To Mayor Bill Peduto (2)

original note left via mayoral feedback form 4 June 2020

Dear Mayor Peduto, I have been a Pittsburgh resident since moving here for college in 2005. I love this city and all the vibrancy and beauty of it. I'm disappointed in the use of excessive police force against protestors in East Liberty this past Monday, and disappointed in your rhetoric that supports this use of force. I have generally trusted you to do things right, but that trust started breaking when you claimed that there was no tear gas deployed during your statement Monday night, contrary to the experiences of my friends who were present at the protest as well as the reports from your own police. I expect better of you.

I see your statement about training and policy implementations for "8 Can't Wait", and yet I still hope for a redirection of funds used to equip police with the means for deadly and excessive force, and putting those funds towards resources that would better support community safety and well-being. I do not want to live in a city where "peace" is kept by a militarized police force; I want to live in a city where all community members are valued and their needs for health and dignity are met. I am not interested in building trust between my community and the police, no matter how many bias and de-escalation trainings the police are required to attend. Undoing these systems of damage means someone needs to take the radical step of putting down their weapons. The police are not responding to violence, they are instigating violence, and we may not achieve peace until they stand down.

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04 June 2020 13:08

To Mayor Bill Peduto

original letter mailed on 17 february 2014

I first started living in Pittsburgh in 2005, when I came here to attend Carnegie Mellon University. After a little over four years of being a conditional resident, I realized there was nowhere else that made sense for me to move to; in 2009, I turned in my New Jersey driver's license for a Pennsylvanian one and remained in Pittsburgh as university staff. Nine years is young compared to many other residents, but given that I still spend most of my time around people who are unlikely to exceed four, I feel like I have a lot to say.

I've been here through two Steelers Super Bowls, G-20, and Snowmageddon, and remember going to bars before smoking was banned in restaurants. I've voted here in the only two presidential elections of my adult life. I've cried and laughed and loved and hated and learned so many of things I know about what it means to be a person while nestled comfortably in the first city I've ever felt homesick for. There's rarely a day that passes without a feeling of love and wonder that comes from touching my feet to the ground here, even if my neighbors haven't bothered to shovel their driveways; there's rarely a week that passes without something strange and beautiful about this city striking me into a breath or two of grateful awe, even if it's just a particularly nice sunset I've seen hundreds of times already.

Thank you for being the mayor of Pittsburgh. In the short few weeks since you've been in office, I have felt so much more love and hope that this city will learn and grow into something that I will continue to adore. Thank you for communicating honestly and keeping in touch with residents. Thank you for taking care of the streets through these past few storms and for valuing transportation options that make sense for the layout and usage of the roads. Thank you for honoring the people who contribute to the well-being of the city. Thank you for protecting what's good and working to solve what's not. Thank you for loving Pittsburgh.

Best regards,

Vincent Zeng

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17 February 2014 12:27

Samson; letting go

originally emailed on 27 September 2012

Dear friends,

You're getting this email because you've either been a part of Samson's life at some point, or have had to put up with me babbling about him all the time.

This past July, I left town for a few weeks. Somehow, Samson in all his stupidity managed to escape from his tank while I wasn't looking, despite having not even shown any interest in trying, and certainly not seeming capable of doing so, for almost four years. The tank was still secured when I got home. My best explanation is that he learned to teleport.

I've been tearing the house to pieces on a regular basis since then, but it's an old Pittsburgh duplex with lots of holes in the walls and plenty of delicious vermin scampering about. There hasn't been a sign of him at all, and I've finally decided it's not really worth the heartache to keep searching the same spots over and over; some of you have seen my current place, and can imagine that a thorough shakedown doesn't take very long, and that fifty thorough shakedowns gets a little disheartening.

It's actually plausible that he's curled up under the floorboards where I'm sitting right now, happily digesting some of the mice that have been eyeing my trash can. The past few nights here have been pretty cold, but I'm sure there are warm pockets in the house. Or maybe he's hitchhiked to Kansas. In any event, I have no idea where he is, and I have no idea if I'll ever know where he is. I'm sure it's a pretty great, mind-blowing adventure for him!

Last weekend marked his approximate fourth birthday; next month will mark four years since I brought him home. I just packed up his tank and everything that goes with it; it's stashed in my basement on the off chance Murphy's Law comes through and I trip over him as soon as I fire off this email.

Thanks to you guys for helping me take care of him, teaching him about how humans are pretty okay things, checking in your boots and luggage in case he was trying to stow away, and dealing with me being kind of out of it for the past couple of months. If he turns up, you'll certainly hear my cries of joy, possibly before I even get to sending an email about it, but otherwise, I am considering him indefinitely MIA.

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10 October 2013 23:44

To Turkey Hill Dairy

original typewritten letter mailed on 24 September 2013

To the friends of Pittsburgh:

I have been a resident of Pittsburgh for about eight years. I started attending Pirates games about four years ago, and found that I greatly enjoyed watching them regardless of where Pittsburgh ended up in the standings. They are a group of players who love the sport, the city, and each other, and that passion and excitement is evident every time I sit in PNC Park.

On a recent grocery run, my eye was caught by your Blitzburgh Crunch flavored ice cream, because it was surpriseing to me that an ice cream company would support an individual sports team. The packaging was silly and clearly unapologetic in its chessiness of presentation, and the description of the flavor seemed so appealing that there was no way I wasn't going to bring that half-gallon carton home. Despite not being much of a Steelers fan, I felt this was a proper way to support my growing love of Pittsburgh professional sports, and devoured that ice cream while watching the Pirates scare the crap out of me in the tail end of the 2013 season.

Now that the Pirates have secured a place in the post-season for the first time since the early 90s, I hope you'll consider supporting them by creating a flavor that is a proper tribute to their fantastic performance this year. I noticed that your other sports team flavors are based on baseball teams, so I know there are some baseball fans among you.

Go Bucs!

Best,

Vincent Zeng

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24 September 2013 21:42