More from our inbox:
To the Editor:
Re “In New York City, Outrage Over the Options for Housing Migrants” (front page, May 19):
In his defensive posture against those who don’t want migrants housed in school gyms — “What have you done for the migrants?” — Mayor Eric Adams fails to recognize and support the amazing individuals and organizations in the city who are welcoming these individuals, providing them food, clothing and services.
Even worse, he has now thrown those volunteer groups out of the Port Authority and denied them access to the hotels.
The mayor touts the diversity of faiths that are part of the city’s fabric, but is now apparently denying entry or access to the mosques, churches and synagogues in all boroughs that are organizing welcomes, sheltering and serving these newcomers.
In a final insult, his spokesman, Fabien Levy, now blames those groups for encouraging people to arrive. This is false and meanspirited from beginning to end. He should be ashamed.
Ruth W. Messinger
Aix-en-Provence, France
The writer, a social justice consultant, was a member of the New York City Council (1978-88) and the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York in 1997.
To the Editor:
Re “Criticizing Biden, Adams Diverges From Democrats” (front page, May 21):
Mayor Eric Adams is absolutely justified in his persistent and vocal advocacy relative to the immigrant crisis in New York City. His requests for help, both financial and strategic, are entirely reasonable.
The crisis is, in fact, a national one requiring federal action to cope with it. The burden on New York City that it has created is disproportionate, unfair and unsustainable. And a federal grant of $30 million when the city is facing a $4.3 billion hole in its budget is laughable.
The mayor’s first responsibility is the well-being of his constituency, not the possible effect his advocacy might have on President Biden’s campaign. If and when the help arrives, the criticism will cease.
And as for being “conspicuously absent” from the Biden campaign’s list of surrogates, if the president starts diverting migrants to the cities on that list as he should, you can be sure the mayors of those cities will be right beside Mayor Adams protesting just as loudly!
Jay Adolf
New York
An Afghan Odyssey, With America as the Goal
To the Editor:
Re “Stranded Afghans Risk Crossing a Jungle” (front page, May 21):
I know I speak for my cohort of Peace Corps volunteers who had the privilege of serving in Afghanistan in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, and for the nonprofit with which I am affiliated, the Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund.
For a country that welcomed us, embraced us (literally and figuratively) and displayed such warmth and hospitality to each of us, it is heartbreaking and painful to read this piece.
The Afghan people gave to each of us far more than we ever could have ever imagined. Our lives were truly changed forever.
How ironic that the Afghans who did so much to support and protect the Americans present in their country and who manifest all those admirable human traits that we Americans espouse have had the welcome mat pulled out from under them. Shame on us.
Jonathan Greenburg
North Caldwell, N.J.
To the Editor:
I understand the impulse to pin the human tragedy for many Afghans on the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. But to do so excuses the combined effects of almost 20 years of failed U.S. policy in Afghanistan across Republican and Democratic administrations.
U.S. imperialism is a fool’s errand. I’m so sorry that Taiba and her family, featured in your article, and so many other Afghans are paying the terrible human cost. How about if next year the U.S. government owns up to its mistakes and welcomes 250,000 Afghans?
Jeremy Pressman
West Hartford, Conn.
The writer is a professor of political science and director of Middle East studies at the University of Connecticut.
Skeptical About Aid to Ukraine
To the Editor:
Re “A Vocal G.O.P. Minority Pledges It Will Complicate More Aid for Ukrainians” (news article, May 20):
You can believe that Vladimir Putin and his cronies should be tried as war criminals — and you can never have voted for a Republican presidential nominee — and still believe that Republicans opposed to unqualified military and financial support for Ukraine are on to something.
There are three very good reasons: Vietnam, Iraq and the endless attempt at nation-building in Afghanistan. Essential facts about what led to these wars and how they were carried out contradicted the official casus belli and eroded public support. Count on a similar pattern for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Although no American troops’ lives are at stake, neither is anything essential to our security. Many Americans believe that Europe is old enough to solve its own problems.
Carlyn Meyer
Englewood, Colo.
‘No Way to Treat Our Kids’
To the Editor:
Re “Texas Bans Medical Care for Minors in Transition” (news article, May 18):
There is clearly a generational tectonic shift in gender identity going on. Legislation to prevent young people from getting high-quality transition medical care ignores the recommendations of America’s leading medical organizations. This law is a cynical, dishonest play for votes and money. It is no way to treat our kids.
Bob Salzman
New York
The Cruelty of Horse Racing
To the Editor:
Re “A Requiem for 7 Thoroughbreds” (Sports, May 20) and “A Baffert Horse Wins on the Same Day That Another Is Fatally Injured” (Sports, May 21):
Reading these articles was sickening. Eight magnificent animals were exploited, destroyed and disposed of for money and thrills for greedy humans.
Horses may love to run, but the canard that they love to race in these insane competitions is surely as false as the claim that dogs and roosters love to fight. For all its fancy trappings, horse racing is no better than other forms of animal cruelty that civilized society has outlawed.
Let humans race if they are so motivated, but stop glamorizing the torture, including racing, of helpless animals for sport.
Judy Olinick
Middlebury, Vt.
Hating the Office, Not Just the Commute
To the Editor:
Re “Office Workers Don’t Hate the Office. They Hate the Commute,” by Farhad Manjoo (column, May 22):
No, some of us hate the office also — the annoying meetings, the corporate office politics, the soul-sucking fluorescent lighting, the key cards, the unnecessary jargon (and the more nouns the better, apparently), the people scheduling you for meetings without checking first to make sure you’re available, the email the email the email, the pointless boosterism, the loud talkers, the people who can’t be bothered to do things properly and/or are always asking the same questions about the same things, and so on.
I miss neither the commute nor the office.
Kevin J. O’Conner
Bellingham, Wash.
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