An attempted kidnapping in Queens and more: Letters to the Editor — March 31, 2024

Readers weigh in on an attempted kidnapping and more. Christopher Sadowski

Mom’s nightmare

Tears flowed while reading this story about a mother defending her daughter from an attempted kidnapping (“Tiger mom to rescue!” March 24).

Then outrage set in when I read this monster tried to grab the teen girl off the street not once but twice! The district attorney’s response? A meaningless order of protection.

Shame on District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office for not throwing this violent kidnapper in jail before this happened. Or perhaps it was the new bail laws that tied her hands to allow a violent kidnapper to be free?

Our children are not safe. Every mother in this city should take this case to heart and know that when criminals are coddled and their rights mean more than ours, innocent families will suffer.

Kathryn Donnelly, Queens

Budget priorities

It’s difficult to blame public employee unions for municipal budget gaps (“NY Democrats suck up to Big Labor with another pricey pension perk,” Editorial, March 27).

Politicians in Albany incessantly pump out lucrative tax breaks and subsidies to well-connected donors for projects that rarely provide the jobs or economic benefits that they promise. From $850 million for the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium to billions for semiconductor-chip manufacturers in central New York to billions more for projects like the Atlantic Yards and Hudson Yards in NYC. Not to mention the projects like Buffalo Billion and the Syracuse Film Hub that have imploded, leaving the taxpayers holding the bag.

Opportunistic politicians are well aware that unions must lobby the legislature for pension benefits because the law prevents them from being negotiated in collective bargaining.

Unions don’t make the rules; they just play the game to the best of their ability.

Charles T. Compton, former president of the NYS Supreme Court Officers Association, The Bronx

Groundhog Day

Albert Einstein has been quoted defining “insanity” as “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results” (“Loans and frozen Russ. $$ options,” March 25).

We must ask ourselves how far to go with aid to Ukraine. If there is no resolution to this stalemate, then is our continued aid simply prolonging suffering? Are we — or at least, is Congress — going insane?

Vincent Ruggiero, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Crazy classes

Numerous educational studies have shown that kids learn more and garner higher test and reading scores when classes are smaller (“This Law is Anti-Kid,” Editorial, March 24).

Class-size reduction is so important to numerous parents that they pay $65,000 yearly tuition to send their children to such private schools as Dalton, Trinity and Riverdale. Less affluent parents vote with their feet and move to Long Island and Westchester, where class sizes are smaller than in NYC.

Robert Grandt, Manhattan

Take Notes, NYC

Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine’s article on Miami’s initiative to restore law and order should be a wake-up call to New York City’s inept Mayor Adams (“Spring-break breakup,” March 25).

Efforts in Miami Beach to constrain spring break madness by DUI checkpoints, barring non-residents from garages and imposing curfews has produced beneficial results. New York is not Miami Beach, but its city council should take note.

Stanley M. Rubin, Fresh Meadows

Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.