Giving tax relief to the Coliseum is unfair

How is it two Nassau legislative committees voted to give Nassau Coliseum $4 million in rent relief while other businesses have been told to close or run at 25% capacity and we residents still must pay 100% of our taxes? ["Nassau lawmakers approve $4M in rent relief for Coliseum," News, Feb. 5] How fair is that to everyone else running a business? To me, it isn’t.

Anthony Tanzi,

Mastic Beach

Struggles of abused aren’t just historical

Cathy Young appears to present a logical argument as she calls out the apparent wholesale renaming of schools by the San Francisco Board of Education due to links to white supremacy and past forms of oppression, but not quite ["A ludicrous school-renaming spree," Opinion, Feb. 2]. Young refers to the important "underlying principle" that we should not honor anything in U.S. history that doesn’t meet current standards of moral conduct. She further asserts the renaming is about apologizing for America’s very existence and claiming that nothing of historical significance can be celebrated unless it is linked to the past strife of oppressed people. Really? We must not attempt to rewrite history. We must study it and learn from its noble accomplishments as well as its darkest moments. For sure, many of our idols and heroes have feet of clay. But to ignore the egregious atrocities of the past is, in a sense, rewriting history. We go down a dangerous path if we don’t assess U.S. or global history in light of what Young refers to as "modern-day standards of morality." In reality, if there appears to be an overemphasis on the struggles of oppressed groups, past and present, it is because there has been and, sadly, continues to be so much.

Victor Caliman,

Kings Park

School essay responses not funny

Despite William F.B. O’Reilly’s parenthetical warning that the intention of his column was to make me smile, I found his list of incorrect responses by middle schoolers in their history essays rather sad ["The world according to middle schoolers," Opinion, Feb. 4]. As a retired social studies teacher, I am dismayed that any teacher would save evidence of his own apparent lack of success for 30 years, purportedly to make people smile. Finding humor in many students’ failures to comprehend important historical events is an insult to the many dedicated and caring teachers out there. Cue the "anti-teacher, what’s wrong with the American education system?" letters.

Ken Ricken,

Commack

Worry about endless remote learning

I am concerned after reading "Remote learning won’t end soon, panelists say" [News, Feb. 6]. Every day, articles appear about the negative effects of remote learning and the evidence that classrooms are not a great source of transmission. Why is Newsday featuring a Hank Grishman, Jericho school district superintendent, who is doing little to get kids back in school and was largely responsible for sports not happening this past fall? Can Newsday interview someone who has successfully gotten all students back in their schools five days a week? Let’s look ahead with a positive outlook about learning to live with this pandemic and focus on getting all kids back in the classroom. This has gone on long enough.

Lorraine Lubicich,

Floral Park

Avoid scripted response at SOTU

Regarding the letter "A time to show we’re the United States" [Jan. 25], the last time I went along with a similar suggestion, with everyone in the audience rising and applauding, my children had just finished their second-grade holiday show at school. I say that at the State of the Union address, let Congress’ standing, cheering and applause be spontaneous, then we’ll know it’s sincere. President Joe Biden has plenty of staff to help him work on his speech and inspire us. Let’s not be phonies.

Thomas Fanning,

St. James

Private firm should supply LI electricity

Bill Evans’ op-ed was right on the mark ["LIPA’s ownership of future hurricanes," Opinion, Feb. 1]. PSEG Long Island has had its troubles, but to me the main problem is the flock of babbling politicians, from the governor on down, who, usually before the storm ends, begin their railing against the utility. Instead of offering assistance, the governor and other officials offer mostly threats and investigations. None apparently has any idea of what is involved with rebuilding a system damaged by a storm. Do you think that if LIPA were municipalized, things would be better? Look at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as an example of how government can run things. LIPA’s bloated headquarters staff in Uniondale is another example of its management practices. As an electrical contractor, I have dealt with LILCO, LIPA and now PSEG Long Island. I’ll take the private company over government-run any day. LIPA should be dismantled; a private company such as PSEG, regulated by the Public Service Commission, is the way to go.

Kevin Schrage,

East Moriches