A panel with a conspicuously absent group

Brooklyn: To Mayor Mamdani: Recently, you made the shocking decision to appoint an 18-member judicial screening panel without a single Jewish lawyer. This is especially shocking in a city where many estimate that more than 40% of lawyers are Jewish. Assume for the sake of argument that 40% of the qualified candidate pool was Jewish. The probability of selecting 18 lawyers and none who are Jewish is a chance of roughly 1 in 9,840.

The statistics strongly show that you were either intentionally antisemitic or suffering from significant unconscious bias. What’s worse is that it’s clear that you cared about balance in some areas but not others. There are exactly nine women and nine men on the panel. Given that you intentionally sought to balance the panel’s composition, the complete omission of Jewish lawyers is particularly striking. Now reverse the identities. Imagine a profession in which Black professionals made up 40% of the qualified pool, and a mayor appointed 18 people to an influential panel without selecting a single Black member. It’s difficult to imagine that outcome being dismissed as a coincidence. The same standard should apply to Jews.

I urge you to demonstrate that your administration is committed to equal treatment for all New Yorkers by participating in training on prejudice, implicit bias and fair public appointment practices. Jews deserve to be treated as equal New Yorkers.

Ryan Stotland

Market rates

Flushing: Who cares how high the rents are in Manhattan? They are high because people can and will pay to live in Manhattan, where the action is, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you want cheaper rents, live in the other four boroughs. Where does it say in the sky that you must live in Manhattan?

John Procida

Road hazards

Milford, Pa.: To Voicer Gary Perl: Sorry to disagree with you on bikes and e-bikes. When I lived in NYC, I had to dodge marauding bikes and e-bikes all the time. It’s one of the reasons (among many) that I left. When there’s an accident involving a bike and a car, the driver of the car is usually cited. I’m sorry, but bikes have no place on city streets. People who ride bikes are a small but very vocal minority who seem to have city government wrapped around their fingers. Want to ride a bike? Go to the park and stay off the streets.

Robert K. Greco

One size fits none

Kew Gardens: Every educator saw this coming years ago when class tracking was stopped (“Student reading scores in city plunge, only half at grade level,” Aug. 8). It was a system where students were divided into three groups: advanced, average and below average. Teachers knowing the level their class was on could easily prepare lessons for that group. However, parents, social workers and shrinks got involved, saying that designating the classes hurt the students’ feelings and self-esteem. Consequently, classrooms today mix advanced, average and below-average students. If teachers gear their lessons to the least advanced, the advanced students are bored. It’s an impossible situation. Instead of worrying about their child’s feelings, parents should be teaching them good habits, like doing their homework, reading each day and seeking help in school when they don’t understand the lesson. It’s no wonder that half read below grade level.

Jeff Pullen

Similar sneak

Briarwood: The clandestine move of President Trump from the plane into a catering truck and loaded on the old Air Force One was due to a threat from Iran. This reminds me of the book “Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn,” who was jailed in Tokyo for his criminal activities. He escaped in a container and was flown to Lebanon, where he must remain.

Patricia Nuzzi

Unwitting decoys

Manhattan: We have Air Force One getting ready to leave. Some possible/impossible threat is detected and no one is told anything about it. They sneak the target off the plane while everyone else gets on the plane. The target hides in a food truck, gets on another plane, flies to England, hides on another food truck and sneaks back on Air Force One. He flies to America and flies home on the gift plane. How could anyone do this dastardly, inhumane, barbaric escape? Who put this horrific series of events together? Could it have been the orange genius? Was there ever any thought about all the people on Air Force One who were never given the opportunity not to board? Was anyone thinking? A friend of mine suggested it was always a hoax. Doesn’t matter. They played it out as real.

Don Cerrone

Credible threat

Bronx: To Voicer Doug Slotolowicz: The difference is that the threat from Iran was a real assassination threat, whereas the incident in Butler, Pa., was a staged “attempt.”

W. Twirley

Out of their depth

Peters Township, Pa.: Of all of the things the president has on his plate, particularly our calamitous and failed war against Iran and soaring prices, he elects to devote time and effort to getting involved in something for which he has zero qualifications: the vaccine schedule for children. Along with his baseless suggestion to space out vaccines, he again implies a link between them and autism, a theory that has been repeatedly debunked. Naturally, the president made these recommendations alongside his long-time anti-vaccine Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. — two know-nothings attempting to dictate health protocol for the country. What they’re doing is dangerous, and their involvement has served to diminish the number of children being inoculated against potentially serious, preventable diseases. The best advice to promote public health is to consult those with expertise in the medical field rather than to accept the proclamations of politicians.

Oren Spiegler

Young talent

Clearwater, Fla.: At 28, Karoline Leavitt is not only mature way beyond her years, but she’s already a well-accomplished woman and a genuine asset to the Republican Party. Leavitt always brought a breath of fresh air to news briefings and conferences. I don’t doubt for a moment that we will be seeing more of her in the future. Leavitt was exceptional in her job as White House press secretary and leaves big shoes to fill for anyone following in her footsteps. Of course, we will miss her, but for now she probably wants to spend more time with her young children, which is understandable. And anyone who has watched Leavitt has to know she will be outstanding in whatever role she plays in the Republican Party. I wish her Godspeed.

JoAnn Lee Frank

Truly heartless

Glen Ridge, N.J.: Where is the depraved individual who abandoned two sweet, innocent puppies with their muzzles wired shut, severely underweight and in agonizing pain (“Heartlessly abused,” Aug. 13)? I can only hope that their abuser is caught, punished, and faces only pain and suffering for the rest of their miserable life.

Francine Ferrara