Reject fear-mongering about the N.Y. HEAT Act
Manhattan: With respect to the opinion piece “Don’t raise the N.Y. HEAT Act: It threatens the safety of all New Yorkers” (op-ed, May 12), the authors’ advice to set aside the HEAT Act is absolutely the wrong message to send at the end of the legislative session.
Since he took office, Mayor Adams has prioritized making this city more affordable for its identified Disadvantaged Communities (DACs) and working-class New Yorkers. I’m confident the HEAT Act will increase utility affordability across the board. We will no longer be obligated to invest in expanding and maintaining dated natural gas infrastructure, offering some much-needed relief from utility bills.
It also doesn’t mean the end of gas service. For better or worse, New York City is as dependent on natural gas as our residents, and we need a thoughtful, well-managed plan to transition to renewable power sources, ensuring we can figure out the most cost-effective way to get energy to New Yorkers far into the future. The HEAT Act clears the path to more affordable, more reliable and 100% renewable power infrastructure for all New Yorkers to achieve net zero over the next several decades.
New York has a long history of prioritizing reliability and affordability in its advocacy regarding energy infrastructure to our state and federal regulators. We must ensure that New Yorkers aren’t saddled with the costs of maintaining an aging infrastructure system. The time to pass the HEAT Act is now. Elijah Hutchinson, executive director, Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice
Top landlord
Brooklyn: How may any rent-stabilized or rent-controlled tenants get a fair break when it turns out that our illustrious mayor is a landlord himself? To make matters worse, he has again been cited for having rats in his building. The mayor should show good faith by having his tenants live at Gracie Mansion while he cleans up the building. Ed Greenspan
Grammar gotcha
Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Re J-Lo and Ben, your headline (“Nix tour, I’m focusing on fam, says Jen amid talk her & Ben may split,” June 1) said there’s “talk her & Ben may split.” Her and Ben?! It’s she and Ben. Don’t you have any competent employees left? Glenn Simpson
Uninspired leadership
North Bergen, N.J.: Everyone is looking to blame the Mets players for the disappointing season upon them, but perhaps one should take a hard look at the managerial staff, starting with the emotionless and confused manager, Carlos Mendoza. Whenever the camera is on him, he shows no reaction to what’s going on on the field. Some games he leaves the pitchers in too long and others he pulls them too soon. He has no consistency in lineups. It’s like he spins a wheel to see who will bat and in what order. Players who are slumping need to ride the bench a game or two, but I guess that’s not his philosophy. He’ll just juggle the lineup again. The Mets need a manager with some fight in him, someone to stand up to and for the players. As for the remaining coaches (pitching, batting, etc.), let’s clean house and start fresh. Bob Eagleson
Protest hooky
Fall River, Mass.: A senior at Edward R. Murrow High School named Sofya tells a Daily News reporter that a pre-arranged, anti-Israel walkout of 1,000 students in the city represents “a great opportunity” for them “to speak their minds.” Teachers, she complains, are reticent to “bring up the subject of Palestine in classes.” Apparently, her parents and the parents of all the other lockstep anti-Israel students have given tacit or explicit encouragement for their children to shed the shackles of traditional education in favor of marching around and chanting with banners decrying “apartheid” — a word and concept they assuredly don’t comprehend. So much for the next generation’s best and brightest. Charles Winokoor
Come clean
Brooklyn: Connecticut Judge Kevin Randolph issued a 20-year sentence suspended after 14.5 years (“14 years in killing of Conn. mom,” June 1). There should have been a stipulation to that — only if Michelle Troconis reveals where Jennifer Farber Dulos’ body can be found. Eileen McIntyre Hughes
Balance of powers
Scarsdale, N.Y.: Voicer Warren Gross rightly points out that we live in a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Benjamin Franklin first explained it. We differ on the adequacy of our form of government. The problem is not with the Constitution but with the people entrusted with carrying it out. Under the 10th Amendment, the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. This is federalism. States’ rights are nothing new. Our form of government is the result of compromise. Before opining on someone’s character, Judeo-Christian values also remind us of Jesus’ statement, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Like all of us, Bill Clinton is a flawed human, but he wisely said that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. That seems a good starting place for discussion. Peter McCarthy
Wacky wives
Bronx: Personally, I can’t wait for the first season of “Real Housewives of the Supreme Court.” David Fisher
Awkward arm
Kent, N.Y.: Donald Trump is such a phony, he doesn’t even know how to fist pump. When he tries, it looks like he’s knocking on a door. Mr. Tough Guy. Not! Rob Callen
Fair trial?
Hicksville, L.I.: To Voicer Michael J. Gorman: I used to read your articles in The Chief. While I usually disagreed with you, as a fellow member of the NYPD and a fellow veteran, I still respected your views, but your recent letter to the Daily News really disappointed me. As an attorney, you saw nothing wrong with this trial? That no one wanted to prosecute this case until Matthew Colangelo came over from President Biden’s Department of Justice is OK with you? That a judge and daughter have connections to the Democratic Party is not a problem? How about not knowing what the second crime was until deliberations, not allowing Trump’s lawyers to defend him? How about the FEC expert who was not allowed to state that what Trump did was not illegal? The gag order that muzzled Trump but allowed the prosecution’s main witness, Michael Cohen, to constantly rail against him is fine? John Gelormino
Which is it?
Nutley, N.J.: I’m bewildered by Republican criticism of President Biden. On one hand, he is described as a doddering old man with a serious case of dementia, and on the other hand, a strong but unscrupulous leader, directing four separate indictments of his predecessor. So, critics of Biden, which version do you commit to? A weak and confused president or a mastermind of a sprawling conspiracy to convict ex-President Trump of criminal acts? He can’t be both. Peter Griswold
Inconsistent critique
Manhattan: Trump whines that he couldn’t get a fair trial in Democratic New York. What about Florida? You had a possibly predominantly Republican grand jury that indicted him in a Republican state, a possibly Republican jury and a Republican judge who he appointed. Why is he dragging his feet and trying to avoid a trial before the election in Florida? He should be doing everything he can to get a trial ASAP. Or maybe he knows that even a Republican-leaning courtroom would convict him just like the New Yorkers did. Alec Pruchnicki
Fair & square
Monroe, N.J.: The remarks of and the political wall by Republican representatives lining up around Trump are disgusting. They repeat his baseless claims and show no understanding of the law, as this was a state action, having no involvement of the DOJ or President Biden. A jury of 12 local citizens did their duty in reviewing material, witness statements, etc. to come up with a unanimous vote of guilty. Covering for this felon only shows how limited they are in courage, intelligence and dedication to the democracy of our country. Their cry of “rigged” whenever something doesn’t go as they wish is an embarrassment and is frightening. Republicans, get your heads out of the ground and act as responsible, mature leaders! Katherine A. Moloney
