Readers sound off on a lack of lifeguards, Mamdani's promise and Planned Parenthood

Yahoo

9 hours ago

Brooklyn: As another summer season is upon us, the NYC Parks Department is once again taking advantage of the people of Coney Island and South Brooklyn by not supplying any lifeguards on the beach for a mile stretch between the Coney Island Pier and W. 37th St., the end of the Boardwalk.
For the past few years, they have placed lifeguards on one bay on the amusement-area side of the pier where all non-local residents come off the trains and head to the beach, while Brooklyn residents are told that if they want to go into the water and cool off, they can all cram into the one bay, which isn't realistic.
They should at least put some lifeguards toward the end of the Boardwalk at W. 33rd St., which seems to be a crowded area for the locals. There is a bathroom and some parking at that spot. Instead, the Parks Department has employees walking up and down the shore blowing whistles, telling people to get out of the water, which is mostly ignored because people have come down to the beach to cool off and relax. Take the money given to the ignored whistleblowers and hire a few lifeguards.
Local politicians have been informed, with no response received. Do we have to wait for some drownings to occur before someone acts on this problem? William Blitzer
Bayside: As a recent NYC retiree, I am very frightened of the prospect of having to change my current Medicare benefits to Medicare Advantage. Why can't the city just put new hires on the Advantage plan and leave the rest of us alone? $600 million is a drop in the bucket for NYC. What will they use it for, another needless bike lane? Mary Santora
Yonkers: With their proclivity to never learn from past disasters, the radical Democrats have again demonstrated the definition of insanity by nominating Zohran Mamdani. The term 'democratic socialist' is perhaps the most glaring oxymoron in political history, and this purportedly educated mob continuously displays its baneful nescience, obviously having missed the history classes showing that socialism has been a failure — a deadly failure — wherever it has been employed. A death knell has been sounded, and New York City (and state) has one more chance to save itself from perdition. James McCaffrey
Manhattan: Ranked-choice voting worked. Mamdani didn't win because of a trick. He won because enough New Yorkers ranked him first (and second and third) that he'll easily prevail when they run the tabulation. That's democracy, not a glitch. Suzy Sandor
Astoria: A letter to NYC real estate: Do you think that many New Yorkers are struggling to afford a decent place to live? And that real estate has a role in building a brighter future for the city? Do you think it's worth listening to young people and their hopes? Do you think NYC has always been defined by its cultural and economic diversity? If yes to any of these, then please stop the tired, simplified critiques of Mamdani's Democratic primary victory. However you voted — and however you will vote in November — talk to the guy. Some in the real estate world are freaked out by this result, painting it in apocalyptic terms. But buildings need people who can afford to inhabit, frequent and maintain them. I invite you to imagine that the future Mamdani envisions might not be so bad. It may even be worth building together. Annabel Short
Brooklyn: Voicer Art Gunther is correct. Pay is too low and now, no benefits. I married in 1970 and got my first apartment. I also started a job with New York Telephone Company, a union job. My one week's pay covered my rent. My total bills for rent and utilities were under $125 a month. My pay included free health care and a pension plan. When my daughter was born, the total bill was $12.50 for the phone and a bracelet while in the hospital. My wife was a stay-at-home mom and I purchased a second car for my wife to use. Those kinds of jobs are now hard to find. Minimum wage is a joke. Profits pay CEOs millions and investors get the rest. I blame politicians for allowing unbridled corporate greed. The lower and middle classes are losing out. Until they reform how campaigns are financed, money will always rule this country. Greg Ahl
Manhattan: The 'One Big Beautiful Bill' seems to be one big beautiful bomb — and the bomb has only put us in a position where those in charge might have taken a better look at outcomes or, for that matter, things that happened before the bomb dropped. Those pesky photos of lines of trucks at the Iran nuclear facility days before the airstrikes come to mind. What were they loading? Where were they taking their loads? Did anyone look at those photos before the big drop was executed, and did anyone know what they were looking at? If they did, they certainly didn't do anything about it. Talk about closing the barn door after the cows are gone. More mind-boggling incompetence. Don Cerrone
Nyack, N.Y.: Why would the ayatollah keep his enriched uranium in the mountain where CBS News said it was for the past decade? We know that Americans are highly uneducated, but you would have to wear a bib because you could not keep the spit in your mouth to not figure this one out. Stephen Boyle
Dumont, N.J.: Is White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt a graduate of the Baghdad Bob School of Propaganda? Walter Wolfgang Papenfass
San Francisco: The beating and arrest of an immigrant father of three U.S. Marines, who has lived here for decades peacefully and lawfully, is only one example of the cruelty and insanity of President Trump and arch-villain Stephen Miller. There have been many other stories of active servicemembers whose spouses and/or parents have been swept up to meet deportation quotas. The master of disaster (President Dunce) had promised to go after murderers, rapists, etc. and also promised to go easy on farm and hotel workers and other service workers. He has broken both of those promises in spectacular fashion, as only he can. The F-bomber-in-chief is an embarrassment to the United States of America. Jimmy Layton
Rego Park: Is there a point at which New York or any large city anywhere in the world might say, 'That's it, we can't accommodate any more people'? Jeff Rosenblatt
Glendale: Voicer Laurie Aron believes that demonstrations on June 14, which attracted estimated crowds of 8 to 11 million people nationwide, prove that Republicans are on the wrong side of history. Laurie, I have news for you: Election Day 2024, with about 75.5 million voters, demonstrates that you are on the wrong side of history since they voted for Trump. Most Trump supporters act like adults when things don't go their way, while many liberals throw public temper tantrums. Since there are only two Trump rallies I recall that had violence associated with them, most people can name them (Charlottesville and the so-called insurrection). Meanwhile, liberals have so many violent rallies that no one can keep track of them. For example, in 2017 on Inauguration Day, Washington, D.C. had a violent rally with cars burned as a result of an election, since no action was yet taken by the president. Thomas Murawski
Kew Gardens: Once again, the American public is being duped into thinking that Planned Parenthood is an abortion clinic ('Supremes say states can deny funds from Medicaid to Planned Parenthood,' June 27). Planned Parenthood provides all types of health care for women and men, including cancer screenings, contraception, prenatal care, menopause treatment, health education and even smoking cessation programs. Only 3-4% of their services account for abortion care. So why are people so willing to give up other health care services they offer? Sometimes, these clinics are the only ones available. Planned Parenthood also provides services to individuals regardless of insurance. No one is turned away if they can't pay, and they offer sliding-scale fees. Do you know any doctors who do that? L. Duzant