Bellone must sign 3-foot bicycle bill

The Suffolk County Legislature on March 16 voted "yes" to a bill making "A local law to ensure the safety of bicyclists in Suffolk County," adding greater protection for cyclists by requiring a motorist to pass a cyclist at a distance of at least three feet ["Suffolk OKs bicycle bill," News, March 17]. Currently, this law exists in 33 other states.

Suffolk County leads the state in bicycle-related fatalities with a reported 342 people killed or seriously injured in 2019. This number can be reduced by safe passing laws. A 3-foot law is the way to accomplish both. We all call upon Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone to sign this resolution into law and help reduce traffic deaths on our roads.

Daniel Flanzig,

Mineola

Editor’s note: The writer is a board member of the New York State Bicycling Coalition.

The Suffolk County Legislature has taken a bold step to make Suffolk the first county in the state to pass the 3-foot bill.

This requires motorists to yield a 3-foot right-of-way to cyclists. The legislator who claims that this would hinder traffic has obviously never ridden a bike on the county’s dangerous roads nor has he heard of "yield and proceed with caution." The police will obviously use discretion in enforcement.

The law is an opportunity to educate motorists and inform them that cyclists have just as much right to the roads as they do. I have been beeped at while biking where there is no shoulder. I am happy to share the road and just asking for a little room. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone must sign the bill.

Glenn Olszewski,

Patchogue

Stereotypes don’t belong in the media

The Fourth Estate holds a hallowed place in the American pantheon. Thomas Jefferson averred that "Our liberty depends on freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." Therefore, criticizing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is both a fair and legitimate journalistic pursuit.

But perpetuating vile stereotypes about the governor’s ethnicity is not.

In his March 21 letter, "A reminder of a time long past," a reader wondered, "With his bizarre shawl, is Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo channeling the late Genovese crime boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who feigned insanity to fend off the feds?"

Sadly, media opinion makers — on both the left and right — are also doubling down on such repugnant anti-Italian tropes.

Bill Maher, who once described Italians with a slur about the movie "My Cousin Vinny" on national television, recently chortled when a guest likened Cuomo to a greasy-haired mobster. On "Tucker Carlson Tonight," the smirking Fox News host said that Cuomo "talks like he’s in ‘Goodfellas.’ He literally looks like he is doing some sort of Mafia impersonation." Carlson’s guest, Seth Barron, managing editor of The American Mind, then disparaged former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

The time has come to fully embrace that most American of maxims first enunciated by Filippo Mazzei — an Italian physician, scholar and diplomat — in the Virginia Gazette in 1774 (and later paraphrased in the Declaration of Independence in 1776): "All men are created equal."

Rosario A. Iaconis,

Mineola

Editor’s note: The writer is an adjunct professor for social sciences at Suffolk County Community College.

Repudiating prior claims by Blakeman

Joye Brown’s column about Bruce Blakeman, candidate for Nassau County executive, resurrects charges he hurled against me in 2017, namely "cronyism and featherbedding" ["Chasing a November surprise," News, March 21].

Here are the facts: As Hempstead Town supervisor, I made the tough decisions necessary to put the town on a firm financial footing. I created budget surpluses, cut town spending every year I was in office, dramatically cut wasteful and unnecessary overtime pay, and significantly reduced the size of the town’s workforce. My administration earned credit outlook upgrades from Wall Street and a full bond rating upgrade (issued after I left office) based on my final 2018 town budget (which, incidentally, Blakeman voted against).

Did turning off the town’s spending spigot ruffle some feathers? Of course it did. No wonder that despite these verifiable fiscal facts, Blakeman has never recanted his apostasy. Brown’s restatement of Blakeman’s easily discredited political rhetoric does a disservice to every member of my administration who worked with me to achieve these positive results for taxpayers.

Anthony J. Santino,

East Rockaway

National Popular Vote bill should be enacted

I support the National Popular Vote bill, which would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire United States ["The fight to save voting rights," Editorial, March 21].

This plan (already a law in New York) would ensure that every American’s vote will matter in every presidential election.

Stanley J. Zawada,

Whitestone