Are we letting high-profile racism slide now?
Brooklyn: I am writing about the op-ed “Keeping Black and Brown N.Y.ers here” (Oct. 30). The ad that authors Al Sharpton, W. Franklyn Richardson and Malcolm Byrd rightfully questioned was also condemned by the Tenants Not Tourists coalition and taken down two weeks ago, as it should have been. But there is a much more troubling situation that remains unanswered.
Airbnb and its leaders have contributed millions of dollars to MAGA Republicans, including $100,000 to President Trump, as well as exorbitant funding for officials who are actively working to dismantle DEI, which is one of the most pressing threats faced by Americans of color nationwide. I respectfully ask why the authors have spoken out about a web ad while remaining entirely silent about this multi-billion-dollar tech corporation and its lavish funding for officials who are not only unaligned with our values but are actively working to harm us.
Airbnb’s cofounder and current board member, Joe Gebbia — whose position at Airbnb was extended by the company after he joined the Trump administration this year — has been actively tweeting blatantly racist content, including during the two weeks since the ad in question was taken down. These tweets have been widely circulated and were even publicly highlighted by the Democratic nominee for mayor.
It is disturbing that there has not been enough public comment about this dangerous and divisive rhetoric by Airbnb’s cofounder. I hope that this correspondence will spur a more productive public dialogue about this situation. Kevin McCall
A rising tide
Bronx: On Tuesday, the American public learned the power of the vote. We no longer were subjects to be used and cast about like loose cargo in a tempest sea. Instead, millions learned that we are citizens, our needs will not be ignored without consequences, and the true antagonists can no longer defer the blame. It has been a painful, and remains a painful, journey for Americans, especially individuals and families suffering the second-longest government shutdown under the same presidential figure. The party that provides a plan for concrete, positive, measurable results will prevail in 2026 and win the majority. Swords have been crossed. Pamela Butler
Sore losers?
Staten Island: So, 7 million people participated in the No Kings protests. Wow. So does that mean that 10% of Kamala Harris voters still haven’t gotten over the election results and are still crying and stomping their feet? Rich Buttermark
Start small
Brooklyn: While Zohran Mamdani may arrive at City Hall in January on a magic carpet, free bus rides would be a fantasy. However, free weekend bus rides may be more of a reality. Marie Walsh
Free-wheeling
Massapequa Park, L.I.: Picture this: NYC, Jan. 1, 2026. Mamdani is sworn in as New York City’s mayor. His big promise of free buses goes into effect. You will now have rolling homeless shelters traveling the streets of New York. They will bring their cardboard boxes and garbage bags of belongings with them and sleep the days away. Now won’t that be a pretty sight. Raymond P. Moran
Divergent visions
Brooklyn: Mamdani’s focus on affordability includes lowering energy costs: bringing efficient electric heat pumps to NYC residents (as was successfully done in public housing), making green upgrades to public schools, lobbying Albany to extend a tax break for middle-income co-ops and condos to meet Local Law 97 energy-efficiency mandates, and staffing the office that walks owners through the LL97 process. Gov. Hochul claims that affordability means keeping New Yorkers hooked on gas. She may delay implementation of the All-Electric Building Act that would make new housing cheaper to build and live in, or direct her agencies to approve the billion-dollar NESE gas pipeline off the coast of Staten Island — which isn’t even needed — inflating our utility bills for decades. Mamdani takes the opposite view: electrification and energy efficiency will lower energy costs. If ratepayers get stuck paying for unnecessary pipelines, New Yorkers will see that Hochul is wrong and Mamdani is right. Stephanie Doba
A steady drip
Lake Ariel, Pa.: Looks like Nikita Khrushchev’s vision of the late 1950s has come true in NYC and a couple of other radical, liberal blue states. Let the radical-left liberal politicians feed the people a little socialism each day and one morning, they’ll wake up as communists. And that’s what they have been doing the last 20 years. So, when do the “I Love NY” signs come down to be replaced by “Welcome to the People’s Socialist Republic of New York, Comrade”? Joseph Beyhl
Catastrophizing critics
Manhattan: I have to cringe when two of your readers, neither of whom are from NYC, call Mamdani a communist. Just because a malignant narcissist and felon named Trump uses that c-word, they think that accusation is true and they parrot it. How brainwashed by Trump are Voicers Thomas Sarc and Robert W. Lobenstein? Do they believe every single Trump lie? Yes, Mamdani is liberal. Yes, some of his ideas could be branded as socialist, but some socialism mixed with democracy and capitalism works wonderfully in many countries in the world. Just ask those living in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Switzerland, Canada and Norway. Mamdani is not a communist. Richard Simon
Digging in
Bronx: Well, Democrats, are you satisfied with the results of the election? Your party has been taken over by extremists, and in the case of New York City, radical Islamist extremists. How many of you will pack up and leave? As for me, I’ll stick around, and with fist raised, will “fight, fight, fight.” Bob Pascarella
To have and to hold
Manhattan: The Nov. 6 editorial is offensive (“Zohran Mamdani and antisemitism“). Maybe the Editorial Board is suffering from short-term memory loss: Just four days ago, the majority of New Yorkers voted for a change of political direction, but the editorial demands the abandonment of that change. Contrarily, the editorial insists that, upon becoming mayor, the people’s choice must do something over which he lacks authority: antisemitism. Prejudice is not a crime; if it results in actions that are criminal, there are remedies in place. Benjamin Netanyahu is demonstrably a mass murderer who should be arrested. The editorial terms that “a patently illegal act.” Really, it is only an unenforceable act, because Bibi likely has diplomatic immunity when he visits the U.S. But there is nothing to prevent detaining him until he provides proof of that status and that documentation has been verified by the State Department. Maybe he won’t return! Michele P. Brown
Seen the news lately?
Bedford, N.Y.: Who wrote your editorial? Netanyahu himself? AIPAC? The Jewish Defense League? Bill Ackman? It’s simply absurd for the Daily News to require that the next mayor ignore this century’s worst atrocity, committed by the Israeli occupation forces against more than 70,000 children, women and unarmed civilians and the utter destruction of entire communities. Have your editors been living in a cave while the rest of us have been witnessing the savagery that has Netanyahu indicted for war crimes in Gaza by the International Criminal Court? Mamdani is reflecting the outrage we all feel for the impunity and disregard for human decency that seem to guide the actions of our own government and that of Israel. Antisemitism is wrong, but so is genocide. Céline Secada
Sub-par assault
Scarsdale, N.Y.: I read that sandwich-throwing Sean Dunn was acquitted of a misdemeanor in Washington, D.C. the other day. This was after a grand jury failed to indict him on a felony charge. I assume the charge was something like “assault with a hero.” Bulldog crimefighter Jeanine Pirro didn’t give up, though, and took him to trial on the misdemeanor. Greg Lairmore, the Customs and Border Patrol agent who was the victim, testified that the sandwich was thrown from point-blank range. He said it splattered all over and he could smell mustard and onions. A photo of the crime scene showed the weapon intact in its wrapper on the ground. The trauma of the assault probably fogged Lairmore’s memory. Thank goodness he was wearing his bullet-resistant body armor. I’ll be in the D.C. area for Thanksgiving this year, and I’ll be very careful of how I interact with people carrying take-out. John Kern
