Too many trips on this election for a newcomer
Manhattan: While New Yorkers are watching in November, the future of our city depends on an enlightened electorate. It is not enough to be influenced by slogans or pious wishes. We must demand realistic and deliverable solutions of those who seek to direct us. This is why I am deeply concerned about Zohran Mamdani’s campaign. Her rhetoric may seem inspiring for some, but in reality, she is unrealistic and potentially harmful. At a time when New York faces crises – food insecurity, arrows housing costs, a tense health care system and above all, concerns about security – we cannot afford ideas that divide, distract or overpromised.
Do we really believe that Mamdani’s socialist positions will bring jobs and growth? I think the opposite is true. Its policies would discourage investment, distance opportunities and endanger the jobs that the families of workers have. It is not progress, it is regression.
Just as disturbing is his support for the decriminalization of prostitution. Is he aware of the human trafficking industry that feeds it? Decriminalization does not erase the exploitation, it may expand it.
New York is not just any city. With a budget higher than that of most states, the following mayor must manage public security, education, housing, transport and health care with proven experience and leadership. It is not a place for an unscathed ambition. His ambition without qualification will not serve New York City well. We cannot play the future of our city on rhetoric which cannot deliver. In November, we must choose leadership based on experience, pragmatism and the ability to govern. The future of our city depends on it. Angelo Vivolo
What is so scary?
Staten Island: I find it curious to know how people across the country – on all sides – seem shaken by Mamdani. What threatens if policies that would only apply to New Yorkers, just 2.5% of the American population? Perhaps anxiety comes from the fact that almost half of New York residents are working, but are still unable to cover the basic needs in one of the most expensive cities in the country. In this light, proposals such as free daycare or free bus service do not seem radical, they look like survival. Regarding the idea of grocery stores funded by the government in “food deserts”, I find it difficult to see indignation. The city already supports dozens of pantry funded by taxpayers’ dollars, where food is given for free. If we already accept that public dollars should prevent people from being hungry, why is it suddenly scandalous to do so in a more structured and reliable way? Gina Ottrando
Mal informed allies
Whitestone: This Mamdani clown surrounded himself with nothing but a bunch of idiots. First of all, he is supported by the former mayor Bill de Bozo alias de Blasio. Now he joins forces with Bernie Sanders, who has absolutely nothing to do with New York and who is a total left idiot. As I have already said, the birds of a pen gather. Gene O’Brien
Try
Brooklyn: In an interview, if I understood properly, Mamdani said that his mental health problems will cost about 1 billion dollars. He should contact Chirlane McCray. She may have about enough to help her. L. Veneral
Completely corrupted
Effort, PA.: The rumor that President Trump offers an ambassador to the mayor Adams is such a joke! What’s going to be? Ambassador to Türkiye? Kathleen Slatter
The right enemy
Manhattan: I always knew that Jerry Nadler was a good guy whose main objective was the best interest of voters. But when this mongium monstrosity called him a tramp, it made me admire Nadler even more. Joy Anderson
Illness strategy
Hicksville, Li: To the Barbara Haynes voice: with all the respect I owe you, you compare apples and oranges. The problem in 2023 between the governor of Florida Ron Desantis and Disney World had to do with Desantis’ efforts to dismantle the special autonomous district of Disney, known as Reedy Creek Improvement District. It was a punitive decision of Desantis because of Disney’s opposition to the “law on the rights of parents in education” of Florida. Therefore, this hubbub was commercial / political in nature. My letter asked that Florida’s tourist businesses reject the decision of unwanted science to remove vaccine mandates. For my part, I would never bring my children in a theme park knowing that there could be thousands of unvaccinated customers present. Steven Malinsky
Nepo
Middle Village: Trump and RFK Jr. have so many things in common – in particular that if it was not for their respective family names, they could not even find a job. John Puglisi
Death by “Help”
Hallandale Beach, Florida: However, the Americans consider the dizzying range of decrees and other Trump initiatives, one of the most odious and flagrants was the creation of the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in collaboration with Israel. It turned out to be the antithesis of the humanitarian aid, the proof being the total and continuous famine of the population of Gaza. In addition to that, the flow of money and the weapons of the United States to Israel only adds to death and destruction in Gaza. Do not be surprised if the countries including a population of 2 billion Muslims can no longer tolerate the genocide and attack Israel – all because our government has refused to take moral position. SID SOURD
Persistent insight
Olivebridge, ny: the wisdom of the past helps us to adjust the future, and I have always loved Teddy Roosevelt, 26th president, a republican who served two mandates (1901-1908) and said his mind directly and clearly. No political mumbo-jumbo, no subjunctive roundabouts. Google summed up its eight years as president as follows: “Roosevelt widened the navy and sent the big white fleet during a world tour to project naval power. Its successful efforts to end the Russian-Japanese war earned it the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, the first American to win a Nobel Prize.” Here is Teddy’s wisdom: “Announce that there should be no criticism of the president, or that we must stay with the law of the president or the evil, is not only antipatriotic and servile, but is morally betrayal for the American public.” As I said, I always liked Teddy. Are the books on him allowed in military base libraries? Warren Davis
Stripped
Bronx: Re “Trump wants control of the September 11 memorial, but Hochul Balks, Slams President’s Fund Cuts” (September 7): I have news for Governor Hochul: the September 11 memorial has never belonged to the New Yorkers. In fact, a handful of the elite, ignoring everything that the people did by commemorating the attacks and what they said in the public forums they wanted in the memorial, imposed a billion dollars, eight acres chosen specifically to annihilate all the evidence and the memory of the attacks so that visitors do not judge the blow. “They therefore find no calls for the resolution or honor of the values of plurality and individual autonomy that have been attacked. Trump wants the National Park Service to take up the September 11 memorial? Maybe they will restore it on September 11. Michael Burke
No time to lose
Manhattan: The guest columnist Raj Goyle rightly supports that New Yorkers can obtain a new Congress card for the 2026 elections if there is a judicial challenge that seeks to reject and redraw the current card (“How NY can blurs the redistribing of Texas”, OP-ED, September 6). But the clock turns quickly. A successful trial should make its way through three levels of review of the State Court before the start of the 2026 electoral cycle with the petition at the end of February 2026. A successful trial should identify the constitutional faults of the current card and search for a new card for this effort to succeed. Jeffrey M. Wice
The Bronx is still sacred
Bronx: Despite the headlines and the number of murders, gangs, firearms and chaos, I must say that the Bronx is a sacred place. I participated last Saturday in a “pilgrimage of hope” on the field of the University of Mount Saint Vincent, which is also the parent company for the Sisters of Charité de New York. In its calm and its tranquility, I was reminded that the Bronx is home to many confessions, families, parks and attractions. We who hold and know this as true, we must keep together in the beaten media and the politics of that time. Claire REGAN
