Mike Wallace, you’ll be missed
Clearwater, Fla.: It’s difficult to believe that famed television news journalist Mike Wallace of CBS’ “60 Minutes” died at the age of 93 on Saturday. After all, the direct and outspoken hard-hitting interviewer, ever ready with tough, uncompromising questions, whether to Barbra Streisand or Malcolm X, was a legend in his own time, having appeared on our television screens for some five decades. And as unrealistic as it may sound, I somehow thought he would go on forever. As always is the case, though, Father Time finally caught up with Wallace. Some loved him and his aggressive interviewing style; others did not. Whatever your opinion of him, it cannot be disputed that Wallace told it like it is and as it was — his way. Joann Lee Frank
Manhattan: The truth is that when Mike Wallace was not on “60 Minutes,” then “60 Minutes” just wasn’t worth watching!
Ray Mceaddy
We want better shows
Woodhaven: I totally agree with Voicer Katherine Adams. “The Closer,” one of my favorites, is closing. It seems quality TV viewing has fallen by the wayside. It’s also farewell to “Desperate Housewives,” a brilliant and hilarious show. Debra Rauh
Meter mayhem
Bronx: Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg, for installing munimeters in my neighborhood. Instead of our old parking meters, which cost the public 25 cents for 25 minutes, we now pay 25 cents for 15 minutes — something all the storekeepers in the neighborhood really dislike.
Billy Michlowitz
Our lax courts
Staten Island: If this mayor wants to do something about illegal guns in New York, let him begin with our court system. New York gun laws are a joke. I was a New York police officer for 25 years and made and assisted in hundreds of arrests for illegal guns in my career. If more than 5% of them resulted in jail time, that was a lot. Most of those arrested were allowed to plead to “attempted possession of a weapon” or a lesser charge. And out into the street they went to get another handgun.
Pete J. Peckis, Ret. NYPD
Keep it clean
Staten Island: No one who lives here wants garbage dumped on Staten Island ever again. This should be a heads-up to future mayoral candidates: Please be assured that if you do not come forward now and voice your objection to dumping garbage on our island, you will never get our vote.
Frances Ottino
The men in blue
Bronx: Stop-and-frisk is a useful tool for keeping illegal guns off the street, such as the .22-caliber handgun and assault rifle found in Nakwon Foxworth’s apartment this past Easter Sunday, when four officers were wounded over a petty disagreement that escalated into a hostage situation.
Jessica Hunt
Summon your outrage
Franklin Square, L.I.: To Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the black community: Please let me know when the next march is scheduled for the four police officers shot in Sheepshead Bay by Nakwon Foxworth. And I’m still waiting for the outrage for Officer Peter Figoski and the five children shot in Detroit in recent weeks.
Christopher Sitra
Criminals must pay
Stony Point, L.I.: If the feds won’t take guns off our streets, then change the penalty at the state or city level. Make the punishments as severe as you possibly can. The key here is to make jail time a horrible experience, one that you would never forget: No cable TV, no weightlifting, no books, no nothing. And if you shoot at or kill a cop, you should never see the light of day.
Robert Riccardelli
We also suffer
Manhattan: Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s lament, “I’m tired of this!” (April 9) is appropriate. I hope he feels the same sentiment when it comes to cops who shoot unarmed black men and boys. There are those who will say that the two situations aren’t related, but they are.
Raymond A. Turner
A two-way street
Bronx: So Ray Kelly is tired of cops being shot. Well, the people of New York are tired of the police shooting unarmed people in New York City. Why isn’t Kelly tired of that?
Richard Nagan
Clarification
Glen Cove, L.I.: To Voicer Martin Shuford: First, my letter was critical of self-proclaimed legal expert Elie Mystal for focusing on an inaccurate statement regarding self-defense as well as his failure to even mention the most important part of our criminal justice system, presumption of innocence. Second, the 911 call that I recall listening to does not have the police ordering George Zimmerman to back off; rather, they are suggesting that he need not follow Trayvon Martin.
Gary Schmitt
Breaking the bank
Staten Island: To Voicer Mary Anne Scardino: How about ex-wives? They, too, played the role of a wife. How about husbands? How about the children? Should they be entitled to their parents’ checks in addition to theirs? Talk about breaking the system.
Frank A. Russo
They contribute, too
Bronx: Voicer Amy Marino is woefully misinformed in claiming illegal immigrants pay no taxes. The respected Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that in 2010, illegal immigrants paid a total of $11.2 billion in sales, property and personal taxes. This is in addition to the estimated several billion dollars annually in never-claimed payments made into Social Security. The study estimates about half of all illegal immigrants pay income taxes — while pointing out that General Electric paid no taxes. Another right-wing lie bites the dust.
David Fisher
Fat cats
Northford, Conn.: Is anyone tired of hearing multimillionaires like Bill O’reilly, Charles Krauthammer and Rush Limbaugh complain about how much they pay in taxes, while the rest of us struggle to pay for our food, gas and oil while losing our pensions, unions, collective-bargaining rights and decent pay?
Les Eliason
Activists
New Windsor, N.Y.: In January, the Supreme Court ruled against law enforcement attaching a GPS on the car of a drug dealer to track his activities. Last week, it okayed strip and body cavity searches even after arrest for minor infractions like traffic violations. Where is the consistency and logic? And where are the rightwing nuts screaming about the court violating their liberties and constitutional rights? Oh, yeah, they are too busy with Obamacare being unconstitutional and a violation of their God-given liberties.
Jerry Grudzien
History lesson
Bronx: To Voicer Bob Cavaliere: In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, more than 600,000 Italian-americans were rounded up and branded as enemy aliens. They were held in internment camps in Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Those who weren’t interned were placed into “zones” that they could not leave. Italian was branded as an “enemy language.” These laws remained on the books until President Bill Clinton did away with them.
Arlene Soto
What a dolt
Massapequa, L.I.: So what else is new? Amanda Bynes arrested for drunken driving. The young lady has that blank look on her face in that mug shot. Sadly, it’s the same blank face she has in all her movies. Herb Stark