Astoria: “Lone survivor of 1984 massacre” (March 24) brought back memories of Christopher Thomas, set free after spending 34 years behind bars for one of the most notorious crimes New York has ever had. Even the hardened criminals on Rikers Island were horrified by the brutal murders of two adult females and eight children. I was a correction officer on duty that dreadful night when the news of the killings flashed on the television screen. The inmates watched in stunned silence, until a voice screamed out, “We’ll be waiting for your ass when you get here.”
Two months went by before an arrest was finally made. Thomas was found in the Bronx House of Detention on an unrelated charge — sodomizing his mother. I just finished reading the details of his arrest when all of a sudden, Thomas was right in front of me. It was like he jumped out of the newspaper. He had the same devilish look and wore the same shirt as in his photo on the front page. I was working the elevator post inside Rikers Island Hospital, and a captain who escorted Thomas asked to be taken to the Protective Custody Unit, the only place that could save this shell of a man.
He was eventually convicted of a downgraded charge of manslaughter, an insult to every New Yorker. On his sentencing day, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ronald Aiello said, “Christopher Thomas belongs in jail for the rest of his life.” He compared him to “Son of Sam” David Berkowitz, saying, “I thought I had met the worst person in my life then, until I met you.” Aris Sakellaridis
Woodside: You’ve heard of the “Do Not Call” list, right? Well, I have the candidate “Do Not Vote” list. Anyone on the list never gets my vote again. The cruel congestion pricing “done deal” will add many to my list. Oh yeah, I know who you are. Linda Carlson
Monroe Township, N.J.: As I read about congesting pricing supposedly benefiting the MTA, I have a question or two. According to what I have read, the MTA is counting on monies generated by congestion pricing to update the subway signal system and the system in general. However, I also read the MTA is losing about $700 million annually to fare-beaters. Even if this figure is inflated, they are losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Is there no accountability? Is the only answer to expect the driving public to cover their careless operating procedures? This carelessness is simply accepted while they pass the buck without regard to the average New York consumer. Steven Bellish
Middle Village: To Channel 11 News: Your report on M train service disruptions is incorrect. The M train runs as a shuttle between Metropolitan Ave. and Myrtle Ave./Broadway in Brooklyn during off-peak hours. This is clearly stated on the MTA website. So, why is there a service disruption on the M line when the track work is nowhere near the area where the shuttle runs? Clearly, the MTA doesn’t check these things, and even worse, forwards this to Channel 11. To the stuffed shirts at the MTA: Is this an example of why we need congestion pricing? You need to run a railroad, not a country club. Peter S. Santoro
Greenburgh, N.Y.: When I cast my ballot for president of the United States in the early voting for the April 2 primary, I felt cheated. Democrats and Republicans who took the time to vote for the most important position in the nation were being asked to cast their ballots after the frontrunners for both parties had secured enough delegates to win their parties’ nominations. What’s the sense of holding an election after the nominees have been selected? New York always schedules the presidential primaries on a day that the vote is meaningless. The state Legislature should commit to doing something different in four years — hold the presidential primary on Super Tuesday, when states throughout the nation vote. It would make our vote more meaningful. I want mine to count. Paul Feiner
Yonkers: To Voicer Regina Rossi: Regarding your sentiments about Donald Trump and how you “anxiously await the day he will be gone from this Earth,” funny how myself and millions of others feel the same way about losers like you and the Democratic Party. Ralph A. Manente
Mount Sinai, L.I.: In this existential crisis, you continue to feature the moronic, lame “Bottom Liners” bottom feeders comic strip. It’s offensive, uninformative and insulting to actual humans. Pandering to MAGA is not journalism. Voicer Bob Pascarella’s letters should be enough stupid for a newspaper. Elliot Skydel
Briarwood: To Voicer Joseph N. Manago: Why stay in Briarwood if you have the opportunity to live in a “propiska” in Moscow? I say run, run, run into the arms of Mother Russia! Let us know firsthand how happy you are so far away from the good old U.S.A. Your vacated space here will quickly be snatched up. Patricia Nuzzi
Ridgewood: Children should ride in clean electric school buses, not dirty diesel ones, or propane ones either (“Electrifying boost for the city,” March 19). Zero tailpipe emissions reduce student respiratory ailments and sick days and improve academic performance. Students need all the help they can get catching up after the lockdown left them struggling academically. Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul have each committed to electric school buses for all children by 2035. This development is not just good for children, but for the communities that host bus garages, the overall level of pollution and the economics of running schools. Zero-emissions buses may be more expensive up front, but federal funding is there to help purchase them, and they are much cheaper to maintain and operate than the old kind — and safe, reliable and quiet. As a mother in NYC, I navigate my first-grader among idling school bus tailpipes every day on our bike commute. Chandra Bocci
San Mateo, Calif.: Might we establish a no-fly zone over Gaza? We need to enforce the mandatory ceasefire resolution by the UN Security Council over those who refuse to follow international law. The conflicts in Lebanon and with the Houthi forces are only happening due to the Gaza conflict, nothing more. We accomplish several good outcomes at once. Hostages can only be exchanged in a ceasefire condition. The International Court of Justice is investigating the perpetrators of the October outrages as well as the war crimes after that event. All can only be brought to justice with international cooperation, not unilateral, indiscriminate violence against the entire population of Gaza. Enforcing international law would go a long way in achieving a repair of the hypocritical image of our nation. Mike Caggiano
Stratford, Conn.: Poor Angel Reese (“LSU’s Reese on death threats and attacks: ‘I’m still a human,’ ” April 3). Call the wambulance! When she was giving all those hand signs and talking smack when LSU was winning, there was no mention of the death threats and the bad people who dissed her. She made her bed, now sleep in it. Her team consists of pugs, thugs and mugs. So happy they lost — has nothing to do with color, they are just mean. Peter Sulzicki
Lindenhurst, L.I.: Why does our Legislature jeopardize the life and health of all citizens? The CDC held that smoking marijuana can have health risks regardless of how it is used, because THC is impairing and can affect memory, attention, decision-making and risk-taking. It’s bad enough that the individual is affected, but what about everyone else who is affected by secondhand smoke? What about children exposed to it? Your neighbor smokes outside and it permeates your house. Is that right or fair? In addition, it has the same potential for cancer as cigarettes. Are we to wait 20 years and then realize too late that we’ve destroyed health and lives? Eliminate this law now! Louise Perrotta
Readers sound off on a released child killer, MTA revenue and marijuana health risks
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05.04.2024
Astoria: “Lone survivor of 1984 massacre” (March 24) brought back memories of Christopher Thomas, set free after spending 34 years behind bars for one of the most notorious crimes New York has ever had. Even the hardened criminals on Rikers Island were horrified by the brutal murders of two adult females and eight children. I was a correction officer on duty that dreadful night when the news of the killings flashed on the television screen. The inmates watched in stunned silence, until a voice screamed out, “We’ll be waiting for your ass when you get here.”
Two months went by before an arrest was finally made. Thomas was found in the Bronx House of Detention on an unrelated charge — sodomizing his mother. I just finished reading the details of his arrest when all of a sudden, Thomas was right in front of me. It was like he jumped out of the newspaper. He had the same devilish look and wore the same shirt as in his photo on the front page. I was working the elevator post inside Rikers Island Hospital, and a captain who escorted Thomas asked to be taken to the Protective Custody Unit, the only place that could save this shell of a man.
He was eventually convicted of a downgraded charge of manslaughter, an insult to every New Yorker. On his sentencing day, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ronald Aiello said, “Christopher Thomas belongs in jail for the rest of his life.” He compared him to “Son of Sam” David Berkowitz, saying, “I thought I had met the worst person in my life then, until I met you.” Aris Sakellaridis
Woodside: You’ve heard of the “Do Not Call” list, right? Well, I have the candidate “Do Not Vote” list. Anyone on the list never gets my vote again. The cruel congestion pricing “done deal” will add many to my list. Oh yeah, I know who you are. Linda Carlson
Monroe Township, N.J.: As I read about congesting pricing supposedly benefiting the MTA, I have a question or two.........
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