NYC needs to rethink how it accommodates bikes
Bronx: Following the e-bike battery fires, the New York City Council is considering a bill to designate emergency evacuation centers. While this is laudable, what is unfortunate is the absolute lack of any legislation in the city or state that gets to the root of the problem.
Where is the legislation to require e-bikes and standard bikes to be regulated, like cars, with license plates, registration, annual inspections and insurance? Where is the legislation categorizing these as vehicles under the vehicle and traffic laws of the state?
We all look both ways now, before crossing, even on one-way streets, when the light says to walk, when there is a stop sign, and for that reason, we also look both ways on the sidewalks. The only law I know of requires cyclists to wear a helmet, and I’d be very surprised if anyone was ever issued a citation for riding a bike without a helmet. As for cyclists, the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, Central Park’s nine bike lanes, and the East Side “speedway” are where cyclists belong, not on the streets.
The argument that supports the bike lanes in Central Park (that there are no exits from the park on every block and that the bike lanes are circular) is absurd. Buses don’t stop on every block, and if the nine bike lanes are all in one direction, build a barrier between lanes 4 and 5, make a two-way roundabout, and remove bikes from the streets. Lauren Shapiro
Access denied
Manhattan: Another snafu with Access-A-Ride. They came to my house but left without taking me. I am legally blind. We are treated like crap. It’s disgusting. There needs to be an investigation, it’s a broken system. I had an important medical appointment. They don’t care. That driver just left and didn’t get out of the van. Helen Murphy
Big roast
Bronx: Re the roast of Tom Brady: Is this the message they want to send to today’s youth? Every word from every speaker drops the F-bomb and references to depraved sexual acts, degrading the mother of her children? Like summer school, without class. John Cirolia
The heart is not in it
Rochelle Park, NJ: Is it possible to get a reporter who actually likes the team he’s assigned to cover? Pat Leonard hates the Giants, hates Daniel Jones and has no idea how football works as a team without an offensive line, which the Giants’ brain trust hasn’t been able to fix in 10 years! Joe Montana, Dan Marino – even the GOAT wouldn’t have become the GOAT behind what the Giants consider a pro line. So get rid of Jones and see what the kid could have now that the Giants are actually trying to build a line, even without drafting an offensive lineman. Big mistake in the draft, not to mention all the coaching changes. No player could succeed in these conditions of instability in an organization, period! Brian Boyle
Full spectrum
Brooklyn: The hottest makeup brand is Revlon, with so many cool lipstick colors to choose from, including Silver City Pink, Silver City Red and a few others like I Got Chills Red lipstick and some gold, brown, pink and brown to round off. the line Anyone can spend $100 at any pharmacy. Rachel Hannon
Nasty naysayers
Syosset, LI: In 2020, the Voice of the People published my letter about Michael Avenatti and Lev Parnas being part of a rogues gallery in an attempt to denigrate Trump. Now we have Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, E. Jean Carroll and Omarosa. Are you kidding me? I guess when you hate someone enough, you’ll reach for literally any source, no matter how absurdly unbelievable, and then pretend they’re credible. I think they really believe we are all that stupid. Sheesh. Drew Oringer
Payment plan
Morristown, NJ: Michael Cohen, attorney, did it! Cohen needed the criminal conduct because he used it as leverage to be paid back the money he borrowed against the value of his house without his wife’s knowledge. Donald Trump wanted to use money because he doesn’t want an audit trail. Not a pretty picture, but please weigh the 34 crimes Trump is accused of versus a one night stand with a woman he regrets. Who among us has not done this? Trump had no reason to commit 34 crimes, because the event he kept secret was much less bad than the crimes he is accused of. Cohen did it! He did it because he needed to get paid. He is a bad man. Joseph Abbondanzu
Hijacked GOP
Brick, NJ: Before Donald Trump and the Republican Party put an end to this democratic republic, and while there is still freedom of speech and press, I want to say a few things. The party pollutes the public debate with lies, innuendo and clever misrepresentations on every issue. He has corrupted religion to the point that he will replace democracy with autocracy in the name of Jesus. The overwhelming evidence of Trump’s multifaceted criminality is simply denied and/or ignored. Instead of the Know Nothing Party of the past, America has its own Total Denial Party. Only Trump’s word qualifies as valid and operative. Trump often contradicts himself in the same paragraph, even the same sentence. His riffs are often irrational and impossible to understand. It doesn’t matter – his crowd only believes his last pronouncement! Nicholas S. Molinari
Handpicked
Redondo Beach, California: If Trump is elected, he could make Judge Aileen Cannon a Supreme Court justice. John Chevedden
Do not send invoices
Manhattan: Two lingering mysteries: One was the commercial with a catchy hook that was played incessantly on television, Kars4Kids, featuring a cast of pre-teens who were clearly not trained on the instrument – which was suddenly ripped from the ‘onde following the allegations that the recipients of the largesse were Jewish institutions. The other is the apparent free exemption granted to dozens of people who defaced lampposts and walls with flyers depicting kidnapped Israelis half a world away when candidates ran for local office. engaged in similar activities are heavily cloaked and pilloried in the press. Surely an attempt to enforce the law could not be called anti-Semitic, or could it? How would posters of murdered Gazans – men, women, children and infants – fare in our beautiful city? Aydin Torun
It requires intentions
Brooklyn: If the death of 35,000 people, including thousands of Hamas fighters, out of a population of 2 million is genocide, American troops committed genocide in World War II in the struggle to liberate France and Italy. The Normandy invasion killed around 20,000 French civilians and caused untold deaths from combat, disease, etc. in those countries during the many months of fighting. And what about the Union troops in the Civil War who bombarded Atlanta and Richmond for months on end, as well as the deaths from disease and starvation through the destruction of the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman’s march from Atlanta to Savannah and the Carolinas? Collateral killing of civilians during war is not genocide. The deliberate attempts to wipe out a people is, whether the Nazis try to wipe out everything with Jewish blood or Hutus try to wipe out the Tutsis in Rwanda. Please straighten your tongue. It helps to keep the facts straight. Martin Selbst
Abandoned initiative
Brooklyn: Funding for GrowNYC is being cut by the city. GrowNYC is a basic way for people to get involved in helping the environment. Composting is fundamental to recycling and sustainability. The organization is community oriented and educates participants. I’m sure this program is less expensive than most other programs, but it has been removed. I do not understand how most of the members of the City Council and the mayor proclaim to be environmental, educational and community promoters, but cut such a fundamental and caring program. Jessica Balter
Without certificate
Lynbrook, LI: Mayor Adams would like to use migrants for wildlife on city beaches. The only swimming these immigrants did was when they illegally entered the United States by crossing the Rio Grande. Steve Grogan
