Readers sound off on housing migrants, high heels and Golda Meir
Floyd Bennett Field shouldn’t continue this way
Rockaway Beach: Mayor Adams, you know as well as I do that the Floyd Bennett Field migrant camp is unsustainable. It’s time to get the migrants out of there and close that tent city down. The winter has barely begun and already you’ve had to evacuate them because of a winter storm. By law, there should have been an evacuation plan. Clearly, there wasn’t, since you decided to kick children out of James Madison High School and house the migrants there. That was completely unacceptable!
Last week, the wind chill was 7 degrees with wind gusts up to 50 mph! How is that working out for the migrants living in tents?
All the good people of Rockaway and Marine Park who have struggled, sacrificed, worked hard and saved their money to live in a nice, safe neighborhood are being put in danger! Migrants are knocking on doors begging for money, even entering people’s homes, harassing people on the street, shoplifting and driving unregistered cars. They’re banging on the windows of cars stopped at red lights, looking for rides because they’re cold!
How many bicycles, wagons, etc. will be stolen from people’s yards next summer? How long until this turns violent? Armed robberies? Assaults? Rapes? Murders? How long until a migrant walks into the wrong yard or house and catches a beating or gets shot?
Enough is enough, Mayor Adams! Do your job! Respect the people who put you in office! Come down off your high horse and do right by the legal, taxpaying citizens of your city! Shame on you! George Johnson
Under his spell
Bronx: They see migrants die at the border and are glad. They see children separated from their mothers and are glad. They see the riots on Jan. 6 and are glad. They see a convicted misogynist and say, “Fake news.” They see a man who has denigrated our veterans and POWs, Gold Star Families and ignore. They see a man who praises dictators and tyrants and agree. They are as sick and demented as he is. John Cirolia
Equal treatment
Yaphank, L.I.: Politicians, judges and all those who hold public office are no better than anyone else and should not be treated any better. Praise and respect are due to everyone, not just those in positions of authority. Those positions go to their heads. Richard Angione
Teetering talking heads
Amityville, L.I.: Not that I have a shoe fetish, but I can’t help but notice that women reporters on Fox News wear the most beautiful high-heeled shoes. They look impossible to walk in. They must change into more comfortable flats after the show. George Havriliak
Terse letdown
Astoria: When scanning a losing lottery ticket at N.Y. Lotto stores, the machines used to say, “Sorry, not a winner.” Now they just say, “Not a winner.” Another level of politeness and etiquette gone. Screw you, New York Lotto. My mother still thinks I’m a winner. Richard Melnick
Echoed by others
Brooklyn: I’m saddened to hear that Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las has died. Along with groups such as the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Chiffons and others from the early- to mid-1960s, they made some of the best pop songs and influenced many musicians. Their style and sound still have a big impact on pop, rock and hip-hop. Taylor Swift, Adele and Beyoncé are just a few contemporary vocalists who can trace their roots to Mary Weiss, who was certainly a “leader of the pack.” Ellen Levitt
Just missed it
Valhalla, N.Y.: Poor Buffalo! Wide right! In 1991, Super Bowl XXV, Buffalo lost to the Giants on another field goal that went wide right! Maybe they should move the goal posts a few feet to the right! Michael Grisanti
Playoffs playlist
Manhattan: As a Giants fan, I spend a bit of time watching other NFL teams play football and agree with Pat Leonard’s assertion that the Chiefs are the team to beat. Here are my proposed theme songs for the final four teams: 49ers: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Tony Bennett; Lions: “Respect,” Aretha Franklin; Ravens: “Get Ready,” The Temptations; Chiefs: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” Elton John. Susan A. Stark
Foregone revenue
Brooklyn: So Gov. Hochul’s budget proposal will charge congestion pricing evaders with fraud and treat them as criminals. The focus should be on the millions of dollars that subway fare cheaters get away with every day. Isn’t it ironic that congestion pricing is designed to help the subways out of the hole they are in (no pun intended)? Seems like the MTA had the financial ability to cure its own problem all along if only our local officials had the courage to do the right thing. Glenn Brown
Numbers thrown around
Roslyn, L.I.: As a New York Public Library retiree, I remember well the annual kabuki dance regarding the NYC budget. I heard City Councilmember Justin Brannan (Finance Committee chair) say on WNYC in November that there would be money, just not at that moment. Isn’t there also a surplus of some $2.6 billion? Yet, Mayor Adams announced draconian cuts to NYC programs across the board, then suddenly found funds after vehement protests from numerous groups. What’s wrong with this picture? It behooves the city to come up with a better process to avoid lots of needless aggravation and time-wasting. Camille Croce Dee
This isn’t that
Astoria: To Voicer Mel Moskowitz: What do you mean by Israel has to stop killing what’s left of the Palestinian population of Gaza? Even if we believe Hamas figures, the dead Palestinians are 25,000, which is less than 1% of the population. Is that genocide? Before World War II, for example, millions of Jews lived in Eastern Europe. At the end of the war, after 6 million Jews perished in the death camps, only a few thousand Jews were left alive. That is genocide. I wish no civilians would die in this Israel-Hamas war, but loss of human life is inevitable in any war. Soterios Vrontis
She chose violence
Bronx: To Voicer Charles Tal: The fact is that Golda Meir killed the Palestinian children. Her claim to have been forced to is B.S. She was a terrorist. W. Twirley
Hold the center
Rockville Centre, L.I.: Waves of hatred have permeated outer fringes of our society in the past, however, never has there been as encompassing an enmity from the younger generations as today. Ultra-progressive liberals, especially those who are ensconced in our institutions of higher learning, combined with the immigrants who sponsor violence and the supporters with narrow lives who espouse their misguided interpretation, are creating an “enemy from within” that will strive to destroy the fabric of our nation. And as it continues to fester, in time, this insidious movement will become a unitary organism inhabiting this great nation as a tapeworm dwells in a human body. Common-sense liberals and conservatives must coalesce into a social amalgamation on both these and similar issues before the Rubicon has been crossed and our once-great country falls too deep into the abyss. Jason Randazzo
Rejoiced
Oakland Gardens: How refreshing and surprising! That was our reaction as we turned to the Voice of the People on Christmas Day. Thank you for the many letters you chose to print recognizing the true meaning of the day, the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope all readers had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed a happy, healthy New Year! Thomas and Constance Dowd
One to worship
Manhattan: To Voicer Tom Rice: People flock to St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s Midnight Mass because the church is a tourist attraction. The Mass is only for the rich white donors who give millions, and whose names are on the wreaths put on the columns. However, the staff, maintenance and volunteers who decorate are the ones who are acknowledged for all their hard work to make it beautiful. Yes, there are other churches in the area, but no one else does Midnight Mass. Anne C. Taylor