Appreciating others begins with understanding
Ashburn, Va.: In the interest of better understanding Pride Month — without assigning blame, sin, disability, prejudice or immorality to anyone — here is the best definition I could find. Yeah, it’s difficult to be non-judgmental about people who are different, but we can all benefit from a moment of openness and mutual understanding. I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m saying that it’s a good idea.
Because this is Pride Month and I have a few friends and relatives who identify as LGBTQIA+, I decided to learn more about it. For example, I had no idea what the “Q,” “I,” “A” and “+” meant. In fact, I still don’t know what “questioning,” “intersex,” “nonbinary,” “pansexual,” “demisexual,” “aromantic,” “genderfluid,” “agender” and “+” mean. And it didn’t help much to discover that their meanings can vary from person to person and that “+” is meant to include other unstated (or undefined) variations.
“LGBTQIA+ is an evolving acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual. The plus sign (+) at the end of the acronym represents other identities that are not explicitly listed, such as non-binary, pansexual, demisexual, aromantic, genderfluid, and agender. The terms used in the acronym are used to describe a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation, and their meanings can vary from person to person. For example, ‘queer’ is an umbrella term that can refer to any diverse gender or sexuality, while ‘intersex’ refers to people who exist on a spectrum of sex and may have internal or external biological characteristics of both sexes.”
If you insist on being judgmental, please follow the advice of Mark Twain: “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” Mike Barrett
Desire to help
Hyde Park, N.Y.: After reading Voicer Basrina Faraz’s heartfelt letter, the first thing I felt was an incredible sense of admiration for her and her family. Wow! The second thing was a desire to help them. This particular topic was popular right after we left Afghanistan but hasn’t been spoken of much in the public forum since. I feel like they should be treated as family members of our military. The courage it took to help an enemy of the Taliban was tremendous. I would love to know how I could help them and others like them to escape the horrible situation they’re in. Again, kudos to all in the Faraz family, heroes in my eyes. Jack Cregan
Nothing to charge
Manhattan: Voicer L. Veneroni objects to District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s failing to prosecute campus protesters as Jan. 6 insurrectionists have been, but she fails to explain what the Manhattan prosecutor had to do with the D.C. indictments. Moreover, glancing at the New York Public Library articles, there does not appear to be any offense connected to protesting genocide, while there are crimes related to accessorial liability and aiding terrorism. So, if the pro-Palestinian students correctly identified their institutions as financial supporters of Zionist genocide, that fact might inform the DA’s determination of criminal culpability. My legal knowledge is insufficient to opine whether the pro-Israel counter-protesters would be considered to be hindering prosecution of terrorism. Michele P. Brown
A place to live
Manhattan: The Daily News editorial of June 23 (“Growing housing”) is correct. Parks and open space are important, but housing is much more important. If the Elizabeth Street Garden supporters worked with the city instead of suing it to keep every inch exactly intact, they could have a smaller landscaped area, access to the Little Italy Restoration Apartments backyard next door and maybe even an environmentally sound green roof on top of the proposed Haven Green housing. This would give them more space than currently exists in the garden. And you could have had housing for about 120 people for almost 10 years. Build housing on Elizabeth St. already. Alec Pruchnicki
Unheeded calls
Palm Coast, Fla.: To Voicer Russel Provost: I have written that exact letter four times in the past year. It was printed twice. The powers that be are well aware of the swastika puzzle and they are fine with it. Someone at The News thinks it’s funny. But it’s fine, only 8-year-olds bother with the Daily News puzzles. Douglas Weinberg
Look elsewhere
Manhattan: The state of our MTA does not hinge only on the funds that would have been raised by congestion pricing. There are funds from the federal government. Municipal bonds can be issued, in addition to the revenue from all riders. The MTA, politicians and those pushing this plan need to come up with an alternative. Cut the fat salaries of management and commissioners. Try putting a $1 charge on every Amazon Prime and FedEx delivery. Jeff Bezos could certainly afford to contribute more. Stop going to the middle-class and hard-working people of NYC to carry the burden. Congestion pricing will not assist traffic or our environment. Bike lanes, bus lanes and moving parked lanes into what was a traffic lane have caused havoc on all avenues traveling north and south. Let’s start with getting rid of Mayor Adams and his swag, which has done zero for our city! Mindy Hutt
Ride-share racket
Manhattan: I agree with Jonathan Cohn’s op-ed that it would be good to have less congestion in Midtown (“We have to curb Manhattan traffic,” June 23). But it is clear he is new to the discussion. Is he aware that 10 years ago, Uber (followed by Lyft and others) began an invasion of Midtown by adding 100,000 more vehicles cruising all day, each day, essentially free of charge ($275 per year), and that today they account for 43% of all cars during the day in Midtown? Like virtually all congestion pricing supporters, he has ignored (many of the cabal purposely ignore) that these vehicles are the cause of increased congestion. They are the only type of vehicle (other than bikes) that have increased in numbers in recent years. If congestion is the true reason for congestion pricing, charge the Ubers et al. the full car price and exempt the controlled yellow cabs who have already paid up to $1 million dollars to operate in Midtown. Lucius Riccio, former NYC Department of Transportation commissioner and former MTA Board member
Bottlenecked
Manhattan: On Sunday, it took 45 minutes to move a quarter of a mile to pay a $15 toll for the Holland Tunnel. The MTA makes billions on tolls that create most of the traffic. Now they want to create a toll for crossing 60th St. I’m glad the governor shut it down for now. Crazy — a politician actually doing right for the people. Joseph Duffy
Frivolous fulminations
Manhattan: Your June 23 op-ed by Alan Dershowitz (“Can Trump get a reversal before the election?“) is filled with unproven allegations and possibly libelous statements. He makes reference to “a biased judge” who denied Donald Trump a fair trial, and a “Manhattan jury comprised largely of anti-Trump voters.” Does Dershowitz have access to the voting records of the jurors? He also wrote that the trial was “deliberately rushed.” Trump was indicted on March 30, 2023, and the trial did not begin until April 15, 2024, a gap of more than one year. Dershowitz also fails to mention that the “biased judge” did not send Trump to jail after 10 violations of a gag order. No ordinary defendant would be so fortunate. I wish that Dershowitz would turn his attention to the outrageous actions of Judge Aileen Cannon in the classified documents case, or return to defending the likes of O.J. Simpson. Jeffrey Nelson
Contemptible comments
Brookfield, Conn.: To Voicer Kevin Hanley: “Orange Turd”? “Ratpublicans” denied being considered human? If you are an example of a human, I’d rather be a rat. Fred Schoeneborn
Self-interest
Bronx: Do not let woulda, coulda, shoulda rule your life. In the next four months, there will be many occasions to ponder what makes us a nation of thinkers or a flock of sheep or lemmings. If history is supposed to be a good teacher, what have we learned? If we allow a person who tried to continually destroy the fabric of our country and who lies about anything that goes against his interests, you will have forfeited your right to a better life. Make your vote better your life, not his. Mark Benveniste