To the editor,
Given the patronizing and disrespectful nature of the hastily called end-of-year Boardwalk meeting we had previously with the Parks Department, we were wary of attending yet another fruitless exercise in frustration. However, one week ago, we nevertheless gritted our teeth and chose to attend another meeting with the Parks Department in the vague hope that they had taken our input seriously and something positive might be forthcoming. In addition to ourselves and Parks representatives, as last time, Councilmen Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) and Mark Treyger (D–Coney Island), Assemblymen Steven Cymbrowitz (D–Sheepshead Bay) and Alec Brook-Krasny (D–Brighton Beach) and our state Sen. Diane Savino (D–Coney Island) were in attendance.
Unfortunately we were once again presented with a PowerPoint presentation wherein their representative attempted to refute and disprove many of the points we had made and the issues we had raised. He was interrupted many times, as we insisted on correcting misinformation that he was proffering to buttress the points he wanted to make. These included showing a list of alleged “hardwoods” and saying why they couldn’t be used for the Boardwalk, only to be corrected and told that in actuality all of the woods listed were softwoods, arguing that using recycled plastic lumber as the supporting understructure of the Boardwalk was not tenable since it wasn’t strong enough, and having to be told that our suggestion was the possible use of structural recycled plastic lumber, a wholly different and much stronger product. Perhaps most embarrassing of all was the representative using a photo of the entrance that used to exist for Parks vehicles to enter the beach from under the Boardwalk at Surf Avenue and Ocean Parkway, and stating that the increased erosion and sand accumulation that was experienced in buildings adjacent to that concrete section in Hurricane Sandy, as opposed to the nearby wood section which saw little such damage, was likely due to the fact that this open area under the Boardwalk allowed the storm surge to carry more sand through to the street, when in fact, as he was told, that was impossible since this area had been filled in with sand many years ago and the photo he was using was from a time long past.
Even though on multiple occasions we had clearly explained the simple facts of what we want for our Boardwalk — namely, no concrete on top and an open air non slab construction underneath — Sen. Savino expressed difficulty comprehending what it is that we desire. Councilman Treyger said it was as easy as ABC — anything but concrete, which seemed to sum it up quite well.
When Assemblyman Cymbrowitz was asked why he reneged on his promise to withhold the funds for this project, he said that he didn’t want to lose the state funds. If that were the case, he was then asked, why did he make the pronouncements that he was going to do so, since he obviously knew what that meant? The question was met with a resounding silence on his part that spoke more loudly than any words could.
If the Parks Department were serious about valuing community input, they wouldn’t have asked for it after they began work, and they wouldn’t seek every opportunity to prove the unworkability of every suggestion we make, even if the facts they use to do so are wrong. If the co-enablers of their odious Boardwalk plan, Assemblymen Cymbrowitz and Brook-Krasny, were serious about representing what the majority of their constituents want with respect to the Boardwalk, they would have honored Assemblyman Cymbrowitz’s commitment to withdraw their funding for this project, they wouldn’t have reassured Parks at a private meeting they had with them that in fact they were not going to honor that commitment, and they wouldn’t have thus disrespected their constituents by reneging on Assemblyman Cymbrowitz’s promise.
Decency demands that they disengage from their disrespectful month-to-month, funding silliness, and withdraw the funds immediately. Only then can meaningful dialogue take place that results in a desirable plan.Rob Burstein
The writer is president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance.
• • •
To the editor,
What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. This admonition should be tattooed on Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz’s forehead. First he gives millions of dollars in state funds to a Parks Department Boardwalk project. For years he says nothing at all regarding the plan that he and Assemblyman Brook-Krasny have funded. Throughout these years, the plan is discussed at many public meetings and there are numerous press and broadcast media reports detailing the community opposition to the plan. Assemblyman Brook-Krasny makes public statements in support of the plan, but not a whisper from Cymbrowitz. Shortly before the end of 2014 Cymbrowitz comes out of the woodwork and begins making bold pronouncements as to how he has been unaware of the plan on the table, that he was “hoodwinked” by the Parks Department, that the funds that he had committed were to be used for normal Boardwalk repairs and not this unwanted makeover, and that he would rescind those funds once the year ran out and they needed to be renewed. A few weeks later he reverses himself and allows the funding to continue.
Now there appears to be an explanation for this infuriating behavior. For years Cymbrowitz devoted an inordinate amount of energy to cater to the wishes of his constituents in the Oceana complex. He has fought vigorously to have the placement of a bathroom on the beach changed because it offended the sensibilities of those from whom he seems to believes he owes his office to. Yet on the Boardwalk issue, something that affects all of his constituents, he sells out. Those from the Oceana that attended the recent Boardwalk rally to save it, were abuzz with the news that Cymbrowiz, at a secret meeting with the Parks Department at the end of last year, struck a deal: he doesn’t cut off their funds for the Boardwalk makeover to proceed and the site for the bathroom will be changed.
If Cymbrowitz thinks that the majority of us here in Brighton will accept his self-interested, double-dealing behavior, he is mistaken. He may get funding and other support from those he favors, but residents like myself will no longer vote for him, and will actively work to elect an assemblyman that does not dismiss and offend us with such despicable behavior and insulting non-explanations. Cindy Chalet
Brighton Beach
‘Brilliant & brave’
To the editor,
My family and I want to express our admiration and support for Shavana Abruzzo (“A Britisher’s View).
We love your newspaper, including the articles and events that are covered. I especially enjoy reading 24Seven. The real estate advertisements can be helpful to people who need a place. Thanks.Suzanne Vriel
Sheepshead Bay
Dopeheads
To the editor,
Your article about a new store that sells adult items and drug hookah equipment could have been published without the picture of the store and you did not have to publish the location (“Sex-ed on the street,” Feb. 5)
It seems that the reporter lists all the type of items the store sells. What’s wrong with you? I would like to understand what and where your thought process was when you placed this story. I’m scratching my head?Benson Chanowitz
Brooklyn
Dubya ‘worst’
To the editor,
Reader Larry Penner wrote that Jimmy Carter is our worst president. He must have been sleeping during George W. Bush’s presidency. After he invaded Iraq, Al Qaeda’s faction there began and now is a major terrorist center. The war accomplished nothing. Many young American men and women soldiers died for nothing. Thousands more were crippled physically and-or mentally. Millions of dollars were wasted on this pointless war.Jerome Frank
Coney Island
Lyin’ Brian
To the editor,
I’m the guy who told Babe Ruth to point to the stands before hitting a home run to that spot in the 1932 World Series. I advised President John F. Kennedy to say “Ask not what your country can do for you” in his inaugural speech. I was on the moon waiting for John Glenn. I insisted to Martin Luther King, Jr., that he change “I have hope” to “I have a dream.” I’m the one who stoked the fire for Franklin Roosevelt’s chats. Who am I? I’m the lying newsman, Brian Williams.Jay Sonners
Coney Island
Backing Bibi
To the editor,
There is more to your story “Presidential Approval, Israel gives award to beep as Obama and Netanyahu face off” (Feb. 12).
President Obama, former Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and former Democratic House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi have had plenty of opportunity to extend an invitation to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress. We are living day-to-day in a time of internal crises between the growing terrorist threats of terrorists and Iran on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. Republican House Speaker John Boehner extended an invitation to Netanyahu to address Congress. Pelosi’s first public reaction was to say she wasn’t sure if she or other Democratic members of Congress would attend. Within days Pelosi back pedals and says she will attend but with a caveat. Many other Democratic Congress members may not be able to attend because it’s not a high-priority item for them with all the other “important” work going on. Vice President Joseph Biden says he has a previously scheduled engagement out of town and will not be able to attend.
Actions speak louder than words. Israel is our most reliable ally in the Middle East and world today. Now is the time for all elected officials, Democrat or Republican, to stand up and show their support. There is no excuse for not being able to find a hour or two to attend. Let’s see if New York politicians, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Reps. Yvette Clarke, Hakeem Jeffries, Gerald Nadler, Nydia Velazquez and all members of the New York Congressional delegation vote with their feet and attend.
Friends of Israel should remember who showed and who didn’t show up when they stand for re-election in 2016. Any elected official who fails to show is not kosher to the Jewish community and Israel — or worthy of your vote.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Scandalous pols
To the editor,
When voters went twice to the ballet box to vote for citywide term limits, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, he and many city councilmembers did a third term. Many should have go the way of the dinosaur for being totally useless and damaging many neighborhoods with their votes. Many of the good councilmembers are also replaced, but to get rid of the bad ones benefits us all. So now we’ve got another scandal in Albany with Shelly Silver, the disgraced former house speaker. In the state legislators term limits should not be a dirty word.
We have a right to have legislators working for us all of the time, and not devoting half of their time to their other lucrative interests.
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
Heal Gotham
To the editor,
As a mayoral candidate Bill DeBlasio didn’t hide his intentions for changes in the NYPD if he won the election. As mayor he is keeping his promises for those reforms. I don’t believe that he is as anti-police as he is made out to be, after all look at his pick for police commissioner — Bill Bratton, a seasoned commissioner whose reputation preceded him for bringing the crime rate down under the Giuliani administration more than 20 years ago.
He is pro-cop and anti-crime, and advocates the “broken windows” policies now under fire maybe because they are being abused by a few officers.
New York is too great a city to be torn apart because of a possible misunderstanding of words by both the police unions and the mayor. It’s time for a new beginning, it’s time to heal, and it’s time for people like Al Sharpton not be given the platform he has been getting. We will heal, and all New Yorkers will be better off for it.
Chita Vilard
Flatbush
• • •
To the editor,
I was all for stop-and-frisk and the broken-windows theory because the crime rate in the city is so low I figured it has been working. Now it looks like stop-and-frisk might not have been as productive as first thought and was probably being abused by some officers.
Two occurrences come to mind that I know of. One concerned a man in his mid-50s drinking a can of beer in front of his house that he owns. He was given a ticket by a cop driving by in a patrol car for an open container and appeared in court two or three times before having to pay a $10 fine. Then a 19-year-old college student got a ticket for having her book bag on the seat next to her on an empty train car — no warning, just a ticket. Great police work if this is what’s meant by broken window policing. Give me a break!
Lenny Painter
Flatbush
D for discipline
To the editor,
Fewer suspensions for public school students who constantly misbehave? We must thank our ultra liberal politicians and school heads with their ideas that have created conditions in the schools that are out of control. Some schools are so bad that we need the National Guard to be called in just to restore order.
No one bothers to think of the well-behaved students who are prevented from learning by students who refuse to follow instructions and use the idea of school as a daycare center. I am tired of hearing the liberal excuses of teacher failure, more teacher training, alternate assessments for disruptive behavior, the total child, and other nonsense. Suspensions and expulsions are needed to reinforce the idea that when you’re in school, you come to learn.
Where is the teacher’s union in this matter? Out to lunch as always. Prior to my retirement it boasted about its expedited grievance procedure in dealing with class sizes. What expedited procedure? It is years later and the city has the largest class sizes. The union leadership couldn’t care less, as they have been out of the classroom for years.
Wake up folks. Schools will never improve until discipline problems are removed.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Silver stained
To the editor,
The federal indictment of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, should come as no surprise to anyone in Albany especially his fellow assemblymembers. Speaker Silver rules the State Assembly with the iron hand of a Don Corleone. Like the Godfather Silver has all the politicians (members of the Democratic Assembly caucus) in his pocket, keeping him in power.
The majority of his loyal flock supplement their base pay of $79,000 per year with lulus for chairing dozens of useless committees and subcommittees. These are up to $41,500. This can result in a salary of $121,000 per year. This is supplemented by day-to-day meal expense accounts and reimbursement for travel to and from Albany.
He controls whose bills come out of committee to a full vote, funding for member item pork barrel projects, staffing, mailings, and district office budgets. Speaker Silver also controls the Democratic State Assembly campaign committee which provides funding to the handful of members who actually have to run competitive races despite gerrymandered districts against Republican opponents. No wonder he was just re elected speaker by a near unanimous vote, including the 44 Republican members who live off of the crumbs that fall off the table. Who is going to bite the hand that feeds them?
This year would have marked the 22nd anniversary of Silver’s reign as speaker. Many wonder how he has lasted so long, given all the scandals committed by many former members of the Democratic State Assembly caucus over his tenure. Don’t forget the ongoing controversy about Silver earning between $650,000 to $700,000 per year from the personal-injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg. Now there is another investigation into Silver by federal authorities concerning payments to Silver from Jay Arthur Goldberg, a tax lawyer. Silver also works for Goldberg and Iryami, which manages property tax challenges. Silver has found the time in his busy schedule to work for these outside employers up to six days per week. He doesn’t work on Saturdays to observe the Sabbath. Evidently open transparency in state government does not apply to public disclosure for all of Silver’s outside employment hours and clients.
With five people replacing Silver in the proverbial room, the state will now be run by seven rather than three. Perhaps they should rent a suite at the Albany Hilton. Real reform to the cesspool of corruption in Albany will only come when all 150 members are in the room as equals free to speak their minds without fear of retribution from the Assembly speaker.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Cell hell
To the editor,
Public school teachers have enough to put up with disruptions as is, now we’re allowing cell phones in school. Recalcitrant, defiant students will never surrender their phones to teachers. In fact, they will look to provoke the teacher and then have one of their classmates snap a picture of a teacher attempting to take a phone away by making it appear that the teacher was assaulting the student.
Students will use such phones to text other students in and out of the classroom. Whether it’s the police or teachers, we have a problem of a clear refusal by people to accept authority. These new rules are coming from a mayor and chancellor who are trying to end suspensions for unruly students to begin with. Instead of attempting to enforce discipline in our schools, those in charge are making an already bad situation even worse.
It is also shocking that the unions agree with lifting the ban. Perhaps, if they were made to teach classes they would see what teachers have to put up with during a course of the school day.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Love n’ carriage
To the editor,
I’m hardly ever in Manhattan, but I was there to see a play and I couldn’t believe the enormous crowds in our most beautiful city. I was told by my wife I looked like Jethro Bodine from the Beverly Hillbillies, amazed at the sights in the big city. I guess I did. I had a very quick conversation with a pedicab driver who was stopped for the crowds crossing the street. He was young and looked exhausted, and he was sweating even though it was cold outside. I asked him “How’s it going?” He said in broken English, “I wish I was a horse, they get treated better.” Before he could say anymore the two overweight loudmouths in the back, who probably had had a few drinks, yelled, “Giddy-up, motherf…..” while tossing pieces of pretzel at the driver’s back, and he rode away.
The only thing I could think about the rest of the night was that Mayor Bill DeBlasio is so hell-bent on getting carriage horses off the streets for reasons that have nothing to do with the safety or mistreatment of the horses because it is proven these majestic animals are well taken care of. They are probably better off than the pedicab drivers because the carriage driver is not only a buffer between the horse and obnoxious riders, but also because he or she loves that horse the way you and I love our pets — they are part of the family.
Mayor DeBlasio wake up and leave the horses alone. Crack down on some of the idiots who ride pedicabs, and give the pedicab drivers the same attention and concern you have been giving to the horses. The carriage horses add to the city’s beauty. I’ll remember that night forever, including the young man who would rather be a horse.
Peter G. Orsi
Marine Park
Black-n-white
To the editor,
A brouhaha was reported recently in the media against Target stores. It seems as though they put out an advertisement showing a white Annie! If I remember right, Annie in the comics was white, along with Daddy Warbucks. In the first good Annie movie the title characters, like the comics, were white. The new movie “Annie” is made with a black cast as another feel-good attempt, bowing to the black community. I hope they enjoy it, as my family will not pay good money to see it. But wait, as they say on the infomercials, there is more. David Letterman got into a bit of hot water when he made fun of the new James Bond movie. After decades of Ian Fleming’s 007 hero being white, the new movie is based on a black 007. Go figure, I guess it is artistic license at the extreme.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Freedom blighters
To the editor,
From now on Hollywood should run new movie scripts by all rogue nations and terrorists before wasting millions of dollars on movies they won’t be able to show because one of them doesn’t want it shown.
This should also apply to book writers and publishers, and other artists and teachers. This isn’t the first time I’ve been ashamed of my country since Obama became president, but it is the first time I ever felt so angry because we are losing a constitutional right — freedom of expression — that our men and woman in uniform fought and died for.Cronin Miller
Midwood
Terrorist scum
To the editor,
It is a crying shame to see that Sony entertainment knuckled under to the demands of terrorist scum. Their cowardice has again empowered low-lifes to threaten our people and land, and possibly carry out another 9-11 attack. Each time Americans cower under threats we sink faster and faster into a shivering, sniveling, third-world power.
I say that the people of America, its leaders, military, and corporations come to terms of how great this country really is, grow a big pair, then stand up and launch a large scale 9-11 attack of our own. It’s time to silence and ignore the spineless, politically correct jellyfish that control our once-proud government, and put our full answer to terrorism where our military is.
The world is being taken over by threats from North Korean slime, Taliban cretins, and other religious and governmental dictatorships. The longer we and the remaining democracies let things slide, the more terrible the inevitable war between them and us will become.Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Cop-n-community
To the editor,
What really bothers me when I hear my neighbors in Brighton Beach and Coney Island complain about the lack of adequate police protection: Gee, the only time there are more police presence is during the summer, and mostly in Coney Island.
So the bottom line is other precincts lose officers because they are on detail elsewhere. Under Mayor Bloomberg he decided to cut the starting pay for police rookies, so why would anyone think of becoming a police officer
Where are the auxiliary cops that once were a presence in Brighton Beach? What happened to the uniformed officers I’d see on a daily basis walking up and down Brighton Beach Avenue? I’m aware that the 60th Precinct has undercover cops, but seeing uniformed cops would be a greater deterrent to any potential crime.
I’ve have been going to the community council meetings month after month, and the constant concerns from the resident about shootings seems similar to Chicago. To quote Councilman Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island), the police force needs to keep pace with the city’s population growth,
Many years ago Chicago had high-rise projects where crime was rampant. People did not know who their neighbors were, and shootings became a way of life. What the smart politicians finally did was to take down the projects and replace them with small townhouses. Then people began taking pride in their neighborhood and got to know their neighbors. Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
When, oh, when?
To the editor,
When are black leaders going to speak up and condemn black-on-black crime, instead of blaming cops? When are Muslim leaders going to condemn the senseless murders of innocent people by the radical Muslims? When will parents take responsibility for their young children? When will fathers raise their children with their wives, instead of just making a baby and walking away? When will the exaggerated claims of racism and the war on woman finally end? When will teachers stop getting the blame for failing students who don’t do their homework or even show up for school? When will the borders be secured? When will politicians stop lying to us? When will the streets in my area pave the streets that have been torn up for months?Maureen Parker
Sheepshead Bay
Toll-light robbery
To the editor,
The article on the toll of the Verrazano Bridge was more telling than you know (“Bridging the gap: MTA wants to raise Verrazano tolls to balance budget,” Nov. 20). So there are 180,000 vehicles crossing the bridge daily with a daily revenue of $936,000, according to a transit spokesman. If you take half of the 180,000 and they pay $10 for EZ-Pass and have the other 90,000 vehicles ride free, that would still bring in a revenue of $1,800,000. Realistically, where is all the money collected in tolls really going?Joe Donato
Park Slope
Problem students
To the editor,
It has often been said that teachers and the police know the city best. Both have been under the gun by either the Bloomberg or DeBlasio administrations. What’s the liberal answer for unsatisfactory schools? More teacher training. What’s the liberal answer to alleged abuses by police? More police training.
Let’s stop the nonsense and put the blame squarely where it deserves to be put. Our schools are failing because of the students who get away with everything and as a result feel that they can continue their disruptive ways as adults. Hence they meet confrontations with the police and soon learn that with the police you don’t play.
Let’s examine the school records of all those accused of crimes, and who did not follow police instructions not to resist.. We would find unsatisfactory behavioral records in schools. As students, they caused such mayhem that the teacher probably got blamed for not being able to “control” them and therefore received unsatisfactory ratings. Let’s end this cycle of stupidity and concentrate on the students who are disruptive in school. When nothing is done, they will invariably become emboldened criminals as adults, fully eager to challenge authority. There is a complete lack of respect for authority figures. That’s when our problems begin.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
War heroes
To the editor,
When I read that soldier Brent Grommet’s German shepherd was taken from him when they returned from war, it made me very sad and as mad as hell. This young soldier and his dog, Matty, were together from the beginning at basic training to deployment in Afghanistan. Both were injured by a roadside bomb.
Specialist Grommet suffered traumatic brain injury, hearing loss, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This soldier who fought for his country, sustained serious injuries, and was almost killed only wants his partner and best friend back with him. This is not only a very small price to ask for, but it is also the law. Robby’s Law passed in 1990 and was signed by Bill Clinton.
This hero was told by higher-ups not to speak to the media about Matty the dog or he would wind up in Leavenworth. Talk about loyalty. These two want to be together again and deserve to be. Didn’t the government already do enough to disrespect and harm our veterans with the Veterans Administration scandal? I’m not holding my breath for the return of the dog to his best friend, after we saw the way the U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi was held in a Mexican prison for more than 200 days, but I sure will be praying that Specialist Grommet and Matty are reunited. I would hate to think some bigwig took the dog home to his family and won’t give it back or worse. This is the very least we could do for one of our hero’s who was willing to put his life on the line for us.
I think those monsters being held in Gitmo are being treated better than we treat our own veterans. Our president authorized the release of five monsters for the return of one army deserter. Mr. President can’t you authorize the release of one dog for a hero?Rosie Boxer
Rockaway, N.Y.
Credit gas-bags
To the editor,
I went to a gas station expecting to use my VISA card to fill up my tank. Imagine my horror when I was told that by my using VISA to pay for the gasoline, the price would be 13 cents more per gallon! Yes, $3.45 cash per gallon versus $3.57 VISA per gallon. Outrageous.
I always knew VISA to be 10 cents more per gallon, but now it’s 13 cents more per gallon if one uses a credit card. Aaarrrgh.A. Smith
Mill Basin
Edu-vacation
To the editor,
I saw in the paper that so many children were absent more than 10 percent of the time during the last school year. This doesn’t take into account the students who are marked present and then proceed to cut classes and cause mayhem during the day.
My favorite was when parents would come to school and inform me and other teachers that they were going on vacation for 10 days to two weeks and demand that we give them the work in advance so that their child wouldn’t fall behind. This is absolutely ridiculous. If the child was not there when the work was being taught, the best the teacher could do was to give them pages to read and questions to answer from the texts. The supervisory staff should have stepped up to the plate to remind the parent that school was in session and that these vacation days were totally illegal. This was never done because principals fear parents.
Years ago if a child was absent excessively, the child was not promoted. This would never occur today, as supervisors look to get rid of children who are chronic discipline problems and whose absences are a relief both for them and the teacher.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Dems the breaks
To the editor,
Yes, it’s super important to be informed and to have opinions but a constant, repetitive drone of negativity, cynicism, anger, and fear accomplishes nothing. It’s far too easy to be critical of others. It’s much more difficult to devise something positive and or good, or to invest the time and effort necessary to become actively involved in local or larger issues and programs in place, or to spend some time trying to offer up something positive: an idea, a movement, or even something already in place that might spark change for the better.
C’mon, two wrongs do not make a right. Just because the other (red) side does it does not mean “we” should too. “We” lost the 2014 midterm elections because the right messages weren’t getting put out and what was being said did not engage the voters enough to get them to actually vote. Maybe it’s time to try other tactics?Barry Brothers
Homecrest
Blott Stringer
To the editor,
Comptroller Scott Stringer is a spoiled child having a temper tantrum. Perhaps he needs a time out. Who knew that taxpayers are paying for members of the NYPD Intelligence Division to serve as his personal security detail. Stringer recently fired four of New York’s Finest from this security detail because they were late in picking him up from his expensive Manhattan home one morning. Is anyone aware that Stringer is the target of any terrorist groups which would merit this level of protection? I seriously doubt that al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Islamic State or any other terrorists are even aware of his existence.
Municipal employees could never get away with the same abuses. They could not use city vehicles during work hours to chauffeur spouses around town. At a minimum, they would have to reimburse the city for the costs of all these personal trips. The Department of Investigations needs to take a look at this serious potential waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayers dollars.
Let Stringer assign one of his several hundred staff members to serve as his personal chauffeur. Better yet he could set an example and follow Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick’s bill requiring employers with 20 or more workers to sign up for transit checks. Stringer could do likewise and give up both his free parking space at City Hall and his special police parking permit. He can use his transit check to purchase MetroCards. 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. Stringer talks about being a friend of the 99 percent, yet he prefers the perks of a one percenter.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
MTAaaargh!
To the editor,
There was a time long ago when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s etiquette campaign to bring back good manners — “It’s A Subway Car, Not A Dining Car” and “Stop the Spread Please Its a Space Issue” — was not necessary. In the 1960s it was common to find both penny gum and soda machines dispensing products at subway stations. Clean and safe bathrooms were readily available. It was a time when people respected authority and law.
Previous generations of riders did not litter subway stations and buses leaving behind gum, candy wrappers, paper cups, bottles, and newspapers. No one would openly eat pizza, chicken or other messy foods while riding a bus or subway. Everyone paid their way and there was no fare evasion.
Today riders have to deal with conductors who close the doors while crossing the platform attempting to transfer from a local to the express train. Try looking for the proper way to depose of your old newspaper as more trash cans are removed from more stations. Riders have to deal with aggressive panhandlers, people eating as if at home or in a restaurant, those hogging two seats, yawning, coughing or sneezing without covering and the release of flatulence. Women are periodically accosted by gropers while perverts engage in other unhealthy sexual activities.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Helping hand
To the editor,
I remember when you could get a Kit Kat chocolate bar for 50 cents. In my Brooklyn neighborhood there are places you can get one for a dollar, but a few nights ago, with a certain hunger in my stomach I walked past a certain drug store and when I handed the clerk my Kit Kat bar I was reminded that the last time I was in there I was surprised that it cost $1.51. It seemed outrageously high, but like I said I was hungry, so I said to the clerk, “It’s $1.51, isn’t it?” She smiled while scanning it and said, “Yes.”
I said, “If I had travelled through time from 30 years ago and was told $1.51, I would be stunned.” She smiled and took my two dollar bills and handed me 49 cents in change. I walked outside the store and thoroughly enjoyed the eating experience of the four long, thin pieces of chocolate that make up the bar. So to the point and so sweet. Now, somewhat less hungry I made my way up the avenue. looking forward to my arrival home to have a full dinner. Maybe because I still had a growling in my stomach I stopped in my tracks when I saw a bedraggled-looking man who seemed to be homeless leaning against a building with a sign in front of him with a cup out. I reached into my pocket and thought if I didn’t have any change I didn’t want to give him a whole dollar. Then I remembered the 49 cents change from the outrageously overpriced Kit Kat bar. I dug deeper into my pocket and even though I could feel no change I knew it was in there and I kept digging until I found that one quarter that was in there. When I located it I pulled it out and walked over to the man and before I even dropped the quarter into his cup he looked at me with appreciative eyes and said, “Thank you so much.”
I heard the coin hit the other coins in the cup and I wished him well. He smiled and then I noticed what his sign said: “Thank you for any kindness.” So to the point and so sweet. I resumed my walk home and about a minute later it hit me — the Kit Kat bar had not been outrageously overpriced. It had been the right price, for it enabled me to have that quarter change to give to that man. It reminded me that whatever hunger I have in my stomach there are people much hungrier, and when we can, it’s good for us to lend a helping hand.
Alan Magill
Midwood
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
TV ‘drivel’
To the editor,
It was sad to see that the only “free,” 24-hour, over-the-air news station, CBS-TV digital channel 2.2 has ended. In its place is another mindless series of old TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s.
Since the inception of digital television almost a decade ago many stations have added many sub-channels, which are nothing more than bastions for old movies, vintage television series that no one watched even when they were new, and other “fluff” to fill in the hours.
CBS-TV gave viewers not wanting to be shackled to cable or satellite TV a much-needed flow of news, information, traffic and weather reports. Now due to greed, yes greed, it is gone. It seems as though they will make much more from advertising revenues ending the news and replacing it with garbage.
I guess that the 80 some odd channels of Spanish language sitcoms, Chinese docudramas, Indian comedies, and the usual network drivel will push me, and thousands of other New Yorkers, back to the radio and Internet for news from now on.
Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
