Supreme Court ethics, military secrets, LIRR East Side Access, Southern State Parkway, and living in NY

Roberts should set guardrails for court

A reader says that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts “must be livid, but it appears there is little he can do” regarding the travels of Justice Clarence Thomas ["Reconsider term limits for justices?," Letters, April 11]. Roberts has immense power. While silence might be taken as agreement with Thomas’ behavior, Roberts' voice could dispel any equivocation.

Roberts could admonish Thomas or, if indeed livid, he could call for the impeachment of Thomas. The reputation of our Supreme Court has been severely tarnished during the Roberts court. A Gallup poll in 2022 showed national confidence in the Supreme Court at an all-time low. If the high court is not just another club, Roberts should find the courage to speak loudly and clearly, forging a new path with solid guardrails for the court that Americans can see and trust to safeguard this powerful branch of government.

Bruce Madonna, Mount Sinai

Does military know how to keep secrets?

In Army basic training in 1952, we recruits had many lectures and were often handed out booklets to keep. Most were stamped “Confidential” and some “Secret” “Guardsman held in leak of military docs,” News, April 14].

When we asked our instructor why we were allowed access to “secret” material, his answer shocked me. He said that when we were sworn into military service, we were automatically cleared for access to “secret” items.

There are millions of diverse armed service personnel. Are they still all automatically cleared for “secret” documents?

Isidore Stein, Massapequa Park

LIRR's Madison project just a waste of money

I've been riding the Long Island Rail Road for 48 years and eagerly looked forward to Grand Central Madison ["LIRR watchdog group opens survey for riders," News, April 7]. The project was a waste of money:

--The 14-block walk from Penn Station to my office is a good way to start the day and get the juices flowing. The walk from Grand Central is not much shorter, with its long passageways and long escalators.

-- I naively assumed some lines would be redirected to Grand Central. They cut the number of trains on each line in half and redirected half to Grand Central. I would just head to Penn Station and take the next train. Now, I need to carefully review the schedules and see where I am going to and from. In the past, if I missed a train, it would be at most a half-hour for the next one, but now it is often one hour for the next train.

-- The travel times are longer.

-- No printed schedules. The prior excuse was the pandemic. Now it’s just saving money, and my cellphone schedules often are inaccurate and cumbersome to navigate.

Thankfully, I won’t have many more years of painful and stressful LIRR travel.

Harvey A. Strickon, Great Neck

Smart cars could be answer on parkway

As long as humans are driving motor vehicles, there will continue to be carnage on the roadways [“Southern State safety solutions,” Letters, April 14]. I believe that self-driven artificial intelligence vehicles will be the answer. Let’s hope that they won’t speed, dart in and out, tailgate — or go into a rage.

Sure, there still may be accidents, but I doubt the numbers will be as bad as they are now.

Peter Kelly, Medford

Sure, many complain, but I love NY

We hear it every day from friends and neighbors. “I can’t wait to get out of New York. The taxes are killing me. Crime is out of control.” I always took those statements with a grain of salt ["Poll: 70% like living in state," News, April 14]. Mainly because most of these people never leave although some leave as snowbirds only to return each spring. Why? Because New York is a great place to live and Long Island is especially the cream of the crop. Sure we have high taxes, but we also have a high quality of living. And New York’s crime rates are not out of control. We have beaches within a few miles from anywhere on Long Island. We have good restaurants, theaters, schools, houses, churches, etc. We have terrific springs, summers and falls and, mostly, quick and moderate winters. So why do people make anti-New York statements? Sometimes, I think it has just become the expected thing to say in conversation. So it’s no surprise to me to see that 70% of New Yorkers like living here. I love New York.

Jim Kiernan, Holbrook