Vision Zero ignores pedestrian behavior<\/p>\n
Malverne, L.I.: After years of adding red light and speed cameras, pushing curbs out to diminish parking spaces, and daylighting to slow down drivers, it\u2019s high time we focused on pedestrians. Where\u2019s the outcry when they step into traffic when the light is for drivers? Why are people crossing a two-lane thoroughfare and waiting at the yellow lines? They treat their lives like a game of Frogger, zig-zagging through traffic for a serotonin rush.<\/p>\n
Adding more restrictions to drivers without addressing poor pedestrian etiquette is unfair. Hizzoner shouldn\u2019t waste taxpayer funds on daylighting because it\u2019s cheaper to run a campaign of \u201cpedestrians, stay on the curb until it\u2019s your turn,\u201d \u201ccross at crosswalks\u201d and \u201cyou\u2019re not safe waiting for traffic to clear on the yellow lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
In offering safe streets, rename the Vision Zero program because you need excellent vision to traverse NYC streets. Vision Zero never inspired me. As a pedestrian, use proper etiquette and hang at the curb until it\u2019s safe to cross. Look into the driver\u2019s side of a stopped car when stepping into the crosswalk if the corner hasn\u2019t been daylighted. Ask yourself if you\u2019re going to make it across without being honked at, because if you\u2019re getting honked at, that\u2019s a driver with good vision. If you\u2019re risking your life, then you\u2019re going to get hit without being honked at by a driver with vision zero!<\/p>\n
Kosmas Patikoglou<\/p>\n
Dubious disabilities<\/p>\n
Forest Hills: I\u2019m crossing my fingers that the DOI review of NYPD disability pensions<\/a> doesn\u2019t throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. I\u2019m quite certain this review will uncover that the most egregious of these pensions were awarded to high-ranking officials (especially those appointed by Mayor Eric Adams). Meanwhile, members of the rank and file regularly have to hire lawyers to get the pensions they earned. I do wonder why John Chell seems perfectly fine golfing with a politician after his disability pension was locked in because of an \u201cankle injury.\u201d I guess golf helps ankles. Who knew?<\/p>\n J.M. Culley<\/p>\n Negotiate<\/p>\n Middle Village: Re \u201cCouncil pushes dismissal<\/a>\u201d (Sept. 18): I can\u2019t imagine what the City Council is thinking. Speaker Julie Menin says this was \u201cwritten as an emergency retention bill.\u201d How is a single $10,000 check supposed to convince low-paid paraprofessionals to continue working with their $33,000 annual salary? It doesn\u2019t even count toward their meager pension. UFT President Michael Mulgrew acknowledged that there are 8,000 para vacancies. Does he believe that this \u201crespect check\u201d will attract new applicants for the job even though it wouldn\u2019t apply to them? The solution is quite obvious. The only way to fill the shortage of paras is to offer a decent living wage. To accomplish this, Mulgrew has to go through the proper channels: collective bargaining. This is Economics 101.<\/p>\n Lee Rottenberg<\/p>\n Trade-off<\/p>\n Manhattan: Two excellent articles by Mike Lupica (\u201cOne of a kind<\/a>,\u201d column, Sept. 21) and Pat Leonard (\u201cFormer general manager Accorsi, who made Eli a Giant, dies at 84<\/a>,\u201d Sept. 21) about the great Ernie Accorsi, who engineered the greatest trade in N.Y. Giants history by acquiring Eli Manning. That said \u2014 and I\u2019m not trying to be a Debbie Downer by any means, far from it \u2014 Accorsi admitted that had the Chargers not agreed to the Manning trade, he would have selected Ben Roethlisberger. Who\u2019s to say how many Super Bowls Roethlisberger could have produced as the Giants quarterback? As great as Manning was, so was Roethlisberger.<\/p>\n H. Wayne Mirsky<\/p>\n Belongs in a book<\/p>\n White Plains, N.Y.: Growing up, I learned the mechanics of baseball listening to Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy on my transistor radio. I still remember when Murphy spoke about dancing with his daughter at her wedding. You could hear the smile on his face. Howie Rose had the same effect. Whenever he described the highs and many lows of Mets games, you felt like you were in the stadium with him. I truly hope Howie will write a biography about his Mets moments and experiences so he can \u201cput it in the books.\u201d<\/p>\n Randi Bernstein Feigenbaum<\/p>\n Illusory edifice<\/p>\n Ashburn, Va.: With President Trump now describing his proposed \u201cTriumphal Arch\u201d as a disguised drone-launching site to be filled with snipers waiting for an attack on the White House, is there no Republican officeholder with the courage to tell our deluded emperor that he has no clothes?<\/p>\n Mike Barrett<\/p>\n Arch enemy<\/p>\n Howard Beach: Is it just me or does Trump\u2019s arch<\/a> look like it was made by Nazis?<\/p>\n George Martin<\/p>\n Press boycott<\/p>\n New Haven, Conn.: About Trump banning some news organizations from the White House (\u201cOutlets push back on ban<\/a>,\u201d Sept. 20): If the other news organizations have any feeling of solidarity and some guts, when the next press conference is announced, nobody will show up.<\/p>\n Sidney Harris<\/p>\n Unsupported claims<\/p>\n