Letters To The Editor
Reunion Kudos Editor:

I want to thank Neil Friedman for his assistance in helping me find and reunite classmates from the Canarsie High School Class of 1967. As the school's first graduating class, we feel very special for the entire time we spent there. During our recent reunion weekend we were able to rekindle friendships and associations.

Twenty-seven members of the class and some spouses met for dinner in Miami, Florida on May 3rd. The following is a list of classmates who attended: Frank Conde, Donna Dickman, Madeline Fischbein Shapiro, Linda Gelasakis Ellis, Elaine Gilstein Heftel, Sandy Goodman, Marsha Ives Rust, Cheryl Kaye Arbeit, Harriet Kazansky Sass, Scott Lewis, Helene Gutfleisch Waisblat, Miriam Choina Liebman, Sharon Riba Elias, Susan Hyman Roth, Sonny Sachs Cordiero, Stephanie Shooten Stevens, Norman Sklar, Saulene Steinbock Sutton, Pearl Uncyk Berkowsky, Billie Weisfeld Green, Annette Miller Mayer, Stuart J. Lefkowitz, Ph.D., Sharon Lerner Brody, Mark Dollman, Larry Steinberg, Anna Waisbrot Toback, and Barry Beers. The following day 21 of us went on a four day Bahamas cruise aboard the Majesty of the Seas.

The dinner and the cruise were great successes as old friendships were renewed and new ones developed. Everyone had a fantastic time and we are already looking forward to the next one.

I will keep you informed as it develops.

Sincerely,

Norman Sklar

"Shocked And Disgusted"

Editor:

I am writing about a neighborhood responsibility or what should be.

I recently stopped at an all-night stand on the corner of Avenue M and Rockaway Parkway for a container of milk. Since Waldbaum's closed, I went there for the single item. But, I was shocked and disgusted to see not only the graffiti outside and the general unclean look, but by the risque magazine covers plastered on the glass doorway.

I had to pass several unsavory looking men hanging out who stared at me when I entered a store that seemed to have X-rate material in all views. I looked straight ahead.

I imagine that is what parents tell small children to do when passing the place or stopping in. Or, maybe not...

Canarsie seems to have become a place where apathy reigns. I hope this won't continue because I still love my hometown even though that hometown feel is falling by the wayside.

I hope storeowners realize that they have a responsibility to the neighborhood where they make their money. We are hardworking families here with children- not a red light district.

Please clean up your act or I will run to a nicer place for my last minute shopping.

Thank you,

Alexis Wayne

Congestion Pricing:

Good for Brooklyn & Me

Editor:

As a resident of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, I tired of hearing critics of congestion pricing invoke the support of working families in the boroughs.

Like most of my friends and neighbors, I commute to Manhattan every day on public transit, by taking the B-6 bus to Flatbush Ave/Brooklyn College, then transferring to the No. 2 train to East 34th Street, then walking a few blocks to work. In all I spend about two and a half hours every workday using public transportation.

I support congestion pricing not because it is good for the environment and would help mitigate climate change - although I do think it will - but because it will make my commute easier.

Even though I am in the minority of New Yorkers who own a car, I keep it parked on my block during the workday. It's impossible to drive to work. I would be crazy to fight the traffic every morning and either pay exorbitant parking fees or circle for another two hours for a spot. What I, as well as my neighbors, want is improved transit. More express bus service to underserved areas is great, but without a reduction in traffic, express buses are hardly express. As we all know, we sit in traffic on buses before we even get to Manhattan, and a big part of the reason why is that people from the northern and western suburbs drive through Brooklyn and Queens to take the toll-free east river bridges and make it impossible for anyone to go anywhere.

Not only would a fee reduce traffic overall, it would disperse traffic equally with the same fee levied against every driver, no matter where he or she is coming from. There would no longer be an incentive to crowd the East River bridges unless it was truly your fastest way to work.

Why are we allowing this debate to be hijacked by the small minority, about five percent, of outer borough residents who drive to work, most of whom have comparable transit options available? If they have to drive, then fine, let them pay for it, and enjoy a faster commute as a result. I think most of us would like good, fast transit options, whether they be more efficient subway lines or more express buses, and we would like the ability to drive when we absolutely need to without spending the whole morning in traffic.

It's very easy to say no and to rally people against to what seems like just another fee, but if this is truly distasteful to critics, I challenge them to come up with an alternative that will improve transit and decrease car traffic. Doing nothing isn't an option, and it's time we give doing something a try.

Eddie Arrabito

East 49th Street