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Brooklyn Daily
To the editor,
Shavana Abruzzo, your Jan. 10 column beat all (“Inauguration Day Bill-oney,” A Britisher’s View).
I simply must Xerox it numerous times and hand it out to friends who rave about our Mayor Bill-oney DeLazyo.J. Dwyer
Mill Basin
Jo, spot on!
To the editor,
Boy, did Joanna DelBuono ever nail it on a pet peeve of mine in this post-modern age of hyper-everything and much-ado-about-much-less hysteria (“Jo on ‘polar vortex’ and end of days,” Not for Nuthin’, Jan. 10).
I’m starting to formulate an unwritten thesis on “fear, panacea for the unmotivated planet-parasite, who needs something ominous to worry about after exhausting all other forms of video and i-diversion.”
Yes, it is true that disaster unites us in compassion and sacrifice, bringing out the very best in us, and perhaps that has its logical place in the daily unrelenting pathos of human nature. What to do? What to do?
Eureka! Keep ’em vigilant, looking for the next looming doom, while I contemplate the scope of tomorrow’s possible pandemic — the pathology of pre-mortem boredom.J. J. Lauria
Sheepshead Bay
Watching Will
To the editor,
I remember, not too long ago, when your publications were known for their hard-hitting, fair, unbiased, non-partisan political reporting of Brooklyn, the city, and the state. It was unequaled anywhere in the metropolitan area.
I hope that Will Bredderman’s “Will’s Watch” will continue this tradition. I look forward to reading his column every week.Henry Finkelstein
Sheepshead Bay
• • •
To the editor,
I read with great interest Will Bredderman’s recent article regarding the possible run of Timothy Cochrane and-or Thomas McCarthy as the Republican candidates for Assembly in the 46th Assembly District (“Worked over! Brooklyn’s gain in Council speaker battle is Democrats’ loss, experts say,” Will’s Watch, online Dec. 30, 2013).
So that there is no misunderstanding, neither Marcus Aurelius Nussbaum, myself, nor the Fiorello LaGuardia Republican Organization, has received any requests from any possible candidates for such an office, which by right, is usually sanctioned by the official elected leadership of that political party from that particular district. While we will entertain requests for interviews and endorsements, it has yet to be decided whether the Fiorello LaGuardia Republican Organization will run its own candidates for the office of Assembly or any other office pertaining to the Republican line in the 46th Assembly District.
What is strange and somewhat disturbing is the fact that Republican operatives in Brooklyn are continuing to use divisive actions, rather that try to unite our beleaguered Republican Party in Brooklyn. We have not been able to elect any Republican Assembly members wholly in Brooklyn since 1986.
Regardless of who is the “chairman” of the Republican Party in Kings County, when it comes to the 46th Assembly District, the reality of the situation is that the victory of Marcus Aurelius Nussbaum and I over the other candidates for Republican leadership, who were endorsed and supported by state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge) and Rep. Michael Grimm (R–Bay Ridge-Staten Island). Our victory proves that the Republican voters of the 46th Assembly District wanted a change and new direction in Republican leadership and they voted for it!
We are not allowing these divide-and-conquer tactics within our district, and as Republican leaders, we work hard to see that Brooklyn Republicans will vote their opinion once again!
Lucretia Regina-Potter
The writer is the Republican district leader of the 46th Assembly District.
Coney bucks
To the editor,
I think it is wonderful that the city’s regional council awarded the Alliance for Coney Island a grant for $225,000 to improve tourism in Coney Island (“Gelt for People’s Playground,” Standing O, Jan. 10).
As an educator and community activist in Coney Island, I would like to see some of the money earmarked for a focus on Coney Island travel and tourism in our schools. Aside from going to the amusement area during the summer months, it would be wonderful to engage our students with a focus on the People’s Playground all year round.
The focus on Coney travel and tourism would involve marketing, management, law, journalism, and broadcasting. We encourage the learning to take place in the classroom, the community, and through internship opportunities.
The best way to promote Coney Island tourism is to involve the whole community. They call it the People’s Playground for a reason.Scott Krivitsky
The writer is a teacher at }PS 188 in Coney Island.
Marty’s ‘rip-off’
To the editor,
I saw your free paper by accident in a subway car, and it had some good articles.
I wanted to write you about your big article about the political (highly paid) parasite, former Borough President Markowitz, a piece of garbage. All borough presidents are taxpayer rip-off jobs, and I condemn the high salary these parasites get for doing very little.
Your paper should demand all of the rip-off borough “presidents” earn a $30,000-a-year salary, and leave office after four years.
Name withheld on request
Mayor DeBlasé
To the editor,
I am totally puzzled. I went to the city to look up tax figures on Mayor DeBlasio’s home at 384 11th St. It appears to be owned by three people — Chirlane and Bill DeBlasio, and Bill’s mother, Maria Wilhelm, who died a few years ago.
Isn’t one supposed to change the names on ownership after a death?
Name withheld upon request
• • •
To the editor,
Mayor DeBlasio calling for a fair share of financial assistance from Washington, DC, is the same tired old rhetoric from decades ago that has grown stale over time.
His reference to the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, concerning his analysis that New York sends more taxes to Washington than it receives back in aid, is true. The same argument could be made by each of the city’s five boroughs and 59 community planning boards. You could take this analysis down to the census track level. Other cities and states can make similar arguments, and have done so.
With a municipal budget of $70 billion and growing, how will Mayor DeBlasio manage his existing city, state, and federal resources? The city’s municipal budget is greater than most states, and even many nations.
It is difficult to convince Capitol Hill for more money, when the country is currently running annual budget deficits close to $1 trillion, accompanied by long-term debt exceeding $17 trillion, and growing. Ditto for Albany with a long-term debt approaching $70 billion.
Perhaps Mayor DeBlasio needs to put his own fiscal house in order before asking Albany and Washington for more assistance.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Carmen’s to-do list
To the editor,
At least new Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina will not need a waiver, as previous several chancellors have needed.
With her experience, she doesn’t need on-the-job training, regarding the intricacies of the city’s public school system. Nonetheless, she must concentrate on lowering class size, removing disruptive children from classrooms, and placing them in alternative 600 schools, removing Leadership Academy principals who never taught but are now rating teachers, and returning Absent Teacher Reserve teachers to the classroom to teach and not do substitute work.
She must also focus her attention on vocational education, and drop her idea of being against homogeneous class grouping.
Slower students can’t keep up with brighter pupils, and the latter shouldn’t be held back by the teacher having to stop the lesson to explain things over and over to slower learners.
Glad to see that Farina believes in content education, and the importance of returning social studies, science, and the arts to the classroom.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
...
To the editor,
All the best to new Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina. I think she was a good pick and well qualified.
I hate to be a pessimist, but I don’t think anyone can fix this school system until the parents of the students change. Parents must realize that their responsibility starts before their child goes to school, and again when they get back home.
Parents must send their child off to school with a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast. They must teach their children to respect their teachers, be quiet in the classroom, pay attention, and do their homework. After school, children must have someone there to ask how their day went, and to make sure they do their homework.
Parents — yes parents in the plural — should answer calls from the teacher and attend open school meetings. Stop blaming the teachers, the principal, the aides, the paras, the system, the school, and the price of potatoes in Hawaii.
If you can’t take care of your child and be there for him or her, and if you don’t stand by and support the teachers, then don’t complain when your child fails. Take a good look in the mirror, that’s who is to blame.Maureen Parker
Sheepshead Bay
Cat coincidink
To the editor,
I had just finished writing a short story about a cat named Harmonica. The cat’s owner in the piece used to play the harmonica, until he bartered it to get the feline.
Then I went down to the laundry room in my apartment to check on my clothes. Who do I see in the laundry room, but a cat who I have never seen there before. Two minutes later, I’m waiting for the elevator and when the doors open there are eight people on it and it’s cramped, so I said I’d wait for the next elevator.
But one man would have none of that and he said they’d make room for me which they did. The doors closed and just as we started to go up, someone took out a harmonica and began playing.Alan Magill
Midwood
August teaser
To the editor,
It is true that Aug. 2014 will have five Fridays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays (“Magical 2014,” Sound Off to the Editor, Dec. 20, 2013). But to say this happens once every 823 years is untrue.
This cycle happens every August when the first of the month falls on a Friday. It happened in Aug. 2008, 2005, 1997, 1986, 1980, 1975, and 1969. I figured all of this out in my head.Eugene Fellner
Bergen Beach