Opinion | Issues Facing New York City’s Next Mayor – The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re “City’s Election Could Set Agenda on Policing” (Opinion guest essay, June 22):
Errol Louis’s stunning essay on the future of police policy could be a starting point of mayoral plans for the New York Police Department. Left out of most campaign discussions are the (mostly) young males responsible for the upswing in street crime.
The pandemic has left our most vulnerable youths floundering as programs, schools, jobs and socializing have been stifled. You can’t confront crime solely as a police issue. There is cause and effect for young people acting out.
The rush to normalcy is more than the opening of restaurants and theaters in our town. It is the challenge to emotionally embrace the young people who have been left suspended in air for more than 15 months. Virtual meetings and Zoom have been effective for business operations — not so much for the unshaped, confused men/boys on the streets.
David Rothenberg
New York
The writer is the founder of The Fortune Society.
To the Editor:
Re “8,000 Homeless People to Be Moved From Hotels to Shelters, New York Says” (nytimes.com, June 16):
The latest move by Mayor Bill de Blasio to reshuffle several thousand homeless individuals and families from hotels to shelters in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic will do little to effectively address the long-term root causes of homelessness in New York City.
It also underscores the many failed policies of this and four previous mayors that have done little to solve homelessness for an estimated 80,000 men, women and children at a cost of more than $3 billion in 2019.
We would do well to redirect this funding to create permanent housing complemented by core support services that include job training, counseling and financial literacy, all of which successfully keep homeless families and individuals off the streets for good.
We can only hope the next mayor will view the importance and practicality of building safe, affordable housing and support services that help curb homelessness while taking aim at a crisis that has plagued New York for far too long.
Andrew J. Martin
Greenwich, Conn.
The writer is a former director of media and government relations for Volunteers of America-Greater New York, which provides services to the homeless.
To the Editor:
Re “Adams Takes Lead in Early Returns of New York Race” (front page, June 23):
I am appalled by the waste of paper that most of the candidates generated during this campaign. Every day I received six or more large cardboard fliers. My wife received the same amount.
Multiply a dozen fliers by the number of days in the week we received mail, then the number of weeks in the monthslong campaign, then the number of voters who received a similar glut, and what do you get? A mountain of paper, only some of which is likely to be recycled.
And I’ll bet I’m not the only New Yorker who read none of these fliers before getting rid of them.
A passionate request from a voter to future political candidates: Can you please find a more environmentally respectful and ethical way of running for office?
Bruce Weinstein
New York
Voting Rights Bill Defeat: What Democrats Should Do
To the Editor:
Re “G.O.P. Blocks Bill on Voting Rights” (front page, June 23):
After the Republicans successfully blocked the voting rights bill, the Democrats predictably went into their face-saving spin, crying “All is not lost,” “This is just the start of the process,” ad nauseam. The fact of the matter is that they lost, plain and simple. With Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema acting more like Republicans, they do not have a practical majority in the Senate.
Until the Senate filibuster is revised or repealed, Democratic initiatives like overhauling infrastructure, health care and the minimum wage are at risk. It’s high time for President Biden to abandon his kumbaya politics and recognize that the Republicans will not play ball. He needs to call in the two opposing Democratic senators and turn on the L.B.J. school of charm. Otherwise, his legacy will be defined by “We tried, but failed.”
Subir Mukerjee
Olympia, Wash.
To the Editor:
Now that the Republican senators have successfully blocked a vote on the Democrats’ voting rights bill, the Justice Department will try to challenge the many laws being enacted in Republican-led states with the asserted purpose of preventing fraud. Obviously the real purpose of these new statutes is to suppress the votes of people of color and economically marginalized urban voters who vote predominantly Democratic.
Once this purpose is shown in court, these laws should be held unconstitutional. Let’s hope Merrick Garland’s Justice Department will have the energy needed to challenge these Jim Crow statutes.
Andrew Stewart
Hartford, Vt.
To the Editor:
In states across the country, health commissioners are threatened and harassed for advocating common-sense health measures such as mask wearing and distancing. Election officials need security as they carry out their obligations to certify election results. A plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan is uncovered. In normal times we would call these threats to do harm to public servants a crisis and Congress would act.
These times are not normal and we cannot look to Congress to act. Senate Republicans have chosen cowardice. They look away as Republican-led states seek to remove the equal access to the ballot box granted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They refuse to look further into the insurrection in their own workplace as though there were no threat of a repeat.
They used the filibuster to quash debate on voting rights. If ever there was a time to rewrite the filibuster rules, that time has arrived.
Elliott Miller
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
A Gay Football Player’s Brave Example
To the Editor:
Re “Raiders Defensive End Becomes First Active N.F.L. Player to Announce He’s Gay” (Sports, June 22):
As a Pennsylvanian and a graduate of Penn State, I’ve never been more proud than I am today that a fellow alum, Carl Nassib, has stepped forward in the spirit of L.G.B.T.Q. representation and come out in his profession as a player in the National Football League.
During those football seasons when my family and I cheered him on the gridiron, we had no inkling that he would be such a standout off the field as well.
The message “You matter” that Nassib sends, especially to young people still fearful of rejection, will be heard around the world. May it travel like “the wave” through the stands.
Sam Rudy
Delaware Water Gap, Pa.
MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy: She Doesn’t Need to Explain Her Choices
To the Editor:
Re “How to Give a Fortune Away (When Your Fortune Keeps Growing)” (Business, June 16):
You report that Maribel Morey, a philanthropy expert, says MacKenzie Scott’s “public role” trumps her status as a private citizen. Ms. Morey says that like a judge or a senator, Ms. Scott “owes it to the public to explain how and why” she has made her giving choices. No, she doesn’t.
Senators and judges are elected (or appointed). Ms. Scott is neither. She’s a stunningly generous person who has zero obligation to detail her thought processes. So far, she has given away $8.74 billion. All the public needs to know about her “how and why” is readily available in the long list of recipients.
Stephanie Salter
Indianapolis
To the Editor:
MacKenzie Scott has undoubtedly received a multitude of suggestions about her charitable giving after her divorce from Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder. Surely we all sympathize with the challenge of having a fortune that keeps growing no matter how much you give away. It is the stuff of fairy tales. All that gold!
Here is one more suggestion: Write a single check every month to the U.S. Treasury. Isn’t that where most of this gold should have been in the first place?
Ruth Dixon-Mueller
Oakland, Calif.