Readers sound off on party-only primaries, pricey cream cheese and weekend library closings

Primaries should remain for party members only

Manhattan: You gave Sal Albanese and Alexander Protopapas almost a half-page to explain how they don’t understand what a primary is (“Expand democracy in New York City,” op-ed, March 11). I’ll take much less space to clear it up for them and your readers.

I am a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party. Before each election, we Democrats decide who is going to represent us in November. I see the party the same way as I would a club. The primaries are when we elect our representatives/club officials. Why on Earth would I want a person who is not a member of my club to have a hand in deciding who our leaders are?

Albanese’s and Protopapas’ “transparency” is just an open invitation for those who do not like my club to meddle in our affairs. Bad actors, of which there are plenty, will vote for people who they think will end up hurting my club, not helping it.

Albanese and Protopapas also bemoan those who have not chosen a party as being somehow left out of the process. Well, if someone is aligned with my club’s messages, they should elect to carry a card and declare themselves a member. If they can not find a club they wish to join, it does not mean they should be free to join any of them. If they are not aligned in the primary, they can still vote in the general election. Not declaring a party affiliation is as strong a message as declaring one. Steven Fromewick

Ditto

Palm Coast, Fla.: To John Gelormino: Bravo! I couldn’t have said it better myself that Donald Trump will not destroy the country. However, stop confusing people with the truth. They’re not used to it these days. Doug Weinberg

Costly cream cheese

Manhattan: On March 12, I tried to buy a cream cheese bar at Ozzie’s Market on Fort Washington Ave. The advertised product was nowhere to be found, but there was plenty of the more expensive stuff. I asked if they’d give a substitute. No. I then asked for a raincheck. They refused. At the bottom of their circular, it says: “Sorry, no rainchecks due to coronavirus.” I said I’d contact Consumer Affairs. I did. They have done nothing to put a stop to this. Caveat emptor — they’re playing bait-and-switch. Daniel Jean Lipsman

Backfired

East Meadow, L.I.: Some live by the gun, some die by the gun, and some may die from their own gun (“Wounded suspect in B’klyn gun violence seen on vid entering without paying,” March 16). Nice to hear a somewhat happy ending to another horrible shooting story. Jeff Tuck

More cops

Schenectady, N.Y.: Re “The right weapons for subway crime” (editorial, March 12): The National Guard needs to be removed from the subways. More police need to be hired. The first thing the city and state need to do is have a police officer at every turnstile in the system. After that, a subway crew has to be made up of a motorman, a conductor and a police officer. Three persons per train on every train. The officer will make their presence known by moving between cars. And more cameras, of course. An officer at every turnstile will result in millions of dollars of fares being collected that the system is now losing to fare evaders. It will pay for itself. I was a conductor during the summer of 1987. I only lasted three months. I was afraid for my safety. Nothing has changed. Robert J. SanFilippo

Weekend ‘womp-womp’

Manhattan: Thanks for reporting and giving us citizens a heads up on possibly the dumbest decision under Mayor Adams: closing libraries on weekends! When do kids and working adults have time to use a library and learn one way or another? Weekends! What is one of the city’s biggest problems? Too little reading and learning. What is one place all can get some help with countless things and be respected? Libraries! What is one of the dumbest things a mayor could do? Close libraries on weekends! Mayor, hire competent advisers instead of best buds! Francesca Turchiano

Sheltered agency

Manhattan: Re “NYC’s pound has gone to the dogs” (op-ed, Feb. 26): Animal Care Centers are closing doors, saying they’re overcrowded when their intake is now 17,000, yet it used to be 30,000-plus. They handled those huge numbers back then, yet not now? And city Controller Scott Stringer approved their 34-year contract?! Yet he did two scathing audits? Huge contradictions. None of this adds up. The Department of Health oversees ACC animals but doesn’t have proper qualifications, as they are about “Health and Human Services.” No professional oversight holds ACC accountable to the public due to DOH being like a steel wall that the public/advocates can’t penetrate. City servants have ears deaf to the issues: ACC is riddled with disease, is crawling with bugs and is creating mental distress/anxiety for all those who know the daily goings on/killings there. Judith Lustgarten

Point taken

Kew Gardens Hills: I was not aware that NHL rules allow the Daily News to take a goal away from the Rangers. The story on page 41 of Monday’s edition (“Hot Rangers keep Isles on skids,” March 18) reported that the final score of Sunday afternoon’s game at MSG was Rangers 4, Islanders 2. Sorry, but the final score was actually 5-2 Rangers. It is time you guys hired a proofreader who is not blind so the practically non-existent coverage you give the Rangers (not to mention the Islanders and the Devils) will at least be correct. Barry Koppel

Red Storm seeing red

Brooklyn: St. John’s University was denied a chance to play in this year’s NCAA tournament. Head coach Rick Pitino did a great job in his first year guiding the team to a 20-13 record. However, instead of continuing to build on that by accepting a National Invitation Tournament bid, he declined the invite. Other Big East schools Seton Hall University and Providence College accepted bids to the NIT, but not Pitino. He’s too big — I guess it’s beneath him. He worried about transfer protocols instead of giving the players a chance to continue playing. He forgets that Iona College and now St. John’s gave him a chance to continue coaching, yet he won’t give his players a chance to continue playing. John De Angelo

Support slip-up

Beechhurst: In his backstabbing speech on the Senate floor, the most prominent Jewish politician in America, Chuck Schumer, got up on his high horse and berated the leader of our closest Mideast ally by saying that Bibi Netanyahu “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.” In reality, it’s the Democrats’ fear of losing uncommitted Arab-American and young, radical pro-Hamas voters in the upcoming election that explains Team Biden’s ill-disguised desire for Israel’s newly formed national unity government to conduct its war on Washington’s terms. Moreover, the Israeli and American populaces widely support the war cabinet’s dogged pursuit of Hamas, and share its wariness about immediate talks for a two-state “solution.” But Schumer’s sickening silence on the administration’s appalling appeasement of Iran’s malevolent mullahcracy tells you all you need to know about his not having Israel’s back. James Hyland

One-way ceasefire?

Manhattan: Will someone please explain why a ceasefire during Ramadan is demanded of only the victim attacked country and not the perpetrator of a massacre of innocents on the holiday of Sukkot? Where are the calls for a ceasefire from Hamas, which would instantly stop this war? Susan Addelston

Ignoble protest

Brooklyn: As a member of Mothers Against College Antisemitism, a grassroots group that originated on Facebook, I’m appalled by how many Jewish and pro-Israel students and professors are being harassed, intimidated, excluded and even assaulted over their identities and beliefs. This problem is occurring at colleges and schools throughout the U.S. (and elsewhere), and many perpetrators of the abuse have scant knowledge of Jewish communities, Judaism itself, nor the history of ancient and modern Israel. For too many anti-Israel and antisemitic students, it’s just a trendy bandwagon to jump on. It’s nothing to be proud of and is utterly disgraceful. Ellen Levitt