Ban road diets
Major kudos to Robert Rudnitsky for fighting the road diet planned for Castor Avenue. Road diets (and traffic “calming” and Vision Zero and Complete Streets) are an anti-automobile/anti-driver urban planning tool used to make driving so inconvenient, expensive and unpleasant that people will abandon their cars en masse to walk, bike or take transit. It doesn’t work, and it’s not the way people want to live.
Among other drawbacks, roads diets cause delay to fire and EMT vehicles to the extent that houses burn to the ground, and people die from heart attacks and strokes. In an emergency every second is crucial.
Over 80 percent of adult Americans drive and driving is the No. 1 way most Americans travel today. Five out of the top 10 most congested cities in the world are from the U.S. and that is why cities across the country are trying to find ways to combat congestion on existing roads. For many motorists, driving in a street that has been restricted with a road diet promotes even more traffic congestion than before the road diet. Remember, the whole point is to get people out of their cars.
Road diets should be banned.
Tom McCarey
Berwyn
Loyalty to country, not government
In John Farley’s June 4 Letter to the Editor entitled “Another Democrat Passover,” Mr. Farley writes: “Israel is our friend and ally. They deserve strong support from America. This should be a bipartisan issue.”
I am Jewish, and have a very strong emotional connection to the State of Israel. I deplore Hamas’ dastardly deeds of Oct. 7. However, I believe in the axiom “loyalty to the country (read: ally) always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” Disagreeing with what Israel’s government does is not anti-Semitic, any more than disliking Putin’s war is anti-Russian Orthodox.
Netanyahu’s continuance of the destruction of Gaza is accomplishing little. He must do so in order to please the right-wing members of his cabinet and Knesset (parliament), lest they leave the parliamentary coalition, thus dissolving the government. Netanyahu would then no longer be Prime Minister, and would therefore be eligible for prosecution on previous corruption charges. Many Israelis agree with me; witness the protests to bring home the hostages.
Mr. Farley goes on to say: “I would say to my Jewish friends, the Dems do not like Jews. […] Do as I did. Leave your party. Give your votes to candidates who respect Jews.”
Then why are there a healthy majority of American Jews who consider themselves Democrats? Would you have me join the Republican Party, the leader of which respects absolutely no one unless they can enrich or flatter him?
Saul Broudy
Fox Chase
McCormick must fund Planned Parenthood
When I was in my early 30s, I found myself without health insurance and in need of reliable birth control. I wasn’t looking to make a political statement, I just needed care. Planned Parenthood was the only place that welcomed me without judgment, without insurance and without charging more than I could afford. I received a birth control prescription, a health screening and compassionate, professional care. That support helped me stay healthy, plan for my future and avoid an unplanned pregnancy that could have derailed my future.
Now, I watch in terror as lawmakers threaten to defund Planned Parenthood and cut Medicaid, two of the few lifelines for people like me. For millions of patients, Planned Parenthood isn’t a “choice.” It’s the only option in many communities if you are underinsured, uninsured, living at or near poverty.
Defunding it strips away access to basic, preventive health care: birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and more. We can’t afford to let ideology get in the way of public health.
I am one of many whose lives were positively shaped by Planned Parenthood. We need to protect and fund this essential care, not take it away. Sen. McCormick, we’re counting on you to do the right thing.
Donna Robinson
South Philadelphia
