A Day to love those who Labor

Glen Oaks Village: Labor Day is upon us and it is time to be thankful for how far we have come. It is also a time to look back and think of all the fathers and mothers who worked hard long hours and who fought for decent wages and hours so they could better provide for their families. My grandfather — as told to me by my father — worked hard long hours in the late 1890s and early 1900s and earned about $2 a day. He was a Civil War veteran. Things were so bad that my father was taken out of school in third grade at the age of 9 and had to go to work.

Truly we have come a long way due to those that paved the way to a better life for many of us today. So, this Labor Day, let’s say a prayer of thankfulness to how far we have come. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Lindenhurst, L.I.: Labor Day blues is all in a day’s work. We work all day long working alone. Let’s work together — for together we stand, Divided we fall; this is America after all. We shall come together to keep on working until the work is done. There’s enough work for everyone. We can make it work all the way And celebrate together this Labor Day.

Like father, like daughter

Bronx: It’s clear that Ivanka Trump shares her father’s obsession with destroying all of President Obama’s achievements. Just as Donald Trump’s racist lie that he had “proof” President Obama was born in Kenya could not stop him from being elected POTUS twice, his attempt to erase his predecessor from American history will fail spectacularly. All anyone has to do is look at the rubble in which the presidency now lies compared to when Obama was in office. It’s breathtaking! Trump is making America the laughingstock of the world. Very sad on all counts.

Pauline Graham Binder

Dangerous wall

Millbrook, N.Y.: The Sierra Club has identified an environmentally important part of the harmful effects of a wall on the Mexican border. Perhaps compared to the thousands of people in poverty who will be affected by a wall, it is a small matter, but in the last few years, the American jaguar has returned to Arizona, crossing the border from Mexico. Originally decimated by American hunters for being a pest, the magnificent largest small cat has now returned to the Sky Islands area south of Tucson. Other creatures of the ecosystem will also be impacted like Pronghorn deer and the American Bison. This is their hunting and breeding ground and their survival must be considered.

Linda Kolts

Government is needed

Copake, N.Y.: To all those conservatives who insist that we need less government, I suggest they take a look at Texas. Once again, as it was with Sandy, 9/11, Katrina, Irene and so many other disasters, it is government workers Susan and Robert Davniero who are the heroes saving lives. From the U.S. Coast Guard to state and local police, fire and public works staff, tens of thousands of our fellow human beings are being rescued from Harvey’s water. If, G-d forbid, conservatives ever achieve anti-tax activist Grover Norquist’s dream to “reduce (government) to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub,” understand what will actually be drowned — American citizens, like yourselves.

Joseph Cannisi

Next verse, same as the first

Ledyard, Conn.: It is predictable that President Trump is making the disaster that is the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey all about how “great” he wants everyone to think he is. Lisa Allen

Required watching

Woodside: I’m not sure if this is the exact quote, but, close enough to make my point; “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones,” said Albert Einstein. There are two movies that always remind me of Einstein’s words. Both are very poignant. “On the Beach,” starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” starring Michael Rennie and a robot named Gort. “On the Beach” is based on a (fictional) incident that destroyed the world in a matter of months. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is about an alien landing in Washington with the message: If the countries of Earth don’t clean up their acts and stop polluting the universe, steps will be taken. Hence the title. If after watching those movies, you then consider what’s happening in North Korea, your first thought would be that old adage, “Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality.” Both movies should be required watching in school for every student in this country and maybe in the world, once a year from seventh grade through high school. Wouldn’t be a bad idea for politicians to watch them also.

Steven Mandel

Life mirrors art

Bronx: The story of Genovese capo Pasquale Parrello points back to “A Bronx Tale,” the Broadway hit of the last several months (“Supporters defend Bronx mobster guilty of extortion conspiracy,” Aug. 31). In the play, the small boy Calogero, based upon Chazz Palminteri as a youngster, must cope with the tribulations of growing up in the Belmont section of the Bronx. C., as he is known, must above all pay heed to the presence of Sonny, the local tough who dominates the area around 187th St. The musical’s plot follows the young man through his apprenticeship to Sonny, his enduring relationship to his father, his implication in crimes in the local Bronx neighborhood, an involvement in an interracial romance and his survival over such troubling circumstances. The article about the mob associate of an Arthur Ave. restaurant reflects unmistakably upon the popular musical presently playing to Broadway audiences. Pat Malizia

Confederacy of dunces

Manhattan: It’s tiring listening to the idiotic hypocrites who defend the Confederacy. These same people would be outraged by the celebration and honoring of individuals who owned and abused their ancestors and who waged a war against the U.S. to continue to do.

Benjamin Montgomery

No statues for old traitors

Hollis: Instead of erecting monuments honoring the Confederacy, its high command of officers plus Jefferson Davis and others in leadership roles should have been executed for picking up arms against the United States. Those statues belong in museums or in private collections, not on public property. Why don’t we see any monuments honoring Benedict Arnold? Because he was a traitor. That’s what those who fought for the Confederate States of America were — traitors. Lavington Charles

Stand up to racists

Manhattan: Re “Indignant people’s day” (editorial, Aug. 30): The basic fallacies in this argument are a) the falsehood that Columbus represents anyone’s culture, historically speaking, let alone Americans (we all know the claim of his discovery is a false one); and b) that we ought to be afraid of upsetting folks who support his legacy. The Daily News suggestion that the left is sweepingly branding these folks as racist is forced and inaccurate. Nonetheless, one who supports what Columbus stands for is most certainly and inherently not anti-racist (i.e, not actively fighting for racial justice). Cowering to the fears of an already out-of-control Trump base gets us nowhere; bluntly calling them out does, albeit it shan’t be pretty.

Ebonie Simpson

Where are the ‘good’ Nazis?

Oakland Gardens: In his reaction to the tragedy in Charlottesville, Trump stated that there were good people on both sides. The “Hollywood elite” has organized a fund-raiser in three cities to aid the people of Houston. Many of them have already made individual donations. Where are the “good” people on the other side? Do the white supremacists, Klan and Nazis only mobilize for violence and destruction? Ordinary people have been actively helping their neighbors. There’s still time for them to step up to the plate. Deborah M. Jackson

Forever repairs

JEFFERSON SIEGEL Brooklyn: To add to Voicer Steve Yanowsky on refurbishing the N line: The Bay Parkway station is only one of three stations open during this construction and it has been left with only one exit for almost two years. When a train empties at this stop it becomes dangerously crowded and takes forever to exit. The original plan stated that the Avenue O exit (on which construction first started) was to be finished by Spring 2016. It’s almost fall 2017, and it’s still closed, with no end in sight. Will it take a tragedy at this station before something gets done? At least keep us up to date on progress. The MTA has dropped the ball yet again. What else is new? Jason Boisseau