‘Imminent Danger’

Re: “Imminent Danger,” Editorial, June 24, 2005. Kelo v. City of New London demonstrates that the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution are being lost, inexorably, incrementally, one slice at a time. This chunk of the salami advances altruism-collectivism on a patina of pure baloney.

With Pfizer’s headquarters located a mere two blocks from the United Nations, it’s tempting to contemplate a scenario whereby New York City condemns the property in favor of the “swing space” sought by the United Nations. After all, if collectivism were the standard, what moral ground would Pfizer’s board have to stand on in objecting to the alleged needs of a world body? It would be an act of poetic justice to witness the firm slink off, well, to New London, where it would undoubtedly be welcomed with open arms.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. And it’s rights that have been wronged. Our republican form of government justifies its existence as the agent of its citizens, charged with the task of protecting each individual’s rights, especially the rights of the weak or a minority against threats from the powerful or a majority. Ominously, that role has been reversing for more than a century.

EDWIN R. THOMPSON
Manhattan

‘Emperor Spitzer’

Re: “DHL Agrees To End Cigarette Deliveries to Individuals,” Business Desk, July 6, 2005. Lost in all the hoopla of the Olympic Games going to London, a more serious story that affects New Yorkers went largely unnoticed. Our politically motivated and ambitious Attorney General Eliot Spitzer reached a negotiated agreement with carrier DHL not to deliver cigarettes to individual buyers in New York State. It must be easy to “negotiate” when you hold the highest law enforcement post in the state. We’ll no doubt hear how this agreement is a good thing, as it protects children or stops people from using the Internet to avoid taxes. In reality, citizens have had a barrier put in place by their government to purchase a legal product, losing a little bit of personal freedom in the process. Wake up, New York. Mr. Spitzer has once again used, or, should I say abused, the power of his office in his quest to become governor. Or should I say emperor of the Empire State?

ALEX PASTORI
Bayside, N.Y.

‘James Stockdale’

Thank you for your editorial on Admiral Stockdale, who was a hero [“James Stockdale,” July 7, 2005]. Your editorial does justice to the memory of a man who served our country and saved lives. I read the obituaries of other local papers and was dismayed by the continued disrespect (concerning his vice-presidential run with Ross Perot) and lack of substantive writing on his real legacy. The New York Sun deserves credit for deviating from that trend and writing about his character and courage instead.

ANNA PLUMEY
Bronx

‘Chapter 11’

Re: “Hospital Network Files for Chapter 11,” Jill Gardiner, Page 1, July 6, 2005. It is increasingly difficult for many institutions to deliver quality health care without financial loss. The news Friday, and again today, about the difficulty facing two of the area’s long-standing hospital systems underscores that reality.

Unfortunately, it is an unsettling reality for thousands of community members, patients, health-care workers, and physicians. Some days they must feel as if the entire infrastructure of health-care delivery in New York lies on a fault line. For Queens residents, the concerns could be great, as less than a year ago the borough saw the closing of two care facilities.

When a hospital struggles (and today, many more continue to struggle), it places additional demands on those that surround it. The effects include an increase of pressure on healthier institutions and their people that are already operating near capacity. It also dilutes the positive forces of choice and competition that are vital to a healthy market, in which the patient has the best possible opportunity for a positive outcome, and a community can be served by one of its own.

Our hospital is based in Flushing, where each day we see patients that have had to shift from an institution that could no longer meet their needs. We are committed to this community for the long haul, and our expansion plans call for adding to our in-patient capacity. While we deliver health-care services that have been measured among the best anywhere, we know that the more solid the overall infrastructure is in Queens and every other part of the city, the better it is for all current and future people that need our services.

STEPHEN S. MILLS
President and Chief executive officer
New York Hospital Queens
Queens

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