Just Sayin’: Don’t calculate tips on the after-tax total

Don’t calculate tips on the after-tax total

I support the idea of increasing restaurant gratuities from the customary 15 percent to 20 percent, and adding that suggested gratuity at the bottom of the check.

What I do not support is something I’ve seen restaurants doing lately: calculating the suggested gratuity on the after-tax amount.

The function of the server ends with delivering the food, and the 8.625 percent added in Nassau County by government should not be a part of the calculation.

Irwin Scharf, Massapequa

Centereach streets are pocked and pathetic

The condition of two roads in Centereach, Horseblock Road and South Howell Avenue, is pathetic. These roads have been patched repeatedly for the 25 years I’ve lived here.

The taxes we pay should provide all the money needed for new roads and for the street sweeper to come more often.

Anywhere I go off of Long Island, the streets are better, even in Northern states where the streets freeze and thaw. The sides of the roads seem cleaner. When I come back home, the contrast is so depressing.

Jill Holmes, Centereach

Massapequans need more station parking

I wish there were more parking at the railroad station in Massapequa. Especially after 8 a.m., the spaces are filled.

Because of when I start work, I don’t leave my house before 8 a.m. Sometimes I drive around the station to look for a parking space, wasting time and gas.

Some spaces are reserved for four-hour visits, for people who walk the preserve or come to watch their kids play ball. Is this really necessary?

How about using the Oyster Bay Town parking lot on Hicksville Road and having a shuttle bus to take people who are working back and forth? Other times, I stalk people getting off trains. It is awful. I have gotten my fair share of parking tickets, which have increased to ridiculous fees. I know the agent who writes the summonses very well.

Linda Rapacki,Massapequa