower economic echelons are being forced out of New York. Promoting this forced exodus makes it easier to keep us in our place: below stairs, out of sight. Where will we go to live with this new permission? How far and how long will we have to travel to get to work and to go home?

People should live where they work. Then they have an interest in caring about where they work because it is also where they make their homes. What we need are residency requirements and a strict limit on housing costs, tied to salary levels.

ROBERTA PIKSER