Ellen Levitt News Today

In bold defiance of the antisemitism that’s been raging since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Jewish New Yorkers are putting Hanukkah in the spotlight this year -- with bigger and bolder decorations.

To fix Rikers, invest in comprehensive reforms Bronx: As a former NYC correction officer and past president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association for more than 20 years, it saddens me to see what Rikers Island has become. It is faced with a possible federal takeover, all due to a lack of resources that should have been directed to the Department of Correction years ago. The decay ...

Brooklyn: Re “Rudy wanted to ‘feel like Bill Clinton’: suit” (May 16): Two observations come to mind when I hear lazy people ask why Noelle Dunphy would continue to work for Looney Giuliani if he was sexually assaulting her and not paying her on time, as her lawsuit claims.

Woodside: Having landed in New York City as an immigrant in the late 1980s, I can vividly recollect my horror when I first witnessed armies of rats frolicking on the subway tracks fearlessly, in plain sight. In fact, they were not tiny, cartoon-like figures and were far, far away from the fantasized Mickey and Minnie Mouse, for their size and aggression was intimidating.

Olcott, N.Y.: The repugnant administration/union blame game in “Plan to hire civilian outsiders riles jails” (Dec. 26) is so typical of the evil affecting the lives of many jail and prison inmates across America. These leaders bicker over politics while offering not one shred of care or concern for the 19 detainees who perished under their reprehensible, absentee watch. 19! Dead. The Rikers 19!

Mineola, L.I.: Notwithstanding Michael D’Antonio’s admonitory op-ed about a resurgent Trump in 2024 (“Be afraid: Trump 2024 is a real threat to America,” Nov. 20), the Mar-a-Lago miscreant’s egocentrism and incessant focus on the Big Lie regarding the 2020 election will prove to be his undoing.

Rockaway Park: After the strange judgments the Supreme Court has issued, I’m beginning to wonder if we really need them. I’m not aware of any other countries having a system like ours, and the lifetime tenure law was made under the mistaken belief that if the justices are given assurances that they will be able to stay in power for as long as they want, they will not be affected by outside influences.

Tales of being forced to sing Christmas carols and recite the Lord's Prayer abound in our reader's experiences of public school education.

Opelika, Ala.: It’s imperative that Mayor Adams and Schools Chancellor David Banks heed Dr. Sally Shaywitz’s recommendations and fight effectively to diminish the dyslexia scourge.

Brooklyn: As a retired NYC teacher and staff developer, I discovered during 34 years what was most important for effective teaching and learning. Lowering all class sizes to below 24 is not only unrealistic, but it is also unnecessary. We simply do not have enough classrooms or teachers for that to happen in a system that is charged with educating approximately 1 million students.