Bikes supplanting parking hurts senior mobility

Brooklyn: I’m surprised that the Daily News hasn’t covered the big Citi Bike issue in Bay Ridge. The NYC Department of Transportation wants to add 784 bikes to this basically senior area. We have one of the worst parking problems in the city. After the City of Yes was passed, which changed the zoning laws, we are now surrounded by trucks, adding to our loss of parking.

The Community Board has met several times with residents who have been very vocal about the potential loss of parking and hundreds of bikes that will be parked in front of their homes. Our councilman, Justin Brannan, didn’t attend any of the meetings. He recently attended a senior prom rather than a packed CB10 meeting that was held at the Knights of Columbus.

We have two petitions against the high number of bikes. One online petition has 893 names, another has 1,100 signatures and both are still growing. Bay Ridge is an aging community. Seniors here use their cars to go to doctor visits, shopping and to work. They often have mobility issues, so driving makes it easier to get around.

CB10 wants Citi Bike to pay a fee for bikes placed in front of private homes, which has never been done before. Bay Ridge has a problem with a high number of bikes, motorcycles, e-bikes, scooters and mopeds running lights, driving on the sidewalks and driving the wrong way. We don’t want Bay Ridge to become a mini-Manhattan. Please help us. Carmen Feliciano

Eminent domain?

Brooklyn: News reports about the IBX never mention the possible loss of housing due to the light rail project. Photos online and in newspapers of the existing freight tracks show wide fields that can accommodate two sets of light rail tracks, but there are never photos of the narrow trench that my building and others overlook. The trench for freight tracks alongside my co-op building in Midwood is too narrow to accommodate two more sets of tracks for light rail in two directions. My building of 130 apartments, and nearby housing, would likely have to be torn down to accommodate the IBX. I don’t think my decent and affordable middle-class housing and other homes along the train route should be collateral damage for the IBX. I’ve written to several elected representatives about this issue and have never received a response. I hope you will investigate and report on this issue. Arthur Chertowsky

Deeply disappointed

Manhattan: Re “Cuomo tops for primary” (editorial, June 20): What a horrible choice on your part, Daily News. I am very disappointed. Cuomo is yesterday’s garbage. You lost me big time. Dean Badolato

See Australia

Melbourne, Australia: Many countries have now banned travel to Israel, or at least advised people not to visit unless they have to since governments probably wouldn’t be able to help you if there were problems. Like many, I have been lucky enough to visit Israel in quieter times and would recommend going there, but not for a while — perhaps quite a while. It’s sad that there are so many countries that aren’t safe to visit, mainly because of armed conflicts and sometimes natural disasters. In the meantime, why not visit Australia? We’re friendly and have plenty to see. You can ignore all the stories of snakes, spiders, deadly jellyfish and now mushrooms, not that many people get killed that way. Dennis Fitzgerald

Privileged pass?

Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.: Did the Israeli evacuees need special President Trump clearance like the white South African ex-pats? John T. O’Connell

Dunce in the dugout

St. Petersburg, Fla.: To Voicer Don Adler: I couldn’t agree with you more. Aaron Boone is a bubble-blowing, peanut-spitting dunce. Even the Yankees announcers question his moronic moves at times. He doesn’t play “small ball” or situational ball, and his use of relief pitchers is mind-boggling at times. This bozo has me screaming at the TV so often that my wife is wearing earmuffs around the house! Please, Hal, haven’t we had enough of this bubble-brain? Bill Barrett

Just ring

Flushing: To Voicer Phil Rosenberg: Before you call someone “lazy,” you should realize that (hard to believe) not everyone has a cell phone. I do not have one, so I can’t get a picture of the package on my porch. Second, I am not referring to food deliveries but deliveries from Amazon, FedEx and DHL, and there are no instructions to ring the bell when you order from them. So if you want to call someone lazy, it’s someone who is too lazy to lift their finger up to ring the doorbell. Laya Goldman

Unpaired ‘p’

Valley Stream, L.I.: Here we go again. As a longtime Wordsearch player, I contacted you earlier to report that the puzzle in the Friday, Nov. 29, issue had an error, the first one I found in decades. I thought it was a one-time misstep given the Daily News’ excellent record in having gotten it right for so many years. Lo and behold, in the June 19 issue, the puzzle contained another. The instructions were to find “words with a double pp,” meaning the letter “p” had to appear together at least one time in the word. The word “lollipop” was included. Perhaps some proofreading is in order to return the paper to its former glory. Jerry Calabria

Urging usurping?

Kew Gardens Hills: I could not believe my eyes when I read the letter by Voicers Jeff and Joan Ganeles. They wrote, “… maybe it’s time for our military to take a seriously hard look at its options.” Are Jeff and Joan really advocating for a military coup to remove Trump from the White House? I sincerely hope they were intoxicated when they wrote their letter. Barry Koppel

Only when obvious?

Cincinnati: Re “Loyalty to Donald Trump overrides basic decency” (column, June 20): I agree with S.E. Cupp, but I wonder if she remembers the cult around Barack Obama, the pied piper of politics who could do no wrong even when deceiving the people who elected him with his lies about the Affordable Care Act (“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”). Symmetry illustrates just how power corrupts, truth being the first casualty. Are soft-spoken lies delivered in an urbane manner any less fallacious than when bellowed from a megalomaniacal blusterer? Paul Bloustein

Legislation > enforcement

Whiting, N.J.: While ICE under the Trump administration goes wild trying to enforce 3,000 arrests per day, no real immigration policy is being worked on by the White House or in Congress. A proposed policy that was jointly proposed by Dems and Republicans a year ago (and snuffed out by Trump for election purposes) or something in that vein is nowhere to be found. Enhanced border protection to stop immigration is not a fruitful policy. We need legislative reform to allow the American dream to continue. We need people to work the fields, warehouses, slaughterhouses and factories that drive our economy. We need fresh blood paying into the system to support and sustain Social Security and Medicaid. Instead, we get overreach from the executive branch, nothing from a Republican Congress consumed with staying in power and Dems who are too weak to get anything done. Bill McConnell

Humor before headlines

St. Albans: I had a good, hearty chuckle reading the comics page on Wednesday, particularly the strip “Blondie,” which never fails to make me smile (despite Mr. Dithers’ blatant mistreatment of Dagwood, but I digress). Dagwood is taking a page from my playbook, reading the comics page of his local paper (could it be the Daily News, haha?) before perusing the big news headlines. Like Dagwood, I also find that reading the two pages of strips first gives the mind — and possibly the soul — a much-needed boost before taking in the utter madness found in various parts of the paper, often within the first 10 pages. The comics section is an oasis of welcome calm in a sea of turbulent words and pictures, and the humor contained in those humble strips can give us all a small respite from the trials and tribulations of living in these times. Anthony Vasser