To the editor,
Shavana Abruzzo (“A Britisher’s View”), you are the most interesting columnist-writer, whose words I weekly have the pleasure of reading.
You continuously enrich my thoughts on subjects of which I never before took much notice. Your topics are varied and always thought-provoking. You’ve opened my mind up to the other side of subject matter about which I thought, “I knew it all.”
Yeah, at times you’ve even swayed my opinion. You are a gem! J. Scrudato
Bensonhurst
B44 fuss
To the editor,
Your story “Faster Lane” (Nov. 22) about the so-called Select Bus Service on the B44 route should have been called “Slower Lane.”
The writer portrays this as the greatest thing since sliced bread. In truth, it is such a failure that it makes ObamaCare seem like a rousing success by comparison. The buses are a public safety menace. Rather than decrease travel time, a significant amount of time has been added to the rides. The “select” makes fewer stops than the “limited” it replaced, requiring elderly passengers to walk up to 10 blocks to catch the bus. The torture really begins at the bus stop. You have to wait on line to buy a ticket, with about 50 other people, at rush hour.
When the bus finally arrives, passengers are permitted to get on and off through three doors, leading to a potentially dangerous situation because people are trying to get off, while others are trying to get on.
All of this chaos means that drivers end up staying at each stop for up to 15 minutes sometimes. To compensate for being so behind schedule, they speed to the next stop. One day, a driver ran a red light, nearly hitting a boy crossing the street. When a passenger yelled, “Slow down!” the driver responded, “I can’t, I’m behind schedule.”
To add injury to insult, so-called “fare inspectors” randomly board buses, further preventing the bus from proceeding to the next stop. If you are unable to produce a ticket, you will be given a $100 summons. But even if you have a ticket, you could still be subject to the $100 fine, if it is more than an hour since the ticket was punched. For instance, if you bought the ticket at 10 am, and the agent boards at 11:01 am or later, you have to pay for the consequences of the Transit Authority’s ineptitude.
I hope Mayor-elect DeBlasio has the good sense to be able to abate this public nuisance and restore the regular B44 limited service as quickly as possible.Barry Lapidus
Midwood
Awesome astro-rocket
To the editor,
This letter is in reference to the story “Blast Off! Left to rot on the rock, fix-up rocket to come home again,” Nov. 29.
I think that it’s a wonderful idea to bring the Astroland Rocket back home to Coney Island. If we turn back the clocks to 1962, we can re-create the rocket ride ship where students can experience a simulated spacecraft launch. The exploration of space is an engine for creation and has motivated millions of young people to vigorously engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in order to be part of enhancing our quality of life here on Earth.
The collaboration of the Coney Island History Project, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, and N.A.S.A. would be extremely instrumental in educating, discovering, and infusing the workforce with new young talent from decade to decade.
The space agency has launched numerous math-and-science-based education programs for students at all age levels and from all sorts of backgrounds.
This program would be another home-run for Coney Island because students would be totally engaged in learning about the history of Coney Island and also about studying space exploration.Scott Krivitsky
Coney Island
Prosecute ‘knockout’
To the editor,
Remember when Christine Quinn was so rightfully upset when gay people were being hit on the streets? Now, our outgoing speaker remains woefully silent when Jewish people have been profiled or targeted for harassment and assault in the “knockout” crime spree, where assailants attack randomly people, aiming to knock out their victims with one punch.
I also haven’t heard anything from Mayor Bloomberg of Mayor-elect DeBlasio regarding this situation. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly hasn’t decided, if knockout is what it really is as yet. Must someone get killed before appropriate action is taken?
Where are the demonstrations to protest this outrageous behavior? Our streets are becoming like public school hallways and classrooms. Those convicted of such crimes must be punished to the fullest extent that the law permits.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
ObamaDare
To the editor,
I’m sure ObamaCare was meant to help all Americans with affordable health care, but so many Americans are opposed to it for various reasons, mostly because it isn’t working the way President Obama promised it would.
I don’t have to go through all the reasons — there are 2,700 pages of them. Obama ought to put his big-boy pants on and admit this health care act is not working as planned, and will only get worse when the website is in full swing.
One of the biggest marketing blunders in history was back in 1985 when Coca-Cola introduced the “New Coke” to us. Thousands of people complained, and let Coke know about it. They heard the people and after only three months they introduced Coke Classic, the original Coke. Today Coca-Cola has the market share of all colas because those in power listened to their consumers.
Sometimes politicians have to swallow their pride and admit the law isn’t working as planned. I’d be willing to bet that Obama’s ratings would go right up and he would gain the trust of America again. If not, he will be leaving the White House with a legacy he won’t like one bit.Cronin Miller
Midwood
…
To the editor,
ObamaCare has many meritorious innovations for 42 million Americans, such as not denying them insurance for a pre-existing condition, but it is now going to cost more than 40 million other Americans to lose coverage that may be beneficial to them.
I worked for the New York Telephone Company — now Verizon — for 22 years before retiring in 1991. For the first time, I have to pay my deductible and co-payment for the first three months (about $160), and purchase a third type of insurance, where I have to pay 20 percent every time I buy a prescription drug, in addition to paying up to $10 more, if I have to see, for example, a dermatologist.
To keep costs under control, I suggest seeking additional medical opinions before radical surgeries, which would be costly in the short term, but less costly in the long term. I also suggest that Medicare and Social Security cards contain photo identifications, as a deterrent to unscrupulous types. Also, the U.S. Immigration Department should naturalize undocumented immigrants who come into this country illegally, if they serve as home attendants and health aides for five years.
As President Bill Clinton once said, “In order to get something, you have to give something in return.”Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
For Xmas sake
To the editor,
Well it’s that time of year when one hears a plethora of Happy Thanksgivings, Happy Hanukkahs, Happy Kwanzaas, Happy New Years and assorted other seasons greetings.
If I am not mistaken, something in between is seriously missing. Oh yes — Christmas! One would never know that it was the Christmas season, as it seems to be forbidden to say “Merry Christmas” in modern, politically correct society.
Television is great for ignoring the word “Christmas” to the point where one advertiser was selling “seasonal wreaths.” Let’s see, it is made up of Christmas tree branches, has a great-looking Christmas garland wrapping with fine Christmas ornaments, all topped off with a big, red Christmas bow. Yet to utter the word “Christmas” might bring the wrath of the American Civil Liberties Union upon its doorstep.
I am not overly religious, although everyone should observe his or her religious holidays to the fullest. Christians should stop being the silent majority, especially around this time of the year, and when one is confronted with a generic “seasons greetings,” stand up and tell the person, “No, it’s Merry Christmas!”
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
No sale
To the editor,
I wish supermarkets would change their advertisements.
Every Thursday the Marketeer is thrown in front of my apartment, filled with sales by local supermarkets and stores. I peer through the fliers pen in hand, ready to circle all the good sales of the following week. However, I get very irritated at some of the advertisements, such as: “Buy one, get one free” (when a price is not stated, I ignore that advertisement); “Must
buy four” (heck, I don’t want to have to buy four of the same product if I’ve never tasted or used it before, nor do I have the room to store multiple numbers of large items — I ignore that advertisement, too); “Save $1 on two and get 50 percent off the second same item (why doesn’t the store simply lower the price, but again there is no price, so I ignore that advertisement, as well); “Half price (what’s the original price? I ignore that advertisement too.)Name withheld upon request
Shambassador Kennedy
To the editor,
The smiling faces of Secretary of State John Kerry welcoming Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy left taxpayers and those in favor of government reform frowning. Kennedy did not obtain her job as by responding to a help-wanted ad or taking a civil servant employment exam.
There are better qualified career State Department employees, business people, educators or ordinary citizens who speak fluent Japanese, live or frequently travel to Japan, do business there, and are familiar with the native culture, domestic, and foreign affairs.
Under President Obama, it is, “Do as I say, not as I do.” He has awarded more career politicians and campaign contributors Ambassadorships than any past President. His promise of “change you can believe in” is true. The 99 percent continues to get whatever crumbs fall off the White House table while the one percent benefit from special favors. These Obama treats include regulatory relief, tax code deductions, exemptions from ObamaCare, contracts, and political patronage jobs, including such plums as ambassadorships.
The appointment of Carolyn Kennedy is a quid pro quo for political support of the Kennedy family. During the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primary, the late Senator Ted Kennedy and other family members’ endorsement — at a critical moment — moved momentum away from former Sen. Hillary Clinton to Obama.
President Obama’s nose is longer than Pinocchio’s!
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
