Who controls the traffic control?
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Manhattan: Someone is going to get killed at the corner of 31st St. and Ninth Ave. in Manhattan. Between the construction of the Manhattan West development, which has forced westbound traffic to make a left onto Ninth Ave., and major street excavations at the location, the intersection has become hazardous for pedestrians. The traffic light at what was once the northwest corner is hidden by construction, and cars going down Ninth Ave. do not see a traffic light until they are already in the intersection. Pedestrians crossing Ninth Ave. are at great risk.
Knowing of the danger, the city or the contractors have placed flagmen at that location. They can usually be found leaning against cars or construction barriers and talking on their phones. These men and women either have no idea what they are to do with six-foot poles with signs that read “STOP” on one side and “SLOW” on the other or they simply do not care.
I complained to Corey Johnson’s office and the 10th Precinct last month. A few days later there were all sorts of traffic control people at the site. Now, they are back to just a few of them and not doing their jobs. Whatever entity is in charge of those flagmen is doing a lousy job of supervising them. Pedestrian deaths and costly lawsuits await.
Steven Fromewick
Not above the law
Manhattan: Sections 125.15 and 125.10 of NYS penal law are, respectively, C and E felonies, punishable by a maximum of 15 and 4 years. A person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when they recklessly cause the death of another person or criminally negligent homicide when, with criminal negligence, they cause the death of another person. Undoubtedly, Minnesota has similar statutes, which is why Kim Potter has been charged in the death of Daunte Wright. The time she shouted “I’ll tase you! I’ll tase you! Taser! Taser! Taser!” gave her the time to form intent and secure the non-lethal weapon. The cop who peppersprayed the Army lieutenant unjustifiably should likewise be charged with assault. Good policing is a difficult job. It’s made harder by a few bad apples.
Daniel Jean Lipsman
Profoundly broken
Manhattan: As usual, the shooting of Daunte Wright is not one scandal but many different scandals under one umbrella. Dear idiots of the establishment, you’ve even turned the National Review and the GOP against cops and the system. You’re losing the entire war to win a handful of idiot battles? If they don’t start taking away the pensions of dirty cops, we are ready to start burning stuff down. No American should fear the people we pay to protect us. Janice Amato
Triggered
Port Townsend, Wash.: Re: “New Orleans cop fatally shoots 18-week-old puppy while responding to noise complaint” (April 12): Because I care deeply about all living beings and that includes animals, I want to express my feeling of total disgust about police officers who do not take caution in using their guns. Now an innocent dog is killed by a very inept police officer. Sorry, but it is necessary to say that! Many officers have my respect, but when stupidity arises in those who use poor judgment, it incites me to the core! Hey, to that officer, get better training or get fired!
Depraved
Joanie Reynolds
Hire education
Bradley Beach, N.J.: To Voicer Alan Grassley regarding your comment about whether a college education would make better police officers: The NYPD has had college requirements for years. I say proper training, compassion and common sense work best in police work.
Patrick Freeman
Glen Ridge, N.J.: There is a special place in hell for former New York Jet Phillip Adams. How could someone be human and pull the trigger on innocent people, including a 5-year-old and 9-year-old? Oh, he isn’t!
Francine Ferrara
Everyone else
Brooklyn: Hey Voicer Myra B. Goodman: Williamsburg isn’t its own separate city populated by Orthodox Jews only. It’s a part of multicultural Brooklyn, where many of us would find it convenient to get vaccinated on a Saturday. Carol Katz
Free to destroy
Staten Island: The ones refusing to wear masks will be the reason we end up closing down again — and they will be the ones bitching the most about the re-closing that they will be responsible for.
Dennis Pascale
Sleep for the wicked
Manhattan: To Voicer Nellie Fiani: I am so sick of hearing President Biden referred to as “Sleepy” Joe Biden. Where was Trump if not asleep at the wheel when he did nothing for six weeks — from late January 2020, when he first learned about the virus, to mid-March — to warn us about or contain this deadly scourge invading our country, but instead lied to us about its severity? Fiani thinks Trump and not Biden should be thanked for the vaccination and its swift rollout. Sure, I’m willing to thank Trump for the vaccination as long as he also accepts blame for the harm and countless unnecessary deaths and suffering caused by his ineptness in handling the first major crisis of his administration. Oh, I almost forgot — Trump takes no responsibility for anything that goes wrong on his watch, but only takes credit for the good.
Chana Schwartz
Switch it up
Bronx: Watching the debates between Trump and Biden was like watching bad comedy. I have come to the conclusion that we need a female in the White House. Marsha Kolin
Wasted space
Tarrytown, N.Y.: In response to Voicer Frank Russo’s complaint about the use of HOV lanes: Who decided that HOV lanes do anything except make traffic go slower? Here is the problem: there is not one person in the tri-state area — not one — who wakes up in the morning and says, “Let me call Bob to ride with me so I can use the HOV lane.” People carpool if they live close to each other and work at the same location. The only people in the HOV lane are people that just happened to have two people in the car! No one is planning their day, week or month around it! Stop punishing people for not carpooling when there is no logistical way that they can carpool, cause they’re all going to different places at different times. Steve Sachs
Dodgy down under
Brooklyn: Finally, it’s out in the open when it comes to not riding mass transit in NYC. It’s not because of COVID-19 anymore but the high crime rates underground. Imagine a man or woman going to work who could be assaulted physically, stabbed, shot or pushed off the platform into an oncoming train. Who wants to roll the dice and take a chance on that happening to them by a homeless, mentally ill or criminal person? Our mayor thinks nothing of it while people who must travel every workday are in fear. About time to put back the transit police where they can patrol stations and trains regularly. If it isn’t a mentally deranged person it’s a bunch of young hoodlums terrorizing a subway car. It’s about time to take a stand against crime.
Joseph V. Comperchio
Dinosaur thinking
Yonkers: To Voicer Bob Pascarella: No, Bob, you didn’t strike a chord. We all just wanted to comment on your baldfaced admission to being an unapologetic white supremacist and the detailing of your backward embrace of outdated and practically prehistoric attitudes.
Suzanne Hayes Kelly
Sorry state
Tarrytown, N.Y.: To Voicer Bob Pascarella: Sorry, Bob, if you feel triggered by people responding to your comments. I feel bad for you, mired in delusional thinking that the leftist boogieman socialists are closing in on you — electing a competent president while the incompetent one was ousted, screaming lies about a stolen election and fomenting a crowd of losers and conspiracy theorists. And certainly, I feel bad for you that you feel the treasonous vets who rallied behind the Confederate flag and assaulted Capitol Police officers while storming our seat of government in a violent rampage deserve our respect. I think you are in a “Deep State” of sleep. Adam Reich