Reader’s Letters

Dear Editor 

Beth Davidson should check her facts before espousing on “false” claims.  In an effort to attack Lawler for failing to deliver, she had to concede that Lawler in fact did obtain funding.  Better to be thought dumb than to open your mouth and prove it.

Peggy Teslow

Dear Editor

Rep. Lawler, defend the tax credit that makes it easier to upgrade our homes and reduce costs

We recently replaced our 73 year old, polluting gas boiler with ducted heat pumps for both heating and cooling, providing central air for increasingly hot summers. The result? A cleaner, quieter, and more comfortable system—and lower air conditioning costs.

But it wasn’t cheap.  It was the state rebates and the federal tax credits for one third the value of the project, that made it possible.  By helping to incentivize the transition to this new technology, these tax credits also encourage more contractors to invest in the training needed to meet growing demand.  This is where the market is going.

But now, Congress may cut this tax credit. That would be a big mistake: these energy tax credits are about keeping energy affordable and helping innovative, enterprising small local businesses.  For me, they’re also about passing on a safer planet to our children and grandchildren.  

Recently Congressman Mike Lawler signed a letter defending these credits. I hope his votes will protect 25C. Eliminating the tax credit would set back the transition to a cleaner technology for heating and cooling.  It would also mean fewer choices for homeowners, higher energy costs, and less tax relief—at a time when families can least afford it. I urge others in District 17 to contact Congressman Lawler and tell him to protect these smart, commonsense investments in our future.

Peggy Kurtz 

To the Editor,

Donald Trump hates veterans! For whatever reason, he despises us! And he’s not particularly thrilled with our active duty forces either.

Trump denigrated Senator John McCain, a decorated naval aviator, POW, and a shipmate and personal hero of mine. He visited the Normandy battlefields and called those who lost their lives there, “suckers” and “losers” —and then shamefully tried to deny he ever said it. In violation of federal law, he produced a campaign commercial on the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery. He expressed disgust with having his picture taken with a disabled veteran because “no one wants to see that.”

He has presided over the reduction of veterans’ services, locally, the closing of the 20-bed inpatient acute care unit at Castle Point VA hospital, amid the firing of over 2,000 VA employees. It is reported that there will be an additional 80,000 firings at the VA, which means that there is no way that the current levels of veteran’s services can be maintained. And a disproportionate number of the thousands indiscriminately fired at other federal agencies have been veterans.

He demanded that General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, be court martialed—and executed, because Milley placed his oath to the Constitution above fealty to Trump himself. He subsequently fired Milley’s successor, General CQ Brown, as well as the heads of the Navy and the Coast Guard, ostensibly because they supported diversity in the military service. It is significant that General Brown is a Black man and the heads of the other services are women. He later fired General Haugh of the NSA and Admiral Chatfield of NATO. He has banned trans people from serving in the military and is currently trying to find ways to keep women from serving in combat roles.

He chose to play a round of golf rather than attend the solemn transfer ceremony at Dover AFB honoring four U.S. soldiers tragically killed during a training mission in Lithuania.

A few weeks ago, the American Legion Post in Croton-on-Hudson, NY sponsored a deeply moving and well-attended ceremony honoring local veterans who served in Vietnam. Did Donald Trump serve in Vietnam? Of course not! His daddy engineered a highly questionable medical deferment that exempted poor little Donald from any military service. And Trump’s five adult children? Has even one of them spent a single day in uniform? I think not!

And President Trump’s cowardly Republican acolytes in the Congress, most notably our own Congressman, Mike Lawler? Have any of them done a thing to restore the services torn from veterans or to enhance respect for current or former military veterans? They have not!

Is this the man you want for our Commander-in-Chief? My fellow veterans, think very carefully about that. Every day we served, we put on our uniforms and did our very best to fulfill our assigned duties. Does Donald Trump do that? Does Mike Lawler?

Assuming that we even have elections in 2026 and 2028, consider very carefully who has the backs of veterans and who holds them in disdain. Who will ensure that we get the services we have earned and who will gleefully throw us under the bus? Support those good people today and, when you enter the polling booth, vote for you own interests, for those are also the interests of the American people.

Sincerely,

Joel E. Gingold

Dear Editor

The undersigned 244 organizations strongly support the adoption of Senate Bill 1464 / Assembly Bill 1749. This bill will significantly reduce the proliferation of single-use plastic packaging, save local tax dollars, make packaging less toxic, reduce the amount of packaging material clogging landfills and being burned in incinerators, protect public health, and help the state meet the mandates outlined in the landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would:

– Reduce plastic packaging by 30% gradually over the next 12 years;

– Require 75% of the remaining packaging to be reused and/or recycled by 2052 with a minimum 20% being reused;

– Prohibit the false solution of “chemical recycling” from counting toward recycling targets;

– Save tax dollars by requiring companies to pay modest fees on packaging that encourage packaging to be reduced or designed for reuse and recyclability;

– Require these packaging fees to provide local taxpayer relief by paying local government the costs of recycling and disposal of single-use packaging, and to provide grants supporting reuse and refill projects; and

– Prohibit 17 toxic chemicals and materials from packaging that are known to be harmful to human health and the environment.

Exemptions:

– Companies that gross less than $5 million in sales;

– Agricultural cooperatives with fewer than 50 employees that produce dairy products;

– Infant formula and medical foods;

– Products regulated as drugs, medical devices, or dietary supplements by federal law;

– Animal biologics, including vaccines;

– Pesticide packaging;

– Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products;

– Architectural paint containers; and

– Beverage containers that have deposits and are covered by the Returnable Container Deposit Law (Bottle Bill).

Key provisions of this bill:

Recycling and reduction targets: Businesses that sell consumer products in New York state would be required to reduce single-use plastic packaging by 30% within 12 years, including packaging used to transport products. Remaining packaging would have to be redesigned to be refilled within a refill system or be truly recyclable; the bill mandates a 75% recycling rate, with a minimum of 20% of packaging reused, by 2052. A mere 5% to 6% of U.S. plastic waste is currently recycled, and it is most often turned into products or materials of lesser value (e.g., downcycled into plastic “lumber”). Because the bill will require packaging to be reduced, reused, or redesigned to be effectively recyclable, recycling facilities will no longer be inundated with worthless plastic waste that they pay to handle and then send to expensive landfills and incinerators.

New Yorkers support reducing plastic packaging. In a 2024 Siena poll, 82% of New York voters said that single-use plastic packaging is a problem. A bipartisan two-thirds (67%) support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Highest support was among African-American voters, with 81% in favor.

(Editors Note: a full list of this letters sponsors can be found at https:/www.beyondplastics.org)

Sincerely 

Beyond Plastics, New York

Blueland, New York

Consumer Reports, Yonkers

Earthjustice, New York

Food and Water Watch, Brooklyn

Rockland Audubon Society, New City

Dear Editor 

My husband and I along with friends went to Congressman Mike Lawler’s Pearl River office on March 21, 2025 to ask for his thoughts about President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plans for Medicare. We need answers to our questions: 1. Will our deductibles and copays for health services increase? 2. Will access to quality health services under Medicare be maintained? 3. Will our Medicare premiums increase?

Unfortunately, you don’t have answers to those because we saw our Congressman with his staff member dash from his office to his SUV and then sped out of the executive park. Shame! He avoided his constituents. Indeed, Lawler is on the run! 

Kathleen Haverlack Wasser

Nanuet NY 10954