Making Citi Bike easier to use

Brooklyn: I disagree with Citi Bike CEO’s Jay Walder’s Aug. 3 Op-Ed which said that Citi Bike can help alleviate issues caused by the MTA. Citi Bike is extremely expensive and cost prohibitive for a commuter who wants to use it on a one-off basis. I sent a detailed email recently asking if Citi Bike had a pay-by-the-minute option for people who do not have a monthly or annual Citi Bike membership. I received a very brief response with no suggestion that my feedback was seriously going to be taken into consideration.

If Citi Bike is a public good for New York, it should work to try to meet the needs of more New Yorkers — New Yorkers who often take the subway to dinner, get in a cab to meet up with friends, hop on a bus across town, and then realize that where they’ve landed is nowhere near a subway station but see a Citi Bike station and would love to use it to ride home. Please create a pricing tier that allows for casual riders to utilize Citi Bike. Ellie Benner

Citi Bike has a flat tire

Manhattan: I am shocked to see the welcome change in attitude by the Daily News toward Citi Bike and cycling in New York City in general. I have been cycling for many years with my own bike. I had an opportunity to experience Citi Bike when my daughter moved out of New York City and gave me her fob with unexpired months. It was an extremely frustrating experience. I would never be able to find a bike in the East Village, an area with many users who empty docks early, and the docks are not replenished for hours. Citi Bike was aware of that, as I and many other users would call and complain, and when I often addressed the issue with those restocking the supply they readily admitted the situation was chronic. The Council is right not to throw money at Citi Bike. It’s a great idea but they still need to get their act together. David Fantaci

Walder’s woes

Brooklyn: Jay Walder of Citi Bike is full of baloney. Don’t believe a word he is telling you! When Walder was running the transit system for England, he got booted out. When Gov. Eliot Spitzer got caught in a compromising position and David Paterson had to take over, Walder had his very good friend Mike Bloomberg recommend him for the MTA. In return, Walder laid off thousands of MTA workers and cut vital train and bus routes to all New Yorkers, making their commuting life hell! Now enter Gov. Cuomo, who never saw eye to eye with Walder, who was booted from the MTA. Walder got a transit job in the Far East, where he went overbudget and missed deadlines on projects and once again was booted from there. Finally he gets a job with Citi Bike and tells everyone to use Citi Bike to get from point A to point B. What about all the people who make a living delivering merchandise by cars and trucks who have no room on the road anymore because of all the bike lanes and that it takes twice as much time to delivery it and twice as much CO2 emissions! Once again, Jay, we all can see how much time you spent thinking out this great plan of yours on how it would help no one out but you!

Michael McCormack

Clean up the cleaners

Rockville Centre, L.I.: I agree with Voicer Antonia DiPreta, who spoke of MTA employees who fail to do their jobs. The car cleaners stationed at 179th St./Jamaica are perfect examples of this. So many of them manage to walk through maybe two cars before they leave the train. They wait until the train pulls in to change the water in the mop buckets, even though they were standing around talking for five minutes beforehand. How about a little bit of supervision there, MTA? Rick Duskiewicz

Nickel-and-diming riders

Bedford Hills, N.Y.: Re “$80M ‘small change’ boosts MTA coffers” (Aug. 3): There is a much bigger point you are missing. The MTA puts expiration dates on the MetroCards that are unnecessary, and when they are just a little out of date they won’t honor them at a token booth or machine by transferring the balance to another card. This is highly dishonest. The clerks will tell you to mail them to the MTA but never have the address or an envelope. So someone like me who commuted for 20 years from Brooklyn literally has a pile of old MetroCards with significant balances that basically is money taken from me by the MTA. I found probably a dozen cards when I moved earlier this year. I have two teenagers so I was constantly buying cards. They’d get put down in the apartment somewhere, forgotten for some time — and then suddenly the balance is worthless. They need to be required to refund or transfer these balances at subway stations where it is convenient for riders.

Rob McClary

When is fake is good

Whitestone: I enjoy wearing fake or costume jewelry. People, men and women, often say, “Your pendant (or bracelet) is really unique (or very attractive); where did you buy it?” And, “You must have spent a good deal of money to enable you to purchase those gems.” I smile, and reply, “Thank you, so glad you like my jewels.” And so, folks, some fakes are beautiful, and cannot hurt people as other fakes, of the economic and political variety are wont to do at times! Leonore Brooks

Men of valor, not

Greenwood Lake, N.Y.: To Voicer Joseph Gross: You felt sick when President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to James McCloughan. Tell me, how did you feel when President Slick Willy Clinton was giving out the Medal of Honor? Did you need a bucket then? Joe Fioramonti Tillson, N.Y.: I am writing on behalf of my father, Gerard Carella, who was sexually molested by a Franciscan brother during his freshman year in 1974 at Bishop Ford Catholic High School in Brooklyn. My father spent his whole adult life trying to cope with the trauma from his youth through drugs, through religion, through therapy, and through three marriages. All he ever wanted was for the Catholic Church to acknowledge his pain and admit that they were sorry. In 2013, my dad decided to reach out to the Church to let them know what had happened to him and attempt to heal his wound from 40 years ago. He wasn’t given any sympathy or recognition. I cannot imagine how he must have felt. Recently, my father decided to contact a lawyer regarding lawsuits against the Catholic Church for victims of molestation. The lawyer said that since the abuser was a Franciscan brother, and not a priest, that my father would not be eligible for any compensation. My father has always felt like his 14-year-old self was never given justice. He has yet to find peace; and now he feels that he will never have closure. The Catholic Church robbed my dad’s chances of fulfilling his dreams and left him with nightmares that he may never escape from. Our family feels his burden and hurts for him, and now it seems the Church will duck responsibility for the years of turmoil they tried to ignore, once again, over a title.

Amanda Carella

Guardian Angels’ angel

Smyrna, Ga.: I was saddened to read of the passing of Frances Sliwa, Curtis’ mother, at age 94. She and her family knew me as Sister Mary Raphael. Fran took me as a nun to my very first and only opera. When my health gave way in the convent, she blessed me with her acceptance and kindness. The choice to leave was ROSE ABUIN/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS given to me as a way to save my life. The pressure of a dedicated life was more than I could handle. I wish to honor this magnificent woman who was friend and mother to so many. My trips to their home for five years after I left the convent helped me in many ways. The world is a better place because she and her family are in it. She gave me permission to write the story of my life with them in my book to come, “Little Me, From the Life of a Wayshower.” I agree with Curtis. He could not have asked for a better mother and father. Writing this is the only way I have now to express my love and admiration for this woman! I thank God I was blessed with her presence and that of her wonderful family. Helen Andrasko Rancho Mirage, Calif.: I know that the Daily News loves to put pix of nearly naked girls on the front page of NYDailyNews.com. But why this incessant choosing of the Jenners and Kardashians? These nobodies already get too much attention. Put some naked guys up there. That’d be better than the Kardashians! Ken Cady

Granny’s smart hygiene

Freehold, N.J.: Looks like our grandmothers knew a thing or two. Re your Aug. 2 article “Dishgusting!” about bacteria on sponges: Granny used a dishcloth and then threw it in the wash with bleach and detergent! For pots, there was a scouring pad, which was tossed. No bacteria mounted for days or weeks! Anne Bambino