Readers sound off on public comments, snow days and abortion

Let the public weigh in on N.Y.’s redistricting

Brooklyn: Re “N.Y. needs a transparent redistricting process” (op-ed, Feb. 5): Over the past few years, New York State has gone through several rounds of redistricting, culminating this month in the current redrawing of congressional districts by the New York Independent Redistricting Commission. Now, as the commission prepares to release new congressional district maps for the 2024 election, it has failed to deliver a fundamental component of the redistricting process: public hearings. The exclusion of public testimony will negatively impact communities of color and immigrant communities, leading to unfair districts.

Since 2021, NYIC Action, alongside its sister organization, the New York Immigration Coalition, has advocated for a fair redistricting process to ensure equal representation and empowerment of immigrant communities in New York. Our efforts have aimed at advocating for fair districts and ensuring community voices are heard throughout the process. We have taken part in community education, meetings with elected officials, and raising awareness in the media — and hundreds of our members have turned out to testify at public hearings of the commission.

Public hearings are critical, as they are the main opportunity to elevate the voices of community members, to speak about the impacts that unfair districts and unfair representation have had on their everyday lives. As our coalition made clear in an open letter to the commission in December, the public has not had an opportunity to give feedback on the current court-ordered congressional district map, and there are new commissioners who weren’t present at previous public hearings. Moreover, it‘s critical that the public be given a chance to voice concerns with any new proposed maps before they are passed. Asher Ross

Sucking it up

Valley Stream, L.I.: Our last two vacuums have been bagless, so lately I’ve been contemplating buying a hazmat suit and a mask just to clean the entire filter inside my house, but still, some dust flies around the room in doing so. I think I’ll just revert back to the old way ’cause nothing cleans better than a vacuum with the ole bag. John Esposito

Blitzing blizzard

Brooklyn: Whoop-dee-doo! Perhaps I need to tell our meteorologists and weather forecasters the difference between a snowstorm and a snow event. By 1 p.m. on Tuesday I had to close my blinds to protect myself from the bright sunshine. Thankfully, IBM came through and their glitches gave our schoolchildren a taste of an old-fashioned snow day, not some space-aged “Romper Room” learning over the internet. Lydia DiBello

Day off

Bronx: Does NYC really need to have remote learning on a snow day? Couldn’t they just give students and faculty the day off like the rest of the metropolitan area did? And look what happened — problems all over the place logging in to Department of Education computers. Not to mention the fact that public schools are supposed to be free, but remote learning means parents must have the means to buy computers and have internet. Just because the technology exists doesn’t mean it must be used. Scott Barusek

Super cheap

Scarsdale, N.Y.: I read that the average cost of a ticket to the Super Bowl is $8,776. I know it is a long way off, but I attended Super Bowl III, the Joe “Willy” Namath Bowl in 1969. I paid a carhop at one of the hotels in Miami Beach a scalper’s price of $17 — that was $2 over the ticket price of $15. I sat in the end zone and watched the Jets beat the Colts. P.S.: The halftime entertainment was a guy in a jetpack flying around the stadium. Harvey Wielstein

Off his head

Bronx: Maybe President Biden’s hair plugs are his problem, not his age. William Scalese

Executive authority

Woodstock, N.Y.: President Biden, who, according to the former president, has “absolute immunity from all prosecution, lest the presidency become irrelevant,” could hire a team of assassins to eliminate said former guy so he won’t have to run against him. Then all Biden would have to say is, “Trump said I could.” Suzanne Hayes Kelly

Put policy first

Nutley, N.J.: Voicer Luciano Magaldi’s letter was refreshing and deserving of praise in its call for “constructive political discourse and advancing meaningful policy solutions.” I don’t think anyone can deny that political debate has become increasingly bitter and even vicious, as politicians use pejorative language to attack their opponents’ positions and, more reprehensibly, their character. Recently, President Biden has endured criticism from Republicans and their allies in the media who emphasize his mistakes and gaffes when speaking to reporters. Democrats and their allies in the media, in turn, find areas where former President Trump has made errors. I understand that leaders need to be effective communicators, but I wonder if we don’t make too much of that role, to the exclusion of significantly more important parts of their job, like developing and advancing policy that provides for the safety and welfare of all Americans. Peter Griswold

Anything goes

Utica, N.Y.: For those Americans still addicted to “hopium,” the Supreme Court is certainly going to decide their crucial election issues according to strict constitutional law. For those of us who recognize reality, however, the political disposition of the Roberts court overwhelmingly dictates its decisions. Of course, when the high court inevitably rules that Trump can remain on the ballot despite being a tried and convicted insurrectionist, they will essentially declare the Constitution’s presidential requirements to be moot. Accordingly, Barack Obama should immediately file to run for a third term! Jeff and Joan Ganeles

Even messier

Manalapan, N.J.: To Voicer Fred Schoeneborn: Trump has never had a credible plan for the border. He tried to use Title 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to keep out asylum seekers and his own Supreme Court shot him down. He partially built a border wall that was full of holes and never made that work either. Now he promises a “perfect border law” that will keep everyone out, but doesn’t explain how it will circumvent our nation’s asylum laws or the international asylum laws we are bound to by treaty. You say he’ll cancel those laws, too? How? Will he arrest half the Congress to prevent opposition? Herb Paserman

Nothing alike

Brooklyn: Here is the Biden secret documents scandal in a nutshell: 10-year-old documents that are no longer at all valuable to any foreign adversaries, juxtaposed with current documents hoarded by Trump for who knows what reason. We can only suspect that this whole episode was designed as a GOP hit job that the Democrats, in their efforts at being fair, have allowed to happen. Meanwhile, Trump’s secreted documents could be in anyone’s hands, including Putin’s. Ed Temple

Too real

White Plains, N.Y.: Bramhall’s cartoon on Tuesday of Putin killing NATO with Trump’s approval made me so sad — because it’s so true. Eleanor Salerno

Unsuitable tragedy?

Bronx: The meager reporting from the liberal media regarding the Lakewood Church shooting comes as no surprise. An immigrant from Central America using both male and female aliases, possessing antisemitic writings, brandishing an AR-15 assault rifle with a “Palestine” sticker attached and then being neutralized by legally armed off-duty law enforcement officers does not check one single box of interest for them! Perhaps they are more concerned with the memory of Genesse Ivonne Moreno fading as fast as Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s did. Joe Schulok

Where’s the line?

Rochdale Village: We agree that a human fetus is a human being “along its normal development track.” So, when and how is an abortion allowed? Soon after X-rays and scans showing it’s not viable and/or the woman is carrying a dead one? Or was raped? And what if a 10-year-old is raped by her father or uncle, or indeed, anybody? You will force that child or that woman to deliver? Saul Rothenberg