Moderate the moderators to improve the debates
Huntington, L.I.: Your recent editorial “The voters lost the debate” (Oct. 20) was a point-blank, brutally accurate assessment of the first NYC mayoral debate on Oct. 16 by NBC. With millions locally, nationally and internationally arguably watching, listening and anticipating a rigorous exchange of ideas and stimulating conversations, “the big loser was the voting public, with too many interruptions by the moderators and too little time” for engagement of ideas, or for candidates to display how they can think and react critically on their feet and make their own compelling cases substantively.
We are better than this. And we deserve better than this. Instead, we the people, the voters, were essentially held hostage by a panel of pedestrian moderators. Are we not still one of the greatest, sophisticated and open-minded cities in the world? Do we not deserve better than this display of amateur hour by a network of esteem? Our city, our state, and our country are at a crossroads, and while the candidates all showed up for their job interview, vitally “precious moments” were lost to the ether.
Finally, there should be legislation for a city of our size to conduct a minimum of three debates with one or maybe two polished and qualified moderators to guide the show, not be the show. We desperately needed to see and hear more of how Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani and even Curtis Sliwa instinctively and intuitively think on their feet so that we the people determine who has the requisite competence, principles and character to lead our great city. We deserve better as New Yorkers. Chris N. Karalekas
Categories of crime
Staten Island: There’s a lot of fear-mongering these days about how unsafe NYC has become, but when you look at the numbers, the story changes. According to NYPD data (“Home front help,” Oct. 17), 40% of all felony assaults over the past five years involved family or intimate partner violence. That means the average New Yorker walking down the street isn’t facing the level of random danger that headlines suggest — because nearly half of these assaults happen within domestic settings. In other words, the real risk to the public is far lower than the fear narrative implies. I applaud the NYPD for focusing on this area and investing in making improvements. Gina Ottrando
Cheap shot
Manhattan: I’m absolutely disgusted with your endorsement of Cuomo (“Andrew Cuomo for mayor,” editorial, Oct. 26). Your screed against Mamdani was shameful. You claim that his campaign is “laced with antisemitism.” That is an outright lie. You seem to be playing by the same bigoted playbook as Cuomo. And how can you endorse someone who has been openly bigoted toward another candidate, especially in NYC? That “criminals for Mamdani” ad was enough for me to forever dislike Cuomo. If you wanted to criticize Mamdani’s platform, you could have done it in a more mature way and without endorsing Cuomo. Instead, you played into bigoted politics and ruined your credibility. I subscribed to the Daily News several years ago to support local journalism. You now don’t deserve the support. I’ll be canceling my subscription. Pierre Khoury
Tinged with bias
Manhattan: I am appalled, ashamed and embarrassed as a New Yorker to see and hear the bigotry, hate and racism coming from Cuomo and his team. As a senior American Descendants of Slavery man, I thought many had put their hatred, prejudice and racism behind them, but the mayoral race has proved me incorrect. Many in NYC who claim to not be bigots and racists have demonstrated that they are just that. From the media and political advisors to rabbis and preachers, they have proved that many of us still have a long way to go to rid ourselves of the evil of hatred — New Yorkers, we must do better. Heyward Johnson
Choosing corruption
Staten Island: The Daily News has to be kidding in its endorsement of the bully, misogynist and sociopath Cuomo, who had to resign the governorship, to be mayor of our great city. What’s with this nation and electing criminal sociopaths for high office? Just look at what this nation irresponsibly put into our presidency again. If we love sociopaths and felons so much, let’s suspend fingerprinting for teachers, police officers, firefighters, sanitation and transit workers, doctors and lawyers. If this nation wants to define deviancy down, let’s have open season on all those who respect the law — not Cuomo, and certainly not President Trump. As far as I know, Mamdani never broke any laws, nor was he impeached or kicked out of any high office. As a Jew, I can’t say that I’m happy with him, but I refuse to vote for another sociopath, Corporate Cuomo, to ruin our lives. Gary Perl
Personal debts
Middle Village: I and thousands of others received a handbill at my door detailing Curtis Sliwa’s to-do list if he becomes mayor. Funny, but why isn’t paying his back alimony and child support not on it? John Puglisi
Mayoral non-issue
Sunnyside: I can understand Voicer Natalie Barklow’s reluctance to vote for Cuomo due to his adamant opposition to legal protection for unborn children. However, voting for Sliwa will not help the women who lose their babies to abortion. Sliwa and Mamdani are also pro-choice on abortion. Also, the mayor really doesn’t have as much influence on abortion policies as the governor, the Assembly members or the state senators. Therefore, a vote for Sliwa will only be helpful to Mamdani. John Francis Fox
Unworthy opinions
Glen Cove, L.I.: I read the Voice of the People regularly, and rarely have I found two letters on the same day so unworthy of being printed. First, Voicer Herman Kolender. To ask if the rabbis (“Rabbis: Zoh ‘dangerous,’ ” Oct. 24) are worried about buying lox at Zabar’s — if it was intended as a joke, it was not funny. Just another form of ethnic stereotyping. If it was not a joke, it was plain old antisemitism. The second letter was from Voicer Thomas Facciano. I wonder if he has ever heard of Scandinavia and the countries of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. I don’t see waves of Scandinavians leaving their socialist countries to come here or any place else. Alan Rosengarten
Translation, please
Morris Plains, N.J.: I’m 70 and my hearing is still good. However, I love closed captioning. Seeing the lyrics of a song helps me “hear” a song better. Places or names are confusing. Sorry, Bad Bunny, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of your songs. I’m not going to learn Spanish before the game. I’m sure you will have to supply a list of the songs you plan to sing to producers, directors, musicians, backup dancers, etc. Closed captioning goes from English to English and English to Spanish. For this occasion, add Spanish to English. They have plenty of time to transcribe the lyrics. This would bring your songs to a much bigger audience. Good luck. Linda S. Langan
High-rank robbery
Forest Hills: Regarding the absolutely ridiculous disability pension granted to NYPD Chief John Chell (“Chell yeah: $295K a yr.,” Oct. 25), it seems that his foot was good enough to recently be photographed golfing with Trump. What upsets me the most about Chell being awarded such a pension is that the rank and file of the NYPD have to dang near lose a limb to be awarded a disability pension. J.M. Culley
Get it together
Ottawa, Ontario: The entire world knows that with three T’s (tariffs, trade and tourism), a world conference is needed on this hot-button issue, which will not go anywhere anytime soon. It could be held in different countries and would bring the best and brightest to move forward. Someone needs to take a leading role to host. I keep wondering, why the silence? One thing’s for sure: The side effects of this are being felt all over, again and again, and they are: 1) Everybody sweat now; 2) The heat is on; 3) Twist and shout; 4) Shake, shake, shake your economy, and 5) That’s the way I like it. The three T’s are on every country’s mind, so why not host a conference to a workable outcome? Anant Nagpur
