LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Moviegoers’ cars towed at Metro Square unfair

I met my sister in Middletown for breakfast and a morning matinee at Metro Movies recently. It was a beautiful, crisp autumn morning, so we decided to get some exercise and walk to breakfast at O’Rourkes Diner from the Metro Square parking lot, where we left both cars, then walked back for the 11 a.m. show.

Imagine our surprise when we returned to Metro: Our vehicles were both gone. A man drove up to us and said he had both cars towed because we had appeared on security cameras walking down Main Street, and had not gone into any of the businesses serviced by that lot.

That’s because we had breakfast before going to the movies. He informed us that we had to go to D&L Towing in Berlin to retrieve our cars: $152 for each car cash no less. We called an Uber and had to go to a bank first because we didn’t have that much cash on us. A couple we saw in the Middletown lot arrived at D&L towing just after us to retrieve their car as well.

The lot is privately owned and free. Signs posted on the buildings around the perimeter state that use of the lot is for Metro Square business only, and that violators will be towed at their expense. Too bad for us that we had gone to breakfast before supporting one of those businesses. Needless to say, we didn’t attend the 11 a.m. show.

I want our money back. When I asked D&L who owned the lot, I was told “some guys from New Jersey,” but was not given a contact. This is ridiculous. If my sister and I are unable to get refunds, Middletown will not see us doing business in town again. Furthermore, we both have a lot of friends who will hear our story. I feel so unwelcome.

Barbra Shapiro, Killingworth

Murphy’s approach to foreign policy realistic one

The criticism of Sen. Chris Murphy in Michael Galant’s Nov. 16 op-ed (“Murphy wants a new foreign policy”) is typical of the political distortions that divide Americans today. Rather, thoughtful people applaud Sen. Murphy for his insightful and realistic policies.

Galant wants politically correct policies intended not to offend Gazan rioters and to promote the [The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions], whose goal is to eliminate Israel. Chris Murphy pursues policies intended to benefit Americans and our allies regardless of whom else they may or may not benefit.

What Galant calls “protests,” the New York Times describes as violent riots: “Palestinians hurled stones, set fire to tires, and released flaming kites that set fire to fields outside the Nahal Oz kibbutz.”

What Galant exaggerates were “over 100 Palestinians” killed during the Gazan embassy riots, CNBC corrects as “dozens” from among “tens of thousands” charging Israel’s border. That’s amazing restraint by border guards attacked by tens of thousands screaming “Allah Akbar” and smashing into Israel's protective fence.

Galant hails BDS as “a nonviolent movement” concerned with “economic pressure.” In fact, it’s an anti-Semitic organization that denies the right of self-determination only to Jews. It’s also reportedly a source of the $700,000 income for which BDS founder Omar Barghouti was charged with tax evasion. Dr. Rosette Liberman, Pittsford, N.Y.