Unconstructive opposition to safety
Manhattan: The Daily News highlighted the construction and insurance lobby’s campaign to eliminate basic safety protections for New York construction workers but failed to acknowledge the sky-high fatality rates facing construction workers and relied on a flawed report that has been disavowed by the institute that released it (“Building their case,” Dec. 3). New York’s construction workers face more danger than ever on the job. Fatalities and severe injuries are on the rise, and underfunded government agencies struggle to adequately inspect work sites. Contractors are cutting corners on safety and endangering workers’ lives because they know they can get away with it.
New York’s Scaffold Safety Law is one of the only tools that workers and their families can use to hold negligent contractors accountable. The law merely requires the people who control a work site to make sure there is appropriate safety equipment provided and workers know how to use it. If proper equipment is provided, then contractors have nothing to worry about. Moreover, if the construction industry were truly interested in an honest conversation on workplace safety, they would join us in calling for greater transparency from insurers. Instead, contractors have partnered with insurers to focus on repealing one of the only laws in place to protect New York’s working men and women. We can’t play games with the lives of hardworking New Yorkers just to line the pockets of contractors and insurers. Charlene Obernauer, executive director New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health
Fare’s fair
Manhattan: I am not an advocate of fare-beating, though for some it may have less to do with poverty than it being a form of social protest. However, I notice the MTA can snap their fingers and conjure up plenty of transit workers to enforce payment of fares, but when a train is late or stuck, or a station crumbling, or an elevator or escalator out of service, they are too understaffed to remedy the situation. Any police personnel the MTA is considering enlisting for the specific purpose of fare enforcement are better used for keeping track of potential bail-jumpers subsidized by Kerry Kennedy. Maybe she can subsidize bail for fare-beater arrests when the time comes. Gilbert Colon
This stinks
East Elmhurst: I live on 80th St., just above Steinway. We live with the worst smell and no one will do anything about it. You can’t take a picture or video of the smell, so only the residents here know how awful it is. I have tried to call 311 and other agencies and they have done nothing. We do not know where it is coming from, if it poisonous, or if it affecting the quality of our air and water. It is so bad I can’t exercise outside today and people do not let their children play outside. We pay taxes! We deserve a safe place to breathe. Any help in this matter is much appreciated. Candyce Kannengieser
Lost in N.Y. Harbor
Port Washington, L.I.: Re “Gov inauguration set for Ellis Island,” Dec. 4: While I understand the gesture of our governor deciding to have his inauguration at Ellis Island, it’s a bit odd that he didn’t consider the fact that the majority of Ellis Island is part of New Jersey. Has a New York governor ever been sworn in at a different state than what he’s governing? Seems a bit of an oversight. Jason Levine
Lotto money
Staten Island: To all the Voicers who asked whether the New York Lottery profits have been allocated to education, as promised. The answer is yes — the profits went to education. However, other state funds previously applied to education have been reduced to an equal degree. The net result: no gain in education funds. Les Strauss
That’s Italian
Huntington Beach, Calif.: HBO’s “My Brilliant Friend” is a “brilliant” coming-of-age story. Just before her 15th birthday, Elena is finally coming alive while she is on her first vacation, escaping from her drab, confined, violent, poverty-stricken neighborhood in Italy to go to a beautiful, idyllic seaside resort. She experiences her first kiss and first boyfriend and gets to swim daily, read classic novels, relax and write letters to her best friend. Then sadly her fairy tale world comes crashing down when an older man, who happens to be the father of her first boyfriend, sexually assaults her, showing how life can drastically change in an Italian minute. Kenneth L. Zimmerman
Yankee abroad
Edison, N.J.: Thank you to Voicer Martha Andrade for taking the time to write a letter and to the Daily News for printing her letter, which informed your readers that Yankee Candle Company is moving from Massachusetts to the Philippines. I do doubt that the company will change its name to Philippine Candle Company, but I have no doubt that I will not be buying any candles from either named company in the future. Colleen Passafiume
Spread the wealth
Bronx: You know, income redistribution isn’t so bad (“Pol pay hikes tied to reform,” Dec. 7). A back room meeting of Democratic party bigshots may have just given state legislators a 63% pay increase through 2021, the first since 1998, but our $15 minimum wage law will have given a whopping 252% increase through the same 23-year period. Nobody ever told me that under democratic capitalism, we can always take some of the money back. Jorge Sierra
Empowering the green
Vineyard Haven, Mass.: Burning coal is the main culprit and there is a carbon neutral, or even carbon negative — if combined with carbon capture or carbon recycling into biofuel — alternative. Algae, whether intentionally grown on wastewater or directly harvested from some of the world’s massive algal dead zones, can be pressed into pellets and burned in solid fuel power plants as “green” coal. Thomas Sullivan
Express to nowhere
Forest Hills: To Voicer Robert K. Greco: I use both mass transit and drive, yet neither mass transit nor roads are in good condition. The stretch between Exits 25 and 29 on the Northern State Parkway, in both directions and across all lanes, is a series of filled-in potholes so jarring to ride over that they can loosen teeth. I take the express bus from Queens to Manhattan. The seats are uncomfortable and often broken; they either don’t recline or recline whether you want them to or not, the ride is so bumpy there are times I can’t even keep a book steady enough to read, the reading lights don’t always work and for this “premier” transportation, I have the privilege of paying $6.50 each way, so, please don’t talk to me about the mass transit fares being too low. I pay the $13 a day because riding underground what with crazies on the platforms and constant breakdowns is worse. Linda Sperling
Tree’s company
Bronx: I have always loved Luigi Pirandello’s title “Six Characters in Search of an Author.” It reminds me of so many Voicers who wake up in search of a problem that does not exist. For example, the outrage exhibited for cutting down one tree for Christmas display, while being oblivious to the thousands of trees burnt up in the California forest fire. I am certain that the Christmas tree on display at Rockefeller Center will give joy and peace to New Yorkers and visitors alike. Gilbert M. Lane