Animal orgs large and small work together<\/p>\n
Manhattan: Edwin Sayres\u2019 Sept. 30 op-ed \u201d \u2018Pet charity paradox\u2019 hurts stray cats & dogs<\/a>\u201d misleads readers by suggesting that supporting national animal welfare organizations like the ASPCA comes at the expense of local shelters. That claim fundamentally mischaracterizes how animal welfare works today. The ASPCA works alongside local shelters, rescues and communities across the country to help animals \u2014 not in competition with them.<\/p>\n In 2025 alone, the ASPCA provided more than $29 million in grants and supported more than 1,400 organizations nationwide. We helped find or support safe, loving homes for more than 70,000 animals while providing veterinary care, relocation services, disaster and cruelty response, behavioral expertise, professional training and other critical resources to local animal welfare organizations. The suggestion that this lifesaving work somehow doesn\u2019t count because it doesn\u2019t arrive in the form of a check written directly to a shelter is inaccurate.<\/p>\n Equally misleading is Sayres\u2019 suggestion that shelter euthanasia is merely a math problem solved by purchasing more kennel space. Animals enter shelters for complex reasons, and shelters face challenges involving veterinary access, staffing, behavioral needs, housing barriers and capacity. Preventing animals from entering is a clear protective measure every bit as important as caring for them once they arrive. We\u2019re proud to work alongside local shelters and rescues, and we won\u2019t be distracted from that mission by arguments designed to divide us.<\/p>\n Matt Bershadker, president and CEO, ASPCA<\/p>\n Unfair fee<\/p>\n Staten Island: I\u2019d like to know if any of our politicians are fighting to stop the awful congestion pricing fee. It\u2019s completely unfair to expect NYC residents to pay additional money just to drive on our own city streets. We\u2019re already paying high property taxes, high car insurance and eye-popping electric and gas bills. I don\u2019t understand how this isn\u2019t considered an illegal practice. I thought extortion was against the law.<\/p>\n Phyllis O\u2019Callaghan<\/p>\n Already blocked<\/p>\n Cedarhurst, L.I.: According to the NYC Department of Transportation, once a driveway has a permanent structure\/object blocking the driveway, it\u2019s no longer a driveway. Common sense would therefore no longer consider the curb cut an illegal parking spot. I was informed that this isn\u2019t the case. It\u2019s still illegal to park at the curb cut. Doesn\u2019t make sense. Can any readers direct me to where this law is posted? I\u2019ve also been told that the owner of the unusable driveway must redo the curb cut as a continuous curb. I\u2019ve never seen that done. Where is all of this posted? Is it state law or NYC law? Yes, I was ticketed in Brooklyn near my doctor\u2019s office, and of course am trying to fight it.<\/p>\n E. Weiner<\/p>\n Affordability costs<\/p>\n Huntington, L.I.: The Housing Preservation Trust and PACT are feasible only because the funding for public housing shifts from Section 9 to the more generous Section 8 (\u201cNew York City housing is getting the boosts it needs<\/a>,\u201d editorial, Oct. 4). The $80 billion NYCHA needs to rehab its properties doesn\u2019t disappear. The cost of continuing to subsidize NYCHA also doesn\u2019t end. It\u2019s instead borne by federal taxpayers. The $607 million to rehab 1,148 units works out to more than $500,000 per unit. The average NYCHA rent is $621 per month. Would a private developer spend this much to receive so little in return? This is an example of the welfare state run amok.<\/p>\n Tom Saracco<\/p>\n Fact-finding<\/p>\n Richmond Hill: To Voicer Matthew J. Mari: Gov. Hochul is not speaking out against the young men accused of rape<\/a> at Cornell University. It was discovered that the original investigation was flawed and left out pertinent information. Hochul requests a transparent and independent review of the case, which would include all the information. This is the opposite of communistic, as you call it. It seems that your anger at the governor and attorney general seem to supersede getting the facts of this case, where this girl could have truly been raped by many. If true, the rapists should be punished.<\/p>\n Ene Kelly<\/p>\n More honest motto<\/p>\n Brooklyn: It\u2019s nice to know that the Chi Phi fraternity\u2019s motto includes truth, honor and personal integrity, and that they focus on building better men through leadership and character development, which apparently now includes how to skillfully drug and gang-rape female fellow students! They certainly showed the world what a despicable, valueless fraternity they truly are and remain to this day, 202 years after its founding. As for Cornell itself, I have several new slogan ideas, like: \u201cCornell: Where gang rape just is,\u201d or \u201cCornell: Where an essay keeps you free!\u201d Even better: \u201cCornell: Where our PD looks the other way!\u201d Way to go, Big Red!<\/p>\n Kevin Hanley<\/p>\n True as ever<\/p>\n Massapequa, L.I.: While flipping through TV channels the other night, I came across \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d just as the Scarecrow said, \u201cSome people without brains do an awful lot of talking.\u201d This was in 1939, 87 years ago. Was he talking about President Trump?<\/p>\n Ron Boehning<\/p>\n Filthy riches<\/p>\n Sayville, L.I.: Many have wondered how Jeffrey Epstein got so rich. From what\u2019s known, people of far greater wealth were his patrons and enriched him far beyond what he supposedly did for a living. Is it any coincidence that his wealth grew as he was pimping underage girls to the same wealthy people? The same should be asked of Trump. In the past 18 months of his second term, he has made more than $7 billion \u2014 more than he made in his previous 60 years. The only way to explain it is the same as Epstein, except Trump has been pimping America \u2014 its security, its present and its future. Two more years of this may put our country in a hole it\u2019ll never get out of. The midterms have never been more important. The brakes must be put on this massive grift, and it can\u2019t wait two years.<\/p>\n Michael Hooker<\/p>\n Prophetic voice<\/p>\n Beechhurst: At the dawn of the atomic age, one of America\u2019s greatest generals, Omar Bradley, said these indelible words: \u201cIf we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.\u201d Eight decades later, a new technological invention, AI, has hung another sword of Damocles over humanity\u2019s head. With Anthropic\u2019s founder and CEO Dario Amodei and other \u201csuperintelligence\u201d gurus prattling on about how AI has attained \u201cconscious being\u201d status, we seem to be marching toward the abyss. Luckily, there\u2019s one world leader \u2014 Pope Leo XIV \u2014 who sees the godawful peril<\/a> of making this machine into a god.<\/p>\n James Hyland<\/p>\n Unexpected thrill<\/p>\n Yonkers: I continue to root for the New York Giants and wait for their shining moments. Meanwhile, I happened upon the Kansas City Chiefs\/Las Vegas Raiders game on Sunday with three minutes left on the clock. Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins\u2019 performance mesmerized me for 15 football minutes.<\/p>\n Susan A. 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