One life lost on 9/11 whose influence lives on
Lyndhurst, N.J.: On the anniversary of 9/11, I want to tell you about Father Mychal Judge, who was a hero to me way before that tragic day.
Having lost my dad at a young age, I must say I was quite a handful growing up. My mom and older brothers did their best, but I was a hardhead. Then I joined the St. Joseph’s Catholic Youth Organization in East Rutherford, N.J., where Father Mych (as we called him) was a priest. The rectory was open to us 24/7 to talk about life’s problems or just hang out. The school gym was open to us to play whiffle ball, volleyball, basketball or whatever. We had full use of the balcony over the gym, where Friday and Saturday nights we had a coffee house with poetry readers, music jams, reading games, etc. He took us on retreats, we had paper and glass drives and ran errands for shut-ins. When my buddy’s car was T-boned, Judge let us use the rectory’s garage to fix it, never once complaining as “two to three days, tops” turned into two weeks, while his own car sat out in the snow and cold.
If not for this wonderful person, I would be out street racing, getting in fights and who knows what else instead of playing guitar at Mass. After high school, I joined the Air Force and lost touch with Father Mychal and was stunned when I found out he perished at the towers. If St. Peter lets me through the pearly gates, after my family, I can’t wait to give him a big hug! Mark DeFrino
A nation changed
Greenville, S.C.: Today marks 24 years since that massive attack on the U.S. by Al Qaeda when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were bombed. Almost 3,000 were killed, and a lot of people lost family members. It was the worst attack on Americans in history. On this day, if you have a flag outside your house, you should lower it half-staff to commemorate the people who died. It’s great that America has a few institutions set up to honor this day and laws to make sure America never has to go through this kind of terrorist attack again. The Patriot Day Act was signed by President George W. Bush on Dec. 18, 2001. And the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was formed on Nov. 25, 2002 to help combat enemies at home and abroad. Steven Hawkins
A generation on
Manhattan: Twenty-four years ago, the children who were dancing in the streets of Gaza and celebrating with candy the death of Americans, grew up to be the Hamas murderers who sought to destroy Israel on Oct. 7 — but only succeeded in wreaking havoc on their own country. You reap what you sow. Louie Russo
Booming bouncing
Brooklyn: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The loud banging of basketballs coming from private hoops in many neighbors’ backyards marks the end of a blissfully quiet summer on our block. What we now have to look forward to is a fall/spring season of pretty much nonstop, loud construction-type noise permeating the privacy of our home. Ironic, isn’t it, that there is a park extremely nearby, just a block away, with many hoops to play at. Private basketball hoops were created for homes in rural areas where parks are nowhere nearby. These menacing hoops should be banned from homes in NYC. I wish the adults here learned about community and civility — about doing the right thing for all and teaching that to their children. Oh, and maybe put back the gardens they replaced with cement to give our sewers a break. Barry Brothers
Real leader
Jersey City: It was so nice to read about the great President Teddy Roosevelt from Voicer Warren Davis. He is what you call a real president, including his cousin, Franklin Roosevelt — not that coward and traitor whose nonsense we have to put up with. Teddy did not put up with any crap from the big corporations. All I can say is thank you, Mr. President. Anthony C. Zaccone
Another whopper
Staten Island: The three most outlandish lies told by an American president in recent history: “When the president does it, it is not a crime,” “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” and “That is not my signature.” Ralph D’Esposito
Nothing but noise
Boynton Beach, Fla.: As a Voice of the People contributor who grew up watching William F. Buckley Jr. on “Firing Line,” I witnessed early on the decline of Republican media voices from the intellectually stimulating Buckley to the non-intellectual, low-brow rantings of Voicer Jim Newton’s media icon Rush Limbaugh, who Newton ludicrously claims still “owns the libs.” Limbaugh does not own the libs, Mr. Newton. He and the American oligarch class who sponsored him and others of his ilk own you and the rest of the right-wing crowd. You are simply not astute enough to grasp what’s going on. And it seems that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the one who now lives rent-free inside the heads of the MAGA crowd, and you folks do not like it. Keep the comedy trolls of the utterly inane rantings of President Trump coming. People with common sense enjoy seeing them mocked. William T. Bredin
Speculative report
Yonkers: The editors at the Daily News seem to be adhering to the dictum of Mark Twain — namely, that truth should not get in the way of a good story. To buttress their story, the front page and page 12 are allotted to the Jeffrey Epstein/Trump relationship (” ‘Certain things in common,’ ” Sept. 9). A sexually suggestive letter was ostensibly written by Trump, according to The News. As regards certitude, I would imagine that facts would be a sine qua non for any reputable newspaper. Frank Brady
Favorably cut
Massapequa, L.I.: The “boos” were edited out of Trump’s appearance at the U.S. Open? Isn’t that what CBS paid extortion for with the “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview? Paul Pepe
Improper education
Brooklyn: There should be no relief for yeshivas if they expect money from the government, city or state and they don’t teach a useful curriculum to their students other than religion. Education should prepare them for life in the real world, not their secular world! John M. Corbett
Furthering proliferation
Manhattan: Voicer Josh Greenberger, a gun nut extraordinaire, suggests we all carry guns. He concludes that doing so will “cut down on casualties in mass shootings.” Suppose he is right. I wonder how many dead and injured schoolchildren Greenberger finds acceptable, as he isn’t the least bit concerned about stopping the shootings entirely. His main premise is nuts and as callous a scenario as could be thought of. His support for his solution is silly and contradictory on its face. He states that “anybody can be trained to handle one properly,” then contradicts himself by stating that not everyone should be allowed to have one. I assume he would keep guns away from ignorant zealots like himself. Steven Fromewick
Cognitive supplement
Denver: Earlier this year, I was denied the use of AI-assisted writing tools as an accommodation for memory-related executive functioning challenges. That led to an ADA complaint, federal testimony and a growing national debate. At stake is more than academic fairness. At stake is how we allow humans to think, learn and regulate emotion in an age of powerful technology. Research shows that working memory overload limits reasoning, while external scaffolds expand our cognitive capacity. Emotion is shaped by memory, too. People regulate their emotions more effectively when memory is supported with external cues. AI memory tools tap both dimensions, helping us focus, learn and stay balanced in ways that matter far beyond the classroom. This isn’t about luxury software, it’s about access to the conditions of full participation in society. Denying AI memory tools imposes unnecessary barriers on students, workers and all of us while the science is already clear. Kathleen Erica Eberhardt
