Letters of 2025: Dangerous Long Island roads, school cellphone ban, Trump's America, vaccines, gambling and more

LI’s dangerous roads

Feb. 18: Driving is a privilege, not a birthright. If you break the rules of the road, your license should be revoked. If you drive while your license has been revoked, it should be taken away permanently.

— Joanne Brady, Bellport

April 8: Repeat offenders should have their cars confiscated.

— Roy Sperrazza, Northport

April 17: The constant excessive speeding and tailgating, especially on highways, is unbelievable. Running red lights seems to be the norm, and yet I hardly ever see a police officer lying in wait to nab those with total disregard for the laws of the road.

— Don Rector, Islip

NUMC woes

Feb. 13: Nassau University Medical Center is a financial boondoggle created by former Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta and Bruce Blakeman, then presiding officer of the county legislature. When the county was hemorrhaging money, Nassau County Medical Center was presented with financial strategies to remove it from the county budget and create a public benefit corporation, NUMC. Asking state taxpayers to finance this blunder is an insult to every taxpayer.

— Michael J. Vicchiarelli, Eastport

Late-night show hosts

July 23: Stephen Colbert, a voice of humor, honesty and truth, has been silenced over money and presumably upsetting Donald Trump.

— Susan Scharf, Flushing 

July 23: All three major networks’ late-night shows have become overly politicized, anti-Republican, and lack humor. Today’s hosts should take a page out of Johnny Carson’s playbook and play it more down the middle.

— Lawrence Lapka, Farmingdale

Elon Musk in defeat

June 6: Elon Musk, with his cavalier slash-and-burn approach to better government, revealed his true character and total lack of compassion for the human condition. With his words and deeds, he ruined countless lives.

— Bob Bascelli, Seaford 

June 10: The marriage between greed and ego ended badly. Elon Musk expected something in return. How did this self-professed genius not learn that with Donald Trump, loyalty is a one-way street?

— Robert Broder, Stony Brook

Trump’s first days

Jan. 22: Donald Trump, while signing important executive orders, seemed to answer every journalist’s question. He did so with professionalism, passion, knowledge, and humor in an engaging way. Former President Joe Biden rarely dealt with the media in such an engaging manner.

— James Carollo, Amagansett

Jan. 29: Donald Trump’s dismissal of 17 inspectors general at government agencies is just the latest example of a lack of respect for administrative rules. These inspectors check against mismanagement.

— Patricia Mamatos, Bay Shore

Jan. 31: After the dizzying array of executive orders that Donald Trump signed on his first day in office and his continued actions, all I can say is, “Thank God ‘Sanity Restoration Day’ has finally arrived!” Finally, we’re back to recognizing two genders — male and female. Trump withdrew us from the Paris climate agreement. He ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the government’s weaponization against political opponents.

Perhaps the most urgent orders had to do with the southern border. Trump shut down ways that Joe Biden’s administration designed to make it easier to enter this country. Jan. 20, 2025, will go down in history as the transformational day that saved our country from ruin.

— Eugene R. Dunn, Medford

Jan. 31: Today, basic groceries remain expensive, the price of gasoline has risen locally, and a war still rages in Ukraine. These are all issues Donald Trump promised voters that he would resolve in his first day in office. Meanwhile, we have immigration officers threatening to enter schools, churches and hospitals; retribution against Justice Department attorneys; and an unconstitutional executive order to end birthright citizenship.

— Martin Skrocki, Wading River

Online gambling

Oct. 31: Online gambling is out of control. For many, it has become an addiction. It introduces gambling to our youth, many of whom can fall into a bad habit. Don’t blame only the wolf when online betting leaves the door to the henhouse open. But I bet online gambling is here to stay.

— Gerald Schappert, Babylon

Presidential pardons

Jan. 8: I appreciate that President Joe Biden wanted to show compassion during the holiday season, but I question why his compassion was for 37 criminals, not the victims’ families? His commutation of death sentences is inexplicable

— Robert Pape, Hicksville

Jan. 24: President Donald Trump touts himself as a president of peace but pardoned those who engaged in violent protests that resulted in death and injury to the Capitol police on Jan. 6, 2021.

— Linda Durnan, Wading River

Vaccines and health

April 11: It’s gratifying that another alleged vaccine fraudster has been unmasked. Why, though, haven’t there been indictments of the parents of the children who submitted the fraudulent vaccination forms? Those who disobey society’s rules ought to pay a price for acting recklessly.

— Richard J. Brenner, Miller Place

Class cellphone ban

April 1: Banning phones in class will allow students to pay attention to the lesson. It will also allow them to interact with fellow students face-to-face. This will help them learn how to socialize. Generations survived without cellphones.

— Valerie Romeo, Bayport

April 1: Growing up, we went to the library to do research. We learned on our own to study, and we played outside.

— Pat King, Merrick

It's not much of a gift

Jan. 29: The possible firing of a school principal for allegedly stealing a gift card brings to the surface other things we do wrong on Long Island.

First, the principal is paid over $200,000 to school 120 children in grades K-6. Similar salaries are paid to other principals who oversee way more students.

The whole case revolves around a $25 or $50 gift card. The cost to the district to fire her may be hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the district turned the theft over to the local police and she were found guilty, she would have been prosecuted and fired. This would have saved taxpayers a lot of money.

And it shows that we have far too many small school districts, principals and superintendents on the Island and we need to strongly consider merging these districts.

— Paul Spina Jr., Calverton

Blakeman lawyer hires

Feb. 26: With Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s tripling spending apart from procurement rules for outside lawyers, it seems we may have found some of the waste and fraud in government that Donald Trump and ally Elon Musk are looking for.

— Paul Landaw, Bellerose Terrace

Watching our climate

Jan. 31: So nice to know that my offshore view will not be spoiled by turbines. I can now look forward to seeing oil rigs off the coast.

— Kenneth LeMay, Massapequa Park

March 5: Shall we call Lee Zeldin when Long Island’s sea levels rise, the beaches erode, and marine life dies?

— Ken Feifer, Massapequa

D.C. Cabinet

Feb. 18: Donald Trump promised to put the best people in his administration. We have seen several unqualified candidates already confirmed, but now Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is perhaps the most unqualified person to ever lead the Department of Health and Human Services. We might expect long-eradicated diseases to make a comeback.

— Jim Kiernan, Holbrook 

April 2: For the Trump administration to call “Signalgate” a minor “oops” because the mission in Yemen was successful is just plain wrong.

— Lisa Castillo, New Hyde Park

No love for MTA, LIRR

Aug. 5: With the sudden “success” of congestion pricing, the MTA has now decided on a fare increase. Coincidence?

— Tom Sena, Merrick

Nov. 20: An LIRR employee allegedly steals a lot of money and gets a slap on the wrist. How about criminal prosecution?

— Elaine Limmer, Wantagh

About that ‘king’ thing

Oct. 21: For Suffolk County Republican Jesse Garcia to classify the “No Kings” events as “nothing more than a public relations campaign by Democrats” is ironic. And referring to the millions who came out as “paid protesters” is not factual and entirely misses the point.

— Cindy Clifford, Riverhead

Oct. 21: The rallies were a nationwide tantrum dressed up as revolution. Once the cameras shut off, what did the protesters achieve?

— Charles J. Brown, Levittown

Oct. 23: Donald Trump put gold leaf on practically everything, turning our elegant White House and Oval Office into something gaudy and cheap. Next, he paved over the Rose Garden lawn. Now, most shocking is the construction of the new ballroom after ripping up the East Wing.

— Doreen Andersson, Islip Terrace

Dec. 19: I was appalled by Donald Trump’s comment on Rob Reiner. What a horrific thing to say after a violent murder. The president is supposed to be a role model and symbol of what is right.

— Clare Brown, Huntington

Foreign wars

March 4: Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s petulant insistence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy grovel has made the United States a laughingstock, at best, and a pariah, at worst.

— Eva Grassano, East Meadow 

March 6: Most people on Long Island voted for Donald Trump and, I believe, are proud of what happened in the Oval Office. They are grateful for U.S. leaders who lead. Zelenskyy is a disrespectful actor. Trump is a patriot.

— Julie Klimchak, West Hills

Aug. 19: I am outraged at the horrific conditions in Gaza. People are killed trying to get food, not to mention those wounded and those already starving.

— Diane McGuire, Northport

Never-ending hatred

June 4: The sickening disease of some people’s hatred of Jews is unending and sadly has become almost an accepted part of the fabric of our society after centuries of mutating. It is like a ubiquitous pathogen that initially infects a child and dwells in the psyche of a hateful mind, watching and waiting to rear its ugly head and strike. Unfortunately, there is no vaccine to protect its host and, most important, its intended victim.

— Joel Reiter, Woodbury

Sept. 10: I commend the state Board of Regents for unveiling a new curriculum aimed at teaching students about the Holocaust. The need to understand history is vital.

— Steven A. Ludsin, East Hampton

Perception of Mamdani

July 1: Rep. Andrew Garbarino called Zohran Mamdani’s shocking win in the Democratic primary a classic example of the politics of distraction. Garbarino criticized Mamdani’s addressing food insecurity through public groceries, saying government-owned grocery stores didn’t work in Russia and won’t work in New York City.” The city already owns six public markets.

— Kerim Odekon, Brookhaven

July 11: Donald Trump would be interfering with the will of the people if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. Trump says he’ll send his own people to take over the city. Is this democracy?

— Joseph Rella, Farmingdale

Sept. 24: I am dismayed that state Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs refuses to support Zohran Mamdani while claiming Democrats are a “big tent party.”

— Aaron Clow, Farmingville

Dec. 10: Since a core part of Jewish identity is a connection to Israel, many believe Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Zionist views inherently target Jews and are a form of antisemitism.

— Sam Leibowitz, Plainview

ICE’s chilling effects

Feb. 4: Schools are places of learning and safety — not arenas for immigration enforcement. The presence of federal agents on school grounds creates fear, disrupts education, and erodes trust between schools and families. No child should worry that stepping into their classroom could mean separation from loved ones.

— Shawn Wightman, Roosevelt

May 13: I worry about my family and friends who are persons of color. Some are citizens, born in the United States, and a few have green cards. One overzealous militant contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can get any one of us. Just because of someone’s skin color or a tattoo, a person can be kidnapped and disappear with no trace.

— Michelle Urso, West Babylon

June 11: Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard to deal with immigration protests is the ultimate hypocrisy. He sat on his hands on Jan. 6 when rioters attacked police and trashed the U.S. Capitol. Now he calls in the National Guard?

— Mary Negra, East Setauket

July 8: It is wrong to deport law-abiding immigrants with deep community roots.

— Barbara Kurek, East Islip