Working with all sides is how progress is made
Manhattan: Re “Pols taking new aim at Eric’s pick” (July 24): Certain City Council members who have opposed my potential nomination to become corporation counsel now claim to be concerned about press reports from late 1997 that I, as the ranking Democrat in the Rudy Giuliani administration (photo), worked so constructively with elected Democrats and labor unions that they chose to endorse our administration for reelection.
With all due respect, as the deputy mayor responsible for intergovernmental relations, I reached across the aisle, built bridges and developed such trusted relationships with councilmembers and unions that, working together, we got things done for the public good. One would hope that kind of constructive collaboration is what all New Yorkers would want. And the very articles cited from that period expressly reported “union and elected officials, who endorsed Giuliani after speaking with Mastro, said in separate interviews that Mastro told them their backing would not assure them favors” — which confirms how ethically and responsibly I conducted myself.
Just as importantly, a senior Law Department official was quoted at the time saying that everything I did in that regard was “perfectly appropriate” and not “an ethical question either.” Indeed, when I left City Hall in 1998, the Daily News praised me for doing “the seemingly impossible” — like combating organized crime corruption and implementing the nation’s most sweeping protections for same-sex couples — and wrote the “contributions to the city [I] served so well will last a lifetime.”
I’m humbled and honored to have this opportunity to potentially return to city government, to make more such contributions and to work constructively with the City Council again for all New Yorkers’ benefit. Randy Mastro
Kew Gardens Hills: Several members of the City Council want the New York Police Department’s gang database to be expunged because it “disproportionately affects minorities.” That is not the real reason. They want to eliminate the database because the City Council is the most dangerous gang there is. Barry Koppel
Brentwood, L.I.: Re “Vic’s dashcam footage aided nab of hit-run killer: cops” (July 24): Here are the facts as printed in the article: Armando Rodriguez stopped on the right shoulder and was looking at the passenger side of his car. Sadiel Ramirez Payano sped past and struck Rodriguez, who died at the scene as Payano fled. My question: If Rodriguez was standing on the right side of his car when Payano hit him, how did Payano do that and not also hit Rodriguez’s car? W.J. Van Sickle
Auburndale: One of the best things about being a child-free cat lady is not being married to someone like JD Vance. JD, is it OK to be childless if the woman was denied IVF treatment or a procedure to save her reproductive health after a crisis pregnancy? Cathi Venis
Middle Village: Dilettante Don Jr.’s first real job in his life (so far as I can tell) was the vetting of JD Vance. If it were anybody else, his father would have uttered his famous words: “You’re fired.” John Puglisi
Forest Hills: Can we believe our eyes? Regarding the alleged assassination attempt on T-rump, the pictures appear to show the former president, a lying felon, bleeding from his right ear. This might otherwise indicate that the individual, in order to pump out blood, possesses a heart. Come on now — millions of Americans witnessed T-rump refuse to visit an American WWI cemetery in France on its 100th anniversary because it was drizzling, to name but one of his failures. T-rump has no heart. But as the star of a so-called reality show, he must know where to lay his tiny hands on some theatrical fake blood for the cameras. And the assassination suspect was a registered Republican! Sherry Rogers
Merion Station, Pa.: Re “Secret Service director resigns after D.C. grilling on Don shoot” (July 24): Advertisement recently spotted in the Daily News: Position wanted: Leader of a 8,300-member global security services division of a major enterprise seeks a new challenge. I’m willing to take a bullet for my corporate superior, but I refuse to report to 435 lower-level employees. Can relocate to any state but won’t work within a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C. Send replies to Kimberly Cheatle, Washington, D.C. Paul L. Newman
Brooklyn: Summer of agita. First, no answers from Secret Service director Kimberley Cheatle on the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Now, President Biden gets the rug pulled out from under him. We need answers from the head of the Secret Service — yesterday. If the former president isn’t safe, neither are we. As for the backstabbing of Biden, you will never convince me that it was his decision to step down. Don’t spin it with, “He did it for his country.” In my opinion, he was strong-armed. It was for all of us to decide at the voting booth — not Hollywood, not big business. At least give the people the choice on who should have the Democratic slot, not the $251 million raised. Scary summer. I could go on but I need a Brioschi. Mariann Tepedino
Bronx: If Donald Trump makes any dumb remarks about why Biden is dropping out of the 2024 presidential election, he can kiss his chances for winning goodbye. Just keep your mouth shut and play it smart for once. Jimmy Durda
Pine Plains, N.Y.: Kamala Harris is not fit to become U.S. president. Her snub of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress exposes her deep animosity toward our strongest ally in the Middle East. Israel is the only bastion in this benighted region preventing Iran from taking control through its terrorist proxies. If Israel were to fall, the consequences to the rest of the world would be catastrophic. To protect U.S. security as well as the rest of the civilized world, she must never be allowed to be president. For their own personal safety, voters must resoundingly reject her at the ballot box. Joseph McCluskey
Howard Beach: Seems like the hosts at Fox News have gone into meltdown now that Biden has withdrawn from the race and endorsed Kamala Harris. What are they afraid of? Barbara Berg
Bronx: Kamala Harris should impose one condition for Donald Trump to meet before she accords him the privilege of debating her: He must apologize to the nation on primetime television. Virgilio Carballo
West Hempstead, L.I.: The weak, failed border policies of the Obama/Biden and Biden/Harris administrations have endangered our personal safety and our national security. The influx of violent criminal gangs and fifth-column terrorist enemy agents have made life in our cities dangerous. We can expedite vetting. We can expedite legal entry. Until then, the border must be sealed. Enter legally or not at all! Samuel J. Mark
Jamaica: To Voicer Jagjit Singh: Israel will correctly ignore the historically perverted and antisemitic advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice that it is illegally occupying East Jerusalem. Historically, Jerusalem is an undivided city. The illegal May 1948 pan-Arab invasion of Israel resulted in Israel controlling West Jerusalem and Transjordan controlling East Jerusalem. The Arabs expelled the Jewish residents of East Jerusalem, destroyed synagogues, desecrated the Jewish cemetery, denied Jews access to holy sites and promulgated discriminatory laws against Christians. Israel should be praised for reunifying the city and restoring religious freedom after being attacked by Jordan in 1967. Located in East Jerusalem are the Western Wall, the most holy site of the Jewish religion, the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the world, Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital. The final status of the West Bank should be determined by negotiations with the Palestinians, as required by the Oslo Accords. Ebere Osu
Manhattan: Sheltering from Hurricane Sandy, I had listened to a stranger who had no hope in his contentious custody battle, although he had lawyered up. Tell the judge why you want your daughter, I urged. It was obvious to me — because you love her so very much. A year later, I saw his now-happy daughter with her grandma — she had her daddy back. Words matter. Listen. We can not change the world. Or maybe we can. Susan A. Stark…Read more by Voice of the People
