Readers: Vaccines should be mandatory for all
A cadre of New York lawmakers
want to eliminate religious exemptions
to vaccinations before a statewide
measles outbreak subsides,
with one upstate senator claiming
the political will to ax the exemption
hinges on fears stoked by the
epidemic that’s overwhelmingly affected
unvaccinated Brooklynites
(“Crisis of faith: State pols want
to eliminate religious exemptions
to vaccination before measles outbreak
subsides” by Colin Mixson,
online May 29).
“The fear is we lose this opportunity,”
said Sen. David Carlucci,
who represents Rockland County,
which is combating its own measles
outbreak. “As we lose the outbreak
right now, there’s a sense of
security that’s just not real. We’ve
seen how vulnerable we are, and
we need to say New Yorkers are at
risk, we need to take action, and
we can’t wait for session to be over,
because then it will be too late.”
The state’s religious exemption
allows unvaccinated children to
attend public schools, where students
would otherwise require a
more stringent medical exemption
to enroll without inoculations.
At the press conference, a group
of cancer survivors — all students
— suffering severely compromised
immune systems joined the politicians,
who spoke out about the extraordinary
care they must take to
avoid disease and infection, saying
that sharing a classroom with
an unvaccinated classmate could
lead to the end of their lives.
Readers shared their thoughts
online:
Leave my religion out of this! It’s
not a religious thing. It’s an insanity
thing. Parents who don’t vaccinate
their children should be locked up.
Prison or a mental institution. Avi
from Kensington
There never should have been a
religious exemption to begin with.
If these wackos want to put their
kids in danger, they can homeschool
them. Let’s do away with church tax
exemptions next. I’m sick of paying
for these people. Bob from Queens
An untenable belief in a magical
sky-daddy, supernatural beings,
Quetzalcoatl, the Fairy Folk, your
precious animal spirit, or Xenu, is
never enough reason to put the public
in real tangible danger. Jim from
Cobble Hill
Vaccination should be mandatory
for all, unless a medical reason (comprised
immunity due to cancer for
example) makes it impossible. Just
like seatbelt laws for cars, they are so
important for public safety that there
should be no choice in the matter.
Beverly from Bay Ridge
Calling for cameras
Before departing on a presidential
campaign swing through Nevada,
Mayor Bill de Blasio took
care of some city business on May
24, announcing plans for the rapid
expansion of the school zone speed
camera program which Gov. Andrew
Cuomo signed into law earlier
this month (“Mayor announces
rapid expansion of life-saving
speed camera program as stronger
law takes effect July 11” by Bill
Parry, online May 29).
The city’s Department of Transportation
will begin installing
new cameras citywide at a rate of
40 per month through 2019, 60 per
month in 2020, expecting to reach
the law’s maximum 750 school
zones by June 2020.
“Our streets are about to get a
lot safer for our children,” de Blasio
said. “We fought to expand our
speed camera program and we won
in Albany. Now it’s time to rapidly
scale up our program to save lives
and keep our kids safe.”
Authorized by state law, the
school zone speed camera program
had been in place since 2014 with
data showing that speeding in areas
with cameras declines more
than 60 percent, with more than 80
percent of violators not receiving a
second ticket.
Readers were divided online:
What nonsense. Is there an epidemic
of kids being mowed down in
front of schools? Another tax on the
middle class. Keep voting for these
commies and this is what you get!
LaQwerty Jones
from Liberty Island
Great news! Hey, suck it up, snowfl
akes. Don’t break the laws if you
can’t pay the fi nes. Henry Ford
from Bay Ridge
COURIER L 38 IFE, JUNE 7–13, 2019 M BR B G
Is the camera going to jump off
the pole in front of a speeding car
and stop an accident? If not, the only
thing they can do is report what happened
after the fact. That’s not “life
saving.” Bethany
To LaQwerty Jones, The public elementary
school three blocks from
my home has had fi ve students hit by
speeding cars since January while in
the intersection with the green light
and holding their parent’s hand. All
ended up in ambulances and at least
two days in a hospital. To Bethany, if
drivers know they will receive a summons,
they will think twice about
speeding near a school. This will prevent
injuries by reckless drivers who
just don’t care. Susan Rosenfeld
from Sheepshead Bay
It would be best to design the
streets so that drivers can’t or don’t
want to break the law, but cameras
that issue a ticket for drivers who
break the law by 40 percent are better
than the old system.
Mike from Williamsburg
Now stop sign and red light cameras
in Bay Ridge, please. Dozens of
them. John from Bay Ridge
If you don’t want a ticket, don’t
break the law and drive over the
speed limit, run red lights, or drive
recklessly. No, you’re not “too cool”
for the rules to be different for you.
Why is this so hard to understand?
Traffi c fatalities are up 30 percent
from last year (actual DOT numbers)
and people who might just be a bit injured
end up dead because the car was
going way faster than it should have
been going. Jim from Cobble Hill
If the city really wants to crack
down on dangerous drivers, it would
put red light cameras at both ends of
the Brooklyn Bridge. Pretty much
every cycle someone goes through a
solid red light. Or must we wait until
somebody is killed? There is a police
car sitting at Tillary, but those cops
seem to be for show only. Pedestrian
from Downtown Brooklyn
Times have changed
To the Editor,
I agree very strongly with Rochelle
Goldman’s letter, “Fur-Free New
York,” in the Bay News, May 24–30,
and am thrilled that New York may
soon become fur-free! There is no need
in today’s modern world with its abundance
of synthetic, man-made materials
for any animal to be tortured and
killed for its fur or leather. Cave men
may have needed fur coats to keep
themselves warm — we do not!
I am glad that some high-fashion
clothing designers have already
ditched fur. I hope that others will soon
join them. People who have the money
to buy fur or leather coats just for show
can show off their fortunes in many
more worthwhile ways rather than
having animals destroyed. Many very
rich people, such as Bill and Melinda
Gates, have used their money to found
and fund charities that help needy
humans and animals. Many celebrities
have given up their fur coats and
joined societies that protect animals.
I wish all celebrities would do so. Nobody
needs a fur coat to show off his or
her wealth, talent, or intelligence!
I also would like to add that hunting
jungle animals for sport or for
trophies is also wrong and cruel. A
lion’s head looks much better on the
lion than on somebody’s wall.
Those of us living here in the modern
world should be very happy that
we don’t have to kill animals in order
to survive. We can live on fruits and
vegetables should we choose to, and
the only thing we ever need to take
to a park, zoo or jungle is a camera.
Animals should be enjoyed, loved,
admired and cared-for, not abused or
experimented on or killed.
Elaine Kirsch
Gravesend
Tragic end
To the Editor,
A terrible tragedy has struck the
NYC school system. An honor roll
student, who started skipping classes
as she was bullied, committed suicide
yesterday. Parents are now claiming
that the school did nothing. The guidance
counselor there promised action
but nothing was done. Ditto for other
administrative staff as well.
We may also thank the de Blasio
administration for this event due to its
permissiveness regarding discipline
in the schools. It is becoming virtually
impossible to suspend unruly students.
The problem is that we have people running
the schools who barely taught and
have no understanding whatsoever of
the rigors of classroom teaching.
The media must get involved and
come to the schools unannounced to
see what is really going on. The public
is being fed lies that everything
is fi ne. This is not the case. Save our
schools by instilling discipline!
Edward Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
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