The Issue: Johnny Oleksinski\u2019s column bemoaning the holiday season in today\u2019s New York City.<\/p>\n
It looks like Johnny Oleksinski swallowed some Grinch pills before he wrote his bah-humbug \u201cNew York at Christmastime\u201d article (\u201cEscape from NY Xmas,\u201d<\/a> Nov. 30).<\/p>\n As an ardent participant of Christmas in New York City for many, many years, I took exception to the dour description of the holiday season as \u201cnoisy, dirty chaos\u201d and to his criticism of the Rockettes experience.<\/a><\/p>\n I believe everyone is very aware that the cost of the holidays has increased, and they will either be prepared to spend the extra money or not experience the festivities offered.<\/p>\n I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to spend some Christmastime in New York City with my family this year. Merry Christmas, Johnny!<\/p>\n Alice Daly<\/p>\n Mahopac<\/p>\n Oleksinski\u2019s review of Midtown at Christmas couldn\u2019t be more spot-on.<\/p>\n I lived in the city from 1991 to 2006, and every year, I\u2019d entertain my parents with a day of the city\u2019s Christmas spirit: the tree, St. Patrick\u2019s, the inventive window displays, chestnuts on the street corners and mobs of people creeping shoulder to shoulder along Fifth Ave.<\/p>\n Since moving to Long Island, I have yet to visit the city. I have no reason to. It has become an ugly place, at Christmas or any other time of year. But it wasn\u2019t always like this. I remember when people were civil.<\/p>\n Keith LePage<\/p>\n Huntington<\/p>\n Oleksinski needs a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past. What is the purpose of dragging down the city that gives you a living?<\/p>\n No, New York is not like the movies, but it\u2019s also not the hellhole that Johnny describes.<\/p>\n Somebody give this Scrooge a piece of fruitcake.<\/p>\n Jim Pantaleno<\/p>\n Staten Island<\/p>\n Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, if you can\u2019t find joy in New York City at Christmas, it\u2019s time for you to take up golf and move to Florida.<\/p>\n Except for a Christmas village in Germany, you couldn\u2019t find a more festive, exciting place to spend Christmas than New York City.<\/p>\n Of course,\u200b the \u201cgodforsaken\u201d Rockefeller Center tree is crowded; it\u2019s spectacular!<\/p>\n The thousands of people out there in NYC during the holidays can\u2019t all be wrong, Johnny.<\/p>\n Carol Puttre-Czyz<\/p>\n Manhattan<\/p>\n The Issue: The video in which six Democratic lawmakers urge troops to disobey illegal orders.<\/p>\n Military training on illegal orders is rigorous and does not need to be supplemented by people with bad intentions (\u201cSen. Kelly\u2019s Disgraceful \u2018Defense,\u2019\u200a\u201d<\/a> Editorial, Nov. 26).<\/p>\n Sen. Mark Kelly and Rep. Jason Crow had this training and obviously had a sinister objective in this video \u201cwarning\u201d about illegal orders.<\/p>\n They should be held accountable for their actions, as should the four in the video who may not have had training but followed the pied pipers.<\/p>\n Larry Hootnick<\/p>\n Watermill<\/p>\n While military personnel are obligated to disobey an illegal order, determining whether an order is illegal can be difficult and could bring a court-martial for insubordination if the wrong choice is made.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a better option for troops facing a moral crisis: retire or resign from the military.<\/p>\n