To the editor,
I live on E. Third Street between Avenues X and W, where two cars, owned by brothers, 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 Friday. The two cars parked illegally are left in the same parking spots for weeks in a row, never being ticketed by Sanitation. Currently they are parked on the east side of the street, which has alternate side parking rules on Friday.
The reason why they get away with this is because they have covers they put on their cars that prevent Sanitation from issuing tickets. I’ve also seen their license plates and they look like old plates issued in the 1950s, not current plates. Additionally if they do move these cars (which they do every couple of months) the engine sound can wake up the dead.
Clearly they probably don’t have mufflers on these cars and they’re used for racing. Besides this, I don’t believe either one of these brothers lives in this area.
I have to drive around sometimes half an hour or more to find a legal parking spot so I don’t get ticketed, sometimes having to walk several blocks to get home and go back to my car. 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. 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 weeks at a time abusing the alternate side parking regulations.
Name withheld upon request
DNArrgghh!
To the editor,
I have a number of bots out looking for news articles about transsexualism. One of them turned up the “I am Nancy” columns by Shavana Abruzzo (A Britisher’s View).
I want to comment on the comments others have made in reply to Shavana’s three-part column: The DNA argument is tiresome. It is something that has been discussed over and over online. Repetition adds nothing to the “debate.” I see its as rationalization for existing prejudices.
Let me ask, do any of you insisting that DNA (actually chromosomes) as the sole determinant of gender know what is in the nucleus of your own cells? How about the woman in the next office? Do you know if she is XX, XY or some other arrangement? What about the checkout clerk at the store? The answer is, of course, you don’t. Without a medical test you cannot know. When you see a person, talk with him or her, transact business or whatever else, you go on appearance, dress, hair, and other externals. If the person before you has a women’s hairstyle, and is wearing a dress and makeup, you will see a woman and respond appropriately, and hopefully courteously. In other words DNA is a total non-issue. And that is all that most transsexual people want: to be able to live our lives, work our jobs, hang with friends, or do any of the myriad of things everyone does daily in peace. Just so the point is made, I transitioned (male-to-female) 30 years ago.Patricia Malone
Portland, O.R.
Parade charade
To the editor,
Every year the West Indian Day Parade brings a million people to Brooklyn for a great day of fun and ethnic pride, and every year it is ruined by gunfire, stabbings, and murder. Many of the partygoers are smoking pot and drinking in public, and the police turn a blind eye to it. In many cases the gunplay and assaults are caused by people who are drunk or high.
The same problems affected the St. Patrick’s Day Parade for years, with the drinking at the parade in public, which is no longer tolerated by the police and it’s a better day because of it. Why is this behavior being allowed at the West Indian Day Parade, when year after year there are the same problems?
This reminds me of the heroin and other drug epidemics that plagued Harlem back in the 1960s and 1970s. The police turned a blind eye to that also. It reminds me of a scene from the movie “The Godfather” when Tartaglia said to keep the drug trafficking respectable, keep it in the dark neighborhoods.
And it wasn’t a problem with the cops until the drug problem hit the white people’s neighborhoods and the suburbs.
Then the police stepped in to try to stop it. Well the same thing seems true today. Willie Pinkerton
Manhattan
Refugee crisis
To the editor,
It is touching to read how many countries (Germany, Hungary, Australia, etc.) are taking in thousands of Syrian refugees, providing them with safety and resources as their country is battling extremists, but I am also dismayed and appalled that no other Muslim country is taking in their own people.
There are many rich Muslim countries, such as Dubai and Saudia Arabia, that have plenty of room and money to help their brothers but choose not to, allowing the Europeans, whom they despise, to take them in. This says a lot, but are we listening?Alex Lapin
Brooklyn
• • •
To the editor,
Europe has the compassion to allow refugees into their countries, since many have been displaced due to constant war, but where is America?
This reminds me of the 900 Jewish families during World War II that were turned back to Germany to lose their lives. The Statue of Liberty states, “Give us your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” These are words, but where is the action?
Many countries in Europe are taking in many displaced families by the hundreds of thousands, but how many have the U.S. taken in? I first heard 1,200 families were coming here, but now I think it maybe 10,000.
When families are fleeing Central America because of violence to make life better for their families, why do we feel the need to deport or break up these families?
It made me feel sad when I saw that little boy wash up dead on the beach. What that mother must have done attempting to save her child as well as herself. Enough of this crazy war.Jerry Sattller
Brighton Beach
Never forget
To the editor,
I wrote this in the days immediately following 9-11: We are stunned, we are numb. We are fixated! We are oh so sorry, so sad. We are looking up, fearful! We are oh so confused, so angry. We are ready! We can turn this most horrific of tragedies into a triumph of passion, compassion, courage, and hope. We can see what determination brings!
We can recall those feelings of awe, watching the brave, the real heroes dig, and dig, and dig. We can learn a lesson about humanity! We can call into question the tired value system that brought us here. We can participate, contribute! We can remember and hope!
We should all honor those who perished. We should all honor those who are forever changed. We should all honor those who are forever digging!Barry Brothers
Homecrest
Carmen’s airs
To the editor,
Laugh of the day: Schools chancellor Carmen Farina stating that most of the world doesn’t have air-conditioning. For someone who supposedly has so much empathy for children, doesn’t she realize that many children have asthma and that over-heated classrooms are not conducive to good health for students and teachers?
Go into many schools. The principal’s office is air-conditioned while teachers and students swelter in classrooms that should be condemned by the board of health.
I taught at the former I.S. 320 in District 17 for 19 years. As windows broke, they were sealed. The board told us that the windows couldn’t be fixed since the window company had gone out of business! Am wondering if the windows are still like that at 46 McKeever Place.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Meat over matter
To the editor,
Why not participate in National Cheeseburger Day on September 18? Ignore all health-food police rants about how unhealthy hamburgers are. Treat yourself and go to your favorite fast food eatery, diner, restaurant or steak house and order a cheeseburger. Pile on the toppings, including cheese, sauteed onions, tomatoes, pickles and whatever else suites your fancy.
Don’t forget your side order of french fries. Hamburgers and fries are an authentic American tradition that should continue to be celebrated all year around.
In these difficult economic times, it is especially important to patronize your local fast food eatery, diner, restaurant or steak house. My wife and I don’t mind occasionally paying a little more to help our local businesses survive. Don’t forget your cook and server at your favorite local neighborhood restaurant. We try to tip 20 percent against the total bill, including taxes. If it is an odd amount, we round up to the next dollar. If we can afford to eat out, we can afford an extra dollar tip. When ordering take out, we always leave a dollar or two for the waiter or cook. It is appreciated.
Remember these people are our neighbors. Our local entrepreneurs have continued to create new employment opportunities without the assistance of federally-funded taxpayers’ stimulus dollars. They work long hours, pay taxes and provide local employment. If we don’t patronize our local restaurants, they don’t eat either.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Barnes Dance
To the editor,
Many years ago Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Neptune avenues, and W. Fifth Street had the Barnes Dance. When all the lights were red, seniors and mothers with children could walk in either direction without the fear of getting hit by a car. Now we have a count-down clock which gives the residents 25 seconds to cross. Big deal. Many times I’ve noticed that even when the light is red some cars continue to make an illegal turn. I do believe that the Barnes Dance should return to this intersection.
Those of us who live in these neighborhoods deserve to be protected from out-of-control drivers who think they can do as they please. Did it take a rocket scientist to build those islands all over the place? My question is how much effort would it take to bring back a needed safety factor, such as the Barnes Dance?
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Park up
To the editor,
Unfortunately the summer season is starting to wind down. The weather has been great even if it was very hot. As a frequent visitor to Marine Park I’ve observed first-hand how beautiful and also how dangerous the park can be, and not because of gangs or muggers or crime.
I’m in that park at all different days of the week and all different times of the day. The mix of people there is amazing and everyone seems to get along just fine. In fact there are some of the nicest and friendliest people anywhere right here in Brooklyn. Yeah, Brooklyn, thought by many from anywhere else other than Brooklyn to be one of the toughest places on earth, with the toughest people anywhere. Well it just ain’t true, but let’s keep them thinking that we eat nails for breakfast — it makes life easier for us.
I want to bring attention to the bicycle and walking paths in the park that are meant to be used in a counter-clockwise direction. There is currently a very faded painted sign on one path. After many pleas to the park manager by a Marine Park Civic Association member to paint new ones, only three arrows and a stencil of a bike were painted about 20 feet from each other on the Stuart Street side. I figured finally they are getting something done about this and waited for the rest of the arrows to be spray painted on the outside track and completely around both tracks in different sections, but it didn’t happen because apparently there isn’t enough money to buy more paint. Too expensive! I can’t believe that was the answer given. Too expensive to help keep everyone safe?
I personally have seen close calls because people are walking the wrong way on the wrong track with kids carriages and dogs not paying any attention to their surroundings, and talking and texting. I’m not saying a few painted yellow markers on some asphalt will stop all accidents, but it just might help stop one.
Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park