To the editor,
Now that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, a lot of people are very happy. In my humble opinion no group is as happy as the divorce lawyers, who just increased their roster of potential clients.
Same-sex couples will now be entitled to the same benefits as everyone else, including the three rings of marriage: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. Congrats!Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park
Whatevah, Jo
To the editor,
I’m really surprised at Joanna DelBuono’s attitude regarding Rachel Dolezal masquerading as a black woman (“Jo on fake black lady: Whatevah,’ Not for Nuthin’, June 19).
Is “whatevah” or “you go, girlfriend” (as Joanna writes) a normal response? Regardless of her motives, Dolezal is a deceptive, pathological liar, seemingly without remorse even after being exposed by her own parents. Rethink your take on this, Joanna, because you are misguided.Ruth Weiner
Sheepshead Bay
Hillary ‘tops’
To the editor,
I frown on all presidential contenders who are 70 years of age, but I believe Hillary Clinton is best suited among the Democrats (“With Hillary in lead, Mike needs to step in,” Political Spin by Tom Allon, June 12).
Hillary is the only candidate in either party who graduated at top of the class. In the Class of 1973 at Yale Law School, she ranked first. In the same class her husband, former President Bill Clinton, ranked sixth. If Hillary does become president, she will be the first woman in history to do so, and the first president to graduate at the top of her class since President Rutherford Birchard Hayes at Harvard Law School.
The country needs to have confidence in its leaders, and when the head of the state is “number one,” while no guarantee of success, America can feel assured it has a qualified leader for this lofty position.Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
Thanks, good Sams
To the editor,
This morning the Manhattan-bound B train pulled into Sheeopshead Bay at 8 am. Old enough to know better, I stepped into the gap between the platform and car. Two strangers immediately bent down and pulled me up (my left leg had gone into the gap).
If they hadn’t helped me, I think the conductor would have started the train with me still in the gap. Even with the good Samaritans’ help, I limped into the car as the doors shut on me. I owe those two people my life!Mike Carbone
Sheepshead Bay
Life cycle
To the editor,
No complaints here, just a heartfelt tribute to the handful of significant relationships in my life, and to the vital, life-affirming support that some offer up to each other through life struggles. Twenty-plus years ago I was one of the youngest to buy and own a home in the Big Apple. My home is now wholly owned. A great thing, but just today yet another of my elder neighbors passed on, and I am too quickly becoming an elder of the block.
Some of us are blessed to have to attend more funerals as we age. After all it does address the very real consequences of living and the cycle of life. Just a few weeks ago I attended the funeral and gathering thereafter to honor Sy, the husband, dad and cousin of some dear folks I have known for a very long time. Today I have yet another funeral and mourning period during the next few days to honor the life of an elderly neighbor, friend, and parent to two friends who passed on just yesterday morning. Mary and her son were very active with community and city politics and events, in tribute to their considerable giving and concerned spirits. Peace of mind, body, and spirit to them and their family, and to us all, and others we know with whom we share special bonds during our lifetime.
“I watch the ripples change their size, but never leave the stream of warm impermanence, and so the days float through my eyes, but still the days seem the same” (David Bowie in “Changes”).Barry Brothers
Homecrest
BDS ‘losers’
To the editor,
How come those of us who support Israel don’t fight back against Boycott and Divestement and Sanctions movement? The latter is really playing havoc calling for boycotting of economic goods from our beloved country.
Why don’t we find out exactly who these losers are and initiate a boycott against their goods? We should not be complacent as this miserable group of people continues playing havoc, especially at our colleges. I understand that this group at Brooklyn College is making life miserable for the Jewish students attending there.
So-called Presbyterians who support this movement are practicing hypocrisy in the worst way. They attend church services on Sunday, where love and tolerance for all are preached, but then they turn around and condemn Israel.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Lesson up
To the editor,
Regarding teacher evaluations: Yes, you are going to see less highly effective and effective teachers this year. Yes, you are also going to see more teachers being rated developing and ineffective this year. Yes, you are going to see more teachers taking sabbaticals this year. Yes, you are going to see more teachers retiring this year. Yes, you are going to see more teachers wanting to transfer to schools that score higher on standardized tests. Yes, you are losing excellent teachers that love their profession. Yes, Gov. Cuomo has his own agenda towards public education. He doesn’t like it and wants schools to be run like businesses.
Gov. Cuomo, think about this! You just invested $200 million in Start-up New York and your return on investment was only 43 businesses signing up. Highly ineffective! Next, you invested $50 million to promote the arts in our local schools. The problem is that schools do not get credit for the arts on their Snapshot Progress Report. Highly ineffective investment without changing the formula for how schools are measured. Then you give $200 million to C.U.N.Y. to promote S.T.E.M. Education. The problem is that there is no strategic implementation to tie-in our local high school students to the C.U.N.Y. colleges. This is another highly ineffective decision. We keep changing the curriculum in our schools and we waste millions of dollars each year. Once again, this is another highly ineffective decision.
Recently the governor went to Yeshivat Shaare Torah to speak about education tax credit reform. The purpose was to help low-income families. The problem was that his audience at Yeshivat Shaare Torah happened to be one of the richest communities in the city. This time he is going to get a highly effective rating because he knows that these community members and politicians will be the ones to help him with his agenda.
Yes, it’s all about the students. Yes, students learn in different ways. Yes, he is setting our students, parents, teachers, and schools up to fail. Scott Krivitsky
The writer is a teacher at PS 188 in Coney Island.
Blame game
To the editor,
The level of corruption in our state government is astounding, and what’s worse is that the governor and state senators clearly have no intention of changing it. The reforms they propose are minimal and will do nothing to alter the way “business” is done in Albany.
When he was elected, Gov. Cuomo promised to clean up these shameful practices, yet he stood in the way of meaningful reform, the effort to do away with a loophole allowing rich special interests to give millions of dollars to candidates.
Shame on our leaders who blocked this bill without offering any alternative. They are obviously very content with the status quo.
Shirley Ranz
Sheepshead Bay
On the Boardwalk
To the editor,
The Parks Department has no problem wasting millions of dollars to move the site for the bathroom in its secret deal with our say-one-thing-do-another Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay), yet when it comes to our Boardwalk they suddenly become penny-pinching fiscal watchdogs, to the exclusion of all other important considerations. It’s as though they wish to do the cheapest and easiest thing right now, rather than what’s desirable and makes sense for everyone in the long run. Such a lack of vision is not merely a disappointment, it’s destructive. To not cherish what we have, and maintain and enhance it, is sinful. • • •
A few years ago when one of our community members asked a Parks official what research they had conducted that convinced them that concrete and plastic were appropriate materials for a Boardwalk, that official responded, “Research, what research? We didn’t have time to do research. We had to spend the money!” How concerned then are they really about using our money wisely? I would have to conclude that their decisions seem based more on laziness and ineptness rather than any real understanding or caring about how we use the Boardwalk and what it means to the vast majority of us that live here. The sad and infuriating fact though, is that we who live here are made to suffer as the result of decisions made by these uncaring, unknowledgeable bureaucrats, all of whom live elsewhere and have shown that they don’t at all care what we think. Sending off our wood to Milan is only the latest misstep from an agency that has a long list of missteps, poor decisions, and ill treatment of our Boardwalk to its discredit. William Burg
Coney Island
Transit lowdown
To the editor,
June 22 marked the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Manhattan Rapid Transit Fourth Avenue Brooklyn line that ran from City Hall to 95th Street in Bay Ridge.
Thousands of riders paid a five cent fare. The original line (today’s B,D,J,M, N,Q, R & Z lines) and the Interboro Rapid Transit (today’s 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, Franklin Avenue and Times Square shuttles) subway systems were constructed and managed by the private sector with no government operating subsidies. Financial viability was 100 percent dependent upon farebox revenues. They supported both development and economic growth of numerous neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens. As part of the franchise agreement which owners had to sign, City Hall had direct control over the fare structure. For a period of time, owners actually make a profit with a five cent fare.
After two decades passed, the costs of salaries, maintenance, power, supplies, and equipment would pressure owners to ask City Hall for permission to raise the fares. This additional revenue was needed to keep up with maintaining a good state of repair, increase the frequency of service, purchase new subway cars, pay employee salary increases, and support planned system expansion. Politicians more interested in the next reelection (and subscribing to the old Roman philosophy of free bread and circuses) refused this request each year for more than a decade. As a result, in order to survive owners of both systems began looking elsewhere to reduce costs and stay in business. They started curtailing basic maintenance, delayed purchases of new subway cars, postponed salary increases for employees, canceled any plans for system expansion and cut corners to survive. Does any of this sound familiar from the present?
In 1920 automatic coin-operated turnstiles were first introduced on the Lexington Avenue subway. This began the elimination of ticket collection employees. In 1932 the city began building and financing construction of the new Independent Subway (today’s A,C,E,F and G lines). This new municipal system subsidized by taxpayers dollars would provide direct competition to both the I.R.T. and B.M.T. Municipal government forced them into economic ruin by denying them fare increases that would have provided access to additional badly needed revenues. Big Brother, just like the Godfather, eventually made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. The owners folded in 1940 and sold out to City Hall.
In 1953 the old city Board of Transportation passed on control of the municipal subway system, including all its assets to the newly created New York City Transit Authority. That same year, the fare increased from 10 to 15 cents and tokens were introduced.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Martial schools
To the editor,
I was about to come up for tenure when Hugh Carey defeated Malcolm Wilson to become governor of New York in 1974. The United Federation of Teachers wholeheartedly supported Carey. No sooner was he governor than tenure was changed to five years, and therefore myself and others had to wait two additional years to achieve this job protection.
At the time the union urged membership to donate to vote for the Committee on Public Education to get the tenure back to three years.
Gov. Cuomo is falling into the same trap as Gov. Carey did. It doesn’t matter how many years of teaching is required as long as the system allows us to work under the same abysmal conditions. City classrooms have the largest classroom registers and consequently disruptive children in them. No matter what is tried nothing will work until we attempt to resolve the problems of class size and children who refuse to behave themselves in school. It is ridiculous that people who never spent one day in the classroom as a teacher attempt to make rules that classroom teachers have to work under.
When it comes to class sizes, the union pointed out years ago that it had established an expedited grievance procedure in dealing with large classrooms. What expedited procedure? I’ve been retired now for nearly 14 years and the problem persists. Similarly the problem of disruptive children is ignored because no one wants to touch the issue. It is much easier to blame the teacher for the behavior of children who either will not or are unable to control themselves in classrooms. The 600-schools for problem children were done away with years ago, and now the mayor and chancellor are talking about eliminating suspensions for the unruly. The mayor and other critics of teachers desperately need to get back into a classroom and see what goes on during the course of a day.
Stop with the liberal nonsense of total child, alternate assessments, and other jokes, and institute military discipline in those schools requiring it. Any teacher cannot teach without discipline — Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina knows that.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Bad economics
To the editor,
Is there real reason to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the New York City Economic Development Corporation? New York City prospered and successfully grew prior to creation of this group and it’s predecessor, the N.Y.C. Public Development Corporation which was created in 1966. In 1991 the N.Y.C. Public Development Corporation (P.D.C.) was merged with the N.Y.C. Financial Services Corporation (F.S.C.) to form the N.Y.C. Economic Development Corporation. In many instances projects supported by these government corporations have been heavily subsidized by taxpayers, commonly known as corporate welfare. Between direct government funding, low-interest and below-market-rate loans, and long-term tax exemptions, the bill to taxpayers in the end is greater than the so-called public benefits.
There is also a relationship between pay-for-play campaign contributions from developers to elected officials looking for favorable legislation, private-property condemnation under eminent domain, building permits, public infrastructure improvements, along with direct and hidden subsidies. In some cases city and state development corporations actually compete against each other attempting to outbid each other in offering potential investors the best deal. This translates to the highest subsidies at taxpayers’ expense.
Don’t forget the conflict of interest for senior staff from municipal regulatory and permitting agencies. Too many leave in the twilight of any mayoral administration to become employees or consultants to the same developers they previously oversaw.
Take Seth Pinsky, former executive director of the N.Y.C.E.D.C. who went on to become executive vice president of the RXR Realty. Some developers try to purchase the support of local community groups by making so-called voluntary donations. They also make promises for capital improvements, which after the major project is completed don’t always appear. Other commitments for creation of permanent new jobs and tax revenues frequently do not meet expectations. If these projects are worthwhile, why can’t major developers use their own funds or obtain loans from banks, like medium and small businesses?
Real business people who believe in capitalism build their companies on their own. How sad that some don’t want to do it the old fashioned way by sweat and hard work. They are looking for shortcuts in the form of huge subsidies at taxpayers expense and favors from elected officials.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Tunnel vision
To the editor,
Your story “Tunnel Aversion” (March 26) concerning the proposed Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel which might connect New Jersey to Brooklyn and Queens is under consideration again. In theory, it might move thousands of trucks on a daily basis off the roads and on to railroad tracks for significant portions of the journey between New Jersey and Long Island. It reminds me of the long-forgotten proposed tunnel between 69th Street in Bay Ridge and St. George on Staten Island. The concept was to extend subway service from Brooklyn to Staten Island. Ground was broken with entrances at both ends in the 1920s, but the project quickly ran out of money and was abandoned to history. When living on Shore Road in Bay Ridge, friends and I would look to no avail in attempting to find the abandoned site filled in decades earlier. Flash forward almost 90 years later and we have the proposed “Cross Harbor” rail freight tunnel project.
Construction of any new freight, public transportation tunnel or bridge project can take years if not decades by the time all feasibility studies, environmental reviews, planning, design, engineering, real estate acquisition, permits, procurements, construction, budgeting, identifying, and securing funding is completed. This is before the project reaches beneficial use. Construction for the 2nd Avenue subway began in the 1960s. Bond money intended for this project in the 1950s was spent elsewhere. The latest completion date for the first segment of three stations between 63rd and 96th streets on the upper east side of Manhattan is 2016 at a cost of $4.5 billion. Construction for the original tunnel to support bringing the Long Island Rail Road from Queens into Grand Central Station began in the 1960s. The latest completion date is now 2023 with a cost of $10 billion. No one can identify the source for the estimated $16 billion to build a new tunnel for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak known as the “Gateway project” to gain additional access to Penn Station from New Jersey. Ditto for paying back the $3 billion federal loan which covered a majority of the estimated $4 billion for replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge in Westchester. Any guess who will find $5 to $10 billion or more needed for construction of a new Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel? This may be just another in the continuing series of feasibility studies sponsored by various governmental agencies and public officials over decades. They generate some money for consultants, along with free publicity, for elected officials who promise a bright future, but all to often move on to another public office before delivering. You are frequently left holding an empty bag with unfilled promises. At the end of the day just like the long abandoned Brooklyn to Staten Island subway project, don’t count on seeing any shovel in the ground before the end of this decade. Don’t count on completion of any Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel in our lifetime.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Then and now
To the editor,
Did you know that the first game to be played at the Brooklyn Dodgers Ebbets Field was an inter-league exhibition game against the New York Yankees on April 5, 1913? Ebbets Field officially opened on April 9, 1913 against the Philadelphia Phillies. The original Brooklyn Dodgers name was derived from residents who would dodge trolley cars when crossing streets for decades, until their own decline and final death in the 1950’s. If it had not been for mega builder Robert Moses, along with both the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers leaving the Big Apple in 1957 for California, there may have been no Barclays Center or Brooklyn Nets.
The golden era of baseball in the city took place in the 1950s with a three-way rivalry between the American League New York Yankees, and the National League New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. All three teams claimed to have the best center fielder in baseball. On street corners all over town, citizens would argue whether the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle, Giants’ Willie Mays or Dodgers’ Duke Snider was champ.
Ordinary Brooklyn natives could ride the bus, trolley or subway to Ebbets Field to see their beloved Dodgers. Working and middle class men and woman of all ages, classes and races co-mingled in the stands. Everyone could afford a bleacher, general admission, reserve or box seat. Hot dogs, beer, other refreshments and souvenirs were reasonably priced.
Team owners would raise or reduce a players salary based on their performance the past season. Salaries were so low, that virtually all Dodger players worked at another job off season. Most Dodger players were actually neighbors who lived and worked in various communities in the County of Kings.
Residents of the era sat outside on the neighborhood stoop, shopped at the local butcher, baker, fruit, and vegetable stand. Television was a relatively new technology and the local movie theater was still king for entertainment. Brooklyn still had its very own daily newspaper — the Brooklyn Eagle — which ended publication some time in the mid-1950s.
During the 1950s, Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley tried to find various locations for construction of a new baseball stadium which he pledged to finance using his own monies. With limited seating capacity at Ebbets Field, he needed a new modern stadium to remain financially viable. City master mega-builder Robert Moses refused to allow him access to the current-day Barclays Center build on Atlantic Yards. This location was easily accessible to thousands of baseball fans from all around the Big Apple via numerous subway lines and Long Island Rail Road.
Thousands of fans who moved to other neighborhoods in eastern Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk County would have had direct access via the LIRR. Imagine how different Brooklyn would have been if elected officials had stood up to Robert Moses and allowed construction of a new Dodgers stadium in downtown Brooklyn. Without the departure of both the Brooklyn Dodgers (becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers) and New York Giants (San Francisco Giants), there may have been no national league expansion in 1962. There would have been no Colt 45s (original name of the Houston Astros), our beloved New York Mets, or the Barclays Center hosting the Brooklyn Nets basketball team.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Lesson 101
To the editor,
In reality, it doesn’t matter how long tenure is. Even tenured teachers can be fired. Principals just don’t want to go through the paper work in the process. If a principal doesn’t like you, you will be assigned the most difficult classes and therefore with unsatisfactory results and the lack of discipline in these classes, you shall be terminated.
When Spiro Agnew resigned from the vice presidency in Oct. 1973, Nixon tapped New York’s Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to be vice president. Lt. Governor Malcolm Wilson became governor and ran against Hugh Carey in the 1974 election. Carey won and thanked the teacher’s union for its support by going along with the legislature and increasing teacher tenure to five years. I vividly remember this because myself and others had to wait an additional two years to be tenured.
While this was occurring, Unity Caucus, which has run the union for more than 50 years, strongly recommended that we give money to the Committee on Political Education in order to get the tenure reduced to three years again. Had we stayed with Gov. Wilson, we wouldn’t have encountered this mess. Increasing tenure will only cause novice teachers to leave in droves.
No one wants to admit that unruly pupils are the causes of the ills of the public school system. You could make 10 years a requirement for tenure and you shall encounter the same problems. Start allowing discipline back in the schools and you would see those teachers being rated ineffective improve rapidly.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Scott String-along
To the editor,
City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s report that New Yorkers spend more time traveling to work than those who commute in other cities told us nothing new. This has been previously documented in numerous other taxpayer-funded studies and newspaper articles. Older generations moved to two fare zones in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island in search of more affordable housing, safer neighborhoods, better air quality and better schools. They knew full well that they would be living in a two-fare (bus to subway) zone with longer commutes to and from work. Newer generations looking for the same quality of life moved to the suburbs. They had to deal with driving to a commuter railroad station, riding the railroad and transferring to the subway before arriving at work. More recent generations moved beyond the old inner suburbs to newer outer suburbs with even longer commutes.
The real questions Srtinger failed to look at is who is providing the appropriate level of funding to improve everyone’s commute and how those dollars are being spent.
For decades under numerous previous Metropolitan Transportation Authority five-year capital plans, both the city and state collectively cut billions of their own respective, financial contributions. They repeatedly had the agency refinance or borrow funds to acquire scarce capital funding formerly made up by hard cash from both City Hall and Albany. This has resulted in long term agency debt, doubling from $15 billion to more than $32 billion. More money has to be spent on debt service payments. This has resulted in billions of fewer dollars available for both operating and capital improvements for safety, state of good repair, and system expansion capital projects and programs. While Washington has consistently provided billions, it is both City Hall and Albany that have retreated from properly financing the capital program since the 1980s. How much money did Stringer bring to the city as a member of the State Assembly and Manhattan borough president? How much money has Stringer asked Mayor Bill DeBlasio, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and the City Council to provide in the municipal budget? Talk is cheap, but actions speak louder.
Stringer and other career politicians continue to miss how both the Department of Transportation and Metropolitan Transportation Authority manage their respective capital and operating assistance programs. Both the city and the agency combined have an active portfolio in billions of ongoing capital projects and programs. This includes almost two billion dollars of yearly assistance from Washington. These dollars are supplemented by billions more from various discretionary federal funding sources, including post 9-11 aid, American Recovery Reinvestment Act, and Hurricane Sandy funding.
Stringer’s staff time would have been better spent auditing both the city and the agency, along with their respective sub recipients and operating agencies, to see how prudent they have been in managing all those billions of dollars from Uncle Sam and Albany.
Stringer could give up both his fee parking space at City Hall and his special police parking permit. He can use his transit check to purchase MetroCards. Why not ask his wife to do the same? This will afford Stringer the opportunity to join several million constituents who use public transportation on a daily basis and also contribute to a cleaner environment.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
‘Stupid’ Dems
To the editor,
Pee on the southern Brooklyn Democrats for being so stupid as to endorse the underground Republican spoiler for the Republican Party, James Inne, masking as a progressive candidate for Green Party U.S., not to be confused with the real Green Party, which would never run a candidate to take away votes needed to defeat a Republican candidate, something Green party US has no problem with.
Indeed when Al Gore ran against George Bush, Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate, got tons of money from the Bush people. Is anyone still too stupid to understand why this was done?
This is what Martin Kilian, a forming member of the German Green Party in 1979 had to say about this so-called Green Party when it ran Nadar for president during the Gore-Bush election: “The position of the American Greens is highly questionable and outright immature if you ask me,” he said during an internet interview.
It is high time progressives and Democrats see this so called Green Party for what it really is there for: to help Republicans by taking away votes from Democrats.
I challenge anyone to come up with a more intelligent answer that is not full of it from Green Party U.S. David Raisman
Bay Ridge
On track
To the editor,
Practically every Thursday evening at the end of the month I go to a Barnes and Noble open-mike poetry event at the Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street location in the northwestern part of Brooklyn.
I take an F train to and from my location from Brighton Beach taking the Q train to Stillwell Avenue and transferring to an F train getting off at the Seventh Avenue station.
On my return trip, however, I try to take an F train back to Stillwell Avenue, but I sometimes have a considerable wait, and to save time take a G train with its final stop at Church Avenue and then wait for an F line going back home to Stillwell Avenue, and again take a Q to Brighton Beach.
If the G train can’t go directly to Coney Island, wouldn’t it make more sense for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build a direct route from either Coney Island to Rockaway station in Queens or have a super express where the first stop would be either Canal Street or Grand Street?
This might be beneficial for commuters when tracks need to be repaired as an alternative to bus service. Elliott Abosh
Brighton Beach
No-prez Pataki
To the editor,
Former New York governor George Pataki’s announcement that he is running for president in 2016 will be followed as being one of the first to drop out. No one who truly believes in limited government, balanced budgets, reduction in long-term debt and support for the free enterprise system signed up for his ill-fated 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. The same will be true in 2016, which is why Pataki will once again never get out of the starting gate.
Pataki’s lavish spending of taxpayer dollars to special interest groups to grease his 2002 re-election for his third and last term made the late liberal Republican Governor Nelson Rockefeller roll over in his grave! His record deficits, excessive spending, and late budgets give real conservative Republicans anguish. Native New York Republicans who know Pataki best, will once again deny him the ability to carry New York as a favorite son candidate.
Pataki’s self promotion is really motivated by a desire to drum up both business for his consulting firm and consideration for a cabinet or other position in any future Republican administration. Pataki wrote his own political obituary long ago. Except in his mind and personal ego, Pataki is essentially irrelevant in politics today.
It is time he set his sights on something more realistic. Perhaps consider running against Sen. Charles Schumer in 2016.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Judge and jury
To the editor,
I have never been so bloody frustrated by the attorney general’s and the court system in the past and now in the present. Do you remember the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s when the banking customers were left with the bill? I can’t remember if any of those people went to prison? Of course who could forget when Wall Street prime mortgage went down the tubes and not one person was indicted. Some big shots paid a fine that in my judgement was chump change.
Now of course the attorney general goes after the world class soccer federation. A $100 million is chump change compared to the billions lost on Wall Street.
Also I can’t believe how the courts can rule about a women’s right, not only for an abortion but for other medical procedures that can save the life of all women. Who appointed them judge, jury, and executioner?Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach