Shouldn’t policing correlate with crime?

Brooklyn: Re “Mamdani’s failed promise on police reform” (op-ed, Aug. 16): Talk about a different way of thinking. Robert Gangi provided numerous statistics, reports, percentages, etc., on how people of color are being over-policed. The op-ed, if I read it correctly, wants fewer police and also fewer criminals put in jail just because of their skin color? Even if they’re the ones committing the crimes?

In no way would I try to kid you or myself in disputing/challenging Gangi’s numbers given that I’m obviously not as smart or informed as he is on this subject. That said, from a very simple-minded person who reads and follows the news, I was a little taken aback. This is what goes through my mind when reading the news: Lately, a lot of the fires seem to be in the Bronx. I think, “Why don’t they up the number of fire inspectors and firefighters in the Bronx so they can either get ahead of the problem (inspections) or put the fires out faster (firefighters)?” If I lived in the Bronx, I’d be calling my local officials to request it.

Also, when I see crime, which is spread out amongst the boroughs a little more evenly, I say to myself, “Why don’t they send more cops to the areas where the crime seems to be happening most? Like I said, I’m a pretty simple man. But thanks for all the stats.

Jim Carney

Try something else

Brooklyn: Car insurance, electric and gas rates, rents and some food prices have just about doubled over the past five years or so in New York. Now those directly responsible for a large portion of the increases through higher taxes on businesses and the middle-class run on the affordability platform, promising to solve it with more of the same. One-party rule does not work. It removes the built-in checks and balances in the democratic system and allows the party in power to run amok. No matter what people think about the party out of power, the level of waste, fraud, corruption and incompetence that permeates our state government should make voters consider something new in November. Otherwise, we’re doomed to more of the same, if not worse.

Jack Flynn

Unforgivable error

Douglaston: I always look forward to the Sunday Crossword II puzzle, and the Aug. 16 Crossword II was great. But someone omitted the clue to 115 down. The answer was “sky.” Did anyone else notice? I can skip bad news and forgive editing mistakes, which happen all the time. But the Sunday Crossword II? I had to take a stand! And it’s so much easier to fix than the rest of the problems in the world.

Gail Richards

Spiked price

Howard Beach: What’s the story behind the steep rate increase for subscriptions? Subscribers will leave in droves. They’re the heart of your business. This increase is worse than Con Edison.

H. Richter

Stutter overcomer

Astoria: Thank you for your great coverage on the passing of baseball legend Tommy John. Your back-cover headline “Game changer” was truly an understatement. His courage in 1974 to undergo that pioneering surgery that came to bear his name went on to extend the careers of so many major league pitchers. It shouldn’t be forgotten that John battled stuttering early in his life as well. As a Yankees fan, I view him as the most prominent of all the pro athletes cited on the list of “Famous People Who Stutter” on The Stuttering Foundation’s website. Academically brilliant, he was number one in his graduating class at Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1961, but school officials denied him the opportunity to give his valedictorian speech because of his stuttering. During his playing days and after, John made an effort to embrace nonprofit organizations that helped young children who stutter.

Michael Crisci

Bionic promise

Manhattan: To Voicer Earl Beal: I agree that Tommy John should be remembered for his remarkable, lengthy baseball career with 288 wins — a number we rarely see anymore. And teammates clearly liked him as a person. But I’d like to point out the context of Dr. Frank Jobe’s surgery. “The Six Million Dollar Man” launched weekly in 1974, the same year as John’s surgery. Anything seemed possible in medical science breakthroughs, from repairing a fictional astronaut to reconstructing a real-life ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). As the show states, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.”

Adam Silbert

Deviant fanbase

Brooklyn: What bizarre world are we living in? Did Luigi Mangione fans hear his testimony? How do you cheer someone like that on? Yes, the healthcare system can be brutal, but to kill someone in cold blood? I just can’t wrap my head around any of this.

Mariann Tepedino

Strategic scapegoating

Dartmouth, Mass.: Undocumented immigrants, green card holders and naturalized citizens from certain countries who are living in fear of being detained, deported or consigned to detention centers are not going to show up at polling places. It’s folly to claim that people living with constant anxiety would audaciously place themselves in jeopardy to cast a vote at a public facility. It has been the constant refrain of both Trump presidencies to fabricate a false threat from enemies here and abroad. Keeping his loyal base fevered, furious and fearful has to a large extent diverted their attention from their diminishing resources and personal safety and threatened constitutional rights. The allocation for increased ICE resources, electric shock gloves and increased recruitment is revving up the one war that satisfies his base and fortifies his belief that he’s a winner.

Betty Ussach

Easily explained

Holliswood: To Voicer W. Twirley: During the 2024 Trump rally at Butler, Pa., a large American flag was behind the stage. In the videos I watched, I don’t see it being lowered. The iconic shot of President Trump in the aftermath was because of the camera angle. The Secret Service let him stand up after the shooter was down. As to your front-to-back theory, the FBI confirmed through forensic trajectory analysis that all eight rounds were fired exclusively from the rooftop where shooter Thomas Crooks was positioned. There were no shots fired from the front of the stage. As to blood on Trump’s face, if you were in a kneeling position looking at the floor, you’d have blood trickling down from your ear to your face. As for his ear growing back, it was a graze wound that required no stitches. It was a real assassination attempt, where an innocent bystander was killed and two others were injured.

Gregory W. Chupa

Victimhood claims

Pleasantville, N.Y.: I find it ironic to hear from Palestinian-Americans calling for a lawsuit over discrimination at Columbia University on how they were treated after the Oct. 7 attacks. However, some of them didn’t seem to mind when others were discriminating against students there that were either Israeli or Jewish. Then again, some only know how to dish criticism but can never seem to take it.

Tal Barzilai