Mayor’s road to unaffordability

Manhattan: In defending Mayor de Blasio’s housing production plan, Rafael Cestero ignores the central problem with it (“The Right Path to Affordability,” Op-Ed, May 17). In order to persuade private developers to build a certain amount of affordable housing, the city is awarding them with massive subsidies that will result in the production of a much greater amount of market-rate housing.

The model is 25% to 30% affordable and 70% to 75% market. And this program is being pushed in areas of the city where developers have been unwilling to build in the past. In East New York, for example, the plan is supposed to be fifty-fifty, with 3,000 market-rate and 3,000 affordable apartments. You cannot plop down that many market-rate units in that neighborhood without unleashing the forces of gentrification and displacement.

Granted, these apartments will not command Manhattan rents, but they will be far higher than current residents could pay, attracting more affluent newcomers, with coffee bars not far behind. Add the additional subsidies of the new 421-a giveaway to developers and we will see gentrification on steroids in the next few years.

De Blasio deserves credit for many excellent policies, most notably the partial rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants and expanding antieviction legal services. But it is important to understand the inevitable impact of his housing production plan on marginal neighborhoods across the city.

Michael McKee, treasurer, Tenants Political Action Committee

Funny Goldie

Manhattan: To Voicer Christa Clark regarding Goldie Hawn not being funny: Check out “Cactus Flower.” It has a bunch of good actors and Goldie is terrifically cute and funny! Bill Caplan

Funny Goldie II

Woodside: To Voicer Christa Clark: Run, don’t walk, to your TV and watch “Foul Play.” After that watch “Private Benjamin,” “Death Becomes Her” and “Overboard.” Goldie shines in my book.

Michael Rich

No fan of Roger

Davenport, Iowa: Re: “Shed no tears for sexist sicko Roger Ailes” (Linda Stasi column, May 19). Kudos! I’m a 55 year old white male. Finally someone speaks the truth about Roger, the fat perv! I wish sooooo much Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh would acknowledge this truth. They are just as sick as “Roger & Them” (a riff on Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” movie). Thanks, Linda!

Jason Sanford

Unfair to the clerk

Bronx: Re “Clerk was a jerk” (May 18): I realize that headlines sell, but please stop it! Station agents are always there. Everyone that comes down the stairs into the subway feels that they should be heard, and listened to as soon as they speak to us. Never mind that we may be doing something else (taking care of another person. I know — unbelievable! The nerve of us!). Just maybe there is more to this story. Since Columbus Circle is extremely busy, and people come at a transit employee from every direction needing help with a variety of things. Maybe, just maybe, the police were wrong? I know as a station agent sometimes I feel like I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t! We aren’t the enemy.

Lidia Maldonado

Russian roulette

Tobyhanna, Pa.: Can someone tell me what made the Democrats become vehemently anti-Russia since 2012? They ridiculed Mitt Romney for saying Russia was our biggest threat. Hillary kept pushing her famous “reset button,” and let’s not forget Bozo Obama and his famous “hot mike” conversation telling Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to assure Vladimir Putin that, right after “my election,” the missile defense system for Eastern Europe will go away. If it wasn’t for double standards, the Democrats wouldn’t have any. Charlie Schumer, brain-dead Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats are the real threat to this country. Joseph Matarazzo

Veteran reform

Kew Gardens Hills: Re Voicers Tom and Connie Dowd’s letter on Trump’s Choice program for vets: As an Air Force veteran (1964-68), I’m eligible to receive VA health care, but I shouldn’t be. And neither should thousands of vets like me who have no serviceconnected disabilities or medical conditions. The VA treated only veterans who met this criteria until the mid-1980s, then expanded its mandate due to pressure from veterans organizations and their allies in Congress. That’s a big reason why truly deserving vets wait so long for health care. Nearly half of the VA’s roughly 9 million patients are 65 or older and should be covered by Medicare. But many prefer the VA because they don’t have to pay the 20% of medical costs that Medicare doesn’t cover, plus co-pays and deductibles. The Choice program would outsource health care for these patients to non-VA hospitals, giving this agency more time and resources to treat those who suffered injury and illness while serving their country. Expect a protest from veterans groups and the American Federation of Government Employees, the union representing VA staffers. But their interests shouldn’t stand in the way of progress.

Richard Reif

Barack’s greatest hits

Somerset, N.J.: Our great ex-President Barack Obama has pardoned or failed to extradite: 1) An FALN terrorist who killed Americans (NYC will now honor this murderer with Bill de Blasio and Melissa Mark-Viverito marching in a parade); 2) Chelsea Manning, whose 35-year sentence for leaking documents was commuted to seven years (we now pay for her sex change operation); 3) Fort Hood murderer gets paid for five years because the U.S. government failed to call his actions terrorist; 4) makes peace with Castro bums without getting a cop killer hiding in Cuba returned to the United States (ask any Cuban if they are any better off with diplomatic relations or will Barack get on someone’s board for his diplomatic “efforts” which improved their bottom line?). As he lives in his walled estate (to keep out the “unwanted”) with his wife and former top aide, Obama continues to live a life of privilege with no concern for the average American.

Peter Provenzale

Where’d the walker go?

Brooklyn: I went back to the house in Sheepshead Bay, after major surgery. I was delivered by ambulance: Senior Care Emergency Medical Service. They stole my walker, which was especially built for my 6-foot-3 body. What bastards! I am filing a police report. I have recovered a little bit and I am making do with a cane, poorly. Why does everything have to suck so much?

Justine Swartz

Cars and trucks still needed

Manhattan: Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives is drunk with power (“Reckless driving, deadlier than terror,” Op-Ed, May 18). He equates cars and trucks with cholera (which, to my knowledge served no useful function) to dramatically enforce his dictatorial “without . . . community process.” He also wants vehicular traffic eliminated in commercial districts (by definition, where such traffic is needed). Does he believe anyone driving there is there for pleasure when traffic is so slow, it nearly goes backward. Does he propose deliveries be made at night? Forget added business expenses (which will be passed along to everyone), what about family life for small shopkeepers? And EDWIN J. TORRES when trucks drive on clearer streets at night at greater speeds (the speed limit), when an accident occurs, he will surely call for further restrictions. Not everything can be delivered by bike like takeout food, Pauly.

Paul Weissman

The Trump-Flynn nexus

Los Altos, Calif.: Contrary to President Trump’s assertion, Michael Flynn is not “a good guy.” He’s thoroughly deceitful and untruthful. He was fired by Obama for being untrustworthy. He has consistently ignored national policy and national interests to pursue his own selfish agenda. He tormented Hillary Clinton, leading the chant “lock her up” at the GOP convention. He remained silent about his interactions with foreign powers, amassing substantial wealth. Trump has never gone to bat for anyone without an ulterior motive. Let us hope a vigorous investigation will expose the sordid details of the Trump-FynnRussia saga. Trump “requested” Jim Comey to halt his investigation of Flynn. “I hope you can let this go” was followed by veiled threats behaving more like the Mafia than the President. This is the man who tormented Barack Obama with fake stories of being born in Kenya. The same man who had his supporters chant “lock her up” at his rallies. The autocratic President wants to lock up journalists and censor the media. This man is extremely dangerous and must be removed from office. Jagjit Singh