LIRR trains, police reforms and Ukraine

As a native Long Islander who has utilized the Long Island Rail Road countless times, it is easy to pick out issues that have led to not getting the new M9 cars on time ["LIRR late again on bad cars," Editorial, April 4] . Over the past five years, the LIRR has focused on the wrong part of improvements before focusing on essential fixes. Yes, the new renovated train stations are gorgeous to await a train. But I would rather be comfortable and feel safe on my commute than wait in a good-looking station. The LIRR and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have put their well-funded budget to station improvements that should come after improvements in train cars. This is why the LIRR still is using cars from the 1990s and early 2000s. Long Islanders get frustrated with the LIRR, but nothing is more frustrating than seeing the doors open to an old, disgusting train car knowing you have to feel cramped for an hour. The LIRR's action are a huge part of why the M9 cars have yet to arrive.

Harris Eisenberg, Old Bethpage

Cops need to quicken pace of reforms

After seeing Nassau and Suffolk county’s weak police reform plans submitted to the state last year, it's even more galling to read that progress is said to have been made getting them implemented ["Officials, activists split on cop reform progress," News, April 10].

Mental health crises have been escalated by the presence of police at a scene. Suffolk has made better progress with the involvement of the Diagnostic Assessment Stabilization Hub in low-level mental health situations, but both counties need to make better use of mental health professionals and create destabilization centers.

The most glaring omission of reform is lack of transparency. Community groups have taken court action to get disclosure of various police records. Transparency of police misconduct is dismal. We have seen horrendous results of cases going through the Department of Internal Affairs, yet Nassau stays the course. Suffolk has given the county Human Rights Commission the power to review misconduct complaints, but it holds no power. The closest thing we have to an independent civilian review board is Newsday's investigation series.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder believes we need reform, but said that “we didn’t have George Floyd here.” That’s true, but we have the legacies of Christopher Loeb and Thomas Moroughan, among others.

Cynthia Paterno, Cold Spring Harbor

The writer is on the steering committee of Long Island Network for Change.

Putin is not going to stop

As long as we show fear, which we are doing, Russian President Vladimir Putin will keep doing everything to destroy things in his path ["Mariupol toll mounts," News, April 12]. Putin is not going to stop. As Winston Churchill said in "Darkest Hour": "You can't reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth." He doesn't care about sanctions. What the White House is not mentioning is that we have almost the same number of nuclear weapons as Russia. Unfortunately, in the near future, we will have to go into Ukraine to stop this horrible monster. I hope when and if we go, the other NATO countries do not turn away and leave it to us to do alone. I am a veteran from the Vietnam era, stationed in Germany from 1964 to 1967. If we need old veterans to go over there to help, I'm willing. Even if I do something like load rifles, I will go and help.

Sandy Hoffman, Huntington Station

Articles and letters over the past few weeks have addressed Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Rightly so, these crimes need to be addressed. But how? After World War II, the allies addressed such crimes at the Nuremberg trials. Several German officials were tried, convicted and even executed. If Adolf Hitler had not killed himself, he would have been tried and executed. But why weren’t Russian Premier Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria, a secret police chief, also charged with war crimes? They were responsible for perhaps more civilian deaths than the Nazis. It’s a rhetorical question. The answer is simple but cynical. They were on the victorious side. History is written by the winners. Until punishment is dispensed equally, regardless of national interests or politics, solutions to war crimes and genocides are nothing more than quaint discussions at a symposium.

John Bruno, Garden City Park

On Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention: "denazification" of Ukraine. Although there were Ukrainians who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II, a relatively small number of far-right nationalists hated Jews and Soviets. Many more fought against the Germans, risking their lives to provide safety for Jews during the Holocaust.

More than 2,600 Ukrainians are recognized among the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Putin uses the term “denazification” to evoke a sense of collective trauma and sacrifice during World War II and to justify the brutality he has unleashed in Ukraine -- the serial atrocities he has activated.

Putin's playbook is, by conjuring the past and creating a distorted narrative of the present, to reject the idea that Ukrainians can determine their own destiny and to kill as many as he can, including civilians, to wipe them off the face of the Earth. Denazification? Hardly. More like ethnic cleansing.

Andrew Malekoff, Long Beach

Russian President Vladimir Putin shows what happens when norms of society are cast aside by those in high power. He couldn't care less about the welfare of Russia and its citizens. His sole concern seems to be amassing as much wealth and power as possible for him and his family, and turning Russians who support and oppose him against each other in some type of warped patriotic cage match. Those who speak up in support of basic human values and the rule of law face the full wrath of him and the co-opted Russian government. Unable to tolerate any type of criticism or principled dissent, a free press is considered an enemy of the people.

Jeff Fass, Sayville