Lament half-empty good seats

Brooklyn: I went to the Mets game Tuesday night and had a great time, even though the Mets are awful right now. But it’s jarring that our country has become such a security state post-9/11, along with more aggressively enforced class divisions. We missed the top of the first inning, when the game was ultimately decided, because the security process backed lines up into the parking lot. Once in the stadium, the better seats in the house were over 50% empty.

It used to be that the hard-core, working-class fan could sneak into those seats, grab a few innings of up-close baseball, and politely leave if and when the ticket holders arrived. Those with $1,000 seats often skip the games and don’t bother to resell or give away because the financial loss is negligible.

Baseball is often referred to as America’s great pastime, and my experience that night felt like a microcosm of 2018 America. All that being said, the sun was still shining, the beer was still cold, we were out watching baseball with a vibrant crowd that all got along. We had a great time, despite all that feels wrong both here and abroad.

Michael Pollak

Congestion hurts commerce

Bronx: Manhattan retail stores are being pummeled by Internet shopping. The imposition of congestion pricing only hurts those stores’ ability to compete. Damage to Manhattan retail stores will result in loss of jobs.

Kevin Harrington Whitestone: My condolences to the family of Kate Spade, but we have a President who thinks he can pardon himself (for crimes he “didn’t” commit — wink, wink). And a Supreme Court that says it’s OK to discriminate against gays if you believe in a “magic man” in the sky. Yet the suicide of a fashion designer is the top story? We’re doomed.

Robert LaRosa

Blacklisted no more

Bronx: I’m obviously on your “do not print this guy’s letters” list. I’m just curious why. Jim Theobald

Plenty to do

Bronx: Re “School daze” (editorial, June 6): So the two days of no attendance in June for New York City public school students means “nothing to no one”? I’m guessing you do not think that the massive amount of paperwork, grading and next-school-year planning that teachers have to do means nothing. Oh yeah, your newspaper has the audacity to openly admit that our school system is nothing more than a mere babysitting service by stating that parents will be “scrambling for child care” due to the two days of no school. Maybe you would have a change of heart if you actually spent some time in our public schools and witnessed some of the huge responsibilities teachers are required to perform.

Christopher Leach

Homework vs. school all year

Little Egg Harbor Township, N.J.: Re “Read ’em and weep” (June 6): I don’t think that a summer reading list constitutes either physical or emotional abuse. It’s about doing what it takes to be the best in your field, be it school or job. In many cultures worldwide, there is no such thing as “summer vacation.” Students attend school year-round, with many having more than seven hours of attendance, and still have after-school activities. Ben Gubar

Schoolwork = real work

Manhattan: I wasn’t thrilled about schoolwork over the summer either and sympathize with the kids at Success Academy, but you need to grow up. Being neglected, starved, tortured and beaten is abuse. You’re nowhere near being abused being asked to read and think. Manage your time properly and you’ll still have plenty of fun time during the summer. School is your “job” at the moment, so live up to the name of your school and do the work that’s ultimately for your benefit. And FYI: try telling a future boss that your work is “too hard” and see what happens.

Lynne Henderson

Summer hw: time-honored

Astoria: Re “Read ‘em and weep” (June 6): Even before my freshman year at Cathedral Preparatory, I was given a list of 10 or so books, and required to read five. Students were required to submit book reports for all books we read. I cannot come to terms with the notion that a high school student cannot read five books in eight weeks. John Gianfortune

Work hard, in and for school

Manhattan: Let me get this straight. Mayor de Blasio wants to give a certain percentage of elite high school seats to top-performing minority students who didn’t pass the SHSAT test. And students at Success Academy are angry that they are required to read five books over the summer, while many of the students who get into specialized high schools spend not only their entire summers, but after-school time and weekends studying to do well and pass the required test, in addition to getting great grades during their early school years. Does anybody else see the problem here? If you want something, you have to really work for it and stop whining. Anne Bluestein Charlotte, N.C.: Please, in the future, when publishing an article insinuating that the religion of Wicca is the same as Satanism, note that these are two separate and opposite religions (“Sister of Louise Turpin fears witchcraft obsession fueled alleged child abuse against 13 kids,” June 6). I don’t follow either, but have taught mini courses on Wicca. They are not the same. Lynn Fox

Why illegally?

Rockaway Park: I’m a Cuban immigrant. I became a U.S. citizen in 1969. My parents and I arrived in New York in 1961 and immediately got our green cards. Although it was a long process, eight years later, we became proud Americans. No one gave us a dime: no mental or dental, no medical, food stamps, housing, nada! My father was a porter and my mother was a seamstress. It was not easy, but the idea was to work hard, become a U.S. citizen, get an education and move upward. I read about Pablo Villavicencio and his family’s problems. I have compassion for them. That said, in 2008, he entered the country illegally. He was allowed to stay and get it together. He met his wife in 2012 and they got married, so there was a process in place to become a citizen. So someone explain to me why on earth he never tried to become a U.S. citizen. Has he paid taxes, like my parents did for 50 plus years of their lives? Villavicencio had between six and 10 years to go to through the process, and never did a thing. Why not?

Jesus Linares

Deport him

Staten Island: Pablo Villavicencio should be deported back to Ecuador! He came to this country illegally. I have four Italian relatives who want to come here.

Joe McNiesh

Stand (in line) for the anthem

Sparta, N.J.: I would like to remind Voicer Sandra Y. Peters that persons at the concession stands or waiting on line at the restrooms during the national anthem are already on their feet, though their hands may be less patriotically engaged. Believe it or not, this is an argument being touted on social media.

Ronald K. Samuel

Semper fi

Howard Beach: So sorry, Uncle Joe (USMC), that you lost your leg during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, and so sorry there was no recognition in your old hometown Daily News paper of that day for the loss of lives and the many wounded who fought for our freedom and the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany. We didn’t forget. Semper Fi.

Paul DeTiberiis

A global family feud

Brooklyn: President Trump’s Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow describes the problems with the G-7 meeting as a “family quarrel.” If you think about it, so was World War I. Ira Cure

World trade without U.S.

Seaford, L.I.: Our enemies and our former allies are working to arrange a world order minus the United States of America. Europe and Asia will produce all the computers, airplanes, high-speed transit and smartphones the world needs. China will sell us windmills, solar panels and electric cars, which we will buy — on credit. Bob Bascelli

Rudy vs. Stormy

AP Yorktown Heights, N.Y.: So Rudy Giuliani doesn’t respect porn stars because they have no ethics, low morals and will do anything for money? That’s exactly how most people feel about lawyers. Anthony Vegilante