Letters to the Editor

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Cindy Sheehan’s Visit


While I have a partisan interest, as discussed below, I am writing first as an American and lifelong Brooklynite to express shock and revulsion at the comments offered by some of our elected officials in Jacob Gershman’s September 16 article about Cindy Sheehan [“Sheehan Visit Divides City Leaders,” Page 1].


The positions of Letitia James and Marty Markowitz are familiar and I leave it to others to comment. As for Bill de Blasio, let me first state that I am the campaign treasurer of his Republican/Conservative opponent, Yvette Velazquez Bennett. That does not make it less significant that his blessing of Ms. Sheehan as “a hero” goes far beyond the nuanced positioning of his boss, Senator Clinton, on the war.


There are, to be sure, thoughtful and principled arguments against the war, but to sign up for Ms. Sheehan’s positions such as immediate troop withdrawal, the Israel-bashing you cited, and her sneering dismissal of the “blue fingers” of the Iraqi elections goes well beyond such principled objection.


Republicans generally abjure identity politics, but it’s worth noting that the 39th City Council District actually achieves the revered Democrat goal of “diversity.” Ms. Sheehan’s comments and Councilman de Blasio’s hero worship may play well among the graying ponytails and David Brooksian “bobos” of the upper reaches of Park Slope.


The district also, however, includes a large Hispanic community, and anyone who has read or watched press coverage of the war will realize the exceptional contributions of men and women from such communities. The district also includes the changing area of Windsor Terrace, which still has remnants of the working-class communities from which have come much of the city’s police and fire departments. During the week of the fourth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, perhaps it is these soldiers, policemen, and firemen who deserved the appellation “hero,” not Ms. Sheehan and her bitter personal attacks.


By the time you read this, Ms. Sheehan will have made her first appearance in Brooklyn, and attention will shift elsewhere. Still, Mr. de Blasio’s comments should not go unremarked, and despite what some may see as long odds, Ms. Velazquez Bennett’s campaign is determined to confront just this kind of thinking.


JOSEPH F. COLEMAN
Treasurer
Brooklyn for Bennett 2005
Brooklyn


Teachers Union


After reading yet another article pertaining to the threat of a New York City teachers strike due to lack of a contract [“Teachers Union Expected to Vote on Whether to Strike,” Deborah Kolben, New York, September 20, 2005], I’m convinced that the only interest teachers in this city have is for themselves. A contract for any individual or company is for protecting an agreement made between two parties where the failure of one party to fulfill their obligation could cause a job to not be performed, putting the other party in a distressing situation.


The taxpayers and parents of this city have to ask themselves, before blindly throwing their support behind the teachers, why do teachers need a contract? I’ve worked on Wall Street for the past 10 years without a contract and have done well. My mother has worked for the past 40 years without a contract. My wife has worked for the past 10 years for a major retail company without a contract. And the list goes on.


If for some reason there is a special position in the school system where the loss of the skill of a particular individual would be difficult and costly to replace in a timely fashion, then a contract would make sense. And if there were a risk that a large group of teachers could decide to pick up with their masters degrees and move to the private sector for more money without anyone to replace them, then, yes, a contract would make sense to protect our children’s education. However there is no risk of New York City running out of teachers anytime soon or for them moving en masse to the private sector, so a contract for that reason is unnecessary.


When it comes to the teacher’s reasons for having a contract, the one I get most often is that they need one to protect their jobs. If there is one thing that is certain in this city, it is that we won’t be closing our schools anytime soon because of a lack of demand for education. We’re not talking about the auto industry here, and the mere fact that teachers have been working for the last three years without a contract proves that their jobs are not in danger.


If it’s about making more money, which it generally is, then the teachers should get away from this nonsense of insisting on a contract and come back to the real world where people like me, my wife, and everyone else gets a salary based on individual merit and the profitability of the business that they’re in, not a contract. Or even better, take that masters degree and head to the private sector where you can make more money without having to pay those silly union dues.


NICHOLAS J. VERTUCCI
Treasurer
New York Young Republican Club
Manhattan



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.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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