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Brooklyn Daily
To the editor,
There was a rally held at Trump Village on Oct. 15 that I mistakenly thought was a protest regarding the closing of the Trump Village shopping center. Instead it was a group of disgruntled, divisive people, protesting the joining of the naturally occurring retirement communities in Trump Village 3 and Trump Village 4.
They are a group of very vocal people who have done nothing to make the joining easier. They have mistakenly said that Trump Village 3 has taken their money, while not accepting the fact that the funding was cut for both groups. And as much as we would all like to be separate, it is not feasible at this point in time. They have wasted the time of your reporter, who wrote an article about the closing of the Trump Village shopping center, and I believe she thought she was there for that rally, not the angry, hate-filled one she attended.
At this time we need to be Trump United, with our priority being the shopping center. We do not need a divisive group of people out for their own agenda, instead of what’s most important. After all, what’s more important, having to share a bus with another group of people, or losing our banks, pharmacy’s and medical centers?Elaine Berger
Trump Village
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To the editor,
I was horrified to learn of the plan to build condos in Trump Village. I do not live in Trump Village, but I have friends, senior citizens, who do and depend upon the stores in the development for their food, drugs, and other necessities. However there is an even bigger problem that needs to be addressed before condos can be built — traffic. My friends do not drive, but they do need to cross streets, usually using canes or walkers.
Trump Village is right next to Ocean Parkway, one of the most dangerous roadways in Brooklyn. I have lost track of how many accidents have occurred on the parkway since I moved here 36 yeas ago, and how many memorials I have seen — balloons, flowers, dolls, candles etc. — on Ocean Parkway for those who didn’t survive. The last thing this area needs is more cars on Ocean Parkway. Undoubtedly, the residents of the new condos will have cars. If the stores are torn down, these residents will have to drive on Ocean Parkway to get to supermarkets, drug stores, and malls. They may also drive to and from work on Ocean Parkway. Also, for medical care, they may drive to Coney Island Hospital where the traffic is even more horrendous, and crossing Ocean Parkway is practically impossible for pedestrians.
I think we should leave the stores where they are, disallow the condos, and concentrate on doing something about the traffic on Ocean Parkway.
Elaine Kirsch
Gravesend
Vote smart
To the editor,
Know a candidate’s public record, if you really want to be an informed voter. Go to votesmart.org, where you can find a report card by a group that takes no stand on who to vote for. Highly praised by all, the only aim of this group is to make every voter informed on candidates running in an election. No longer need we depend on television commercials or smiling faces in a newspaper. Now we can get the facts just by going to votesmart.org. The 21st century is truly here.David Raisman
Bay Ridge
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To the editor,
There is an election coming up in two weeks and so this is the time to share some thoughts about the socio-political state of my city, state and country. All of us who are eligible to vote should get informed and then vote, at each and every election possible, with a considered mind and heart.
I believe that the time is long overdue for the voting public to take control of how government best works, so that it addresses the needs of the people. All this talk of voting laws is nonsense because those who are already in power protect their own interests, not those of the people they are sworn to represent.
Rather than having politicians being paid for their time of service, they should mainly be paid based on the outcomes of their efforts, much like many of these politicians are suggesting is necessary for educators, and as I suggest should be done for professional athletes. The voting public should be able to vote on — or suggest and then prioritize — several issues that the candidate must address and work toward resolving during the tenure of their office. Yes, sure, unforeseen issues might arise but, so what? This way, they are being graded on how well they address the needs of the people. Call it a form of participatory democracy.
I don’t believe that the weight of the overall population of the country is well represented, especially in the Senate where, for example, the two senators from Wyoming (population roughly 600,000) carry the same weight as the two senators from New York state (population roughly 20 million)?
Barry Brothers
Homecrest
Republi-con Party
To the editor,
It is amazing that today in the U.S. we have so many people who argue against science, and argue against higher-order thinking skills. One of the planks in the Texas Republican platform is to remove classes in critical-thinking skills from college curriculums. The ability to use our senses and apply logic is greatly to the benefit of people, yet there are people who prefer to not only refute facts, but to deprive others from being exposed to this information.
In the 1960s we forced school integration and changed several laws. The national guard was required to escort some students of color into their new schools to enforce the new law. Several decades later, these laws were so successful some folks began to ask whether we still needed carefully enforced anti-discrimination laws, and even some sane people had to wonder whether it would always be appropriate to give special placement to people based on their race. But the bigots were still alive. They had just been keeping silent (to some degree) in public settings, since sentiment had turned against them.
In some pockets of the country there were lots of repressed haters, and the conservative one percent (who also own the media) did everything they could to attract the haters, and fan the fire of that hate, to distract them from focusing on the fact that the rich were taking all the profits of enhanced digital productivities, and were engaging in class warfare in a never-ending attempt to drive down costs in the name of increasing profits. And they used their increased profits to “back” (purchase) legislators and to create legislations that were more profitable to the corporations which wanted those particular laws. And some people joined the hating, because the incentive of joining a group of haters so you can feel better about yourself is the same as it ever was.
The Republican Party is shamelessly aligned with corporations (business), and cares much more about business profits than it does about workers (people). Republicans fight against fair-pay laws, propose and implement legislations to do away with a minimum wage, try to outlaw unions, and try to reduce or eliminate taxes for the wealthy and corporations while taking the money from programs that support the public, especially the middle and lower classes. Also, because the causes Republicans represent would not appeal to the general public, they adopt strategies of using propaganda to misinform and mislead, defaming their opponents rather than debating them. Republicans support and try to appeal to the extremist fringe groups, including religious extremists, homophobes, misogynists, and xenophobics. Republicans strategically attempt to create an atmosphere of fear and distrust among the public so they constantly make up conspiracy stories, which occupy the news programs and divert attention from the corporate control of government. Nasty, selfish stuff. In fact the current Republican selfishness is so extreme that they have consciously adopted a strategy of blocking all progress for America if they are not the elected party in office. They will not pass bills benefiting America unless Republican goals of further increasing the wealth of the wealthy (by cutting programs helping the public, like Social Security, food stamps, and Medicare) are included. They are essentially trying to hold America hostage.
And that is why we should boycott the Republican Party, and urge our friends to do that too. We need a legislative body that represents the people of our country, and is less controlled by business interests. Paul Fox
Bay Ridge
Speed demons
To the editor,
Time after time I’ve either read or heard about many hit-and-runs by cars where someone was usually killed. It was no surprise about a women being hit and killed by a biker in Central Park. I feel sorry for the family that lost a wife and mother. The down side about Brighton Beach is some bikers think the Boardwalk is a place to speed. We’ve got seniors, and children who use the Boardwalk, and in my heart I hope neither gets hit by some out-of-control biker.
When you bike down Emmons Avenue and make a left turn, there are bike lanes going from south to north, and on the other side of the street the lane goes in the opposite direction. Crossing over Coney Island Avenue going west there is a bike lane, and once again on the other side of the street there is a bike lane which ends at Neptune and Coney Island avenues as well. What do we consider a sidewalk? Not a place for anyone to bike ride, but for people to walk on. Being courteous of walkers should be the theme and concern every day.
Jerry Sattler
Brighton Beach
‘Flawed’ system
To the editor,
The American system is extremely flawed. Virtually everything we, as school students, were taught academically is made up of bull. The school system does not teach us how to be independent thinkers, but instead it teaches us how to be dependent drones. The employment workforce is, and always will be, racist and sexist. Society is biased against gays, but too chicken to even attempt to investigate the massive corruption that takes place behind the walls of the federal government.
The Catholic Church is guilty of all of the above. Its members secretly molest young boys, then dictate to gays about how they should live. They don’t say a word about the genital mutilation of young African girls. Pompous, holier-than-thou believers. See them, don’t wanna be them.
Everyone is too busy and too content worrying about what someone else has or what someone is wearing. People should mind their own business.
Sebastian Casalenova
Bensonhurst