Our abundance of pennies could save the penny
Manhattan: Get ready, America! Our country is about to undergo a seismic shift in its currency. The penny is now an endangered species. Our commander in chief, President Trump, has ordered a halt to the minting of our trusted penny. Reports indicate that it costs the U.S. Treasury 3.69 cents to mint one penny.
New Yorkers like me over 55 still use cash and coins to make financial transactions. I must be old-fashioned because I like to shop in person — I don’t use Amazon. The penny has been a time-honored tradition since 1793. It’s nearly as old as the birth of our nation. Coins like the penny are worth money and are part of our American heritage. Why are we so quick to dispose of this precious currency?
I have a proposal: an executive order for mandatory recycling of all coins — pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are to be removed from all desk drawers and piggy banks. Look in closets and old clothing and bring those precious coins back into our monetary system for a national reinvestment. Then the U.S. Mint would not have to produce so many new coins. It’s my understanding that the Treasury still mints more than 5 billion coins each year. If we have mandatory recycling, we can bring new meaning to the term “less is more.”
We can preserve our natural resources with less copper to make pennies and less copper-nickel to make nickels, dimes and quarters. If we don’t recycle, we’ll be forced into mobile payments and contactless credit cards. Is that really worth it? Brian Jordan
Untenable position
Purchase, N.Y.: As a Republican, I have always been a big fan of Rep. Elise Stefanik. I’ve also always liked Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, so when I heard he was running for the GOP nomination for New York governor, I thought it might be difficult to choose who to vote for. But then I heard that Blakeman is a “pro-choice Republican,” and he made the decision very easy. Foolish man. Being a pro-choice Republican is like being a vegetarian who devours meat. I will now let all my Republican friends know about Blakeman’s hypocrisy and will do everything I can to ensure his defeat. Marlene Danoff
Improper branding
Sanford, Fla.: In reading the Dec. 9 story “Woman, 60, fatally struck by Cadillac,” I’m not sure what journalistic principle is being employed by identifying what type of vehicle collided with this poor woman. The story made it clear that the driver stayed at the scene of the accident. Hence, the model of car was not a relevant fact, such as when trying to identify a vehicle that has driven off. The inclusion of this fact may imply that the type of vehicle or owner of such a vehicle was a factor or cause of the incident. When it’s reported that a victim was fatally shot by a perpetrator, we don’t see a headline that includes “Victim fatally shot with a Smith & Wesson .38 Special.” The victim’s death is the crux of the story, not the instrument used to effectuate the outcome. Bruce McMenemy
Return to receiver
Whitestone: This time of year is especially busy with extra mail and packages. Unfortunately, some of these will end up at the wrong address. Please, if you receive mail or a package that is not yours, try to get it to the right recipient. Perhaps you just need to walk to the next street. If it’s truly out of your way, give it back to UPS, FedEx, USPS or Amazon and let them redeliver it. Sometimes what is in that letter or package can’t be replaced. Spread some kindness. Karin Spiezia
Foul fear-mongering
Flushing: To Voicer Marion Friedman: You’re so terrified of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani! Have you read his concepts for improving New York City? Did you look up his views on affordability, housing, transportation and other matters? You want to “impeach” someone who just won in a landslide (and call him “deep state”) when he hasn’t even taken office yet? At first, your panicked screed was good for a laugh, but it stopped being funny when you revealed your wish to “send him and his radical wife to Uganda.” The only “radical, dangerous” thoughts are the ones you expressed, which were unfathomably misinformed at best and utterly repugnant at worst. Robert Smith
Unity is local
Manhattan: Rather than burdening the incoming mayor with another responsibility, Bradley Tusk (“Make NYC a global model of Jewish-Muslim cooperation,” op-ed, Dec. 9) might want to delegate improving group relations to the people of NYC, for it’s they who ultimately must be held accountable. Anyway, Jewish/Muslim relations depend upon what happens more than 5,000 miles from here. Tusk does suggest some common initiative in which all New Yorkers might participate cooperatively, and Mamdani’s affordability agenda comes readily to mind. The traditional economy of manufacturing and farming profited gradually as demand increased; today’s economy sees exponential increases through artificially created demand, without substantial gains in productivity — a daunting challenge even for 8 million minds, many of which aren’t making it in the present city economy. If they can restore NYC to what it once was for most of its inhabitants, Arabs walking hand-in-hand with Jews shouldn’t be so difficult. Michele P. Brown
Knows how to pick ’em
Staten Island: I have to give former Mayor Disaster — I mean de Blasio — credit. He found the three women on the planet willing to date him. By the way, could you ask Chirlane McCray where that $1 billion is? Thomas Fraumeni Jr.
Indoctrination initiative
Hartsdale, N.Y.: Remember back in 2009 when so-called conservative parents objected to then-President Barack Obama addressing American students as he was slammed for possibly “indoctrinating” them even before parents knew what he was going to say? Remember that his message was basically to stay in school? Well, guess what? Linda McMahon, the person nominated to destroy the Department of Education (which she runs) is touring our country with a roadshow called “History Rocks!” The initiative is part of the America 250 Civics Education Coalition under Trump’s administration — a partnership that includes Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Moms for Liberty, the America First Policy Institute, the conservative Christian Hillsdale College and other right-leaning groups. Gee, I wonder if there’ll be any “indoctrination” involved. Or can we be sure there will be a diversity of opinions made available while we “rock” history as those groups see it? Yeah, let’s go with that. Norman E. Gaines Jr.
Embracing evil
Brooklyn: So now we live in an America where pedophilia and murder are normalized and accepted by the GOP. I, for one, must now propose that for Bone Spurs, G.I. Joke (Pete Hegseth) and the rest of the subhuman Nazis running the White House clown show, there is no bottom. Their low-life credo is now our official national religion. I hope that a higher power keeps that special place in hell warm for these cesspool-dwellers. Gary Butler
Birthday tribute
Seaside Heights, N.J.: Frank Sinatra was born on Dec. 12, 1915, and today marks his 110th birthday. Decades after his voice first hit the radio, Ol’ Blue Eyes remains a defining American icon. The kid from Hoboken went on to sell more than 150 million records, win 11 Grammys and earn both an Oscar and multiple Golden Globes. Few artists ever reached that level of brilliance. But Sinatra’s real magic was the feeling he brought to every song. He could make listeners believe they were right there with him — the heartbreak, the hope, the quiet courage, the joy. Each tune was its own little story, delivered with unmatched warmth and style. A rarely told footnote: Sinatra once recorded a special single for Ringo Starr’s wife on Apple Records, meant to be “APPLE 1,” though it was never released. Happy 110th birthday in paradise, Frank. We still miss you. Igor La Manna
Losing the lineup
Brooklyn: First Brandon Nimmo, then Edwin Diaz, now Pete Alonso. Who is next, Mr. Met? Irwin Cohen
Don’t go
Brick, N.J.: Say it ain’t so, Pete! Leo J. Smith
