See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
Brooklyn Daily
To the editor,
My longtime councilman was Domenic Recchia (D–Coney Island). Now he is running for Congress.
I want to ask him what he did for our area. I have the answer — nothing! Even when we were having a rough time we never saw Recchia anywhere. Don’t vote Domenic Recchia into Congress! He is far-famed as lazy. He isn’t interested in voters. He just cares about his warm place at City Hall.Carina Gen
Brooklyn
• • •
To the editor,
Councilman Domenic Recchia (D–Coney Island) is running for Congress, but he is just another career politician looking for his next meal ticket. Consider in 2013 he first was planning to run in the Democratic Party primary for city comptroller. Knowing he could not beat then-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who subsequently was elected, Recchia dropped out of the contest. Recchia then decided he really wanted to be Brooklyn borough president. Once again, knowing he could not beat then-state Sen. Eric Adams, who subsequently won, Recchia dropped out of the Democratic Party primary for this second public office.
He is the council’s former finance committee chairman and as part of his last municipal budget negotiations, he allocated $2.7 million of $11 million from his share of council members’ annual pork-barrel, member-item funding to groups in Staten Island — outside of his Brooklyn council district. This might make sense to him, but not taxpayers and intelligent voters. Everyone knew at the time he was attempting to make friends and win votes on Staten Island when considering his third consultation prize, running next month for the 11th Congressional District seat currently held by Rep. Michael Grimm, which encompasses all of Staten Island. Recchia’s justification for these expenditures was his desire to assist Staten Island residents impacted by Hurricane Sandy. If Recchia’s motivation was authentic and not politically driven, why didn’t he also allocate funding for residents of Gerritsen Beach and other neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens outside of his district? They were equally devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Recchia’s nose is longer than Pinocchio’s. If elected to Congress, who knows if Recchia will change his plans once again and run for another public office.Larry Penner
Great Neck, N.Y.
Voter info
To the editor,
This is a great voter site. Go to vote-ny.org/forVoters.aspx?State=NY and key in your zip code to see the ballot for the November elections. Remember, to be prepared is half the victory.
Joan Mangano
Mill Basin
Grimm payback
To the editor,
Four years ago I knocked on hundreds of Bay Ridge doors campaigning for Rep. Michael Grimm (R–Bay Ridge-Staten Island). I want to offer my apologies to all those I spoke to when I called him “the real deal.” I was fooled by a skilled deceiver.
Since 2010, Grimm has shown himself to not represent the values he said he supported, as he became just another self-aggrandizing, self-serving cog in the wheel of establishment politics in Washington. D.C. Yes, he lied to all the volunteers he needed that year.
Besides that, Grimm turned out to be someone with a very long history of criminal associations, unethical actions, and bizarre personal behavior. He is a national embarrassment. His 20-count indictment deals with tax fraud, lying under oath, and — worst of all — stealing from his poor workers. That indictment does not even include his campaign financing, which is also under investigation. None of this was what we worked for in 2010 when I was deep in the Grimm campaign. At least his challenger, Mike McMahon, was honest and not a national punch line. He never threatened to kill a reporter for asking him a question, a question about his financing Grimm still won’t answer.
The local political hacks do not care what Grimm’s ideology or ethics are, so long as he is their guy. And that is sad indeed.
Those of us familiar with the facts about Grimm find him unacceptable. For those who don’t care about the facts and just like his smile, well, that undermines our democracy. My regrets to all I spoke to in 2010 in support of Grimm. I was fooled. Don’t you be.Thomas Hilton
Bay Ridge
Editor’s note: Rep. Michael Grimm’s tax fraud trial is set to begin in Feb. 2015.
L’Chaim Deutsch
To the editor,
My family and I would like to thank Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay), who represents my district, for assisting us in the situation with the bus lane tickets, something we couldn’t handle ourselves (“City to dismiss most delayed bus-lane tickets,” online July 29). He helped to dismiss all tickets! He always answered our calls and listened to our problems.
It is nice to know that others care about our problems and will stand up and fight for us when we don’t know what to do. Again, I say thank you, Councilman Deutsch, and may God bless you. Keep up the good work. Yelena Vasilenko
Sheepshead Bay
‘Trump’-eteer
To the editor,
It is so sad that your readers waste space spewing out erroneous information (“Disgruntled rallyers Trump shopping center woes,” Sound Off to the Editor, Oct. 24). It is evident they lack understanding about the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community program. It clearly states the program was designed to offer senior services in their own building! Get your facts straight before you write false information.
The program does not mean seniors crossing unsafe streets with their walkers and canes, especially in the winter snow and ice. Even in good weather many are unable to walk across the street, down the block or around the corner.
It is so easy to pass judgement and call seniors angry and disgruntled when you are fortunate to be able to walk without pain or an aide. I have personally done more for this community and the senior population then you have hair on your head. Never has it been displayed with anger or hate towards anyone! For your information, the reporter knew she was there for the senior rally! However, she didn’t expect to be cornered with people screaming about the shopping center. Wonder who put those signs up to distract from our senior rally and send a mob to our building? If the shopping center is your big priority why didn’t you organize a rally or protest at your building? So easy to play the part, when someone else sets the stage for you.
Our seniors and staff at “Trump 4 Us” are well organized. We have many volunteers answering the phones, calling homebound seniors, sending greeting cards, etc. What do you have? We have people attending all of our classes, how come Trump 3 never shows up?
We don’t need the merge, we did fine on our own for more than 14 years! Our priority right now is to have our successful senior program back in our own building where it belongs! Maybe if you get to work on your shopping center priority, you will stay out of our business. Gloria Hacken
Trump Village West
Stormy recovery
To the editor,
Two years after Hurricane Sandy, the Associated Press and the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community public affairs research group surveyed residents in 12 Sandy-hit neighborhoods. They found that 22 percent said their areas are only partially back to normal, about five percent said their neighborhoods had barely recovered from the hurricane, and 90 percent said that basic services like utilities, clean water, and sewers were mostly or completely repaired. That gives 72-percent over-all recovery of hard-hit areas, according to the Associated Press.
I consulted with many friends and neighbors in Coney Island, and nobody heard or participated in any survey. They also believe that the damage is still severe and these statistics are not very accurate. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–Brooklyn) said that the Sandy had a “silver lining” in the $17 billion in federal aid given to New York, making it the biggest cash infusion in New York since the 1930s’ New Deal.
My question is when will we be 100 percent recovered from the storm of the century?A. Hauter
Coney Island
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
Pales-whiner
To the editor,
Here we go again! We have a nice, friendly basketball game between our Nets and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv teams, and a Palestinian has to come in with a flag which to the Israelis is like a red flag is to a bull in Spain (“Kings Bay Y head attacked at Barclays,” online Oct. 9).
It is obvious she came to disrupt the game. Does she think anyone cares what she thinks? She knows better. She just came to make trouble. Did anyone check out a connection between Kiswani and the other trouble maker in Bay Ridge? You should.
People pay good money to go to these games, and they want to relax and enjoy the experience, not see selfish, me-me-me adults ruining their day. There are other ways to express anger than to ruin what might have been a lovely afternoon for families and singles because of a single-minded woman’s political bend. There is a time and place for this lousy behavior. Why it is allowed — period — is beyond me.
The people in that arena were a captive audience for that woman. They had nowhere to turn. We don’t need this aggravation here, miss.
Diane Hunt
Bay Ridge
‘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
Landlording it
To the editor,
How terrible to read how landlords in this town live the life of luxury while their tenants live in conditions that are beyond belief. This continues because under the rent stabilization laws, landlords get their automatic increases for expiring leases. Why not pass legislation stating that no landlord shall receive such increases until all violations in their respective buildings are removed? You would then see landlords rush to fix such violations.
This rule should be in effect for rent-stabilized and rent-controlled apartments, and it needs to apply to smaller units and cooperative buildings as well. In the latter, renegade co-op boards remain in power, as there isn’t a quorum at meetings to vote them out, and therefore they can do as they please.Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay