Readers sound off on serial offenders, menthol cigarettes and EVs

Tarrytown, N.Y.: While reading last Saturday’s edition of The News, my stomach churned reading about the recent crime.

A violent homeless shoplifter goes into a CVS and fills a bag with stolen merchandise, attacks two employees and two cops before urinating on the cops while they got him under control (“Accused thief in cop tussle, freed without bail, is busted hours later,” Jan. 28). Fourteen previous arrests, including the assault of a woman two hours after he was released. That’s right, released!

A 62-year-old criminal plea bargained his way to one to three years for trafficking women, forcing them into prostitution (“Guilty of sex-trafficking teens, he gets 1 to 3 years in jail,” Jan. 28). He had been released on $250,000 bail before he was sentenced.

Re “Store owners: DAs, get serious on shoplifters” (Jan. 28): Retail groups are begging for help with this present scourge in our city. They’re hiring their own security, which our mayor lauded. Private citizens are doing the job of the police, and he vows to do more to address the uptick in shoplifting. I really thought this mayor would be different, but it turns out they are all the same.

Judges, DAs, legislators and the mayor’s office are not up to the task of saving this city and making it safe to shop or walk the streets without getting assaulted or shot to death. Start getting rid of them all during the next few years and stop listening to the lies about how we are being helped. Useless bureaucrats, do something! Jaime Geiger

Manhattan: How perfectly appropriate to consider locating a giant Ferris wheel right beside the UN, an organization that keeps going in interminable circles, effectively achieving F-all and costing an immense amount of money. Go for it, New York. The symbolism would be both impeccable and eternal! Ameen Keshavjee

Bergenfield, N.J.: Your editorial regarding interest rates (“Getting Fed up,” Feb. 2) should have had a disclaimer that nobody on your staff knows anything about the function of the Federal Reserve bank or monetary policy. Al Schwarzler

Brooklyn: I understand Japan is longing to increase its population. I think a great idea is to give our disillusioned young people and woke community free plane tickets to a new life where maybe they can be happy in a new land since they hate their own so much. They are on a road to nowhere currently. Seriously, Japan, please ask them to come. Joe Many

Brooklyn: Relying on tobacco industry-funded propaganda, Guy Bentley’s op-ed “Hochul is wrong to try to ban all flavored tobacco products” (Jan. 31) got so many things wrong that it should be immediately dismissed. To be clear, the governor’s historic proposal to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes will advance health equity, save lives and protect kids. Despite Bentley’s claims to the contrary, the science is unequivocal: Menthol cigarettes are more addictive, making it easier for kids to start smoking and harder for smokers to quit. But most shockingly, his claim that this proposal will subject Black Americans to more law enforcement abuse is particularly outrageous when the governor’s proposal can be enforced only against licensed retailers and explicitly allows the personal purchase, use and possession of a flavored tobacco product. We must put an end to the tobacco industry’s racially targeted marketing of a product that has killed far too many Black New Yorkers. Lorraine Braithwaite-Harte, health chairwoman, NAACP NYS Conference

Manhattan: Declining plastic utensils and condiments when getting takeout is the right step to help clean NYC streets (“Anti-trash law: No ‘stuff’ with takeout unless you ask,” Feb. 2). Mayor Adams and the City Council should be commended for finally getting this law passed. We live in a throwaway society, collecting unnecessary stuff in our “packet drawers.” Skipping the stuff will remind people to be conscious of their actions and take responsibility for the waste they help create. Eileen Leonard

Levittown, L.I.: Electric buses? Did the governor really think this out for the taxpayers? I’ve sat on my local school board for 25 years. This is the biggest bonehead proposal ever! Although money is available to purchase these vehicles if you’re lucky enough to get a grant, the big question is infrastructure. Who’s paying for the numerous charging stations my district will need? We currently have 83 buses but might cut that down due to a driver shortage. That said, let’s say we need 60 stations — who pays for that? The full charge on these buses is only 100 miles, so if we send a field trip into Manhattan we might not get home unless we can find a charging station. James Moran

North Babylon, L.I.: Gov. Hochul did the smart thing by signing off on both the Advanced Clean Truck and Advanced Clean Car regulations. The governor’s goal is for New York auto sales to be 100% zero-emission by 2035. But people point out that all those EVs will need a lot of environmentally harmful and water-intensive lithium mining, especially near Native American communities. The way out of so much mining is getting people out of their cars with smart mass transit investments like the new Metro-North stations in the Bronx. Too many city residents live beyond the subway lines. Bus service across the state could stand big improvement. Car companies err in luring people out of monstrously large gas-powered cars into equally humongous EVs with big batteries. When it comes to cleaning up toxic climate pollution with EVs, small is beautiful. Alexa Marinos

Manhattan: So, Rep. George Santos claims he was mugged on Fifth Ave. The problem with Santos now is that we can’t believe anything he says. He’s lied so much that we can’t tell when he’s telling the truth. How can he serve effectively in Congress when nobody can believe a word he says? Chana Schwartz

Staten Island: “I’m done lying, I swear!” (Feb. 2) as stated by Rep. George Santos is his biggest lie so far. You cannot believe anything a pathological liar says. Myra Goodman

Brooklyn: Many people seem to be wondering how President Biden cannot know there are classified documents in his house. I think he probably does know, but given his recent state of mind, he probably doesn’t know it’s his house! Josh Greenberger

Chester, N.J.: Merrick Garland says: “Everyone look under your seats. There are classified documents. You get a special prosecutor! You get a special prosecutor! And you get a special prosecutor. Everyone gets a special prosecutor!” (audience applauds). David J. Melvin

Brooklyn: To Voicer Raquel Hanon: I’m hoping your letter is sarcastic. Alec Baldwin left his daughter Ireland, from his first wife, Kim Basinger, a horrific, hate-filled phone message that played all over social media. Baldwin has been in a few confrontations, including a parking spot fight in NYC. Funny — Alec is forever posting his hateful opinions on social media. Hilaria is forever posting herself with her seven Baldwinitas and herself all glammed up. She offers her opinion on a daily basis. When the paparazzi go to question her, she wants her privacy. To me, this is dysfunction at its best. I feel for the seven children who are caught up in this mess. I really feel for Halyna Hutchins’ son, whose mom has no voice. If the Baldwins had a heart or brain, they would take 10 steps back and refrain. But then I guess they would have nothing to complain about. Mariann Tepedino

Briarwood: On Tuesday night, I was watching the Knicks against the Lakers and I witnessed something I have never seen before. At one point in the game, the Knicks had Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein — all lefties — on the floor at the same time. To all the basketball fans out there: Have you ever seen a team with that many lefties on the floor at the same time? Cliff Mitchell