WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN: Our Readers Respond

To the Editor:

For more than four years since the death of my nephew, Robert Viscome, those who loved and miss him dearly have endured much pain made the more unbearable by the existence of too many unanswered questions. In breaking my public silence I want to make it clear that I speak for myself only, moved to do so by the words of a campaign spokesperson for Jeanine Pirro.

Replying to a reporter’s question regarding her acceptance of thousands of dollars from beer and alcohol companies, he said, and I quote, “THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, PROHIBITION ENDED.” That was such a cold and callous statement from the camp of the woman who was so quick to try and use teen drinking as another venue to sell herself and her misguided, self-serving crusade against underage drinking.

Robert was left to die like a dog on the side of the road, two doors away from Pirro’s own home while more than 20 young adults made a conscious decision not to call for emergency medical assistance, because of their concern about the alcohol and drug evidence they chose to instead clean up. I want to point out the incredible insensitivity of Mrs. Pirro from that day to this, with regard to our loss.

It was disgraceful enough that she never prosecuted those young adults, not even seeking community service. Most people have come to believe that her daughter played a role in that decision. So now I am asking Mrs. Pirro a simple question seeking a simple yes or no answer. “Was your daughter at the Porzio residence at any time that dreadful afternoon?”

Four years ago, Mrs. Pirro was the CRUSADER against teenage alcohol abuse. Now she accepts their campaign contributions. What kind of message does that send? For an individual who states that she is passionate for crime victims, and that she knows the ethical way to handle a crime, Mrs. Pirro certainly does not appear to understand the difference between two simple words, RIGHT and WRONG.

Shortly after Robert’s passing, Mrs. Pirro began a campaign to rescue her image, not by going after those who played a direct role in his death, but by creating a smokescreen of concern about under-aged drinking with a series of well-circulated, premeditated public relation blitzes. It was not about getting to and exposing the facts.

Everyone involved in Robert’s death, from the young adults to those who were elected to serve the public, Police Chief Dave Hall to Judge John Voetsch, and everyone in between, all walk around haunted by their actions and lack of accountability. There’s no getting even. This was never about getting even. This is about two very simple words that Mrs. Pirro does not seem to understand, RIGHT and WRONG.

Ray Viscome
West Harrison

To the Editor:

Is the recent rotation in the matrimonial part historic or novel? Does anybody know what was contained in the reports of Inspector General Spatz?

Name Withheld

In Our Opinion....

In our opinion, there’s been entirely too much conjecture over the last few years, regarding the ultimate solution, to the crumbling and congested Tappan Zee Bridge. While experts and politicians have weighed in, may of them, numerous times, projected costs have continued to rise and conditions have continued to deteriorate.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that there is, in fact, a workable solution, one for which there is a model. The site of the Newburgh Beacon Bridges, just 30 miles up river, once posed a similar problem,
throughout the 1970’s. The original span, consisted of one lane of traf-fic in each direction, totally adequate, until the completion of Interstate 84, in 1971, when it quickly became an unbelievable bottleneck.

After years of suffering, it was ultimately determined that a second bridge would have to be constructed adjacent to the original. Upon completion of the new span, a three lane artery from West to East, it became possible to convert the old span to a three lane artery, once the center median was eliminated, with traffic flowing in the opposite direction. The net result was three-fold increase in roadway capacity.

While many of the proposals, to date, including a tunnel, or a new supersized bridge with, a railroad, may appear to offer a solution, they come with totally unacceptable price tags, and with equally unacceptable ecological consequences. Therefore, we believe the time for mulling over the situation has passed. It is equally urgent that we both promptly construct an additional right of way, a new bridge, and perform major rehablitiation on the existing one. That’s our opinion, what’s yours?

as for perennial Sue Kelly

Representative Sue Kelly, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on oversight and investigations, up to four weeks ago, had strongly supported the Bush Administration’s aggressive interdiction
of terrorist financial resources. Declaring that her record would strongly suggest support for a “sophisticated and aggressive program” such as the Administration has been pursuing, she, nevertheless, made an abrupt turn-about when she opened a hearing with, “Many in Congress who should have been briefed by this Administration
were not.”

The Congresswoman would appear to be responding to her changing constituency, and to the very real possibility of a Democratic landslide in New York this fall. She is obviously attempting to re-align herself with Democrats, and some liberal Republicans who have been speaking out against perceived Due Process and Separation of Powers violations under this president. Just how successful this late tactic will prove to be will be discovered come November 7th.