Jersey City: Voicer Jamie Geiger is “sick and tired” of hearing about the trials and tribulations that the immigrant ancestors of “upper-class neighbors” experienced. Geiger concludes the absurd rant by asking if our ancestors pulled themselves up under the same conditions that Black Americans have experienced.
Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco sit handcuffed together in prison. (Daily News Photo)
Geiger is in dire need of a history lesson. Italian immigrants suffered immensely, including being lynched. For example, on March 11, 1891, 11 Italian-Americans and immigrants in New Orleans were murdered by a mob for their alleged role in the killing of police chief David Hennessy. This was one of the largest single mass-lynchings in American history. Two Italian immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, were wrongly accused, jailed and executed for murdering a security guard and a paymaster during a robbery. While Joe DiMaggio thrilled New York with his hitting streak in 1941, his parents were classified as “enemy aliens.” They were required to carry photo ID booklets at all times and were not allowed to travel outside a five-mile radius from their home without a permit. Joltin’ Joe’s father was barred from San Francisco Bay, where he had fished for decades, and the U.S. government confiscated his boat.
The discrimination and deformation of those of us with Italian ethnicity continue to this very day. Hollywood still takes liberties by portraying Italians as gangsters and Mafiosi. Perhaps Geiger is “upset” that the ancestors of upper-class neighbors overcame adversity and they actually made something of their lives instead of simply whining and complaining. Jack D’Elia
Manhattan: To Voicer Fred Schoeneborn: No, Fred, not suppositions but actual unwritten truths within my community — truths obviously and blatantly discarded by the perceived privilege and utter ignorance of people like you and your Republican ilk. And just like Blacks, whites are shot more by their own kind. The only difference is Blacks are also shot by cops. And lastly, I pray Democrats repeal gun laws as well as the Second Amendment. Sterling Waterman
Bronx: Mayor Adams says he has not found a good government group that says anything nice. Maybe it’s because there is nothing nice to say. W. Twirley
Staten Island: Are you aware, Voicer Bob Pascarella, that the building of a barrier at our southern border began in 1909? It was extended in the 1920s. In 1954, the U.S. government initiated Operation Wetback, a project to deport illegal Mexican immigrants (who presumably got wet swimming across the Rio Grande River). In 2006, George W. Bush signed into law the Secure Fence Act, partially funding the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. Incidentally, border fencing built during the Bush and Obama administrations cost five times less than that built under the Trump administration. Remember, Trump said he would make Mexico pay for the wall. It cost us $20 million per mile! Eileen Zanelli
Larchmont, N.Y.: Now that the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack has supposedly finished its investigation, the fact that they plan on disseminating the information in several primetime television broadcasts indicates to me that their findings are damning. Instead of wasting time doing this, the information should be sent directly to the attorney general for review. Based on his review, assuming the information is as bad as it appears, Donald Trump and any of his accomplices should be brought up on treason charges and prosecuted in a court of law. The longer this thing drags out, the better chance he has of getting away with his actions. If the midterm elections pan out the way most pundits think, this whole investigation will be for naught. Steve Michaud
Glen Head, L.I.: Voicer Robert Cappio, still suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, alludes to the fact that former Gen. Michael Flynn “pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and still got off scot-free.” Mr. Cappio left out a major point: The FBI threatened to go after Flynn’s family and indict his son if he did not plead guilty! That’s why the Obama “Justice” Department took jail time off the table and recommended probation for Flynn. Was Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann threatened by the FBI in any manner? Highly unlikely! He simply lied to cover Hillary’s backside! Robert Kralick
San Francisco: Second Amendment extremists like to use the phrase, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Conceding that this is true, then the only logical and common sense thing to do would be to do everything humanly possible to prevent dangerous people (criminals, the mentally ill, violent abusers, etc.) from accessing guns, especially weapons of war (AR-15s, for example). So, is this the case? Not even close. Even though approximately 90% of the American people agree on rational, sane legislation like universal background checks and red flag laws, certain people warn that even these most modest of proposals would be a “slippery slope.” Truth is, the most slippery slope of all, by far, is doing nothing. For decades now, the NRA has argued that more guns are the answer. Clearly, that has not worked. Time for a new approach. Jimmy Layton
Somers, N.Y.: Excuse me, Voicer Robert Medoro, but your hyperbole is clearly evident when you believe that good gun safety measures will “eviscerate the Second Amendment.” Nothing can be further from the truth. Stop comparing common-sense gun laws with operating a motor vehicle. If you want to compare, then everyone would need to pass a test and obtain a license to own a gun. Please, use some common sense along with some human compassion when children go to school and are ruthlessly slaughtered with an assault-style weapon. You can own a car but not a tank. You can own a gun but should not be able to own and use an AR-15. There is absolutely no need for such a powerful weapon. Let’s come together to help support our representatives in passing sensible and safe gun regulations. No one is trying to take your guns away. Just make sure that weapons that can kill many in a short period of time are never in our arsenal. Michael Gold
Jacksonville, Fla.: I agree with Leonard Greene’s column in Sunday’s Daily News (”We may need graphic pics of carnage as wakeup call,” June 5) that the cowardly Republicans in Congress, who have their pockets lined with NRA cash, need to have the gruesome pictures of the bullet-ridden bodies of those 10-year-old children put in their faces on national TV! I bet if one of their children were shot in a school, they would sing a different tune quickly! An 18-year-old boy with a semiautomatic weapon meant only for war murders 19 children and the Republicans say it’s a mental health crisis, not a gun crisis! Are they dumb or just stupid? Carl Hafner
Larchmont, N.Y.: I am appalled by the violence taking place across our nation. Our young ones are being slaughtered East, West, South and North. It just doesn’t stop. Unfortunately, we have lax laws in place that allow this. And we can thank one of our two major political parties for, in effect, greenlighting the mayhem being perpetrated against our young ones. No, I’m not talking about school shootings. I’m talking about abortion. Cecily Carrigan
Fort Lee: When the Yankees shut the fans out on Friday nights and other days (including one of the Subway Series games), I turn on WFAN and listen to it. When the game was on Peacock for an 11:30 a.m. game, the team didn’t mind but the postgame broadcaster definitely did. She doesn’t have Peacock at home so she drove to the station and discovered they don’t have Peacock at WFAN either! So she did what I did: She turned on John Sterling so she would have the information to do the postgame show! Stupid, isn’t it, Yankees? As silly as having to sit in front of a computer or look at a laptop and shell out a few hundred bucks a year to watch a baseball game, as noted by Voicer Jeff Tuck. Joan Weisberg
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Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News