Bicyclists must obey road rules

Manhattan: If I had a dollar for every time someone complained to me about cyclists who (pardon the pun) ride roughshod over pedestrians, I could build bicycle lanes on every street in the city — an initiative that certainly would not please most anti-cyclists. In fact, people who complain about cyclists’ behavior often go further. “New York is not Amsterdam. Bike lanes have no place here,” they assert.

I commiserate with pedestrians who have come within a hair of being hit by cyclists — as I have many times — or in some cases have actually been hit and knocked to the ground. Nevertheless, I stoutly defend the expansion of bike lanes and want to see measures taken to protect riders from aggressive drivers.

Kjirsten Alexander’s May 19 Op-Ed (“It’s dangerous out there for bikes”) makes the reasonable point that cyclists are imperiled both by drivers who arrogantly disobey the law and police who allow such driving to go unpunished. But she utterly undermines her message and turns off potential allies when she declares her right to roll “slowly through a couple of red lights,” claiming that, because pedestrians are not around, those actions are harmless. Moreover, she is outraged to have been ticketed, whining that the fine is greater than the cost of a monthly MetroCard.

If Alexander and her cohorts want our support, they should be mindful of how badly that self-entitlement plays in New York. And just as drivers must obey the law, so too must cyclists, even when convinced that scofflaw riding is a victimless crime. Judy Richheimer

Arrogance on two wheels

Manhattan: I wish to take the opposite view of Kjirsten Alexander’s view of the danger that bicyclists deal with. I am very concerned how bicyclists and pedestrians interact with each other. With the weather turning warmer, more bicyclists are out riding their bikes. That means the odds of getting hit by a bicyclist increase. The reason for that is there are many out there that are careless and thoughtless. They ride on the sidewalk, ride in bus lanes, don’t stop at lights, don’t wear the proper clothing at night so that drivers and pedestrians can see them coming; they are speeding, riding the wrong way, talking and texting on their bike, and wearing earphones, which makes it difficult to hear anything. The newest thing is the motorized bikes that the restaurants use to make deliveries. These should be licensed. Rather than build more bike lanes, we should be licensing motorized bikes as well as establishing a ticketing system.

Marcia Shulman

Modern woman

Jackson Heights: Just for the record, and for those late-rising readers who may have missed the royal wedding on TV, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were declared “husband and wife,” not the patriarchal version “man and wife,” as you reported. Markle truly is a bride for the 21st century.

Judith Natkins Brooklyn: To Voicer Dennis Shivers: You are right, this is the United States of America. However, know this: There is no official language of the United States under federal law. A limited number of states have official languages. Louisiana, for one, includes French as official.

Kevin Harewood

Ay caramba

Bronx: To Voicer Dennis Shivers: Where is it written that you should only speak English in America? Eres un idiota.

Iraida Carrion

Grandmother tongue

Bronx: Americans should only speak English? If we want to get technical, then let’s do so. The real language of America is Navajo, not English. English is what the people who stole this land speak. So all those ridiculous patriots should think again before pointing racist, classist fingers at immigrants who come from other places different from where most whites came from. Djaira Boves

Where there’s smoke

Brooklyn: If you can smoke weed in public now, what about smoking cigarettes in public?

Joan DeFazio

Not in my building

Brooklyn: With all the politicians and people talking about legalizing pot use, have they given thought to how it will affect people in apartment houses? I do not want the smell or smoke from others in my apartment. As an allergy and asthma sufferer, there will be a blight on my health. If the brownies, lollipops, gummy bears, etc., were the only items that could be legally used, fine. The smoking kind, no. Will landlords have to incur added expense for better air-venting systems to combat the smoke affecting nonusers? I know it’s all about the money that it will bring to the state and city, but this is a bad idea. Ramona Scott

The art of argument

Manhattan: I was so taken by the Op-Ed by Justin Quarry on May 20 (“Cultural treasures, behind a velvet rope”). He outlines how he discovered the beauty to be found in art by visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a student. He bemoans the current admission prices as being a deterrent for young people to attend. This is such an important point, and he wrote about it so beautifully.

Linda Lusskin

Look in the mirror

North Massapequa, L.I.: While I sympathize with Shani Rahman’s plight, I am perplexed (“Please, Mr. Mayor, fund Fair Fares,” Op-Ed, May 21). While Rahman states that she works in a fastfood place and takes home less than $150, she lives in a shelter with one child, and has two other children who don’t live with her. Where is the father, or where are the fathers, of these children? Since Rahman is in a poverty-level situation, she is eligible for food stamps, welfare and medical services. Entry-level jobs were never meant to sustain a family of four. There is a whole gamut of reasons why she is where she is, but I would need a column the length of what she had to elaborate. Steven Malichek

It’s the family, stupid

Holmdel, N.J.: I don’t own a gun and never will, but guns have been part of this country since the American Revolution. The rash of student violence coincides with the growth of unsupervised social media use by adolescents and teens. Parents need to realize that they need to accept responsibility for their children, and not expect teachers, day care workers or other government agencies to raise their children for them. Gun control is not the answer to the rash of student violence.

Michael Boccieri Bronx: Instead of white people worrying about African-American people sitting in Starbucks or in common areas at Yale, they really should concern themselves with those young white kids killing people in schools.

Cindi C. Williams

Two problems

Bayonne, N.J.: Every time there is a school shooting, we are told to pray. Interesting in that prayer is not allowed in school.

Elizabeth D’Angelo

Dead aim

Manhattan: The May 20 Daily News front-page, “They do royal weddings. We do schoolkids’ funerals,” said more in eight words than anything I have heard from all the people expressing their condolences, prayers, etc., MICHAEL IP/DAILY NEWS after every one of the many school shootings. Carl L. Maury

Feeding the beasts

Spartanburg, S.C.: The media can help reduce mass shootings with a simple editorial policy change: Stop giving the murderers the rich reward of publicity.

Tony Thompson

Obama did nothing

Fountain Hills, Ariz.: Gov. Cuomo likes to criticize President Trump for breaking his promises. Trump has done and will do more for the unity of this country than President Obama ever did. The Democrats want progress overnight. When Obama was President, there was never any progress. Cuomo should think before he speaks. Working together is the way to get things done, not each party fighting each other. Linda Carriero

The last straw

Manchester, N.J.: As a reader of the Daily News for over 50 years, it saddens me to cancel my subscription to your paper effectively immediately. For some time now I have found your cover pages to be deceptive and untruthful, and I cannot abide by the biased reporting. The “Daddy’s little ghoul” front-page headline (May 15) was the last straw. Every intelligent reader realizes that if the Palestinians did not send people there to protest, there would not be casualties, and Ivanka Trump was not celebrating the injuries.

Patricia McGowan