Bad Boys
Cops in New York once laughingly referred to Bernie Kerik as the “GED commissioner” (Giuliani’s Ex-Driver) [“Kerik With Tears,” by Craig Horowitz, April 4]. He was promoted not for his competence but for his blind loyalty to the former mayor. His scandals, bad judgment, and questionable ethics should have surprised no one. After all, as cops say, this is the man who “killed” his mother a second time to sell books.
—Ed Dunne, Manhattan
I have been waiting for definitive coverage of Cablevision versus the mayor [“Oedipus at the Garden,” by Joel Siegel, March 28], and of the rise and crash of Bernie Kerik. You should have artfully torn Jim Dolan and Kerik a new one. Instead we got “I really tried hard to do the right thing but sometimes things don’t go my way. Don’t hate me.” What puff!
—Bob Klein, Rochester, N.Y.
Leo Hindery Jr. is living in a dream world if he thinks that Democrats have forgotten that in 2001, Bronx Democratic Party boss Roberto Ramirez told Hispanics to sit out the mayoral election and not vote for Mark Green, a major advocate for minority issues [“Millionaire for Ferrer,” by Greg Sargent, April 4]. Fernando Ferrer and Ramirez stabbed Green in the back. As a result, City Hall remains in Republican hands. The passing of four years has not done anything to lessen my anger. For the first time in my life, I will be casting my vote for the Republican candidate, Michael Bloomberg.
—Reba Shimansky, Manhattan
Maestro
Stephen J. Dubner’s portrait [“The Scoop of His Life,” March 28] captured vividly the Joe Lelyveld I knew in the early eighties, when I was a Baltimore Sun correspondent in Johannesburg and rented an office from him. To further underscore his complexity: I remember driving in his Peugeot, on the way to a political meeting, listening to his favorite country singer, Bobby Bare, whose hit was “I’ve Never Gone to Bed With an Ugly Woman.” His other fave used to be Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys.
—Antero Pietila, Baltimore, Md.
Speed Demons
The three recent accidents at Gramercy Park [“Intelligencer: Gramercy Park Demolition Derby!” by Kate Pickert, April 4] were caused by vehicles speeding down Lexington Avenue toward Gramercy Park North. That’s why we recommended a de-synchronization of the traffic light on Lexington at 22nd Street to slow down traffic. In addition to these three accidents, there have been 55 accidents documented at that site over the past several years, 37 of which have occurred since 2002. You can’t blame those on Ian Schrager’s hotel construction.
—Arlene S. Harrison, Manhattan
President, Gramercy Park Block Association
Member, Trustees of Gramercy Park
Woman in the Mirror
When looking at “The Look Book” [by Amy Larocca, April 4], I noticed a striking resemblance between Dr. Rosalie Mishkin and Michael Jackson, who was featured in Amy Sohn’s column on the preceding page [“Behind the Mask”]. Did you deliberately make the psychologist look just like him?
—Kitty Goldman, Buffalo, N.Y.
Canned
The Bravery look and sound like they popped out of a Zeitgeist vending machine [“A Man, a Band, a Plan,” by Dave Itzkoff, March 28]. Imagine, here I was thinking that punk had killed off the Bay City Rollers. Apparently, they were just waiting for electroclash to blow over so they could make their big comeback as the Bravery. (Again with brilliant haircuts!) At least all those third-graders who have outgrown Barney but still think that Interpol makes icky, big-people music will now have a band they can call their own.
—Ken Scrudato, Manhattan
Cruel Fashion
Touting “the golden age of engorged duck liver” is surely not the best our city can do. [“Best of New York: Eating,” March 14–21]. Some New Yorkers are striving to create a golden age in which diners care for the planet, its people, and its ducks. I look forward to more enlightened picks.
—Joan Cameron, Brooklyn
Most New Yorkers have had to get used to a lot of things, including the hard-to-swallow fact that neither President George W. Bush nor his fumbled war in Iraq are going anywhere anytime soon. Your proclamation that “fur isn’t going anywhere” [“Fashion Week Europe: 5 x 10,” by Harriet Mays Powell and Amy Larocca, March 28] reminds us all again that cruelty is here to stay.
—C. Garnant, Manhattan
Correction
In the “New York Crossword: Hollywood’s April Fools” (April 4), the clue for 96-Across, omitted in error, should have read “Memorable Guinness.”
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