Day: June 25, 2025

Trump’s Iran attack has only invited more chaos

Rockaway Park: I would like someone to tell me all of the many accomplishments of President Trump during his first six months in office. Here are the things he has done that bother me.

Because of the president’s tariffs, the stock market is not stable. Trump’s over-aggressive deportations target immigrants who are not criminals or gang members. Grocery prices remain high. Elected officials have been arrested or detained for simply trying to do their jobs of oversight. Army troops and Marines have been sent to a major city against the wishes of local and state officials. In some cases, the administration has ignored the courts. It has failed to condemn the massive genocide that Israel has committed against the innocent women and children in Palestine while labeling those who bring this atrocity to our attention as antisemites.

He bans immigrants from countries where the indigenous people are non-white while allowing South African white people who claim to be oppressed entry to America. Finally, among many other things, the bombing of Iran without congressional approval (the War Powers Act) is an act of war, despite what the vice president has said. When you bomb a country, what else do you call it?

It was naïve to think that Iran would not retaliate against America. We may be the strongest country in the world but we are not invulnerable. What happened to diplomacy? I think the Trump administration has thrown a rock at a beehive. Anthony Johnson

Intern in charge

Bronx: Your article on the heightened terrorist alert in the city fails to mention that Trump just put a grocery store clerk in charge of fighting terrorism. W. Twirley

Diversionary disaster

Whitestone: Wow, the felon in chief may have just started World War III, and all because his criminal buddy Benjamin Netanyahu talked him into it. I guess no one will be paying attention to MAGA followers shooting Democratic politicians, or the One Big Beautiful Bill giving tax cuts to billionaires while 16 million people lose their health care, or senators being handcuffed and tackled for asking a question at a press conference. Better fill up your gas tank. Gas is about to be $5. But hey, at least Trump’s “free” jumbo jet from Qatar should be ready in a year or two after it’s refurbished at a cost of $400 million. Hey, Russia, no one’s looking, you can finish off Ukraine now. Robert LaRosa Sr.

Ask India

Ottawa, Ontario: Perhaps India can facilitate bringing tensions down a bit in this Iran-Israel war since India has good relationships and is well-respected. With this war, the Russia-Ukraine war is out of the news coverage and has taken a back seat. It almost looks like that war has been forgotten. Russia can do what it wishes to do. Anant Nagpur

Mad ruler

San Mateo, Calif.: Caligula is among us again! For those who slept through their history classes, he was the Roman emperor who would decide what the laws and decrees would be at any moment and demand they be followed. The interesting aspect was that everyone considered him to be quite mad. But he was the absolute ruler, so there you have it. His decree was law. So, he could stop on the green light and go on the red. The problem for the rest of his empire was that no one knew what the law would be from one day to the next. Ultimately, those he ruled had to decide if chaos should rule the day and their everyday lives, or did they need to establish sanity once again. I guess we’ll have to see what the rest of humanity thinks, and decides what to do about it. Interesting times. Mike Caggiano

Elevate legality

Oceanside, L.I.: The most important thing Trump can do is honor people trying to enter the country legally. The process has been a nightmare of a waiting list. To have someone properly vetted and sponsored to work with less bureaucracy would be a first step in addressing this decades-old problem. Also, work with employers to sponsor workers who have been here 10 years and more illegally, who have worked in farms, meat plants, restaurants and hospitality. A fine would also be warranted, since employers broke the law knowing they were hiring illegal labor, many times for substandard wages. Get a national head count to get the true numbers of how many people are in this country as a whole, citizens and noncitizens. Finally, continue tightening the borders to discourage future illegal entry into the country. This would be a major victory, resolving an issue avoided by previous administrations. Tony Giametta

Say sorry

Jacksonville, Fla.: After reading “Petty and pathetic Eric” (column, June 22) about your NYC mayor banning a reporter from future press briefings because he had the nerve to ask the Trump-lite Mayor Adams a question, I ask: When will NYC have enough of this fool of a mayor? Ever since Trump’s Justice Department dropped its prosecution of Adams’ alleged misdeeds with Turkey and more, he has been the biggest butt-kisser of the guy in the Oval Office! I hope Adams will swallow the little pride he still has, apologize to this reporter and reinstate his City Hall press privileges immediately! A small man in need of a big apology! Carl J.C. Hafner

Points not taken

Bound Brook, N.J.: I disagree with Friday’s editorial “Advancing Advantage” (June 21). First of all, the raises for current workers were taken from the retirees’ funds without our knowledge, as we found out after the fact, which is stealing. As far as I’m concerned, it is treating seniors as disposable and as has-beens. Secondly, the mayor is somehow going to find $1 billion for immigrant care. Lastly, if Bill de Blasio was so worried about the $600 million, why doesn’t he account for the $1 billion his wife supposedly used for mental health care that has never been accounted for? Anthony Mignone

State of paralysis

Brooklyn: As we face another summer of intense heat waves and more frequent wildfire smoke, we look back at another Albany legislative session characterized by a dynamic state Senate and a lethargic Assembly. Year after year, the Senate passes robust legislation addressing the impacts of accelerating global warming on New Yorkers, while the Assembly never gets most of those bills to the floor for a vote. The NY HEAT Act addresses the ever-increasing price of natural gas, while the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act addresses the escalating cost of waste management. Both have been passed repeatedly by the Senate, and a majority supports them in the Assembly. But for the third year in a row, neither has come up for a vote. Gas utilities spent a ton of money opposing NY HEAT, and plastics manufactures did the same opposing PRRI. The Senate appears capable of resisting this pressure. Why not the Assembly? Sara S. Gronim

Common problem

Brooklyn: To Voicer Carmen Feliciano: I agree with you on the issue of Citi Bikes taking away parking spots. You’re lucky to have a Community Board that supports you. I live in Sunset Park on 56th St., and for years we’ve been complaining to Community Board 7 about the one auto repair shop parking several vehicles on the block and doing repairs on the street. We also have NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, the family health center, the Perlmutter Cancer Center and the 58th St. Pier that holds several events during the summer. All of these compound the parking situation for residents. I could say, as you did, that I have one of the worst parking problems in the city, but it would be unfair to others throughout the city who may be going through the same. The parking and congestion issues are being caused by elected officials and lack of police enforcement. Joseph Maya

Instructions ignored

Brooklyn: To Voicer Phil Rosenberg: I do notify the shipper to ring my doorbell. I have even gone one step further and posted a sign, “Please ring doorbell,” and they still do not ring the bell. What now? Josie Oliveri