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Brooklyn Daily
To the editor,
Thank you, Shavana Abruzzo (“A Britisher’s View”) for your column on the Tawana Brawley hoax and fiasco (“Time to come clean, Tawana,” Feb. 8).
It caused such an enormous amount of grief, namely to Steven Pagones and to many New Yorkers. Then-State Attorney General Robert Abrams also suffered severe humiliation as a result.
As far as Tawana Brawley is concerned, she obviously is devoid of enough character to tell the truth, even after all this time. Al Sharpton, who conspired with his lying cohorts C. Vernon Mason and Alton Maddox, has never been man enough to say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
We should not forget this hoax, as it caused much grief for many.
Good luck to Steven Pagones as he tries to rectify the hell he was falsely subjected to.Ruth Weiner
Sheepshead Bay
Jew haters
To the editor,
This letter is in response to those people who agreed that the speakers calling for divestment and other measures against Israel are free to talk, due to our freedom of speech provision.
Let us remember that anti-Semitism begins to thrive during increasingly difficult economic conditions. We saw this with the rise of Nazism in Germany. Didn’t the Nazis call for a boycott of all Jewish owned businesses on April 1, 1933?
Yes, we have freedom of speech, but we can’t go into a movie theater and yell “fire” as an example.
Let’s face it. Despite what others say, these advocates of a boycott and divestment are Jew-haters in every sense of the word. They hide behind their hatred for Israel by advocating all sorts of anti-Israeli measures.
We must always be on guard.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
Grand ol’ Gowanus
To the editor,
I read with great interest about artist Mie Olise using mud from our famously polluted Gowanus Canal for her works (“Mudslinging Art,” Feb. 8).
A recent visit to Nashville brought me the revelation that our “totally Brooklyn” canal can also be found in the OpryLand River.
Yes, during construction of the Grand Old “Opryland Hotel” in Tennessee, a large, navigable indoor river was constructed to ferry visitors around the mammoth complex. Builders decided to fill this river with water from every river-canal and named stream across the U.S. The oceans were included for good measure too.
A series of bronze plaques were strategically placed to tell the onlooker which state, river, or canal the water was taken from and placed into this grand man-made waterway. As one walks through the lush gardens and reads these plaques, it is a great feeling to see the majestic Mississippi, the powerful Colorado, the serene Monongahela, and our Gowanus flowing along the banks, together.
So when in Nashville for a great country music concert at the Grand Old Opry, stop by the hotel, look around and have dinner at the old Jack Daniels Saloon, or other restaurants on the banks of the Gowanus!Robert W. Lobenstein
Marine Park
Walk the line
To the editor,
If our illustrious mayor wants to remove clutter from the streets of New York by removing no-honking signs, why not remove the parking meters that have been replaced by Muni-Meters?
Paint a small line on the curb for each parking spot. This will give pedestrians more walking room and less of a chance to bump into them, while not paying attention to where they are going, while chatting on their cellphones.
Michael Mangiari
Dyker Heights
Suspen-shun
To the editor,
I must disagree with Ed Greenspan about teachers writing suspensions (“Class Control,” Letters to the editor, Feb. 8).
That would be a perfect out for the flunky teacher who cannot teach, and would spend the period writing suspend referrals. A good teacher usually has good class control and spends the period motivating students to learn.
There was a system in place whereby there was a dean of discipline for each grade, along with an assistant principal and a guidance counselor. Referrals were made by the teacher to the dean.
Infractions could be delivered for disruptive students, cutting class, fighting, bullying, stealing, and possession of weapons. The student would be called to respond to the referral. When necessary, a guidance counselor or parents were called in. Suspensions were down the road. Sadly, the shuffle was, in effect — you send me a bad apple, I’ll send you one of mine.
In 1988, New Jersey principal Joe Clarke maintained order with a bull horn and a baseball bat. Being fair, firm, and listening to students solved many problems.Ugo M. Rosiello
Mill Island
Pedal-gogues
To the editor,
Bicyclists from Chinese restaurants and pizza restaurants are terrorizing pedestrians.
I see them everyday riding their bicycles or motorized bicycles in both directions on the sidewalks, and in the street gutters against traffic. These creeps don’t even stop at red lights!
Last night I was almost killed by one of these delivery mules, who was not wearing any outer identification, making it impossible to tell which Chinese restaurant employed him.
Bicyclists also ignore the rules of the road. I am dreading the day when Mayor Bloomberg unleashes hoards of new cyclists on the city. I haven’t seen the police stopping to ticket improper bicyclists.
If a car was driving the wrong way, or on the sidewalk, our police would be all over them.
This is a sorry state of affairs!
Justine Swartz
Brooklyn Heights
Phoney Bill-loney
To the editor,
The worst kept secret in City Hall was Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio’s mayoral ambition (“Checkin’ in with: Bill DeBlasio,” online Feb. 6). The lines are clearly blurred between his day job and the new job he seeks.
DeBlasio has been engaged in a nonstop series of daily press conferences, news releases, issuances of various reports, letters to the editor, guest columns in newspapers, and publicity stunts for years. All of this was at taxpayers’ expense to raise his name identification with voters and grease the wheels for his intended 2013 mayoral run. Don’t forget his visiting every local and county Democratic Party clubhouse from the day after lame-duck Mayor Bloomberg took his last oath of office in January 2010.
Any public-opinion poll can tell you that the average citizen believes taxpayers would be better off if the useless office of the public advocate was abolished.
There has been a consistent political quid pro quo with DeBlasio. This started when he was a member of the City Council, and continues with him serving as public advocate. Look at his record with the United Federation of Teachers, and virtually all municipal labor unions. He has supported virtually all of the U.F.T. and city labor union demands. I challenge anyone to find examples of DeBlasio publicly disagreeing with the U.F.T. or other municipal labor unions on any major issues during his career. Check DeBlasio’s campaign filings with the Campaign Finance Board and see for yourself.
DeBlasio, like many other elected officials, are puppets of the U.F.T. and city labor unions’s strings, just like the politicians and judges were in the pocket of Don Corleone in “The Godfather.”
He would clearly not be able to represent the interests of parents, taxpayers, and business people when negotiating future contracts with the U.F.T. or any municipal labor unions if elected mayor.
The city will have a $70-billion budget next year with more than 200,000 employees. This is greater than most states and many nations. DeBlasio has never built a business, created jobs, met a payroll, balanced a multi-billion dollar budget, or managed any significant agencies with large numbers of employees.
His ego, just like those of his predecessors Mark Green and Betsy Gotbaum, is attempting to use the public advocate’s office as a stepping stone to the mayor’s office. He has no real qualifications for the second toughest job in America.
Now that he has finally come out of the closet and declared his candidacy, DeBlasio should avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest by resigning as public advocate today. End the charade and be honest enough to run full-time for mayor on his own time and dime.
Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Return the B37
To the editor,
Return the B37 bus to us.
It ran up and down Third Avenue — from Shore Road at the southern end of Bay Ridge to Downtown — round trip. It gave transportation, to, among many other locations, the Towers of Bay Ridge ironically located in Sunset Park where many seniors now reside, and to Lutheran Hospital, as well as other areas along the way.
When it was removed, the B70 was put in its place, only running round-trip along Third Avenue — from Shore Road at the southern end of Bay Ridge to Bay Ridge Avenue — leaving the rest of Third Avenue without any service.
The B37 should never have been removed in the first place, but that is history now. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has returned other routes that were previously taken away, and the B37, should have been included, in those returns.
Daniel Kanter
Bay Ridge
Killer justice
To the editor,
After reading the story about Ronell Wilson — the convicted cop killer who was found not to be mentally retarded at the time of the murders by Judge Nicholas Garaufis — I wondered if Judge Garaufis would also rule that if Wilson wasn’t discriminated by the Fire Department test years ago, he would have become a model citizen, and overturn his conviction and give him back pay, and allow him to retake the test.
Emma Stellabotte
Park Slope
Reach reporter Shavana Abruzzo at sabruzzo@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2529. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/BritShavana