To the editor,
With a job that has me traveling all over Brooklyn from my Red Hook home each day, I rely on a strong transportation system that can reliably get me from point A to point B. Unfortunately, construction on the R and N subway lines has made my commute a nightmare, and it can take me up to an hour and a half to get to my destination every morning.
Because of this daily inconvenience, I’m in full support of Mayor DeBlasio’s plan for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a streetcar that will connect waterfront neighborhoods throughout the two boroughs. The Brooklyn-Queens Connector would be a huge help for my daily travels by allowing me to hop on a streetcar instead of waiting for a bus to take me to the nearest subway station, and making it easier to avoid subway lines that are delayed or closed because of construction.
More importantly, it would also allow me to spend more time with my three children, and let me take them to doctors’ appointments in Manhattan or to museums and zoos all over the city quickly and easily. I know I’m not alone in my frustration with how much time I spend on buses and subways each day. But the good news is that the city has taken a big step towards improving the quality of life for all of us commuters with its plans for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector.
Janine Silva
Red Hook
Dislikes about bikes
To the editor,
I feel prompted to write after reading about the Citi Bike program. As a person who travels by car, not by bike, I have these observations:
1). Bike riders weave in and out of traffic.
2). Bike riders think it’s okay to go through red lights.
3). Bike riders who have ear plugs in their ears hear nothing external.
4). Bike riders who wobble in the bike lane cause passing traffic to pull away from them, possibly causing an accident with cars coming from the opposite direction.
5). Bike riders cut in front of cars to get where they are going.
Who told you that it’s okay to bike recklessly without concern for cars and safety? Bike riders need to follow the same rules that car drivers hopefully observe.Ruth Weiner
Sheepshead Bay
Pols not so grade
To the editor,
Having read Tom Allon’s column, Political Spin Cycle, in the July 21 edition of Community Newspaper Group, “Here’s the mayor’s first term report card,” Mr. Allon gives Mayor DeBlasio an A for Public Safety. What Mr. Allon does not take into account is the hit–run accidents. And even though the mayor directed that the speed limit of automobile drivers should be decreased, while I agree Mayor DeBlasio’s motives are A, his methods are C-minus.
I believe the city council should enact an ordinance like Los Angeles, where a driver has to yield the right of way to a pedestrian trying to cross. Also, in neighborhoods where the majority of people are 65 and older the mayor should have a police officer or traffic guard to protect pedestrians and to see that speed demons are punished.
When I go to Times Square and 42nd Street there is a cop directing traffic part of the time. Also, Atlantic Avenue can be Frantic Avenue and the mayor had done nothing thus far to rectify this situation. Again, Mr. DeBlasio needs to exert his political muscle to remedy this hazardous situation. At Atlantic Avenue people are crossing at their own risk.
His honor has yet to do more for Vision Zero, which he pledged in 2013.
Second, in regard to cheap housing Mr. Allon gives the mayor a B-plus, but I have certain reservations. In order to avoid more homelessness construction of buildings are supposed to be eight feet in length. Is Mr. DeBlasio following his predecessor, Ed Koch, and overruling his Buildings and Fire Commissioners in permitting six feet? I believe this problem cannot be completely rectified but can be alleviated if Governor Cuomo would have the state Legislature pass a state Taft-Ellender-Wagner Act to call for decent affordable housing for the lower classes in society.
Many state legislators and council members do not know that in the 1950s these three United States Senators sponsored such a proposal only to be defeated.
As it stands now, either the homeless are in shelters that aren’t completely safe or sometimes put in hotels like the Waldorf-Astoria, which occurred under John Lindsay’s administration, which helped lead to the city financial crisis in 1965 where New York City almost defaulted because the city was spending beyond its means.
I realize a lot of people will cry, “Not in my backyard, you don’t.” I believe this is what needs to be done and there should be adequate police to see that these people are not beaten up or harassed.
Mr. Allon gives Mayor DeBlasio a D-minus for transportation. Just like Gov. Cuomo gave the mayor a two-year extension in regard to city control of public schools, which would curtail needless bureaucracy and save the city $1.2 billion dollars, the mayor should regain control of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. With the recent derailment at Sheepshead Bay Friday July 21, the mayor would have a legitimate out to blame the governor since he (Mr. DeBlasio) is powerless in this regard. This is a city function; just like the federal government cannot stick its nose into everything, neither can the state.
I understand fully well that the Long Island Rail Road and other railroads that involve inter-city commerce the governor should have control. However, since the MTA is a municipal function this should be the mayor’s responsibility. This situation occurred in 1965 when the transit workers went on strike at the time John Lindsay was mayor-elect and the union president Mike Quill told Lindsay there was nothing he could do about it. Governor Rockefeller took control of the MTA and that has remained in effect for almost 42 years. It is high time the MTA should be a municipal function and not a state function.
I believe the President of the United States should be chief executive of America and commander in chief of the Armed Forces, the Governor should remain Governor and not try to be mayor as well and the mayor should tend to city functions and not try to usurp some other functions that are not rightfully his. We do not need Poobah in America, which Japan had, where one could be judge, jury and prosecutor.Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
Some un-Civil words
To the editor,
The phony ultra liberal American Civil Liberties Union should really mean American Criminal Liberties Union. They now are against the anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation. Those of us who support Israel should have the right to boycott any Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions individual or group that advocates a boycott of Israeli goods.
The American Civil Liberties Union should be ashamed of itself. How many individual groups have they defended through the years? Yet, when it comes to matters concerning Israel, they are woefully quiet.
Their leader, Donna Lieberman is a complete super-liberal wacko of the first order. Thanks to her, teachers are unable to discipline disruptive pupils and that’s why the New York City school system is the way it is. Knowing this lunatic, had she lived in the 1930s in Germany, she probably would have said that the lunatic Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies were allowed to be said under freedom of speech, as she was led off to the gas chamber.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Zero intolerance
To the editor,
The modern day conservative movement’s founding father, the late Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater would have been disappointed in President Trump’s announcement denying transgender people the opportunity to serve in our military.
Concerning gays in the military, Goldwater said: “You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight.”
Diversity and tolerance is what unites all Americans regardless of political views, religion or sexual orientation. In today’s troubled world, I would say thank you to anyone who voluntarily joins the military be they straight, gay, bisexual or transgender. Intolerance is a sure receipt for defeat. Larry Penner
Great Neck
