Hate scaffolds in the city? Zohran has a video for you<\/a>\u201d (April 11): I was surprised to see that a video released by the mayor\u2019s office confused sidewalk sheds and scaffolds. A sidewalk shed is installed to protect pedestrians, and a scaffold is a work platform often built on top of a sidewalk shed. It\u2019s in the NYC Building Code. The mayor should have gone to someone from the Buildings Department for clarification. Robert Iulo<\/p>\nProblem spot<\/p>\n
Manhattan: To Mayor Mamdani: As a long-term resident of Gramercy Park, I applaud your interest in eliminating long-term, blight-inducing scaffolding. Please focus your attention on the bus stop location at Third Ave. and E. 15th St. Just in back of it, many years ago, when the \u201cstiletto buildings\u201d were the focus of every real estate entrepreneur looking for an available crevice to develop, scaffolding was installed. They built a few floors only to abandon it. But the scaffolding remained, mainly as a garbage dump and a general impediment to passengers waiting for the bus. It\u2019s time that pedestrians and bus riders got some relief from this eyesore and narrowing of the street. Chris Santoro<\/p>\n
Leave no trace<\/p>\n
Glendale: Voicer Leslie Langer complains about dog owners not picking up their dogs\u2019 feces. As an owner of two dogs, I couldn\u2019t agree more. However, Leslie, policemen do not issue tickets for this violation. These tickets are (supposedly) issued by the Sanitation Department. In order to issue a ticket, the officer has to witness the violation. This rarely happens. Some foreign countries, private communities and other jurisdictions have used modern technology to combat this problem. Dog owners are required to submit (or have) DNA samples of their dogs taken and kept on file. If dog feces is found in a public area, it\u2019s tested. If there\u2019s a match, a ticket is sent to the owner. As someone who always picks up after my dogs, I\u2019d welcome this new income stream. However, since it punishes law-breakers, I\u2019m sure Mamdani and his progressive friends would be against it! Thomas Murawski<\/p>\n
Fine by me<\/p>\n
Massapequa, L.I.: For those of you who keep bashing Ricky Cruz\u2019s crossword puzzles, I find them more challenging than those of Jacqueline Mathews. I do like them both. Judi Bruch<\/p>\n
Proper guidance<\/p>\n
Manhattan: Recent coverage of ketamine as a fast-acting treatment for depression highlights its promise but risks overlooking the experience itself. As a psychotherapist who sits with patients during ketamine sessions, I\u2019ve seen that ketamine does not simply treat symptoms. It opens an altered state in which patients may encounter powerful emotions, memories and sensations that can feel unfamiliar, even overwhelming. In these moments, the presence of an experienced therapist is not incidental \u2014 it is central. Without support, patients can feel disoriented or alone inside the experience. With careful, attuned therapeutic presence, the same experience can become meaningful, even transformative. Ketamine may open the door, but it is the therapeutic relationship that helps patients walk through it safely and return with something they can understand and integrate into their lives. If we reduce ketamine to a purely medical intervention, we risk offering access without guidance, and intensity without integration. Andre A. Moore<\/p>\n
Just cause<\/p>\n
Raleigh, N.C.: People are complaining about the rise in prices. What would they have done when Iran had a missile and a nuclear bomb and kept on saying \u201cDeath to America\u201d? That is the problem with most people who take our military for granted. Remember our troops over there and the Navy being attacked with weapons from Iran, Russia and China. Maybe Iran will make our enemies think again about any conflict with the free world. It also shows what support we would get from countries that we blessed with our blood. God bless those who risk their lives to protect people who are more concerned about their daily lives changing than the lives of people who are protecting them. God bless President Trump and the military! Joseph John Rothengast<\/p>\n
Redirect<\/p>\n
Tamarac, Fla.: Someone should tell left-leaning Kamala Harris that she is unqualified to represent the United States as president. The Democratic Party needs a knowledgeable and politically strong politician who has a proven background of navigating complex challenges, bipartisanship, being deeply versed in history, having clear perspectives on crises and the intelligence to prevent failure. The party is falling apart because they\u2019ve shifted away from moderate viewpoints in favor of progressive orthodoxy. Without new, strong, moderate leadership, the party might not survive. Its leadership had too many puppeteers running the country for too long. It\u2019s time for change. Roberta Chaleff<\/p>\n
Beacon of freedom<\/p>\n
Manhattan: Why are lies still being told and repeated about the Statue of Liberty? It has nothing to do with immigrants. In 1886, the Statue of Liberty was a symbol of democratic government and Enlightenment ideals, as well as a celebration of the Union\u2019s victory in the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery, from \u00c9douard de Laboulaye. Why is it so hard for many people to be truthful about our country and its history? Heyward Johnson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The court reversed the roles of cop & offender Little Egg Harbor, N.J.: For the life of me,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,264,63,299,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-195175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-county","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-opinion","14":"tag-the-bronx","15":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","16":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}