Auschwitz bigotry
The recent discovery of anti-Semitic graffiti at the Auschwitz death camp should come as no surprise (“Hate graffiti at Auschwitz,” Oct. 7).
Despite the extermination of millions at Auschwitz and other camps, anti-Semitism is alive and well and remains a persistent scourge throughout Europe and the rest of the civilized world.
The very same verbal and physical attacks that helped fuel the Holocaust continue unabated, although often attired in different clothing and speaking in different tongues.
This graffiti conveys a message that is clear and unequivocal. We need only listen and remember that the times may have changed, but the hatred remains. Never forget.
S.P. Hersh
Lawrence
Reform truths
The recent editorial, “Deadly ‘Reform’ ” (Oct. 4) helps no one when it comes to understanding the law.
Under the Raise the Age law, which was passed in a Republican-controlled Senate with bipartisan support, no case can be sent to family court if the crime involved a firearm or deadly weapon, caused significant physical injury or was a sex crime.
That makes NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea’s claim in the piece — that gangs are using Raise the Age to make teenagers more violent — nonsense.
The piece also blames pretrial reform for a spate of shoplifting incidents in New York City by Isaac Rodriguez. But in fact, under the law, police and prosecutors could have secured Rodriguez’s detention earlier. Regardless, there is no evidence of a causal connection between bail reform and increases in shoplifting or any other crime.
Fair criticisms can be made of some legislative reforms, but each reform must be judged based on the results of its implementation, including its true impact on public safety, and not on hyperbole or fear. That helps no one.
Alexander Horwitz
Executive Director of New Yorkers United for Justice
Manhattan
Polluters’ free pass
Big polluters likely will not be made to pay for their environmental damage while they’re already paying into big politicians’ election budgets — and who knows what else (“Cal. oil-spill ‘catastrophe,’ ” Oct. 4).
Also, mass addiction to fossil fuel products undoubtedly helps keep the average consumer quiet about the planet’s greatest polluter, lest they feel and/or be publicly deemed hypocritical.
Meanwhile, neoliberals and conservatives remain preoccupied with vocally criticizing one another for their relatively trivial politics and diverting attention away from some of the planet’s greatest polluters, where it should and needs to be sharply focused.
Frank Sterle
White Rock, Canada
Rooster terror
As a former country boy, I found the article on the Queens neighborhood terrorized by the evil bloodthirsty rooster quite amusing (“Attack of the killer rooster,” Oct. 2).
I raised chickens in my backyard as part of a long running 4H and Future Farmers of America project back in Georgia while in grammar and high school. I empathize with my Queens’ neighbors who are not familiar with these “possessed” fowls.
It is a natural instinct for the rooster to protect his nearby brood of hens. A friendly suggestion is: Do not turn your back on him. He is very unlikely to attack while you are eye-to-eye to this alpha fowl.
My little feathered friends were friendly little pets until I turned and walked away — then the “yolk hit the fan.” The Queens rogue rooster is just a garden-variety chicken who is not a threat to the Big Apple.
Gary Collier
Staten Island
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