NYC needs to rethink how it accommodates bikes
Bronx: In the wake of 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 dismaying is the utter lack of any legislation in the city or the state getting to the root of the problem.
Where is the legislation to require that e-bikes and standard bicycles be regulated, just like cars, with license plates, registration, yearly inspections and insurance? Where is the legislation categorizing these as vehicles under the state’s vehicle and traffic laws?
We all look both ways now, before we cross, including on one-way streets, when the light says walk, when there is a stop sign, and for that matter, we look both ways on the sidewalks as well. The only law I know of requires bicycle riders to wear helmets, and I would be very surprised if anyone has ever been issued a summons for riding a bicycle without a helmet. As to bicyclists, the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, the nine Central Park bike lanes, and the East Side “speedway” are where bicyclists belong, not on the streets.
The argument supporting bike lanes in Central Park (that there are not exits from the park on every block and that the bike lanes are circuitous) is absurd. Buses don’t stop on every block, and if the nine bike lanes are all going in one direction, build a barrier between lanes 4 and 5, make them two-way circles and get those bikes off the streets. Lauren Shapiro
Access denied
Manhattan: Another snafu with Access-A-Ride. They arrived at my home, but left without taking me. I’m legally blind. We’re being treated like crap. It’s disgusting. An investigation needs to be done, it’s a broken system. I had an important medical appointment. They do not care. That driver just took off and did not get out of the van. Helen Murphy
Rude roast
Bronx: Re the roast of Tom Brady: Is this the message they want to send to today’s young people? Every word from every single speaker dropping the F-bomb and referencing depraved sexual acts, degrading the mother of his children? Like school in summer, no class. John Cirolia
Heart’s not in it
Rochelle Park, N.J.: Is it possible to get a reporter who actually likes the team he is assigned to cover? Pat Leonard hates the Giants, hates Daniel Jones and is clueless about 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 off Jones’ back and see what the kid might have now that the Giants are actually attempting to build a line, even without drafting an offensive lineman. Big mistake in draft, not to mention all the coaching changes. No player could thrive under 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 golds, browns, pinks and browns to round out the line. Anyone can spend $100 in any drug store. Raquel Hanon
Naughty naysayers
Syosset, L.I.: Back in 2020, the Voice of the People ran my letter about Michael Avenatti and Lev Parnas being part of a rogue’s gallery paraded around in an effort to denigrate Trump. Now we get Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, E. Jean Carroll and Omarosa. Are they kidding? I guess when you hate someone enough, you’ll reach for literally any source, no matter how absurdly incredible, and then pretend they’re credible. I guess they really do believe we’re all that stupid. Sheesh. Drew Oringer
Payment plan
Morristown, N.J.: Michael Cohen, attorney at law, did it! Cohen needed the felony conduct because he used that as leverage to get paid back the money he borrowed against the value of his house without his wife’s knowledge. Donald Trump wanted to use cash because he does not want an audit trail. Not a pretty picture, but please weigh the 34 felonies Trump is charged with versus a one-night stand with a woman he regrets. Who among us hasn’t done that? Trump did not have a motive to commit 34 felonies because the event he was keeping secret was much less bad than the crimes he is accused of. Cohen did it! He did it because he needed it to get paid. He is a bad guy. Joseph Abbondanzo
Hijacked GOP
Brick, N.J.: Before Donald Trump and the Republican Party bring an end to this democratic republic, and while there is still freedom of speech and of the press, I wish to say a few things. The party is polluting the public debate with lies, innuendo and clever misrepresentations about every issue. It has corrupted religion to the extent that it is replacing 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 the word of Trump qualifies as valid and operative. Trump frequently contradicts himself within the same paragraph, even the same sentence. His riffs are often irrational and impossible to comprehend. No matter — his crowds believe only his latest pronouncement! Nicholas S. Molinari
Handpicked
Redondo Beach, Calif.: If Trump is elected, he could make Judge Aileen Cannon a Supreme Court justice. John Chevedden
Post no bills
Manhattan: Two enduring mysteries: One was the commercial with a catchy hook that was played incessantly on television, Kars4Kids, which featured a cast of pre-teens who clearly were not instrument-trained — which was snatched suddenly from the airwaves in the wake of allegations that recipients of the largesse were Jewish institutions. The other is the apparent exemption gratuitously bestowed upon the scores of people who defaced light poles and walls with leaflets depicting kidnapped Israelis half a world away when candidates running for local office engaged in similar pursuits are fined heavily and pilloried in the press. Surely, an attempt to enforce the law could not possibly be termed antisemitic, or can it? How would posters of murdered Gazan denizens — men, women, children and babies — fare in our fair city? Aydin Torun
Requires intent
Brooklyn: If the death of 35,000 people, including thousands of Hamas fighters, out of 2 million inhabitants is genocide, then U.S. troops committed genocide in WWII in fighting 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 of Union troops in the Civil War who bombarded Atlanta and Richmond for months on end, as well as the deaths from diseases and famine due to the destruction of the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman’s march from Atlanta to Savannah and the Carolinas? Collateral killing of civilians during wartime is not genocide. Deliberate attempts to wipe a people out is, whether Nazis attempt to wipe out all with Jewish blood or Hutu try to wipe out Tutsi in Rwanda. Please get your language straight. It helps to keep facts straight. Martin Selbst
Abandoned initiative
Brooklyn: Funding for GrowNYC is cut by the city. GrowNYC is a basic way for people to be involved in helping the environment. Composting is basic to recycling and sustainability. The organization is community-oriented and educates participants. I am sure this program is less expensive than most other programs, yet it is being eliminated. I don’t understand how most City Council members and the mayor proclaim to be environmental, educational and community promoters, yet cut such a fundamental and caring program. Jessica Balter
Uncertified
Lynbrook, L.I.: Mayor Adams would like to use migrants for lifeguards on city beaches. The only swimming these immigrants did was when they illegally entered the U.S. by swimming across the Rio Grande. Steve Grogan