Readers sound off on hazards of safety drills, Hugh Hefner and Social Security reforms

A sensible articulation, worthy of preserving

Manhattan: I am writing to express my deep gratitude for your thoughtful endorsement of lockdown drill reform in New York (“Overdoing it on safety drills,” editorial, Jan. 6). I am one of the two dads who approached the Brooklyn state legislators. Our story is written up in The Trace and published on the day of the introduction of the bill.

We’ve been working on the issue since fall 2021 and are scheduled to visit Albany on Feb. 6. We have communications with numerous governmental offices in NYC and Albany, including the NYPD, NYC Department of Education, New York State Education Department and the Board of Regents. It would be great to be connected to one of your journalists to share developments as they transpire.

I very much appreciated that you made the overall calculations for the total amount of drills, including fire evacuation drills. Numbers were my domain in the reform process and I am quoted in The Hill and Chalkbeat: “If you enter the school system as a 3-year-old, and you exit as an 18-year-old, you will have done 60 lockdown drills.” NBC also covered the issue under the headline: “NY students face up to 60 active shooter drills before graduating.” There’s a push to change that. Shooter drills start with 3-K by the DOE’s own admission.

Thank you for also raising the training issue, which is key. We work with the researchers cited in your text. Your opinion was so well written that I decided to make the journey through the snow and got a hard copy, which is already framed. Robert Murtfeld

Internal sabotage

Staten Island: To Voicer Mary Jane Manger: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (a Trump fan) is having mailboxes removed to make it difficult for anyone to vote by mail. Democrat or Republican, please get out and vote in person for the candidate of your choice. Too much depends on the outcome of the upcoming election. Eileen Zanelli

Unnecessary harshness

Brooklyn: To Voicer Joe C. Wade: Why the vitriol towards Michelle Obama? What did she ever do to you? Last I checked, she has not declared that she plans to run for the White House. I have heard her say on numerous occasions that she is not interested. Your letter is mean and unnecessary. The name-calling is out of line, but I guess you are following in the footsteps of your deranged cult leader. June Lowe

Trumpian rhetoric

North Branford, Conn.: To Voicer Joe C. Wade: I believe that Donald Trump used your name when he wrote a sick letter bearing your signature. Check your derangement — good advice. Stephen Syrotiak

Amped up

Ozone Park: Sen. Tim Scott endorsed Trump like he was the winner of the WWE belt. Trump’s simple-minded approach to a presidential nomination paid off. His supporters confuse the rah-rah motivation to an enthusiastic, self-congratulatory persona for a job well done. Look at the Jan. 6 video. That’s all I need to not consider Trump for anything but a rabble-rouser. Ray Hackinson

Blasé exposé

Whitestone: Yesterday the New York Post printed an explosive story that deserves the Pulitzer Prize for informing America that Hugh Hefner was only interested in having sex with women many years younger than he. Especially his last wife Crystal, who was only 26 when he was 86. Such groundbreaking journalism was on the front page. Who would’ve thought that Hefner didn’t want to have intellectual conversations with women young enough to be his great-granddaughters. And cameras in the bedroom? Throw in the Scripps Howard award! Thank God the editors of the Post are not wasting time covering factual evidence of all of Donald Trump’s crimes. Or his demented statement claiming that Nikki Haley refused 10,000 troops when she was in charge of the Capitol. Perhaps the Post can do a multi-edition story on the Revolutionary War, including diagrams of the airports Trump claims were so bigly important in helping defeat the British. Robert LaRosa Sr.

Favorite feature

Deltona, Fla.: I have been buying the Daily News since I was in third grade. I will be turning 66 next month. I enjoyed reading the Justice Story every Sunday. I miss reading them. The Justice Story that you have is over a month old. I would love to see fresh Justice Stories on Sundays. Nilsa Rivera

No fair shake

Bronx: Thanks for your interesting editorial (“Ticket punched,” Jan. 20). It’s difficult to understand how the Daily News can complain about police officers providing friends and relatives with courtesy cards that might give them the benefit of the doubt if stopped for a low-level violation when it advocates for extreme criminal justice reforms. Prosecutors and judges cut deals with violent criminals all the time. When parole boards release cop killers, they send a message that devalues the lives and service of officers. While prosecutors, judges and parole boards are immune from consequences for going easy on a criminal who commits more crimes after being given a break, cops can be sued personally for doing their jobs. It’s tough for the Daily News to whine about cops playing by other rules when it keeps supporting the deck being stacked against them. Charles T. Compton

Executive decision

Forest Hills: In his column “Adams’ double veto is a double failure for him” (Jan. 21), Harry Siegel argues that Mayor Adams should have gone along to get along and approved two City Council bills that the mayor strongly disagrees with. Adams has presented a strong, well-reasoned basis to veto the police reporting and ban on solitary confinement micro-managing legislative endeavors. New Yorkers are fortunate to have a mayor who acts not for reasons of political expediency, as urged by Siegel. John O’Reilly

Definition of

Yonkers: Incompetence (noun): Inability to do something successfully; ineptitude, e.g. Mayor Adams. Tom Deering

Solutions exist

East Meadow, L.I.: We really don’t, or shouldn’t, have an upcoming crisis whereby Social Security funds will be exhausted in 2034. There are a number of simple fixes for this issue. Implement a progressive tax so that higher earners are taxed at a rate higher than the 6.2% we all pay. Or remove the artificial earnings cap, set at $168,000 for 2024, so that all earnings are taxed. The way it works now is regressive, with workers earning $168,000 or less paying on every dollar while high earners don’t. Even if earnings beyond $1 million are taxed at a lower rate, say 2 or 3%, it’d still be a windfall for the fund. And the Social Security tax needs to be applied on gross earnings while not being eligible for any deductions or write-offs. Sounds pretty simple, but do our elected officials have the will? Or is this issue just another political boogeyman our politicians like to use come election time? Greg Hecht

Mischaracterized

Flushing: In addition to ignoring the fact that the cowardly Hamas terrorists hide in tunnels beneath mosques, schools and hospitals, a scattered-brained Voicer calls the late Golda Meir a “terrorist.” Would a terrorist say, and I quote: “Someday we may forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we will never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children.” Charles Tal

Enough

Swarthmore, Pa.: Israel is currently engaged in a retaliatory military response to the Hamas atrocities inflicted on them on Oct. 7. Now, almost three months and more than 25,000 Palestinian deaths later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must ask himself a question: When is enough enough? That is, how much pain and suffering should the Palestinians bear and what can fairly be considered a “proportionate response”? It feels fair to question whether or not Netanyahu’s decision will be primarily based on legitimate military objectives or if it will be determined by his internal political needs. The destruction wrought by the Israeli military on Gaza and its people has been devastating. Further retribution may achieve short-run security but will surely plant a seed of long-run hatred for which Israel will suffer a future payback. Bottom-line, Mr. Netanyahu: Enough is enough. Ken Derow

Not scheduled

Staten Island: What is it with your sports department? Do you have a problem with UConn women’s basketball? You never show their schedule in the sports calendar. Why is that? Do you have a problem with Geno Auriemma and the team? On Saturday, you listed San Jose State at San Diego State! Really! Michael Modafferi