To the editor,
If R. Lachant wants a solution to the dangerous conditions that we live under, then [she] needs to contact the U.S. Navy. You see, on aircraft carriers they have cables that catch aircraft landing on the decks, and since speeds of these aircraft are equal to these speeding non-caring drivers, we should put these cables on every street corner and catch the bottom of these cars ripping out their underbellies. If your vehicle goes a certain speed (let’s say, warp drive 2 or close to the sound barrier) then automatically these cables are activated. Of course, Lachant is not alone. Mill Basin and Bergen Beach are absolutely the worst when it comes to safety. Stand on Avenue U and E. 66th Street and watch as cars zip by at race car speeds, easily over 100 mph, 24 hours a day, and with crowded bus stops, children going to school, shoppers, and so on and so forth. Well, you get the picture. Contacting your local useless politician or community board is a waste of time. Drum roll please as I read off some of the classic responses: 1) Speed zones are for the Bronx only. 2) Yeah, I see what’s going on, I live here too, so what do you want me to do? Don’t forget to vote for me! 3) You don’t like it, move.
When I mentioned four-way stop signs on every corner in Mill Basin the answer was (and this is a good one) “four-way stop signs are illegal in New York City.” Contacting 311 is also useless (they call it 311 because that’s how many times you have to call to get someone to do something, although I’m up up to 933). Contacting the DOT is also a lesson on how no one cares. After complaining about the corner of E. 66th Street and Avenue U and the fact that cars run red lights on this corner hundreds of times a day and we need a camera, the DOT’s response was “Stop calling cause you ain’t gettin’ a camera.” Well-educated, right?
Laws have to be changed. Stopping at a red light and then proceeding should be an automatic six-month suspended license, vehicle impound, and a $1,000 fine. Let’s see that law sent to Albany. The need for speed cameras and red light cameras should be a priority, and if there is no funding, then these cameras should be like Adopt-a-Highway, with private funding and proceeds split 50-50. If that happens, then I want the one on Avenue U and E. 66th street so i could be a billionaire in about one hour.Perry November
Bergen Beach
Gas pains
To the editor,
Since the last snows of March, National Grid and its contractors have been busy digging up Marine Park. First it was to install mandated gas shut off valves on each and every business and home. Subsequently, the streets and sidewalks were also torn up for the installation of new high-pressure gas mains and feeder lines.
While I admire and appreciate the upgrade in our gas services, for well over five months, sidewalks and streets, especially on Fillmore Avenue, have become obstacle courses to avoid. Temporary steel plates were put in place on sidewalks and bus stops on the B-2 and B-100, sidewalks were filled in with a tar paving mix that is picked up on shoes and dragged into homes. The street along Fillmore has jarred the teeth of many a motorist and bus rider, trying to avoid potholes. That is a shame, as this street and most other streets freshly torn up have recently been repaved by the city. So much for a smooth ride!
I was told that this little project is ongoing and there seems to be no finish date established. I guess we will have to grin and bear it a little longer though, after all, the construction is finished, they had better rebuild our streets and sidewalks back to 100 percent.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Social insecurity
To the editor,
If FDR and Frances Perkins, the first female Secretary of Labor, who helped to write the Social Security Law of 1935, ever visited a local office, they would be astonished by the utterly poor organization and communication that exists.
While visiting my local Social Security office on Avenue H at Nostrand Avenue recently, I saw a system that can only be described as being chaotic at best.
Much of the problem has to do with the fact that several Social Security offices have been closed through the years. Just recently their office on 77th Street has also closed. Why wasn’t the public made aware of the closing? Many people arrive there day after day only to see the sign “temporarily closed.” This has been going on now for several months. Civic bulletins should have announced the closing to prevent people, especially seniors, from making unnecessary trips.
When I arrived at the Avenue H office, it was literally packed. Many people were forced to stand, as there was inadequate seating. You know that the office shall now become more overcrowded with fewer branches available.
Even if you go there to return a check from a deceased person, or just to hand in some paperwork, you are made to sit for hours. Announcements are made but you can barely hear them due to the noise. When people are called, they go up to areas that are not private. Everyone can hear your business.
When you first come in, you have to go through an area to be checked out. The guy running that looks like he came from the Gestapo. Heaven forbid that you left a wallet or something in your pocket and the bell goes off. You’re treated like a terrorist.
The fact is that there is not enough help to accommodate the public. This is why you feel socially insecure when you go to their office.
The system stinks and needs immediate remediation. An ironic part was that there was a message on the wall in several languages, but not in English. At the end of it, it stated “thank you” in French: merci beaucoup!Name withheld
Sheepshead Bay
Trash man cometh
To the editor,
A neighborly note to the Sixth Avenue residents of Park Slope who had to contend with that trash-filled abandoned car dumped on their block — should this happen again, here’s how to handle it the traditional Brooklyn way. Simply unscrew the plates and then call the local Sanitation garage or 311 to report “a derelict vehicle with no plates front or back.” Provide the make, model, color, and the house number it’s near. Sanitation will tag it and bag it and it’s problem solved.
Steven I. Danko
Dyker Heights
Sell sex — legally!
To the editor,
If we can legalize marijuana, why not prostitution between consenting adults 21 and older as well? Prostitution came out of the closet long ago and is now part of mainstream America. Both the police and moral majority social police’s attempt at stopping this is a total failure. Just go on the Internet and see for yourself.
What consenting adults consume, inhale, perform, read, or view in the privacy of their home, another person’s home, hotel, private social club, or massage parlor isn’t the concern of government. Individual economic and civil liberties prosper best when government stays out of both the bedroom and marketplace.
The free market will always provide whatever products citizens desire, regardless of government approval. Consumers have voted with their dollars, making prostitution as part of adult entertainment a multibillion dollar enterprise today!
The world’s oldest profession delivers their product on time and within budget. What you see is what you get.
Contrast that with elected officials who represent the second oldest profession. They seldom keep their promises, can’t deliver within budget, and are never on time with their services. Why not take prostitution out of the shadows and into the light of day? Imagine the revenue created with a sales tax per transaction? Both the provider and customer could conduct consensual activities in a safer environment.
Tax dollars would be better used if police and judges spent more time prosecuting those who commit real crimes against individuals or property than going after those who engage in prostitution. Citizens have more to fear from murder, arson, muggings, robberies, car and identify theft, or home-break-ins along with ever increasing levels of confiscatory taxation and debt by government. Law enforcement authorities should be free to pursue those who commit real crimes against citizens and property.Larry Penner
Great Neck
