Levy-Spota deal should be disclosed

Levy-Spota deal needs disclosure

Newsday’s editorial about the disclosure of the deal between Steve Levy, the former Suffolk County executive, and Thomas Spota, the former county district attorney, is right on point [“Reveal deal by Spota and Levy,” Opinion, Oct. 27]. Elected officials are elected by and work for us, the county residents. Everything they do should be disclosed to the public.

If they don’t want something to be found out, they should not do it. If there is something in their past they don’t want exposed, maybe they should not run for office.

Hypocrisy and deception are why much of the public does not trust politicians.

 — Bob Ranieri, St. James

Nets should ban Irving for comments

Kyrie Irving dropped his latest bombshell, and the response from those in power was initially predictable but subsequently encouraging [“James: I don’t condone it,” Sports, Nov. 6].

Irving endorsed antisemitism and gave a plug for Alex Jones, who has espoused conspiracy theories.

Initially unavailable to the media, Irving finally weighed in but failed to apologize, repeating his beliefs and contradicting the boilerplate tweets from Brooklyn Nets executives about how he has grown from this.

Rightfully, ownership belatedly suspended Irving despite a late “apology” — and the team stopped losing games. How many more offensive statements will it take to convince the Nets’ ownership that Irving should be permanently removed from their universe?

 — Matthew James, Massapequa

It is sad that a winning team seems more important than a player making hateful comments. Is Kyrie Irving so indispensable to the Nets’ franchise that he gets special treatment? Would a player whom the franchise finds not as talented as Irving even be given a second chance? I am worried about the answer.

In my opinion, Irving is a detriment to the Nets — or any other team. Enough is enough.

 — Robin Deissler, Merrick