Letters to the Editor

West Side ConservativesMr. X has more company than he realizes,[“Living in a Closet,” Opinion, September 8, 2004]. His problem is that he hasn’t yet found the growing number of venues where conservative Upper West Side voices are quite vocal and growing.Right smack-dab in the heart of this liberal bastion, on West 79th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, there are three watering holes where conservatives and Republicans are not only warmly welcomed, but are the dominant voices.Even at the West Side’s pick-up mecca, the open air Rotunda restaurant, abutting the West 79th Street marina, one can on occasion smell the waft of expensive cigars testing the limits of this city’s absurd smoking ban. Does Mr. X think liberals are enjoying these stogies?Just because most conservatives and Republicans voted with their feet long ago out of the Upper West Side, Mr. X should realize that many of us chose to stay, and not because we had to, but because we equally enjoy the cultural, gastronomic, and various other pleasant life-style attractions which the Upper West Side has to offer.That we are scorned by these misguided, lock-stepping intolerant ones, we see such hateful behavior as their loss. I think most of their disdain for us stems from their inability to accept that we really enjoy ourselves and that we are comfortable in our skins.WILLIAM INJEIANManhattanThree-Way Race in the BronxAs a center-right publication, The New York Sun is making an indispensable, invaluable contribution to New York’s ideological spectrum. However, I was surprised that the Sun’s coverage of the state Senatorial primaries in the 34th Senatorial District – Bronx, Westchester – skipped the revolutionary essence of the story [“Three-Way Race Is Shaping Up in the Bronx,” William F. Hammond Jr. and Jill Gardiner, Page One, September 15, 2004].It is not that the “Democrats trying to loosen Republican control of the State Senate won a big victory…when Assemblyman Jeffrey Klein defeated Stephen Kaufman.” It is rather that Republican John Fleming, representing the grassroots of the GOP, overwhelmed the party establishment, a la Mayor Bloomberg, Joseph Bruno, et les autres by trouncing their protege, the left-wing Democrat Mr. Kaufman, in the Republican primary.In short, it is nothing but contemptible treachery and disloyalty that the party “leaders” did not endorse Mr. Fleming, the only Republican in the race.Mr. Fleming’s victory is the latest manifestation of the grassroots backlash in New York’s GOP. The rank-and-file are tired of pseudo Republicans like Mr. Bloomberg, errant GOPers like Mr. Bruno, and other “leaders” trying to dilute, if not eradicate entirely, the ethos and ideology of the party, in the pursuit of personal agendas and ambitions.Young Turks like Mr. Fleming are fighting to recapture the GOP on behalf of hardworking, overtaxed citizens who are having their traditional values persistently assaulted by the leftwing elite, aided and abetted by Republicans in Name Only, or RINOs like Mr. Bloomberg.Encouraged by Mr. Fleming’s success, we can be confident that next year’s GOP mayoral primary will bring us further victory in this battle for the GOP’s heart and soul.Within the grassroots GOP, there is a lot of respect for the Conservative Party and its candidates such as senatorial candidate Marilyn O’Grady. Kudos to party Chairman Michael Long for endorsing Mr. Fleming, who is also the only true conservative in the senatorial race.However, I am confident that Mr. Long would agree that the Bronx Conservatives, in supporting a left-wing Democrat such as Mr. Kaufman, have corrupted the party’s philosophy and sullied the conservative ideology. I would imagine that some house-cleaning needs to be done.PATRICK HURLEYPresidentRegular Republican Club30th Assembly DistrictWoodside, N.Y.Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

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