This “law be damned” attitude by bikers (“Dismount Signs Ignored, Taken Down in Riverside Park,” Sept. 2) is the result of a long period of time when Park Dept. staff stood idly by (check Central Park, for example) while miscreant cyclists thumbed their noses at the rules.

Result? Ambulances in our parks. See if that is the case in London, Paris, Rome or Moscow.

Nicholas Arena
Upper West Side

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Just read this to my friend (“SOS Etiquette,” Sept. 2) who is visiting, and she can totally relate. She had an old doorknob come off in her hand, and was trapped in her bathroom with no phone. She had to climb out of the window, onto a small landing (in 27-degree weather) and throw mini shampoo bottles at her 80-year-old neighbor’s window. She never could get her attention and waited for what seemed forever for someone to pull up outside in our building parking lot so that she could yell for help!

Ginnie Graham
Upper West Side

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In the current New York State Senate, there are few lawmakers truly fighting for a better environmental future for New Yorkers. Bill Perkins is one such legislator. He has a proven record of fighting for New Yorkers and getting results.

As State Senator for the 30th District, Bill Perkins has fought for cleaner air in a district where nearly one in four children suffer from asthma. He has worked with local organizations to fix problems at the North River Sewage Treatment Plant and has fought against the siting of additional bus depots in Northern Manhattan, a huge source of air pollution. And while he was serving in the City Council, Bill led efforts to pass The Childhood Lead Paint Poisoning Act of 2004. This crucial legislation led to a sharp decrease in lead poisoning cases, particularly among people of color and in low-income neighborhoods.

It is for these reasons that my organization has endorsed Senator Bill Perkins in the upcoming September 14 Democratic Primary. Senator Perkins’ demonstrated commitment to the environmental health of New Yorkers makes him the right choice for voters of the 30th District. For the environmental health of New York, we urge Democratic voters in Washington Heights, Harlem and on the Upper East Side to support Senator Bill Perkins this September 14.

Marcia Bystryn
President, New York League of Conservation Voters

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Can we ever have (“Uncovering Forgotten New York,” July 21) too many historians? Never! Especially when they so eloquently bring our fascinating local history back to life. Coney Island’s “Dreamland,” the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—almost everyone knows a little about these, but it’s the efforts of people like Kevin Baker filling in the details and revealing the backstory that makes it play like a newsreel. Thanks for introducing us to him.

Chris A. Randolph
New York City

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Words fail to describe a criminal lawyer’s reaction to this tragedy (“Harsher Penalties in Traffic Crimes,” Aug. 18), along with the “situation that prevails” on the streets of NYC.

To put it succinctly, we have laws that are not enforced; so many drivers have “carte blanche” to do as they wish. Need I tell you who is supposed to enforce the traffic laws? Sad to say, of all the accounts, complaints and suggestions regarding the problem, rarely is there mention of the NYPD’s responsibility in the matter. Until this reality is confronted, people will continue to die on our streets, and the rule of law will suffer another affront.

Nicholas Arena
Upper West Side

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Sy Oshinsky
Upper West Side

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Bunny Abraham
Upper West Side

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I’ve lived across the street from Ansche Chesed since the ’60s, and I feel very protective of the place. The night that the ghost bike first appeared, I saw two men fiddling with it, and it looked like they were trying to light something underneath it, but I am not 100 percent sure; in any event it made me nervous. (Keep in mind, at this moment I had no idea it was a memorial: I saw two guys possibly messing with electricity right next to a synagogue across the street from my building under cover of night. It seemed noteworthy.)

So, I did the right thing and called 911. I told them that I wasn’t certain if anything “wrong” was happening, but that it seemed to fall into the “If you see something…” category. Watching from the window, I saw both NYPD and NYFD show up, the two men provided ID, there was a discussion, the two men got into a pickup truck, and everybody drove away. That was it. So why is there still such a mystery?

After initially finding the ghost bike kind of touching, now I’m getting kind of disturbed by it, and whatever its “true story,” I think it’s time for it to go. If it’s a legitimate memorial to a tragic loss, I very much doubt that its presence is doing the child’s poor parents any good; if it’s not, the people who thought it would be an interesting performance piece or social experiment or whatever need to get over themselves and have some respect for the feelings of the living people around them. Life is tough enough, sad enough, painful enough, and looking out my bedroom window at a faux memorial every day doesn’t make it any better.

Suzanne la Muniere
Upper West Side

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The U.S. Post Office is in financial hot water right now (who isn’t?), but I think that it would be preferable to eliminate Saturday mail deliveries than to raise postal rates. It would save millions.

Ruth Unterberg
New York City

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As an advocate in New York City for more than three decades, I’m often asked, “Where do my tax dollars go?”

Those answers can be found at the Checkbook NYC website recently launched by City Comptroller John Liu.

Checkbook NYC, an online application designed to shed sunlight on New York City’s spending, is the newest tool in the Comptroller’s My Money NYC initiative announced in March. Checkbook NYC not only cracks open the books on the City’s $60 billion annual expense budget, but now for the first time ever, we are able to track how much capital monies cost the city annually.

For an organization like NYPIRG and its Straphangers Campaign, whose goals include keeping the public’s best interest at the forefront of civic discussions, Checkbook NYC has proven to be useful. No longer do we need to make inquiries and sift through red tape in order to seek out relevant information.

This is by far the most advanced and up-to-date application I have seen.

Take a visit to Checkbooknyc.com and see for yourself.

Gene Russianoff
Chief Spokesman, Straphangers Campaign, NYPIRG

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