Call it the Cuomo-Wilson bridge
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.: Malcolm Wilson was a longtime assemblyman and lieutenant governor of New York State when Nelson Rockefeller was governor. He then became governor of New York for one year. Wilson was known for his ability to work with both parties in Albany, something lost in the present era. He was able to build consensus and was highly skilled in the art of compromise.
In 1994, Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Democrat, chose to honor Wilson, a Republican, by renaming the Tappan Zee Bridge the Gov. Malcolm Wilson Bridge. I was present, as a member of Wilson’s law firm at the dedication ceremony. Cuomo spoke eloquently about Wilson and labor’s great contribution to society.
Now, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has renamed the bridge for his father, thereby revoking the honor his father gave to Wilson.
There are two strands to the new bridge. Why not name one for Malcolm and one for Mario? If Andrew Cuomo does this, then perhaps the next governor of New York would think twice before renaming the Mario Cuomo Bridge in favor of his of her family member.
Robert G. O’Donnell
Break it up, you two
Purdys, N.Y.: I trust Mayor de Blasio will accept my objection to the statue of two men sitting on a park bench, which signifies gay liberation, in the West Village. I am opposed to gay rights and do not want to see a statue honoring sodomites, which is against my moral and religious beliefs.
Dennis Walker
Monument madness
Elmhurst: Dear Democrats, can we take a step back and look at what was achieved in Charlottesville and not negate it by rushing to pull down every monument to anyone who wasn’t a saint? What came out of that tragic night was a hard-won political victory. A woman died for it, for God’s sake! Do we really want to spend that political capital on Christopher Columbus statues? The last American slave died 50 years ago, not 500. Descendants of slaves in the U.S. often know exactly who their ancestors were and where they lived. The doings of Columbus, meantime, have drifted into the realm of mythology. Let’s leave it there. With his slipperyslope nonsense supposedly leading to the destruction of George Washington as a national hero, Trump held out a hoop — and you raced to jump through it. Most Americans are solidly behind the Charlottesville protesters. That support can be used for good — unless we choose to fritter it away in this monument madness, which will alienate people and accomplish nothing.
Helen Mosley
Destruction mission
South Farmingdale, L.I.: Re “Our statues, ourselves” (editorial, Aug. 25): This disastrous path to purge our past history of unwarranted and unreasonable wrongs will continue to haunt us, long into the future. I fear there are other sinister forces at play here, under the guise of bashing President Trump. They are Trojan Horsing their agenda, under the radar, to continue to bash and destroy everything in America’s culture and past. This is no mistake. It is well prepared and seems to be working and gathering speed and making a lot of uninformed people uncomfortable in the clothes they are wearing. This all-out retaliation against statues, of all things, that celebrate, rightly or wrongly, America’s history, is very much uncalled-for and pathetic to watch. Where does this end? The total fabric of America being destroyed, that’s where. Then to have to watch the two socialists, Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, showboating their obvious hatred for anything American, cultural or otherwise, disgusts me. Both are corrupt morally and legally. To think, this woman paraded with a terrorist. De Blasio just should be in jail, for all of his marginally illegal shenanigans and legal maneuvering. Two bums. Mike Pedano
Keep history alive
Maspeth: The concentration camps were not destroyed and are reminders of a dark past. Statues of Confederates can serve the same purpose. Move them to a museum. Erasing history is to deny it. Emily Baratta
Our gutless mayor
Brooklyn: I am so angry that our gutless mayor is attacking historic symbols and that the MTA is covering iconic subway tiles that clearly depict the Crossroads of the World at the subway station located at the Crossroads of the World, Times Square. Does de Blasio really believe that the tens of thousands of boys (some 11 and 12 years old) in the Confederate Army were all slave owners? They were probably poor farm boys. When their government told them to fight, they fought. They lived in the South, so they fought for the South. Right or wrong, he can’t sweep all those dead bodies under the rug just to please some people and get their vote. I am waiting for the mayor to bang on my door and confiscate my copy of “Gone With the Wind”! Arlene Amarosa
Express yourselves
Ridgefield, Conn.: If it’s okay for Nazis, KKK and anti-Jewish fanatics to demonstrate on our streets, then what’s the problem with flag burners and athletes not standing for the National Anthem? George Corday
Creative destruction
Smyrna, Del.: I think Donald Trump could build his wall quite easily, if he made it out of those Confederate Civil War statues. They’d have some use.
Robert Whitaker-Sirignano
Wall around
Maspeth: Let’s save the taxpayers millions of dollars. Let’s build a wall around the White House. And let’s not let the man who lives there out so he can incite the millions who believe his alternate facts. Don’t any of his followers see his statements on video? They still buy his bull. I am wondering what is happening in America when a narcissist like Donald Trump can become President of the greatest country on Earth.
John B. Luby
Expose everyone
Walsenburg, Colo.: So the Justice Department wants records of an anti-Trump website. Does Donald Trump need an “enemies list”? What possible use for the information could there be? I’ve got a better idea: How about a quid pro quo? The anti-Trump website releases its data and Trump releases all conversations he (or anyone in his inner circle) has had with his Russian BFFs, including Vlad the Impaler. Sounds like a fair exchange.
Mark Henson
Phantom fandom
Windsor, Ont.: I notice that at Donald Trump rallies, the supporters standing behind him never look his way. Are they on a blue screen or really behind him? Yes, we enjoy the circus too.
Tom Harshaw
Hands off our bodies
Manhattan: Voicer Sarah Rouse Cooney has very importantly warned us about circumcisions cruelly practiced by gynecologists without anesthesia, inflicting great pain on newborns. There’s another shocking and unnecessary cruelty practiced by gynecologists for financial gain and avoidance of extra trouble in treating women’s ills. Because insurance companies pay the same for a hysterectomy, which is fairly easy and may take only 20 minutes, as for surgery that repairs and preserves the uterus but may take hours and requires more skill, gynecologists tell women they don’t need their uteruses and will suffer no ill effects from removal. Most uterus removals are entirely unnecessary and in fact cause lifelong harm. This includes, but is not limited to, deformation of a woman’s figure, disarrangement of internal organs, greatly increased risk of heart disease, partial or complete loss of sexual function and risk of major nerve damage. Some women are forced to retire on disability. The average gynecologist performs three hysterectomies a week. The medical establishment, politicians and women’s activist groups deliberately remain silent on these facts to protect the incomes and convenience of gynecologists and hospitals that perform abortions that they’re trying to keep legal. Carol F. Yost
Zits great!
Manhattan: What happened to the “Zits” comic strip? It’s the funniest one in your paper! It hits home for those of us with kids and teenagers, and I looked forward to reading it every day — please keep running it! Cathy Donovan
Danger zone
HOWARD SIMMONS Holbrook, L.I.: For as long as I can remember, the most dangerous jobs in New York were held by firefighters, police officers and construction workers. But after watching this year’s baseball season, that seems to have changed. Apparently playing for the New York Mets has become more hazardous.
Edward C. Burke