Cycle through to a better plan

Brooklyn: Re Voicer Paul Steely White’s call for greatly expanding the Citi Bike program to include all five boroughs: I live in one of the outer boroughs and it’s already a horror with parking throughout the city. Thanks to Mayor de Blasio and his predecessor for rewarding builders and contractors with huge taxpayer-funded incentives to build recklessly without any regard to the neighborhood’s ability to absorb the increased population.

De Blasio is also pushing to eliminate the one parking spot per resident rule for new construction. Parking throughout the city is already at capacity and getting worse every day. His plan would result in literally hundreds of parking places being removed from public streets resulting in a great hardship for the existing residents in those neighborhoods.

Being a recreational cyclist, I do support protective bicycle lanes but because of New York City’s poor planning, this plan would not be fair for non-cyclists. Bob Del Castillo White Plains, N.Y.: The article “EpiPen recall over defect,” appears to implicate Mylan and possibly others (April 4). It asserts that there may have been quality defects in certain lots of the product itself. Having worked at the FDA for more than 20 years, I believe there is no entity better qualified to deal with defects in product quality. As for product pricing, the issue is highly complex. After leaving the FDA, I spent 19 years as the chairman of a specialty pharmaceutical company. I learned that the invoiced price of a drug may be only marginally correlated with what a manufacturer actually receives. There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. There are frequently confidential price concession arrangements between some manufacturers and other entities that participate in bringing drugs from the manufacturer to the consumer. These price concessions, in my experience, rarely flow to consumers and/or to third-party payers. Before condemning a manufacturer, it is important to understand the tangled, opaque web of price concessions and “competitive arrangements” on most drugs from the time a product leaves the manufacturer until it reaches the consumer.

Barrie Levitt, M.D., FACC

Mother of a message

Hawley, Pa.: Methinks the dropping off the MOAB bomb was a message to North Korea — which supposedly has an extensive tunnel system to shield their command and control units. Our use of the MOAB bomb might be a message to ISIS and North Korea that you can’t hide anywhere. Helmut Meditz

MOAB history

Liverpool, England: The largest non-nuclear explosion since WW2 was a suicide bomb driven into the barracks of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. It killed 241 Marines and was retaliation for the USA reneging on its promise to protect the families of the PLO men deported from Lebanon in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. Ariel Sharon and the Christian Phalangists were responsible for the death of an estimated 2,000 innocent people. Sharon was sacked for his part in the attempted genocide of the victims. Israel assassinated the Phalange leader Elie Hobeika, by car bomb, in Beirut on the eve of testifying against Israel in the Hague. Joe Kelsall

Stage managers need love too

Holmdel, N.J.: Re “The workers who make Broadway hum deserve a standing ovation,” (March 25): What about stage managers? If you’re going to run an article regarding backstage workers and manage to mention every union, even ones created in the past decade, and leave out stage managers, then you’ve left out your main backstage gear. Stage managers make a show happen nightly and without them all the other lovely union members mentioned would be as disoriented as tourists looking up at Times Square billboards. So please add Stage Managers (Union: Actors’ Equity Association). They’re constantly under-appreciated, and they deserve better.

Erikka Walsh

Broader support is needed

Brooklyn: My business, Bra Tenders, Inc, is one of many small businesses peppered around that support the beneath-the behindthe-scenes of the Broadway and entertainment communities. We sell bras, foundations, men’s underwear, specialty leg wear for men and women, sock garters, garter clips, open bottom girdles, suspenders and all manner of unique and arcane undergarments. When the understudy needs underwear, who they gonna call? Bra Tenders! Currently the mayor is talking of rezoning the garment district, another peripheral business without which, there would be no glittery and extravagant showgirl costumes, and no waistcoats for the cast of “Hamilton.” Where oh where would shoppers source the stunning red satin fabric that made Bette Midler’s second act showstopping gown? The costume shops which make the clothes would cease to function without an accessible garment center. Another story is needed about the businesses owned by regular folks who support Broadway, film and TV, and their unique interdependence. Broadway and live theater is a major tourist attraction, and without the suppliers who make the shows reality, they can’t happen.

Lori Kaplan Bra Tenders, Inc.

O’Reilly payout

Montclair, N.J.: To Voicer Sharon Tomalavage. OMG, you don’t care why Bill O’Reilly settled with his victims?! Perhaps because he was guilty? As you say, you agree with President Trump that, if innocent, one should not settle but fight. Sure. Then please explain why Trump settled for $25 million in his Trump University fraud case? So you have no issue with a President settling a fraud case against him. Interesting. The hypocrisy of the media regarding Bill Clinton? Where were you living, under a rock? Clinton was front page news for months regarding the sex scandal. Even though it was years ago, his exploits were brought up by Trump and his supporters during the recent election. Hypocrisy? Take off the blinders, Sharon. Ed Barnett

Fearless fronting

Brooklyn: I understand that the bull’s artist is hurt by the image of the girl and bull facing off. I would like to put out there, that, perhaps, they could stand together, instead of face off? The message of that, the bull and the girl facing the world together, would be powerful indeed. Carly Foster

No bull from the mayor

New Rochelle, N.Y.: The mayor has got this wrong. The artist, Arturo Di Monica, has rights. The addition of “Fearless Girl”, no matter how well-meaning, changes the intent of his work. Find another location for the “Girl.”

Jed Davis

NY1 woes

Forest Hills: I live in a co-op in which Time Warner Cable has enjoyed the exclusive position of our sole cable provider. We were rewarded with a reduced rate for our loyalty. But, two years ago we allowed FiOS to offer services to shareholders seeking an alternative. Many of us kept Time Warner, not for the discount (for the price has risen anyway), but because of NY1. I work in a hair salon and have discussed with clients, reasons for my loyalty to NY1. We all have favorite segments or programs that keep us here. “In The Papers” is high on the list, but especially when done by Pat Kiernan. “Cooking At Home” is very useful. But the show that has kept me from switching to Fios has been “New York Times Close Up.” I never missed it. I recorded it if unable to watch. I was sorry it was limited to just Saturday nights recently; but I’m astonished that it’s now gone completely. It was a grave mistake. I, and those of like mind, will choose our provider based on price offers (and FiOS is very competitively priced) rather than programming, now that you have trimmed, not the fat, but the real meat of your programming. Bring back “New York Times CloseUp,” NY1! Dorothy Perrino

Net win

Staten Island: Thanks so much to the Daily News for the Nets tickets I won recently. My two sons went to the game and they had a great time, great seats and, of course, great memories!

Janet Keeler

Art of the deal

ROSE ABUIN Brooklyn: Trump will take advantage of the bargain price to buy out United Airlines and put his brand on an airline for a second time. They’ve already got his brand right. Barbara Abramowitz

Hypocritical sanctuary

Rockaway Beach: So the Daily News is concerned that felons are being allowed to live in housing projects, yet support the “Sanctuary City” policies that release criminals back into society (“Felons welcome,” March 29?) How hypocritical can you be?

Brian Sullivan