Stop horsing around with safety
Astoria: Three people and a horse were injured in the 13th carriage horse accident in less than a year. Prey animals like horses are easily spooked and do not belong in traffic. Most New Yorkers want to see state Sen. Tony Avella’s bill (S. 5013) passed to ban this cruelty. Instead, 200 people in the carriage trade continue putting public safety and horses at risk. Susan Davis Manhattan: I grew up in Manhattan in the 1950s, when carriage rides were leisurely. However, now vehicular traffic near the park has tripled, with drivers cutting each other off. To put sensitive horses in the midst of these manic traffic jams and the bustling hordes of pedestrians is cruel beyond words. Suzanne W. Stout Manhattan: Carriage rides are dangerous for horses, passengers and pedestrians. It’s time to retire the horses to a sanctuary and introduce vintage cars as a more suitable tourist attraction. Jacqueline Raven
Ban the horses Los Angeles: New York’s carriages require horses to work in extreme weather, pose a public safety hazard (because horses spook easily and cause accidents), cause horses to suffer debilitating hoof and leg ailments and force horses to breathe toxic exhaust fumes that can result in lung damage. The only humane solution is a permanent ban. Cruelty to animals does not belong in New York City.
Curtis Taylor
The upper crust
Brooklyn: Now that Rolls (Mitt Romney) has his Royce (Paul Ryan), all they need is for the rest of us to chauffeur them and their fellow one-percenters around for the next four years. Wake up, America! Martin Bunis
No mystery
Staten Island: To Voicer Scott Jones: I don’t know about anybody else, but I’ve been aware of Paul Ryan, his ludicrous budget, his close relationship to the Koch brothers and his backward stances on equal pay for women, birth control and abortion. He is a major player in the GOP plot to get rid of President Obama by refusing to go along with anything he proposes, even turning down bills that were originally Republican ideas. Jeanne Teper
Get serious
Hicksville, L.I.: Give me a break! What is this, a high school election or a national one? Stop making fun of and nitpicking each other and start really telling us how you intend to run our country. I need a job.
Ginny DeMarco
Hardball politics
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.: I’m really getting sick of hearing the Republicans wailing about the cruelty and nastiness of the Democratic campaign. This, from the party of Karl Rove and his mentor, Lee Atwater, who perfected nasty mudslinging and outright lies. At least Atwater had a deathbed conversion and admitted his lies. I don’t expect anything that noble from Rove. Bob English
No show and tell
Bayport, L.I.: Romney’s claim that he always paid at least 13% on his taxes establishes one thing as absolute fact: He will never release the returns so we can see.
Paul Rawlings
Doesn’t add up
Bronx: How could Paul Ryan have used survivors’ pay to go to college when the last students to receive these benefits had to be enrolled by spring 1982 and Ryan would have been about 12?
Kathleen Hughes
The next generation
Dartmouth, Mass.: I am giving a thumbs up to Chelsea Clinton running for public office. We are in dire need of new blood. I endorse Meghan McCain, too. Two young people who are up with the times. Dave Walker
Bleak days ahead
River Edge, N.J.: Voicer Angela Ciccone needs to get a clue. Medicare and Social Security are directly provided for by taxpayers. It ticks people off when they paid into a system to provide a safety net, and the money is taken and used for other means. If we continue to spend money we don’t have on government programs that don’t correct problems, our future looks like Greece’s present. Fred Diedrich
The real Medicare threat
Glen Head, L.I.: Voicer Angela Ciccone states that “Paul Ryan wants to eliminate Medicare and Social Security.” Apparently she has drunk the Obama Kool-Aid. President Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare. He wants to kill Medicare so that all Americans will be forced into Obamacare. Robert Kralick
Ditto
Brooklyn: As a senior citizen sans pension, I am very concerned about the future of Medicare. I had high hopes for Medicare’s future when President Obama admitted it needed urgent reform. But that was last year. This year, he will “reform” it by raiding $716 billion from Medicare to support Obamacare. Rosemarie Markgraf
Exposed
Gouldsboro, Pa.: Bravo to the Daily News for uncovering the gross mismanagement and incompetence at NYCHA!
Jules Pagano
Who really cheated?
Little Egg Harbor, N.J.: I can’t believe how a married man who seduced a young girl has been left out of the fight and she has had to take the blame for cheating. Kristen Stewart has been left bloodied, while poor Robert Pattinson is paraded around as if he were owed the world. These people were not married to each other, so why the mudslinging? Is Kristen supposed to walk around with a big red A on her breast?
Rose Wilson
Top grades
Manhattan: Your Aug. 13 editorial on teacher evaluations, “New York gets left back,” misses the point. New York’s law is at least as tough as New Jersey’s, and a model for the nation. All New York teachers will be evaluated this school year, while New Jersey’s law takes effect in 2013. New York will be able to get rid of ineffective teachers and strengthen the majority of teachers immediately. New Jersey’s students must wait. Unlike Trenton, Albany will withhold state aid from school districts that fail to adopt a teacher-evaluation system. New Jersey has no way to penalize districts that drop the ball. We believe Gov. Cuomo brought all sides to the table and provided both a carrot and a stick if schools do not prioritize student achievement.
Christina Grant, New York Campaign for Achievement Now
Mix and match
Whitestone: I believe people should make a herculean effort to acquaint themselves with those of different cultures. They might be pleasantly surprised. My Jewish cousin from New York loved a Hindu man from India. As with many marriages, there were ups and downs, but their love prevailed. Two lovely children were raised, a boy and a girl, now both successful professionals! Giving different people the opportunity to merge successfully just might turn out very well!
Leonore Brooks
Different scenarios
Bay Shore, L.I.: To Voicer Carnell Carty: The reason the Colorado shooter was taken alive and the Times Square pot smoker was shot is simple. The former had ended his attack and was walking away, posing no further threat to the police, while the latter was lunging at officers with his knife. Also, police are not trained to aim for the legs, as you suggest. They are taught to shoot at the center of mass of the target, to minimize the chance of missing and striking innocent bystanders.
Jonathan Dudley
Boycott Iranian bombmakers
Scarsdale, N.Y.: By attending the nonaligned summit in Tehran on Aug. 26, the UN secretary general and world leaders are sabotaging the efforts to isolate Iran with the goal of stopping its nuclear weapons program. No leader should shake the hand of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or go to Iran. Please use your influence with American allies to persuade them to not attend the meeting in Tehran.
Betty Berenson
The King is dead
Yonkers: Did I miss it or did you? Where the hell was there any writeup about the Aug. 16 anniversary of the loss of the king of rock ’n’ roll? It’s been 35 years, in case you did not know. Jo Manno
Punished for parking
Bronx: Dear Mayor: Last week I drove to Macy’s in Parkchester. I parked my car and proceeded to a muni-meter, which was not working. I went to two other meters, which were not functioning. I finally found a working meter more than a block away. By leaving my car, I put myself in a position to receive a ticket.
Catherine Santarpia