Builders building less without Labor Law reform
Lake Placid, N.Y.: Re “Scaffold Law keeps N.Y. from building” (op-ed, July 3): As an independent insurance agent, I help people manage risk. An outdated New York law makes that job harder. Rep. Nick Langworthy’s Infrastructure Expansion Act is a critical step toward reforming that law. New York Labor Law Sections 240 and 241 are a major factor behind rising liability insurance costs, reduced coverage availability and inflated prices for taxpayer-funded projects.
The law is a breeding ground for fraud and abuse. Organized crime rings exploit a system where absolute liability leaves employers and property owners with virtually no ability to defend against frivolous claims. This unjust system generates unpredictable and excessive payouts. It has driven many insurers out of New York. Those that remain are forced to charge exorbitantly high premiums to offset the risk. I’m deeply frustrated by what’s happening to small contractors and renovation companies, many of which are family-, minority- and women-owned businesses. As chair of the Board of Big I New York, I regularly hear about business owners forced to weigh the cost of Labor Law coverage against hiring or even retaining their current workforce. As the situation gets worse, many question whether they can afford to stay in business, while others are turning down jobs or moving their business to other states simply because they are unable to obtain the required liability insurance coverage.
The 1885 Scaffold Law is a relic of a bygone era when today’s worker protections did not exist. The IEA will help restore fairness, promote greater choice and competition in the insurance marketplace, create jobs and ensure that every dollar of federal funding goes further. Kelly Gonyo
Con artists
Middle Village: So, Con Ed is asking for another rate hike. “Watt” are they thinking!? Robert Chirieleison
President’s playbook
Manhattan: Your coverage of four high-ranking NYC police officers suing Mayor Adams for corruption and cronyism while they were serving on the force was priceless (“Adams hits att’y for ex-cops suing NYPD over promotions,” July 12). We the people watched the mayor, who could have been a cop’s cop, do this. In his new Trump-loyalist way, he denies, denies, denies, and I gotta wonder if Adams has somehow morphed into Eric Trump! Frankie Turchiano
Sovereign city
Newton, N.J.: I don’t know if Fat Hitler realizes it, but the mayor of New York City does not answer to the president of the United States, despite Felony Donnie’s attempt to turn Adams into his puppet. Zohran Mamdani, should he be elected mayor, will not be beholden to the orange terrorist, and Trump can’t do anything about it. Let him try. Michael Schnackenberg
Dead defendant
Brooklyn: Why must the death of Jeffrey Epstein, who generated investigations into the degenerate behavior of other high-profile people, be looked at further? He is dead. Why did the U.S. attorney general feel it deserved further investigation now, years later, after it happened under a different administration. Now Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino, deputy director of the FBI, are at odds about it. One thing I have learned in my 52 years with the NYPD and in my 70 years on Earth is this: Pick your battles, not your wars. Also, let us agree to disagree. Digging up Epstein’s death does no good for anybody. Let the dead rest. How about looking at some of the laws and changing them for a positive outcome? Ms. Bondi and Mr. Bongino, work together to do just that. I have found that works better than picking up and leaving a position. Sharon Cesario
Withholding evidence
Fairfield, Conn.: Attorney General Pam Bondi says she has the Epstein files on her desk. Trump’s name is not in there. The world considers Trump a pedophile, so release the files. Prove it. Bondi: “What files?” Stephen Johnson
Tariff trolling
Parkland, Fla.: I continuously hear that Trump’s imposition of tariffs on other countries is somehow going to balance out the respective trade deficits, especially given that Trump is indicating that we are experiencing unfair tariffs from our trading partners (other countries). Additionally, Trump is picking on Canada in what he calls an effort to reduce the flow of fentanyl across our northern border to 35%, for which we will eventually pay by having those tariffs passed on to us. We all know that it is just a bunch of Buffalo bagels as the influx of drugs arrives at our southern border. Just this once, I wish he would show the American people statistical data showing the efforts and analysis conducted by the government to prove Donald’s case. It is my deep suspicion that Trump has no statistical data and is once again operating from his ample gut. John Squicciarini
None of us
Mineola, L.I.: To Voicer Lenore Neier: The answer to your question, “Are any of us really safe under this administration?” is a resounding no! Philip Martone
Funneling billions
Jamaica: To Voicer Anthony Marano: Concerning your question about how Israel helps the United States, 70% of American military aid to Israel is earmarked for the purchase of American-manufactured weapons, thereby creating jobs in our defense industry. Ebere Osu
No ethno-states
Manhattan: Voicer Dale L. Herman thinks he owns the only lexicon in town, angered by another Voicer’s chutzpah (that’s hubris on steroids, for the goyim) to question his definition of Zionism — “a movement to establish a Jewish state. That’s all.” Presumably, the genocide of Palestinian civilians has been perpetrated by non-Zionists. It might be noted that nowhere among the leading causes of death in Israel appears combat violence. Israel, on many levels, is an illegitimate state. But with respect to Zionism’s goal of a “Jewish state,” that was precisely what the League of Nations proscribed in the former Ottoman territory: neither Muslim, nor Jewish, nor Christian (the 20th century opened with about equal numbers of Christians and Jews in Palestine). Michele P. Brown
Of no interest
Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.: Voicer Roberta Chaleff opined that many are fed up with articles about the British monarchy. I feel that many more are fed up with the likes of the Kardashians, Megan Thee Stallion and others who grace the pages of many newspapers. Robert Stiloski
Confusing classifications
New Rochelle, N.Y.: Thanks to Voicer Mike Gordeuk for the Channel Islands history lesson. Part of the problem lies within his letter, in which United Kingdom and Great Britain seem to be used interchangeably. The reason the “sun never set on the British Empire” was that subject peoples couldn’t sleep trying to figure out what they were called under the large British umbrella. Were they overseas territories or Commonwealth realms? Well, it seems that Guernsey and Jersey are bailiwicks under the heading of Crown dependencies. All clear now? Richard Rodrigue
Unfair refereeing
Mineola, L.I.: I was glad to see that Voicers Mike Gordeuk and William Sarnataro were paying attention to the “Jeopardy!” error. I’ve had a pet peeve with the show for years over an ongoing mistake. It seems that when a contestant gives a response ruled incorrect and they lose the dollar amount for that question, and another contestant gives the correct answer that the judges were looking for, they then get that same dollar amount added to their score. The problem is that when the judges later rule that the first response was acceptable as a correct answer, they credit the first contestant with the money but do not take that amount away from the second contestant who would not have had the opportunity to respond if the first answer was originally accepted. It seems to me that the first contestant is being penalized by no fault of their own. James Formato
Open to discrimination
Staten Island: I don’t understand why, if you ever so slightly mispronounce an answer, it is deemed incorrect and is subtracted from the contestant’s winnings. Yet, in the Final Jeopardy round, if the answer is spelled incorrectly, it could be declared correct. According to that protocol, I’m certain that if the contestant was to read their answer (in Final Jeopardy) instead of Ken Jennings, they would be deemed wrong. For someone with dyslexia or another type of neurodivergent disorder, this could be a prejudiced decision. Myra Goodman
