Last week’s Brooklyn Angle column about Miss America (“Snubbed! Miss New York loses big crown again”) prompted an avalanche of letters from readers throughout the nation (who read the column at BrooklynPaper.com) condemning the columnist, Gersh Kuntzman, for his misplaced Brooklyn pride. Since Kuntzman has had his say, we felt obligated to allow readers to have their say about whether Miss New York (the pride of Bay Ridge, Bethlene Pancoast, far right) or Miss Oklahoma (Lauren Nelson, near right) deserved the top tiara.
Smokin’ hot!
To the editor,
If the girl you chose as Miss New York is the best that y’all can do, just give it up. Miss Oklahoma is smokin’ hot and would still be hot no matter where she was from.
I love New York, and I know that there are tons of women way hotter than the one chosen to represent your state this year. Oh, well, maybe next year…
A.J. Lawler, town withheld, California
Lone Star lover
To the editor,
I am a native and former New Yorker who now lives in Texas and love it here in the Lone Star State. I am sure your comments about the Oklahomans were in jest, but it sounds like what I remember of New York whining that I do not miss at all. In Texas, we have Oklahoma to kick around and it is fun, just like I use to laugh at New Jersey jokes when I lived in New York.
But your writings are idiotic.
You also mocked Miss Oklahoma’s hair. As far as hairstyles go, even a native Texan bleach blond stereotypical hairstyle does not compare to the God-awful Brooklyn hairstyles I have seen. Do you really want to see Brooklyn hairstyles on the stage? I hope not.
You sure seem to think you are better than other people in the way you write. Take off your rose-colored glasses. I could go on and on about your slanted article, but I think I am just going to stop reading anything written by a bunch of flake pseudo-intellectuals from New York.
I love New York; except for the people.
Marc (last name withheld), Texas
Ask a boy
To the editor,
You might ask the Boy Next Door which woman he prefers. My guess is that you are the only one who has no clue. Perhaps it was the hair under the arm?
PS: I see the parade of beauties on Waikiki beach daily, so maybe I have sharper senses.
PPS: Why’s a guy named Gersh writing about girls anyway? You should be covering the waterfront goons or the police blotter.
Bill Maxwell, Honolulu, Hawaii
Stop whining
To the editor,
Good God, Kuntzman! Your column read more like a bitchfest than an editorial. I wholly support territorial pride and whatnot, but please, New York is not the greatest state, and the city is certainly not the greatest city.
Furthermore, from a completely superficial standpoint, Miss Oklahoma looks a lot cuter and a lot less anorexic than Miss New York.
You treated the other states in an unfair fashion. In beauty contests, the winner is rarely chosen on where they are from, but on how they look in a bikini and how much they want world peace.
Mocking my home state of Pennsylvania, alongside Oklahoma and Nebraska, is quite insulting as well. My apologies, sir, but New York City has nothing on Philadelphia, and it never will.
As a newspaper editor from such a “progressive” city as New York, you should be writing columns about how the whole spectacle [of beauty pageants] is a black mark on American culture. One would think that you would be writing columns on how we should be ashamed of encourage such superficial behavior.
But, alas, you wrote a whiny editorial. Your writing makes you look more like a jealous teenybopper than an editor from a semi-respectable paper.
Patrick Solomon, Lancaster, PA
Our crown, your crime
To the editor,
I personally don’t care who wins, where they are from or what talent they might have. I do care about how you have just bashed the state of Oklahoma.
I did a job in Brooklyn back in the late 1980s, building the Manhattan King Seafood plant. I was amazed that the top of all apartment complexes I saw were fenced in. I also noticed that every window had steel bars covering them, protecting from unwanted intrusions.
The jobsite I was at featured almost a nightly routine of being broken into by the locals in search of anything of value. I lost $12,000 because of that particular contract.
Brooklyn has been my worst experience in my life for visiting any American city. I had hired some help out of Harlem, and would pick them up, and take them home. I never had any problems while in Harlem.
I do enjoy reading your columns, but feel you took a cheap shot at Oklahoma’s expense. I would suggest that one get his own house clean before trashing another in the future.
Craig Carpenter, Oologah, OK
Editor’s note: Crime in Brooklyn is down dramatically from the 1980s, though, clearly, America’s opinion of the place has not kept pace.
I’m rich, you’re not!
To the editor,
I think you’re overestimating the importance of New York. The truth of it is, we’re just not that impressed. I love to travel, visit places, see things, but for a place to live, I’ll take Louisville any day. The lack of traffic and smog, real estate within two percent of actual market value, and the ability to see stars at night make for a great place to live.
There is no part of the city that I am scared to drive in, at any time of night. I live on five beautiful acres, have a 2,500-square-foot home with an in-ground pool, and a three-car garage.
What’s more, I don’t need a [working] wife or significant other to afford this lifestyle. To afford this in New York would require a ridiculous income, as if there were a five-acre tract of green space in New York anyway.
The real reason that Pancoast didn’t win, is most likely her nose, the first thing I noticed about her. Facial proportions are a major part of beauty, and when the protuberance in question stretches for half the face, it’s very likely that people will not find her attractive.
Daniel Shwerrily, Louisville, Kentucky
