A darker side of Jimmy Breslin
Woodside: Jimmy Breslin was a great writer and I loved his books, but he was not always nice and truthful when doing a story. I know firsthand. In 1966, a good friend of mine, Bobby O’Malley, was the first Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. In Queens, he was in a club called the Maspeth Lounge. Jimmy got word that Bobby was there, and showed up with a camera crew. Bobby said he wanted to be left alone.
Then a close friend of O’Malley’s named Pete Magee gave Bob a bottle of Chivas Regal. Bobby was playing softball on a Saturday when Jimmy and a camera crew went to his house on 48th St. When Jimmy went into Bobby’s bedroom, he found something very common in Irish households, a statue of the Blessed Mother. Jimmy also found the bottle that Magee had given to O’Malley, which he took from the closet and put on the dresser.
Breslin did not write about what Bobby had been through. Bobby was shot up badly in Vietnam, in the major battle called Operation Starlight. Once he was stable in Vietnam, he was shipped to Japan, where he spent a year in a military hospital. When Bobby returned, there were parades in his honor and his picture was on the front page of every New York newspaper.
Bobby was very shy and did not want publicity. Breslin had other ideas. In a column, he wrote that Bobby, and any Irish man who wins the Medal of Honor, become drunks who are put in the closet and taken out when there is a parade. Breslin wrote other twisted articles like the one he did on the Parking Violations Bureau and Donald Manes, and a bar named Pep McGuire’s on Queens Blvd.
Breslin was a great reporter but not a nice person. Gene McGovern
Get a party started
Astoria: Here’s the answer to Shaun King’s disenchantment with the Democratic Party: It’s time for us progressives to establish our own party and run our own candidates. Jerry Kann
Striking Flint
Uniondale, L.I.: President Trump is willing to spend millions of dollars on a wall to keep certain people out of this country. How about spending some of that money on correcting the water problem in Flint, Mich.? Geneva Hunter
Listen here
Brooklyn: About the question of President Trump’s wiretaps: They say none were found. I’m amazed about that, with modern technology that can pick up voices from space, and CIA bugs that can listen through your TV. So who’s lying? The reason you are all against Donald Trump since day one is that he said no to special interests and lobbyists getting over on him. Ciro Coppola
T for Trump and thanks
Brooklyn: To my President: A world of thanks for what you’ve accomplished in less than two months in office. You’ve covered more ground in your tireless campaign, more than any other President in the history of our nation. You’ve given up a good life to lead our country and its people. To all who are still wasting time and effort on TV, radio and newspapers finding fault — I say you deserveto clean out the bilges. Salvatore P. Dragotto
‘Future’ shock
Flushing: Is it just me, or does President Trump remind anyone else out there of Biff Tannen in “Back to the Future”? Elaine Jacoby
Pull the police
Flushing: Re President Trump’s possible cutbacks to New York City’s counterterrorism money, I have a solution: Pull out NYPD officers who supply protection to Trump Tower, the United Nations and diplomatic consulates. Since the military budget will be dramatically increased, the police can remove security at these locations. This will allow the NYPD to put money and personnel back into the counterterrorism fight. Joe Grimm
In bad company
Howard Beach: To Voicer Carlos Garcia: Perhaps you should read your own history. It gets tiring that because only white people are accused of being racist, white people can make inflammatory remarks about whites under the guise of truth or history. Before making statements about what white people did to Native Americans, look at what Spain did to the natives in Puerto Rico, Cuba, South America and Mexico. What happened to the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs? How many civilizations were destroyed by the Conquistadors’ quest for gold? History will show the world conquered and enslaved. Bennett Lavorino
Not Preet
Glen Oaks: With Preet Bharara we finally had a U.S. attorney doing a great job. Shame on President Trump. He was doing what he was supposed to do. Gerry Tehan
Pray for our Prez
Brooklyn: Everyone now reading this can get down on their knees and thank God profusely for our great President, Donald Trump. He stands for religious freedom and the end of mothers having their children murdered through abortions. Trump could have had a splendid life, but instead he chose to fight the tremendous evil that is thoroughly saturated in our government system today. He didn’t have to take all of the abuse he is taking. He chose to fight the good fight. May God bless America and God bless President Trump. Amen. Wanda Lucci
Shovel it
Brooklyn: I am 85 years old and can remember as a young man when during a snowstorm, all crosswalks were shoveled. When we have a snowstorm nowadays, the crosswalks are a disaster. It is an accident waiting to happen. What must the tourists think? William Bosworth
Monitoring the monitor
East Elmhurst: Re “Snoop-ervisor” (March 7): This is so wrong. The NYPD doesn’t need a “civilian watchdog” on the panel to protect Muslims from unconstitutional monitoring. The NYPD is the finest law enforcement agency on the planet. Let them do their job and leave them alone. Jon Girodes
No-B.S. detector
Brooklyn: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been rising for at least 200 years. Scott Pruitt, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, insists that the pollutant does not contribute to global warming. To heighten the public’s awareness of CO2, detectors can be installed in homes so everyone can measure the increases for themselves and possibly connect it to the trend toward warmer weather. We already have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Why not add one more? Steve Smith
View across the water
Union City, N.J.: I happen to like New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio (“The city’s shelters of shame,” March 12). Why is City Councilman Donovan Richards blaming him? I’m from New Jersey — Hudson County, Hoboken, once a tavern town that has for some years been turned into Yuppieville. So I’m guessing that New Jersey and New York do things differently. Actually, I’m surprised that Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer lets that continue, as people probably are paying large rents and have to deal with multiple problems, such as floods, train wrecks and sewage backups. New Yorkers should thank de Blasio instead of criticizing. Why should tenants have to put up with people not in their same price bracket or education? I had to for three long, terrible, painful, sorrowful years and I’m an American citizen, 61 years old, a retired banker, a housekeeper and homemaker, just to name a few of the hats I had to wear. My reward: put out of a house I worked for for 40 years. I’m an Eastern European second-generation American. I had to go to bad areas. I wasn’t happy. Stop fighting. Take what this country gave you and bear it as I have. Miz Baarahta
People in cages
Astoria: To Voicer Irv Leshkowitz: You bet, animals are better than people. Our prisons are saturated with people, not animals. I wonder why. Joe Ametrano
Cartoon character
Bronx: Was Voicer David Lang’s letter written in crayon? His defense of “Between the Lines,” by way of calling Voicer Gary Fletcher an imbecile, is very sad. Have your doctors at the home clean your sheets more often and ease up on the Ritalin. Ray Steinberg
