Letters to the Editor
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‘Two-Wheeling It’
If I am to pay $9 to cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, I believe it is reasonable to expect that I and other toll-payers will enjoy full use of that public facility during the time we are in transit [“Two-Wheeling It,” New York, May 8, 2006].
Accidents and congestion are unavoidable parts of the driving experience; the monumental public inconvenience known as the Five Boro Bike Tour is not.
Bikes are great for exercise and the speedy delivery of Chinese food. They shouldn’t be allowed to tie up the whole city on a sunny Sunday when hundreds of thousands of drivers and their passengers have places to go, things to do, and people to see. Several hundred bicyclists could and should be sent elsewhere – pedaling circles around Central Park comes to mind.
If nothing else, the city ought to balance the limited utility of promoting cycling with the negative effects of cars spewing pollution as they inch along the Belt Parkway, burning gas for which drivers paid dearly.
At the very, very, least, if this inconvenience must continue, passage across the Verrazano and other affected roadways should be toll-free, for the day.
MAYER FERTIG
Elizabeth, N.J.
‘Cat Among the Pigeons’
Hillel Halkin poses a profound issue of identity for Israeli and Diaspora Jews. The significance of the state of Israel for Jews was a deep concern of Sir Isaiah Berlin, one of the greatest intellectuals of the 20th century [“Cat Among the Pigeons,” Opinion, May 9, 2006].
He was an ardent Zionist but not because of religious belief – that Israel was mandated by God. He felt that all people should have a homeland, a base of identity, and for Jews this was Israel.
The existence of Israel established the dignity of every Jew everywhere. It validated a Jew to be whatever he wished, orthodox, secular, or no Jew at all. In Israel, a Jew would never be “the other.”
Berlin was offered a high position in Israel but refused, for his British identity, where he had earned the highest honors, was too strong; this despite the gnawing feeling of always being “the other.”
GOODWIN BREININ
Manhattan
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