Rent-freeze fearmongering is mere distraction

Manhattan: The recent op-ed opposing a potential rent freeze (“A rent freeze just won’t work,” Nov. 23) overlooks key facts about NYC’s housing landscape. It ignores the tools landlords already have: tax relief programs, repair incentives and the ability to secure stable rent through voucher programs.

Notably, Alex Schwartz sidesteps the city’s commitment to fixing CityFHEPS. Reforming the rent subsidy program will reduce long-standing delays, streamline payments and expand voucher access, providing more dependable rental income while helping families remain stably housed. These improvements will do far more to support buildings than another round of rent hikes. The piece also ignores why the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act was enacted: decades of speculation and abuse in the rent-stabilized market that eroded affordability and pushed tenants out. Yes, insurance and taxes are rising, but without a remedy like a rent freeze, politicians would keep approving increases without confronting those cost drivers. A freeze forces the real estate lobby and elected officials to address these issues. Lastly, claiming that a rent freeze will cause buildings to fall into disrepair is fearmongering. The small share of distressed rent-stabilized buildings are struggling despite yearly rent increases. Chronic neglect, mismanagement and broader cost pressures — not tenants — are driving deterioration. Blaming a freeze diverts attention from the real issues. And recent Rent Guidelines Board increases don’t fund meaningful repairs — 3% or 4.5% won’t rehabilitate a building, but can push tenants on fixed incomes into housing insecurity.

New Yorkers deserve an honest conversation about affordability and preservation. A rent freeze, paired with CityFHEPS reforms, is a responsible, balanced step — not the reckless measure the author suggests. Adán Soltren, tenant member, NYC Rent Guidelines Board

A truer voice

Manhattan: I’m piling on with Voicer Joseph M. Varon in his praise for current Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. Several weeks ago, Delgado spoke at a church in the West Village. While there, he subjected himself to a series of fast questions to be answered yes or no. He answered every question quickly, always in favor of forceful climate leadership. What a contrast to Gov. Hochul’s recent air-hammer-like, one-after-another disappointing climate moves — or non-moves – from her continued silence on Cap-and-Invest, through her reversal on new-building electrification, to her championing of the poisonous NESE methane pipeline. Yes, bring on Delgado! Thomas A. Caffrey

Irrelevant ire

Staten Island: The Nov. 27 article ” ‘Differences’ with Zoh is why I’m leaving — FDNY commish” that outlined why Commissioner Robert Tucker resigned 12 hours after Zohran Mamdani’s election is a big nothing-burger. Who cares!? As a Jew and Zionist, your beliefs did not align with his, so you didn’t even give him a chance. Where’s the olive branch, commissioner? Jews are quick to scream antisemitism at anyone who doesn’t agree with their position on Israel. How is it not the same when applied here to a Muslim you ideologically differ from? You chose to condemn someone elected overwhelmingly by NYC voters. You weren’t elected. Can’t abide the will of the people? Go away, you no longer matter! Ellen Settanni

Gift of grift

Manhattan: Thank you, regular Voicer JoAnn Lee Frank, for your letters that provide comic relief for left-wing extremists on edge like me. I suspect you are a stand-up comic on the side. Your latest pro-MAGA comment, “Trump has a genuine gift — the art of negotiating,” will have me laughing to myself all day long, hopefully not out loud around other people outside. The only genuine gift President Trump has, in my observation over the last 10 years, is his ability to lift money out of the wallets of his gullible followers for his Trump hats, Bibles, sneakers and other low-quality items made in China, i.e. grift — you know, from people like you. And I suspect that Mamdani, like Vladimir Putin and others, laid the usual “you’re the greatest at anything and everything” compliments on thick to cajole our president into his preadolescent, juvenile fawning over Mamdani at that meeting. Enrico Rizzo

Flashier flash in the pan

Woodland Park, N.J.: Trump and his son want to rebrand the Republican Party in their own image. If they’re serious, they’ll need stronger branding than the clumsy names they’ve floated so far: “Topublican,” “T-publican” and “Trumplican.” None of these exactly roll off the tongue. Reluctantly, I’ll admit there is one name that actually works: Trumpublican. It neatly fuses “Trump” and “Republican” into a single word that makes far more sense than the rest. Whatever they call it, may it join the Whigs in the dustbin of history. John Dent

Waiting for respite

West Harrison, N.Y.: I believe that a career in the public domain requires an individual to have an oversized, strong ego. As to Trump’s ego, which was inflated from birth, he has managed to enlarge it further by aborting his brain. I await his announcement that he invented water and will magnanimously share it with his supporters. His opponents must grin and bear the next few years, praying and hoping that he won’t damage our democracy beyond repair. So far, it appears that Democrats are making better headway in fending off the misled and ill-informed Republicans running for office. The 2026 elections will greatly affect Congress, the only government body elected to modify the president’s actions. With bated breath, I await November 2026. Joan Cavaluzzi

Chemical reaction

Forest Hills: To Voicer Earl Beale: You had me at the “Marxist mainstream media.” Surely, your adoring and delusional take on Trump is a long-term side effect of the Clorox bleach you must have inhaled or digested to “cure COVID,” as the cult leader suggested back then. There’s no other logical explanation. Leni Houle

Proof of violence

Brooklyn: On Wednesday, two National Guardsmen were shot by a gunman in Washington, D.C. A sober Thanksgiving eve and day for their families and soldiers who serve our country. The Democrats who are against National Guard troops in major U.S. cities are now seeing the true meaning of service to the U.S.A. The disastrous withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was the reason the shooter was in the United States — an Afghan whose immigration status was in question, and who worked with the CIA. Evidently, people who question having the military in major cities that have rampant crime or riots against ICE enforcement leave the president with no other course of action. Let’s pray for the two Guardsmen who were shot. Joseph Comperchio

Turkeys’ worst day

Hillsdale, N.Y.: For all the turkeys out there! Why is Thanksgiving known as turkey day when the only ones that are obviously not thankful are turkeys? Except the one turkey that receives a pardon from the president. Phil Antico

Right to bargain

Brooklyn: Please do anything you can to have Congress maintain collective bargaining and union rights for all federal workers, including Veterans Administration nurses, for always! Why is this particular issue important to me? Because all federal workers, including VA nurses, work hard every day they’re on the job to help people like me, and therefore must be rewarded by getting a decent salary and union rights for as long as they’re working, as well as when they retire. Therefore, I hope you take my message seriously. Joyce Shiffrin

God of the above?

Manhattan: There are more frequent believable reports these days from respected news outlets about unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Also known as extraterrestrials, alien life and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), the entities are those seen in the sky but not yet identified. Upon investigation, most UFOs are explained away as objects or atmospheric phenomena, yet a small number remain unexplained. Call them what you will, but lately, they’ve become easier to consider (sort of). Government officials have become more forthcoming. At least the subject isn’t as scary or threatening as it used to be. Since there may be some truth to the realities and photographs we’ve recently been privy to, what I’m wondering is if they are out there (or even among us), do we and they worship the same higher power(s) — or do they have a God Almighty of their own? James A. Fragale