To the editor,
“Worth a shot” (by Caroline Spivack, Oct. 21) is the result of electing liberal politicians. Were they born dumb, or did they go to idiot school?
Providing heroin-injection facilities contradicts functional living and, of course, who else, but crooked dysfunctional Council members would allocate taxpayer funds to provide heroin-injection facilities in the functional areas of New York — and for addicts who mostly do not pay taxes.
Of course this is the latest idiocy by politicians who repealed part, and modified other parts, of the tough Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York, and by President Obama who is pardoning and releasing drug pushers from prison at alarming rates.
We have seemingly insurmountable problems in the city, such as Islamic terrorists trying to blow us up, crime in public schools, politicians infesting good neighborhoods by relocating miscreants, and an out-of-control illegal alien problem, and our politicians’ major concern is to insure that heroin addicts shoot-up with clean needles so that they don’t contract HIV. What are these politicians on?
At some point, the good areas of the city will become the bad areas, property values will decline, and those who can afford to leave will do so and take their tax dollars with them. Remember that in 2010, New York State lost two of its 29 House seats because many people relocated, and at about the same time, American businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano, whose state and local tax bill was about $13,000 per day, moved to Florida.
People work hard to live in neighborhoods that are relatively free of crime and drugs, and politicians, in their infinite wisdom, want to change that? Why? It’s bad enough that addicts infest our city and live on the taxpayers’ dime, but now they can shoot up in formal settings supervised by the government. When people relocate their predominant questions are: How are the schools and how is the crime? No one asks “Where is the nearest shoot-up facility?”
Certainly, physicians must have some involvement in this government-created debacle. Will they ignore their Hippocratic Oath? Which disease does heroin treat? Is it a poison? Definitely, politicians would never take a similar oath relating to their trade. On second thought, they probably would, they would simply lie.
Before the next election, city officials who are running for office must provide their pro or con opinion for the voters. Those who approve shoot-up facilities must offer to have one next to their home. Seemingly, politicians care about the addicts who shoot up, but not about the lawful residents.
Talk about a bizarro world!
Elio Valenti
Brooklyn
Reader to reader
To the editor,
I strongly agree with Ray Davis to eliminate the deposit on bottles and cans (“Reader’s 5-cents: Buh-bye to bottle bill!” Sound off to the Editor, Oct. 14).
I, too, am sick and tired of people entering my front yard to search for redeemable bottles and cans. This is a tremendous nuisance and a degradation of my beautiful neighborhood.
They leave behind a big mess, and they do not care that they are invading your personal property.
New Jersey does not have a five-cent deposit on any beverage bottle or can, and its recycling program still works, and residents do not have to put up with unwanted pests on their property.Vivian Patanio
Dyker Heights
•••
To the editor,
Elaine Kirsch asked if anything can be done to save Sheepshead Bay regarding increased traffic to be caused by the Voorhies Avenue Tower, currently under construction, and other new development (“Reader raises hell about tower,” Sound Off to the Editor, Oct. 21).
Yes, there is. A new one-way southbound public street snaking through the development would improve traffic, enabling Sheepshead Bay Road to be converted into one-way northbound with more direct bus routings. Also, when a new bridge is constructed under the Belt Parkway, the street could be widened between the Belt Parkway and Emmons Avenue.
In fact, the original plans called for a new public street when commercial development was proposed for the ground floor. Now it would require the use of eminent domain, so it is still possible. The problem is that the Department of Transportation’s priorities are bicycles and pedestrians, not the free movement of traffic. They believe slow traffic and congestion (dubbed traffic calming) are safer for pedestrians, and that is all that matters.
Elaine’s concern that buses will not be able to turn into Sheepshead Bay Road because of increased traffic is very real. Rather than take positive steps to reduce congestion, will the city’s solution be to ask the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to remove buses from Sheepshead Bay Road, so that additional stores will have to close?Allan Rosen
Manhattan Beach
•••
To the editor,
I totally agree with Jerry Sattler (“Coney past,” Sound Off to the Editor, Oct 28). One thing not mentioned was that the Boardwalk should have been replaced with wood, not concrete.
Years ago, before the Army Corps of Engineers replaced sand that came up to the Boardwalk when it rained or snowed, the water would fall between the cracks. Even when we had a major hurricane the tide would come close enough to the Boardwalk. Some of the stores would need to pump water from their basements, but it was not close to what Hurricane Sandy did. So do we follow a pattern that makes things worse or do we use common sense, recognizing how a concrete walkway causes more problems in the long run.
It’s so easy for politicians to make decisions for people who they don’t even represent. Just look around and see the over-development and out-of-scale condos that will affect each and every neighborhood in the future.
Solomon Rafelowsky
Brighton Beach
NYPD blues
To the editor,
She put down the scissors, but soon lunged at the police officer with a bat!
Already the phony ultra-liberals are criticizing the police officer who shot and killed a deranged woman. Of course, our brilliant progressive mayor says he will get down to the bottom of the situation. What would he and the other lunatic far left have liked — that the police officer to have, heaven forbid, suffered a fractured skull and be comatose in the hospital?
This disturbed lady had acted out repeatedly and the police were frequent visitors to her apartment. What would you want the policeman to say: Mamma-la dear, put the bat down, and we’ll sit over a bowl of chicken soup?
In this situation, the officer acted properly. This woman would eventually have killed an innocent person during one of her tirades. She should have been institutionalized Support our police and don’t immediately condemn them.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Care 4 caregivers
To the editor,
Mayor DeBlasio signed into law two bills that take important strides toward supporting both paid caregivers and unpaid family caregivers in an aging city.
That’s great news, and it can’t come soon enough. Across the state nearly 2.6 million unpaid family caregivers help make it possible for older adults and loved ones to live independently at home – and at a much lower cost to taxpayers than if they had to move to institutional care settings. As our population continues to rapidly age – and especially since the number of potential family caregivers can’t keep pace — we will need to make sure caregivers have the support they need.
And that’s what New Yorkers want; an AARP-commissioned survey found eight of every 10 city voters 50 and older felt strongly that elected officials should make support for family caregivers a priority.
Family caregivers help their older loved ones with medications and medical care, meals, bathing and dressing, chores and much more. And they do this all while often putting their own needs last, with many juggling full- or part-time jobs.
The two new laws require the Department for the Aging to identify the needs of unpaid caregivers and develop a comprehensive plan to address those needs, and to establish a new Division of Paid Care within the Office of Labor Standards.
Those are great steps, but this year’s city budget did not include adequate funding for services to help New Yorkers age independently at home. The next step for our city leaders is to make sure next year’s city budget does.Beth Finkel
The author is the state director of AARP New York.
‘Feel-good’ bill
To the editor,
So the Congress and Senate grew a pair and overrode a presidential veto. Now the victims of the Muslim terrorists, who initiated the 9-11 attacks, can sue the home countries that have supposedly sponsored the death and destruction on our own soil. Good luck!
I can count on one finger, and you know which one that is, the success rate of obtaining a judgment against these rogue Muslim nations. I hope that anyone suing has a good stash of funds to pay their lawyers while their case drags out for decades.
It seemingly is a great feel-good bill, but don’t hold your breath for reparations!
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Jes’ the facts
To the editor,
I would like to send my condolences to the mother who lost her life in Hoboken NJ train accident and to the injured. I wish them a healthy and speedy recovery as soon as possible.
The one federal agency I have great respect for is the national transportation safety board. I find this organization the most reliable when it comes to investigation of train, boat, and plane accidents. What I also admire they go through each and every piece of material to determine what caused the accident, and how to improve the problem so it won’t happen again. This process does not happen overnight. It can often take many months or a year or two for the results and recommendations.
Until all the facts come out I wish people wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Please let the experts do their job without interference from the papers who think they know how the accident took place.
My other wish that all other agencies would follow the same pattern, and be completely and honest with all investigations presented to them.
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Defending Japan
To the editor,
The U.S. spends $5.5 billion per year to provide military defense to Japan. Under the defense treaty, the U.S. is obligated to defend Japan, even if Japan provokes another country such as China, yet there is no reciprocal clause in the treaty.
As long as the U.S. military is providing defense to Japan, the U.S. must require that Americans are given the right to live, work, study, and operate a business in Japan, on an equal basis to Japanese citizens.
If Japan does not agree to provide U.S. citizens these rights, Japan should simply be declared a territory of the U.S., as our military is already in control of the country.
It is unfair that U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for Japan’s security, as a result of Japan’s bad behavior in World War II, yet U.S. citizens cannot benefit from the fruits of the security.
Rev. Dr. Eric Hafner
Toms River, N.J.
Scofflaws
To the editor,
According to the Department of Transportation’s web site, “double parking is illegal at all times, including when street cleaning is occurring, regardless of location, purpose or duration.”
At such times affected motorists routinely double park and leave their vehicles unattended on the opposite side of the street to avoid summonses. This practice blocks and prevent legally parked vehicles from moving. This is more than a mere inconvenience. At times, I have been late for or missed important appointments because double parked cars blocked egress. At other times double parked vehicles have prevented me from getting to my 97-year old mother who lives with advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
The NYPD does not enforce double parking rules. I have repeatedly watched traffic enforcement agents ticket vehicles parked on the wrong side of the street while inexplicably ignoring long lines of double parked vehicles. This enforcement failure allows motorists to violate the law and the rights of others with impunity.
The selective enforcement of traffic regulations has to stop. I recognize that double parking is not the highest police priority, but the law is still the law. If the police can target Eric Garner for selling individual cigarettes, then it can also enforce parking regulations. An occasional ticket blitz, which would require only limited time and resources, would go far to reducing this longstanding concern.
So, what’s holding the city back? It can only be a lack of political and administrative will.
Arnold Kingston
Sheepshead Bay
Never forget
To the editor,
Fifteen years ago, our neighborhood became the laser-focus point of the world, as an attack on our city and country brought down the World Trade Center. The effects of that attack set off a chain reaction of international events, many of them as unfathomably horrible as that day 15 years ago.
It isn’t talked about much, but the events of 9-11 also left residue on our neighborhood’s psyche, on our landscape, in our lungs. Incredibly, while politicians at the national level were quick to seize on our local and national tragedy to sow fear, division and hostility, we had to fight for compensation for first responders, and some parts of that fight are still ongoing. And of course the complicated financial and social issues that resulted from the once-tallest building in the world crumbling into our streets, those issues have not gone away. There are ripple effects in transit, in safety, in health, and in all facets of local governance, just as in our families and circles of friends.
That day left a deep scar in so many ways, but it also demonstrated that there are no people on Earth more cooperative or resilient than the people of Lower Manhattan. This neighborhood is beautiful, and it responded beautifully. The hugs we all gave to strangers in the weeks and months following 9-11, the loads we carried for each other, and the unquestioning help we gave to family and strangers, alike, were ephemeral symbols of a complicated, beautiful love we try to live out in our diverse community every day. The struggle that followed was hard, it was awful, but it was also true to our tradition of struggle for justice and reconciliation in this neighborhood, stretching back to the earliest days of American activism.
We may never have satisfactory answers, but may we always grow stronger by pulling together.
Paul Newell
Lower Manhattan
Republi-CONS
To the editor,
Congratulations to the people who voted for the Republican Party. After 9-11 devastated the whole country and many first responders gave their lives to save people what did your party do for them? I’d say nothing for years — while many were dying from toxic fumes your party was quiet.
It took many years for Congress to finally act and do the right thing, but did they really care? Then your Republican Congress decided to shut down the government. Once again your party decided not to fund this Zika outbreak to the full amount that the president wants.
Saving all lives from people who should never have a gun again hasn’t swayed your party. Then I wonder if one of their family members was killed by gun violence, would it make any difference?
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Lights off!
To the editor,
The 1,250-watts lights on the sidewalks outside the Sheepshead-Nostrand Avenue Houses, as part of Mayor DeBlasio’s study on using lighting to deter crime, are so blinding that one must turn one’s head away, even from as far as a block away.
Because these are not high overhead lights, as are street lamps, but are only a few feet higher than eye level, the light shines right in one’s eyes. When walking or driving down Avenue V and turning into my street, the blinding light causes me to turn my head away or down. The inability to look straight ahead and be aware of one’s surroundings is counterproductive to the aim of deterring crime. It could also potentially cause a vehicular accident.
These lights also make the neighborhood look like a prison yard. Wouldn’t it make more sense to simply increase the wattage of the existing street lamps, which are overhead lights and do not shine directly in one’s eye?
Unless the light is increased throughout the whole area of the public housing, I don’t see how an occasional light placed at two-or-three-block intervals can do much to deter crime. Good intentions aren’t enough.
Shirley Ranz
Sheepshead Bay
Field of cleans
To the editor,
Something has to be done with some of these baseball players who look completely disheveled on the field.
How can they play ball in such hot weather with that long hair? Many sport beards as well. They look like they’re answering a casting call for the remake of the musical “Hair.”Kudos to the New York Yankees for having a policy which demands neat, clean shaven players on the field.
I’m not advocating a suit and tie on the field, but their appearance on the field is disgusting to view.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Star spangled canner
To the editor,
It was sad to see the San Francisco 49’ers quarterback not stand for the National Anthem. Of course it is anyone’s right to not stand for the rasing of the flag, regardless of his reason for not doing, but he should realize many soldiers in the past and present have made the ultimate sacrifice for it.
There are still conflicts overseas, with are troops being put in harm’s way. If he has issues that are politically motivated or otherwise, he should put that aside to be respectful of the red, white and blue.
Joseph V. Comperchio
Gravesend
•••
To the editor,
Certain professional sports players are making a political statement on the field by sitting for the national anthem and bashing cops. As citizens of this great country we can make a statement too.
The teams condoning these un-American actions deserve a good kick in the wallet. Find out which product endorses these teams and team members, and which products are advertised during the games, and then write to the head of each company, telling them that you will stop buying their products and spend your hard-earned dollars on competitors’ offerings. This, along with simply turning off the continuous anti-American drone on the television networks, should send the message that the playing field should be devoid of demonstrations and political activism.
Now grow up and play ball!
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Capt. America
To the editor,
In an era where political correctness is rampant, it was nice to see Captain America, a white guy, heralded as a hero. True, he is a comic book and movie character, but he rallies all to the great cause of the American way.
Some people are hell bent on decapitating statues of great Americans like Washington and Jefferson, along with brave civil war heroes, simply because that they are ignorant of history and their true contributions to America. To them it’s black or nothing!
They should stand back and be grateful that without these men building our country and protecting it, they wouldn’t have any opportunity at all to grouse about their color.
Times have changed and any hero of any ethnicity should be embraced, celebrated, and immortalized without first deciding whether their color is appropriate.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
‘No clue’
To the editor,
In all honesty, how could Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina say that the school system is better off with fewer suspensions?
Doing this will only embolden disruptive children to carry on even worse than they usually do. There is no fear now whatsoever since it appears that anything goes in our system.
The chancellor and mayor know full well that some of our schools are so bad that the military needs to be called in. We need to instill military discipline in these schools if we have any hope of salvaging them. Why is there no talk of returning to the 600-school concept for chronically unruly pupils? Are we afraid that if we did this, teachers would be able to teach and be recognized for their efforts instead of being admonished for not being able to “control” certain children?
The basic problem is that our so-called educational leaders and “experts” spent little or no time in the classroom, but are able to dictate policy. At least 10 years of teaching experience should be required before you become a supervisor. Experienced educators know the rigors of classroom teaching; others have no clue.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
War and peace
To the editor,
Terror bombings show us that men, women, and children who have nothing to do with politics of the country pay the ultimate price.
Can leaders be so blind? For every loss of life, the anger of many begins to build up. Quite often we hear that war should be the last resort, but why do we continue bombing countries that never attacked our nation?
I suppose that history will not judge us in a positive way. We stoke the flame of anger with each bomb drop and drone strike that kills innocent people. Payback is what we reap.
How many times have we heard let’s have a dialogue? Have we really tried that? Or are they just a bunch of empty words?
Name withheld upon request
Bad sports
To the editor,
It’s baseball season again. Teams will be battling it out on baseball diamonds across the country.
I watched a game in which the Atlanta Braves were playing. It was obvious to me that Native Americans would be offended by this team being called “Braves” and having a tomahawk symbol on their uniforms. Another offensive thing is the tomahawk chop.
The equivalent of that would be to have a team called the San Francisco Soldiers, and the symbol on their uniform was a rifle, with fans doing a mock rifle shoot in the stands. I think many people in this country would be offended by that.
After the genocide we caused them, the least we can do is to treat Native Americans decently.
Jerome Frank
Coney Island
Blame game
To the editor,
Everyone seems to be blaming someone else for the killings of black men, the killings of cops, the killings of people in custody, the killings of innocents — whether at war or just walking down the street minding their own business.
I’ve heard it’s the president’s fault, the mayor’s, Al Sharpton’s, the guns’, the judges who let loose career criminals, and parents who don’t give their children family values and discipline, or teach them about consequences for bad actions.
We can blame friends, gangs, the father who wasn’t around, the courts and the legal system, drugs, unemployment, the media, and the weather. Hey, what about blaming Ted Turner, who started the 24-hour cable news networks bombarding us with much of the same stuff over and over. But let’s not blame the rotten, dirty, no-good, demented scoundrel who pulls the trigger or causes the mayhem.
He’s usually just a good boy who made a mistake or is being falsely accused. Just look at his cherubic face on his first-grade graduation picture, but don’t look at the one on social media — you know the one where he is holding a gun and flashing gang signs.
Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park
Parking hogs
To the editor,
I live on East Third Street between Avenues X and W. There are two cars, owned by brothers, that are constantly illegally parked during alternate side parking.
We have alternate side parking on the west side of the street on Tuesday and on the east side of the street on Fridays. The two cars parked illegally are left in the same parking spots for months — one of the cars has been in the same spot since January! Currently they are parked on the west side of the street which has alternate side parking rules on Tuesday. The reason why they get away with this because they have covers they put on their cars that prevent Sanitation from issuing tickets.
I understand that there are problems like this in other parts of Brooklyn — some are also worse than my street — and I was told by someone knowledgeable that these cars were slated to be towed away, but they still sit here. If the city doesn’t have enough tow trucks to handle the removal of all these illegally parked cars, then it should let towing companies in each borough bid in order to remove these cars.
I know the police have many priorities during their shifts and this maybe considered low priority and a quality of life issue, but I and my fellow car owners in this neighborhood have to drive around sometimes half an hour or more to find a legal parking spot so we don’t get ticketed. We usually have to walk several blocks to get home and go back to our cars, yet because these cars have covers — one has a beige cover and the other a blue cover — preventing Sanitation from seeing their registration stickers so they can be ticketed they get to skirt the law.
Car covers are illegal on city streets. You can use them for a car parked on your driveway or in your garage, but not on a city street. This is not fair and something has to be done to ticket them and make sure they don’t park these cars for weeks and months at a time, abusing the alternate side parking regulations.
Name withheld upon request
Tech-NO-logy
To the editor,
There are not too many jobs around, as technology seems to have taken over. At my local Chase Bank, there are the usual ATM machines at the entrance, but now they are in the lobby itself — two machines have taken the place of two tellers.
When will the two remaining teller windows be replaced by machines? I find it very disturbing.
I like to do my banking with a human, one who smiles and wishes me a good day, not a machine that spits out receipts and currency.
Etta Dorf
Sheepshead Bay
Brexit and USA
To the editor,
British exit and America’s future choice!
The vote taken in Great Britain to extract them from the European Union is a direct result of government ignoring the will of the people. Citizens ultimately get frustrated, angry, and then decide that; they must take matters into their own hands.
This scenario has unfolded over many millennia when the people, fed up, rise against their existing ruling establishment and yet another change of government is executed. For better or worse.
What happened in England, now expanding to Germany and other European Union member states, should be a clarion call to the entire American government. Your people are sick and tired of the same bull, year after year. Your people are frustrated at the severe lack of representation this republic was founded upon. Your people are disgusted with city, state, and federal elected officials ignoring the will of the constituents and, going on a tangent, doing the exact opposite of what they were voted in to do. Your people see the deteriorating conditions when it comes to foreign policy, finances, and immigration, and their calls for help and change fall on deaf politician’s ears.
I know in my heart that there will be no change from now until November where the citizens will be given a stark choice. Then and only then will the people make it known at the ballot box the direction they want to take. Do they want to continue being “sheeple” led down a road to third-world status or will they grow a pair and say enough is enough, and force a major change.
It’s in your hands now my friends — your hands!
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Dems’ hissy fit
To the editor,
So the Democrats in the Congress and Senate are throwing a hissy fit because they didn’t have the votes to pass a Second Amendment-compromising, anti-gun bill. Since they couldn’t get their way, they staged a takeover of the house, fostering demonstrations and sit-in protests.
It is funny to note that the gentlemen and women Republicans have never done anything as despicable as this, and cause such uproar in the sacred halls of government. When we lost a vote, we grumbled a bit, licked our wounds and continued forward. I guess the old adage is true where Democrats are seen as low-life street people where the Republicans show a touch of class in their dealings.
Hopefully, this fall, Democrats do not retake the house, senate and presidency where mob rule applies!
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Off-track
To the editor,
Problems with New York City Transit subway and buses may be attributed to less funding provided by both Albany and City Hall, not Washington.
Federal support for transportation has remained consistent and growing over past decades. When a crises occurred, be it 9-11 in 2001 or Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Washington was there for us. Additional billions in assistance above and beyond yearly formula allocations from the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration were provided. In 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided billions more.
Most federal transportation grants require a 20 percent hard-cash local share. In many cases, the feds accepted toll credits instead of hard cash for the local share. This saved the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $1 billion in the previous 2010-2014 five-year capital program. The same will be true with the 2015-2019 five-year capital program.
Washington has made available over $1 billion in 2016 for the M.T.A., and funds 35 percent of its capital program. There are other opportunities for several hundred million more in discretionary competitive grants.
Larry Penner
The writer is a transportation historian, advocate, and former 31-year worker with the United States Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration.
Black n’ white
To the editor,
I have heard many times that President Obama is the first black president, when in actuality his father was black and his mother was white, so Obama is of mixed blood. He is not the first mixed-blood president — Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mother was of mixed blood.
J.A. Rogers (Joel Augustus) wrote a book in 1965 titled “The Five Negro Presidents.” Very interesting! Google this information for more on this usually unspoken subject.
I was a librarian down in clean, wonderful Atlanta in the early 1990s, and many times our readers would check out this thin book, which was eye-opening to me. Doubt if that book is still around, but the information is, I believe, factual.
Joan Applepie
Mill Basin
BDS boycott
To the editor,
Governor Cuomo spoke eloquently at the memorial at the Stonewall Inn. After he spoke, a Muslim woman, also an LGBT member, spoke and denounced him for wanting to boycott industries that wish to boycott Israel. What does this have to do with the tragedy that occurred in Orlando?
May I also remind the lady that if she lived in many of the Arab countries, her sexual preference would never be tolerated. Ironically, but she would be tolerated in Israel.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’ members should be ashamed of themselves for what they advocate. They take umbrage at the idea of a boycott on places that wish to boycott the Israel nation. What hypocrisy they show.
Even more shocking are those of the Jewish faith who align themselves with this group, like Sen. Bernard Sanders. They are nothing more than self-deprecating Jews. Since they are ashamed of our religion and abandoned it long ago, they think that by trying to assimilate into non-Jewish tradition, they will win the favor of others.
We owe it to humanity to denounce Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions for its actions. We owe it to the memory of the six million Jews and others who perished for the sanctification of the Lord’s name.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
‘Embrace” gentrification
To the editor,
I have been reading stories in your newspaper and others of how people are so upset at the gentrification taking place across the city. I scratch my head and wonder why? I’ve lived long enough to see the old Coney Island parks close in the 1960s only to be replaced with projects which became nothing more than warehouses, crime-ridden hulks. Our beloved Brooklyn Dodgers waved goodbye for greener pastures in Los Angeles. Here, too, the fields were razed and yet another instant slum, Ebbetts Field, was constructed.
City officials may have had good intentions, but the result of these complexes across the five boroughs has proven devastating.
Now there are complaints about building middle- and upper-income housing in Sheepshead Bay. Here, too, I scratch my head and wonder why! Sheepshead Bay ceased to be a quaint little fishing village years ago. Monstrous luxury party yachts have replaced most of the fishing boats moored in the bay. Old Mcguinnese’s roast beef restaurant is long gone, replaced with a kitschy, upscale Russian nightclub, and the remaining stores and other businesses are benefiting somewhat, from tourists and residents alike.
The immigrant (read-Russian) developers need to be directed to not only build their condos, but there should be strong input from the city forcing them to maintain the many restaurants and shops along the avenue. Unless Mayor DeBlasio, whom the feds are investigating for fiscal improprieties, has been taking their money under the table, too.
As gentrification takes hold across the city, one sees a big improvement in life and lifestyles. True, we must save historic districts that deserve saving. But tearing down and rebuilding for the better is a way of life that must be embraced.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Oaf-icials
To the editor,
Too many municipal elected officials who complain about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority forget their transit history.
In 1953, the old city Board of Transportation passed on control of the municipal subway system, including all its assets, under a master lease and operating agreement to the newly created New York City Transit Authority. Under late-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in the 1960s, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was created. The governor appointed four board members, the mayor four more ,and the rest by suburban county executives. No one elected official controlled a majority of the votes. As a result, elected officials have historically taken credit when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority or any operating subsidiary such as New York City Transit would do a good job. When operational problems occurred or fare increases were needed, everyone could put up their hands and say, “Don’t blame me, I’m only a minority within the Board.”
Decade after decade, city mayors, comptrollers, public advocates, council presidents, borough presidents, and council members would all play the same sad song — if only we had majority control of the board, things would be different.
All have long forgotten that buried within the 1953 master agreement between the City of New York and New York City Transit is an escape clause. The city has the legal right at any time to take back control of its assets, which includes the subway and most of the bus system as well. Actions speak louder than words. If municipal elected officials feel they could do a better job running the nations largest subway and bus system, why not step up to the plate now and regain control of your destiny?
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
‘Pissed’ off
To the editor,
Doesn’t our ultra-liberal idiotic City Council members realize that many of the deviants started their way to crime by committing so called “minor offenses?”
It is outrageous that the Council has voted not to have jail time for such people. Besides being disgusting and vulgar, public urination definitely poses health problems. The stench will permeate the city, and with no fear of going to jail, it will only embolden them to do even worse things. Let us hope that the deviants now urinate in front of the homes of these legislators. Let them get a whiff of a situation they have made much worse.
I’m wondering just how more “progressive” the Council can get. Setting aside a day to honor Ethel Rosenberg was awful, but this even tops that. I wonder if the deviants will use the supermarket bags they’ll pay a nickel each for to relieve themselves.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Challenger ‘lie’
To the editor,
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster took place 30 years ago, leaving us with more questions than answers over the decades. Why did it lift off on a day when it was too cold to function properly? President Ronald Reagan liked to talk to the astronauts in space. His State of the Union speech was the next day. The shuttle had to be launched the day before to be up and running so he could talk to them during his speech.
Reagan pressured NASA to go through with it, even though it was too cold. Unfortunately the astronauts, who were also scientists, were not told about this. A news conference was held by the panel which investigated the disaster. The panel members were from NASA, except for Richard Feynman, a noted physicist and an independent member. He showed that the sealant got brittle and lost its ability to seal if too cold. He put a piece of it in a beaker of liquid nitrogen, then he took it out and broke it. Likewise the shuttle seals were rendered useless. The official story said the disaster was caused by a defective worker, but that was a lie.
Jerome Frank
Coney Island
Nuke mook
To the editor,
So now it’s the little fat guy with the bad haircut from North Korea trying to shakedown America by pounding his chest like a gorilla to show his strength so he doesn’t have to fight another gorilla. We used to call this “selling woof tickets” when we were kids growing up in Brooklyn — it was all for show.
Obviously President Obama, who is said to be a poker player, probably isn’t a very good one because he can be bluffed over and over again. I doubt Obama ever read Trumps’ book “Art of the Deal” or Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” a book written more than 2,000 years ago, and still used today by generals and leaders all over the world. Obama telegraphs his intentions to our enemies, telling them when we are sending troops and when we are leaving, complete with date and time. He traded five hardened terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl, a deserter whom he praised and who is now being court marshaled.
Obama made a deal with the devils of Iran, a country whose mantra is “Death to America,” giving them billions of dollars and withdrawing sanctions so they won’t continue making a nuclear bomb. They went back on their word and broke the agreement before the ink was even dry. So now the little fat guy with the bad haircut is going to see what he can get from Obama, like some other tyrants will certainly be doing soon because they only have about another year before he leaves office. They have to work fast, but they also know that if the new president has some cojones, like a Trump for instance, they will be out of luck.
Let’s not forget Iran held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the Carter administration. Jimmy Carter — a good, decent and very intelligent man, but a poor president in many ways — wasn’t respected at all by the Ayatollah of Iran at the time. Yet only hours after Ronald Reagan was sworn in, the hostages were released. Any guess why?
Maybe Trump is pounding his chest with his fists like the others who have been shaking Obama down, and maybe he isn’t, but either way I really don’t think those who bully Obama will try their crap on a Trump.
Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park
Chapter and verse
To the editor,
I am writing to convey my dismay at my treatment at a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, where I went to replace a lost card. When I attempted to inquire about a new card at a room marked “staff” I was rudely told that I was in a staff work area. Someone vaguely gestured toward a hidden information desk, without standing up. At least four staffers were drinking coffee from large painted mugs.
I am a semi-retired, visually impaired senior citizen who has lived in Sheepshead Bay for 59 years. Two days after my family moved to the neighborhood in 1956, my father took me to the library to show me a place of “learning and safety.” He would be very surprised at the way library consumers are treated there today. When I reached the information desk and asked about renewing my card I was met with blank stares from two staffers. After repeating my question two times I was told to go to the computer behind the desk. A staffer expressed impatience when the computer was slow to reboot. She said she did not have time to hold my hand and said I should “just fill in the blanks and press send.” I asked how long it would take to obtain a new card and she clearly said one to two weeks.
I returned to the library in the given time period to inquire about my card. Two staffers ignored me until I asked to see a supervisor. Within five minutes I had a new card. One of the unnamed staffers asked me why I had waited so long to come back to the library. When I asked the supervisor what she was going to do about the way I was treated, she said she would meet with the staff “sometime in the future.” I returned to the library a few days later to pick up a book for my wife and asked a staffer about the supervisor that I had spoken to. I was told that she was at an all-day meeting. I went back to the library the next day and asked to talk to a supervisor. I was told they were off until the following month.
That Saturday I went to the library to read a newspaper. The supervisor I originally talked with suddenly appeared and asked to speak with me. With her voice raised so that all of my friends and neighbors in the room could hear, she said she hoped that we could be good friends and that I could be a “star” of the library. I told her that I had called the New York City Human Rights commissioner to lodge a complaint for discrimination. She said loudly that was my right. As she continued to talk to me in a raised voice she was joined by two other staffers. I left the library immediately because I felt embarrassed and confronted.
Martin Adelstein
Sheepshead Bay
****LARRY PENNER****
Off-track Andy
To the editor,
There is more to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority- New York City Transit will increase rehabilitation for subway stations to a state of good repair by 10-percent to 50-percent from originally 20 planned in the proposed 2015-2019 capital plan. The original $34 billion plan announced in Oct. 2014 proposed $448 million for bringing 20 subway stations to a state of good repair. The plan was cut by $6 billion to $28 billion. The MTA Board approved this revision. That was prior to Cuomo’s declaration about increasing the number of stations (or dollars) for New York City Transit’s renewal program. This plan still needs approval by the State Capital Program Review Board. It also requires the State Legislature to find $8 Billion promised by Gov. Cuomo. The City Council must also come up with $2.5 billion to meet commitments made by Mayor Bill DeBlasio to fully fund the capital plan..
If you increase the number of stations, the overall station renewal program would grow by $224 million to $672 million. Just what other transit capital projects and programs would have to be cut to support finding $224 million? Cuomo was silent on this key question.
According to a New York City Citizens Budget Commission report released several months ago, it will take 52 years or until 2067 for all 468 city subway stations to reach a state of good repair. Cuomo’s math just doesn’t add up. He reminds me of the cartoon character Wimpy who famously said, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” When the bills become due, taxpayers will end up paying Cuomo’s bill.
Larry Penner
Great Neck. N.Y.
Tarnished Silver
To the editor,
The legacy of former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the area of transportation leaves much to be desired. Consider the schedule, budget, and the cost for four major transportation projects that he took great pride in promoting.
Washington paid twice with your tax dollars for building the new South Ferry subway station. First, for almost $600 million in 9-11 funding, a second time with more than $300 million in Hurricane Sandy funding to rebuild what was damaged. The downtown Manhattan Fulton Street Transit Center was first paid for with 9-11 funding. Cost overruns of several hundred million were covered by American Recovery Reinvestment Act funding.
Fourteen years after 9-11, the Cortland Street World Trade Center subway station is still several years away from being back in service. If there are no new delays, perhaps the station will reopen by December 2018. Transit officials fought for years over budget, funding sources, scope, and schedule. Construction for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority portion of the project just started a few months ago.
There is no funding in the agency’s propose 2015-2019 capital program to initiate construction for the second segment of the Second Avenue subway, north from 96th Street to 125th Street. It will take several decades and $20 billion more for completion of the next three segments of the Second Avenue subway, north to 125th Street and south to Hanover Square downtown in the financial district. The project was originally proposed in 1929!
Silver claimed to be a friend of both commuters and the 99 percent. In reality, he lived the life style of the one percenters. He frequently traveled around town with a personal driver at taxpayers’ expense. I doubt if he ever purchased a MetroCard or rode the subway, like several million New Yorkers do daily.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Two-fare drone
To the editor,
The proposal by state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge) to offer two free transfers for those who have to ride two buses before boarding a subway is wishful thinking. People who moved to Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach and Gravesend — areas represented by Golden — knew full well that they would be living in a two-fare (bus to subway) and sometimes three-fare (bus to bus to subway) zone with longer commutes to and from work.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority services continue to be one of the best bargains in town. Since the 1950s, the average cost of riding either the bus, subway or commuter rail has gone up at a lower rate than either the consumer price index or inflation. The MetroCard, introduced in 1996, affords a free transfer between bus and subway. Prior to this, riders had to pay two full fares. Purchasing either a weekly or monthly pass further reduces the cost per ride. Many employers offer transit checks, which pay even more of the costs.
For years, local politicians would stir the pot on this issue. Now the latest cause is the cost for those handful of people out of several million daily riders who have to pay two fares versus one. An overwhelming majority can afford and already purchase either a weekly or monthly unlimited MetroCard, which makes the “double fare” issue moot.
Residents, taxpayers, and commuters in Golden’s district would be better off if he worried more about how the State Legislature will find the $8 billion Gov. Cuomo promised to bridge the $8.3 billion shortfall in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority-proposed $28 billion, five-year capital plan when they reconvene in January.
It all comes down to the availability of increased funding for additional transportation service to serve residents of two fare zones in the outer boroughs. Operating subsidies are required to increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, late night and weekend service.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
MTA delay
To the editor,
No one should be surprised by the recent news from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that the Second Avenue Subway won’t be open by next December. The agency reminds me of Capt. Renault from “Casablanca” when he said, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on!”
Riders who have been waiting since construction restarted in 2007 with an original service date of 2013 may not be able to pick up their “winnings” until 2017 or 2018. The project was originally proposed in 1929!
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Pie in the $ky
To the editor,
Our dear Gov. Cuomo has been on a media blitz unveiling grandiose building schemes — rebuilding the old Pennsylvania Station to an almost former glory, expanding the Javits Center to house the world’s largest ballroom and exhibit center, and other fantastic municipal works endeavors.
One thing that was silently spoken about, off camera, was the way the multi-billion-dollar projects will be paid for. Yes, it will be you and I, and our children and future grandchildren, who will be paying off his follies for decades to come. To build any project on time and within budget is a pipe dream, knowing the ineptness of state and city governments. After these clowns leave office, we all will be saddled for years with the debt load created by their schemes.
Maybe most of these plans should be voted down until Albany straightens up its own corrupt financial mess though, as these politicians are busy picking our pockets, I doubt it.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
*****ED GREENSPAN****
Class suspensions
To the editor,
The mayor and schools chancellor brag about fewer suspensions in public schools, but we read that things were never worse in the schools with lower suspension rates. It now becomes a case of do as you please without fear of severe punishment.
A paper reported recently that at a Brooklyn school with a suspension room, three boys on suspension went out to lunch, and while in the halls, two of the boys set upon the third, beating him so badly that he required hospitalization. Suspension really worked here, right! These boys should never have been in school to begin with and probably should have been jailed. Are the other two boys already back in the building despite the assault?
No one in this city has the guts to talk about unruly behavior in school. We all forget that no child has the right to disrupt another child’s education or to prevent a teacher from teaching. Please bring back the 600 schools for unruly youngsters!
Facing a possibly tough reelection fight for union president, Michael Mulgrew is suddenly talking about suspensions and unruly school behavior. Where have Mike and the other cronies of unity caucus been for the last 50 years or so? They have conveniently kept quiet and ignored the worsening of discipline in the schools. No teacher can teach without discipline, and when the teacher is stymied by do-nothing principals and an intransigent union, we have a recipe for continuous failure and disaster in the schools.
City schools have the largest class-size registers. With classes bursting by the seams, this will also account for poor behavior. Why not reduce class size by placing Absent Teacher Reserve teachers back in the classrooms, instead of these regular teachers being relegated to do substitute work?
How much of a teacher’s time during the day is devoted to constantly disciplining disruptive behavior? Going to school should be something regarded as a privilege and not something that everyone is entitled to by birth. Any child unable to control himself in a school-setting needs to be removed immediately.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Hell-ma mater
To the editor,
Another day, another gun. This time a gun was brought into MS 61 in the very troubled District 17 of Crown Heights.
I attended that school and graduated in 1961. Seven years later when I returned to do my student-teaching there, I found a totally different school. Things have just deteriorated terribly over the years in practically all of the District 17 schools and other districts throughout the city.
Why has this occurred? No one wants to admit that we have a major social problem in this society in the form of a refusal to accept authority. Civil libertarians add to the problem by not allowing teachers or supervisors to properly discipline recalcitrant youth. You can’t even tell a child to stand in the corner or write over and over that they must behave themselves. These are regarded as corporal punishments. By not disciplining youth properly we are emboldening them to commit more serious infractions as they get older. The refusal to follow orders from teachers just carries over to the police department years later.
We now have a mayor and chancellor who advocate for fewer suspensions and taking away metal detectors from our schools. These people refuse to admit that some of our schools are so bad the national guard needs to be called in just to restore order.
Not only did I attend District 17 schools, I also taught in them for 19 years before transferring. I had some very good students there, but there was also a group intent upon total disruption. You can’t teach without discipline, and one day our elected officials will realize this.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Southward bound
To the editor,
So now there are summonses to be issued and not jail time for those caught urinating in the street. Would city officials like it if these recalcitrant people were caught urinating in front of their homes? Our city and nation continue to go southward due to these liberal politicians.
The lack of respect continues towards our police and youngsters in school can now literally get away with anything now that it is becoming impossible to suspend an unruly child from school. Then we have candidates such as Democratic presidential challenger Bernie Sanders who is upset that too many prisons are being built and minorities are occupying the jail cells. Well, this wouldn’t be the case if the latter people and others behaved themselves and followed societal rules.
It’s a vicious cycle. Allowing youngsters to get away with anything in school only emboldens them to create further havoc as they get older.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Get a grip
To the editor,
There is always an excuse for outrageous behavior. As the years have gone by, the new one is that the perpetrator was off their medication. In a recent case, several women were slashed by someone in and out of hospitals for mental illness. Why was he always released after each episode, only to cause additional mayhem? Same thing in school. Any teacher can tell you which of their students will go on to commit crimes. No one bothers to listen to them as children, when they are literally crying out by acting out for help. Instead, we either play their friend or just pass them on.
Since the family of the slasher knew what he was capable of, it was their responsibility that this individual be looked after. That is what families are all about. Don’t throw your problems on society and expect them to clean up the mess.
I just love when they say that the recalcitrant was in the process of getting his or life together. It is time for individual initiative and responsibility for one’s actions to rest on the individual and family members. Sure, many of these recalcitrant people and family receive welfare benefits and therefore they feel that everything is coming to them.
Ed Greenspan
Sheesphead Bay
Classroom sham
To the editor,
Politicians have conveniently ignored the problem of discipline in our schools. The lack of discipline is the major cause for teachers leaving the public school system within five years of starting to teach, or retiring as soon as they are eligible to do so.
No matter how good a teacher you are, you can’t teach without effective discipline and everyone knows that. Discipline problems start as early as kindergarten and with nothing done, the child goes from year to year in elementary school and will only cause havoc. If a parent doesn’t sign for special education placement, the child remains in a regular classroom and the disorder continues. As important as class size is, all you need is for one child to be continuously disruptive and little to no learning results. Years ago the 600- school concept for disruptive children was done away with. At least hard core troublemakers were kept out and sent to alternative settings.
When a disruptive child enters intermediate school (grades 6-8) the situation worsens because the child now has the added freedom of roaming the halls during change of periods. The problem is exacerbated now by principals who never taught a day, but are now rating teachers. If these principals taught they would see directly what is going on and change their attitudes about blaming teachers for everything. No matter how much money you pump into the school system, without discipline, the results will be the same, year after year.
The mayor and schools chancellor should be ashamed for weakening disciplinary codes. Lord only knows what else is covered up on a daily basis. Our deteriorating schools have become schools for scandal. Where is the union? It’s so happy to be out of the classroom that it couldn’t care less. Union officials get in overwhelmingly each time they come up for reelection, and the hierarchy within the union collects double pensions.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Teaching trenches
To the editor,
As Warner Wolfe used to say, “Let’s Go to the Videotape,” when he would want something investigated further. Similarly let’s go to the school records of violent criminals, or better yet, do something with them in their formative years so that they don’t resort to such violence. If you opened the school records, you would see evidence of cutting class, constantly disrupting the class, roaming through the hallways, cursing, screaming, fighting, and causing all sorts of mayhem.
The city’s school system has failed these students and others by their complete refusal to deal with disruptive youth. As a result, the latter become more emboldened with each passing year, and their deviant behavior worsens until an innocent life is lost.
We keep such students in regular classes if the parent refuses to sign for special placement. As a result, chaos results as teachers desperately try to keep order with burgeoning class sizes. When are we going to face this problem head on and not keep sweeping it under the rug? This is not a racist problem. Disruptive pupils come in all races, religions and all backgrounds.
Empty out the regional and district offices and get teachers back in the classroom. We need more psychologists and psychiatrists in the schools. Less suspensions will not solve anything.
So-called staff development is a complete joke and everyone knows it. Let all the militants, ultra liberals and critics of teachers get themselves teacher licenses and get a taste of what it is like in the trenches.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Pledge allegiance
To the editor,
Of course the Pledge of Allegiance should be recited in schools. As a student of public schools in the 1950s, I remember “the lord is my shepherd” being recited from the Bible in the auditorium until someone finally realized that this was a violation of separation of church and state.
Religion does not belong in our public schools. This means that all symbols representing a religion should not be in the school either. After all, by doing this, we are doing a disservice to those students not of a particular religion, as well as students who are atheists.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
