Dems resist Mamdani in defiance of their voters
Manhattan: By failing to endorse Zohran Mamdani for mayor, New York State and national Democratic Party leaders are making a grave mistake. They want to keep the governorship and take back Congress next year. All they are doing by lecturing Mamdani and failing to endorse him is showing disrespect for the city’s Democratic Party voters!
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries lectures Mamdani about “broadening his outreach.” Maybe Jeffries should take his own advice, or give it to Andrew Cuomo instead (too late for that, though). If he thinks younger Democratic voters will turn around and support party candidates next year by not endorsing Mamdani, maybe he should think again. Maybe it is the top Democratic leaders who should be expanding their outreach and including Mamdani, his voters and other candidates like him around the country instead of attacking them.
The same is true of Gov. Hochul. She says on TV how she can “control the city” with her powers as governor once Mamdani is elected mayor. Sorry, but if he wins, he should be the one to do that! She will need his voters in her own election.
Democratic leaders need to focus more on what the President Trump-MAGA regime is doing to the country than worry about Mamdani. In fact, they need to think about and develop programs like his that help all working and poor people, and stop worrying about offending the billionaires, who don’t care about us. Democratic leaders should do what grassroots Democrats have done all over the city and endorse Mamdani for mayor. Ralph Palladino
Can’t trust him
Brooklyn: To Voicers Thomas and Constance Dowd: You folks hit the nail on the head. When Mamdani’s lips move, it’s almost always a lie. Josie Oliveri
The American way
Copiague, L.I.: To Voicer Wallington Simpson: To avoid embarrassment, maybe you ought to keep what you think you know — your Simple Simon, bigoted notions about “Islam” — to yourself. I have no idea what Mamdani’s Muslim conscience tells him about LGBTQ, etc. But as an American and as a New Yorker, he says he objects to the way the NYPD has treated LGBTQ people in the past, and if elected, means to “keep an eye” on it for the future. I think we ought to believe him. It’s a promise he can actually keep, and he should. Mitch Kessler
Comrade Trump?
Manhattan: Just a quick question. Trump calls Mamdani a “commie,” yet he rolls out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin? Has Putin converted to being called a human being? Has Russia finally succeeded in installing a comrade in the White House? Michael Malewich
Election interference
Valley Stream, L.I.: So, our fully transparent president wants to use an executive order to do away with mail-in voting due to “massive fraud.” Then he says he wants to do away with “highly inaccurate, very expensive and seriously controversial” voting machines. And he says he can order the states to do so because he is the president when, in fact, it is the other way around. The states control the where, when and how of elections by their legislatures. Trump, unfortunately, doesn’t read and obviously has never read our Constitution, which he swore to faithfully protect and defend. In this oath, it also says, “To the best of my ability.” I guess that by circumventing the courts for the last eight months, Trump is showing that he doesn’t give a whit about America. How does he expect us to have free and fair elections? By raising our hands? Vincent Sgroi
Hobbling voters
Brooklyn: Trump wants to ban mail-in voting. People with disabilities, who can not physically get to the polls, would have their right to vote taken away. Our servicemen and women stationed away from home would have their right to vote taken away. When Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country could not hold elections while being attacked and fighting a war, Trump thought this was something to think about. I guess he’s liking the idea of no elections and just staying in office. He’s deploying the National Guard to our cities against the will of the people. He makes laws and levies tariffs without the consent of Congress. The checks and balances issued by our forefathers are gone. This is the road to dictatorship. Democracy was nice while it lasted. Andrea Allen
Corrupt counsel
Bronx: Trump has decided to ban mail-in ballots and do away with voting machines on the advice of the head of the KGB, Putin. I guess Trump doesn’t want the votes of the military personnel who are stationed overseas, the disabled or anyone in a hospital, or senior citizens who cant leave the house. The aforementioned use mail-in ballots only. This idea came from the advice of the most corrupt country and leader and, of course, Trump’s fear of losing an election that he can’t rig because of safe, secure and reliable elections. Lydia Milnar
Crime rates claim
Brooklyn: To Voicer Michael Rosenkrantz, who writes that the most violent cities are in Republican states, I ask: Aren’t New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco all in Democratic-run states? And D.C. has a Democratic mayor! What cities are more violent than those? Glenn Brown
Clog job
Brooklyn: The braindead people who run NYC are cute. In a city overly congested with traffic, they made it worse by allowing Uber and Lyft to operate, putting thousands more cars on the road. They narrowed and eliminated traffic lanes by installing bike lanes, bike racks and outdoor dining sheds. Then they have the gall to expect the public to pay for what they caused via congestion pricing. Gov. Yokel along with the politicians who wanted this should have “Dishonorable” on their desk IDs rather than “Honorable.” As for the MTA bigs who are always crying for more money, they never explained why they had two sets of books. Last but not least are the news outlets that are in cahoots with the above. When are they going to wise up to the fact that NYC runs on vehicular traffic, not bicycles? As for outdoor dining, that’s OK for Paris, not NYC. Dominick Delasandro
Minimal care
New Brunswick, N.J.: To Voicer Robert Iulo: Cheers for pointing out my violation of correct usage in “Navigating the rules of our pronoun dysphoria” (op-ed, Aug. 18). It should have been “we could not care less about violations of usage.” But as I said in the piece, I could care less. J.T. Barbarese
Slanderous screeds
Farmingdale, L.I.: I wish you wouldn’t print so many anti-Israel letters. To me, they border on antisemitism. The other side is never told. Hamas is the real enemy, not Israel or the IDF. People wrote things like, “Oct. 7 is not an excuse.” How antisemitic can you get? No other country defending itself has been so attacked. Steven Edlin
Research-based
Brooklyn: As a reading scientist, I was encouraged to see improvement in NYC public school students’ reading test scores. This progress follows the city’s shift toward evidence-based instruction. Curriculum reform has been essential, but lasting improvement also depends on deepening teachers’ understanding of reading science research — notably, the development of literacy. To continue this momentum, we must expand access to science of reading training for current and pre-service teachers, paired with ongoing coaching and targeted interventions for students who need the most support. I am the co-founder of the CUNY Reading Corps and I developed Brooklyn College’s advanced certificate in reading science for teachers who already have master’s degrees but never received this type of training. Through philanthropic support, teachers receive full scholarship to the program to remove financial barriers. Citywide partnerships and philanthropic support have helped my nonprofit, The Reading Institute, equip thousands with this knowledge through free access to our 10-hour Science of Reading Intro Course and our intervention programs. Katie Pace Miles
True crime mystery
West Islip, L.I.: Did you drop the Justice Story? If so, why? I looked forward to reading it every Sunday. Then it was every other Sunday. Now, for the past few weeks, I haven’t seen it at all. I and many other true crime fans love learning about criminals of the past. Please bring it back! Francis Thomas
