Millburn, N.J.: Re “Icon and inspiration” (Sept. 3): Serena Williams inspires not only young fans but old ones. After she lost, I woke up feeling that I had also lost something. I cried on the way to the bagel store. I’ve been joyfully watching her shine and fight through it all for the last 25 years. In her last run (praying not!) at the U.S. Open, Serena the GOAT gave us her all. I clenched my fist and screamed “Come on!” with her smashes at pivotal points. When she was up, I was on my feet. When she was down and took a towel, I nervously took a snack from the fridge.
Her first two wins were matches of stunning skill, recovery, resiliency and fight. During her third match, she was in a second-set tie-breaker fighting for survival. I got out my running shoes and took a walk. When I got back, she had won the tie-breaker. My heart leaped. We were on our way until her opponent became impenetrable. The Queen played the game of her life at 1-5 down, fighting off five match points that were among the greatest shots in tennis I have ever seen, but she wasn’t able to pull this one out.
At Serena’s final twirl and farewell, I realized that she had taught me to have more fight to turn things around. I thought of a Black woman from Compton who had broken racial barriers her whole life. I realized that she had made a middle-aged white woman feel so at one with her all these years. In a country so divided, what a win. Wendy Missan
Serena made what is likely her final professional appearance at the U.S. Open. (Andrew Schwartz/For New York Daily News)
Saddle Brook, N.J.: After watching the Yankees the last two months, I feel that their success with RISP (runner in scoring position) is more like RIP. Joseph M. Savoia
Bay Shore, L.I.: One good thing about the Yankees streaming games (if there are any) is that I started to keep a box score to follow John Sterling’s ramblings on the radio while watching Mets games on TV. John T. O’Connell
Whitestone: Please, Pete Alonso, stop swinging at pitches that are at the letters or above. The Braves and Dodgers showed that you have trouble with good high fastballs, so those will be all you will see for the rest of the season. You are not like Jose Altuve or Vlad Guerrero Sr., who hit pitches above the strike zone. Lay off the high fastballs and you will see that most of the ones you have been swinging at are not strikes. Dorothy Lyons
Yonkers: President Biden’s so-called “Soul of the Nation” speech is just the latest example of a politician who desperately wants Americans to ignore the dystopian catastrophe that his presidency represents. His wordy dissembling does nothing to bring Americans together as he promised when he took office and represents yet more snarky prevarication. It is pathetic to hear Biden talk about togetherness and unity, for along with the anti-American, far-left kakistocracy that has taken control of the Democratic Party, they have torn the country asunder by their ceaseless efforts to extirpate the true soul of America, which is their ultimate goal. To hear him speak of “saving” the nation’s soul while vilifying at least half of American citizens is emetic. Veracity and compassion have never been among Biden’s attributes and this latest bushwa does nothing to change that reality. James McCaffrey
Ridgewood, N.J.: Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Jerry Nadler are self-righteous idiots. Marriage is a sacrament in all religions, not the government. The U.S. has no state religion and should steer clear of defining marriage. Imposing their beliefs on others is tyranny. Peter J. Peirano
North Bergen: I have seen so many interviews around the country with people stating how student loan forgiveness is unfair to them. The most current one was in Scranton, Pa. People were comparing their mortgage loans, farm loans, etc. to student loans. They are nothing alike. In one example, you can lock in an interest rate on your mortgage but you cannot do so on a student loan. Your payment due can grow every year without warning. If you do your homework on this issue, you will agree that this forgiveness is a very good thing. Diane McNeill Capozzi
Old Bridge, N.J.: To Voicer Michele P. Brown: A Donald Trump supporter has never met a fact that wasn’t labeled “fake news.” It’s very difficult to enlighten donkeys. If we didn’t know it before, the Trump gang has strongly driven it home! Janet Cecin
Milford, Pa.: The prime function of the government is to protect its people. That said, why does our government allow our drugs to be made in China, which has a government that is openly hostile to us? If this is not a matter of national security, I don’t know what is. We all know that most bad things come from there (murder hornets, the spotted lanternfly and COVID-19, among other things). Are we that naive that we’ll give them the rope they’ll use to hang us with? Wake up! Robert K. Greco
Belvidere, N.J.: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is spreading the wealth (of illegal immigrants) to NYC, D.C. and Chicago. He has been busing them to these Democratic cities because Texas is beyond capacity to harbor them. And these three cities’ mayors are griping about it. But since March of 2021, with the launch of Operation Lone Star, 287,000 illegal immigrants have flooded into Texas and swamped their resources. President Biden has deaf ears for Abbott and the U.S.-Mexico border crisis. But Biden might listen to the Democratic mayors of these three major metropolitan cities. Maybe it takes some persuasion (and griping) from his own political ilk for Biden to “see” the border crisis. Dan Arthur Pryor
Massapequa Park, L.I.: With all the recent name-calling and party-bashing coming from the White House, it is time to take a very serious look at the direction our country is going. The man who promised to unite this country has split it almost in half. Until there is not a single American without a home, health care or a proper education, our borders should be closed. Until all American veterans are given the resources they earned, illegal immigrants should not be given cell phones and $400-a-night hotels in New York City. If misinformation is now a crime, then White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre should be the first one charged for claiming in a recent press conference that people are not walking across our southern border, some infected with COVID, and allowed to stay. Raymond P. Moran
Snohomish, Wash.: Such a sad situation the Bravo family faces — eviction leading to possible homelessness (”City families are on edge as the pandemic eviction pause ends,” Sept. 4). There are thousands of families in New York and millions in America dealing with the affordable housing crisis, forced to choose between paying for food, rent, gas and other necessities. The expanded Child Tax Credit provided a ladder out of poverty for millions of families. Although this refundable tax credit has not been renewed yet, it provides a proven example of how to bring immediate relief to families. A refundable renters’ tax credit modeled after the Child Tax Credit could insure that families would pay affordable rent and not be evicted or swell the rising tide of homelessness. With the elections upon us, let’s vote for candidates who support both the renewal of the Child Tax Credit and legislating a new renters’ tax credit. Willie Dickerson
East Meadow, L.I.: To Voicer Manny Agostini: Despite the unhinged ramblings of the likes of Tucker Carlson and the Fox News pundits, Cleotha Abston, who murdered Eliza Fletcher, was tried, convicted, sentenced, then released from prison early, all in Tennessee, a Republican-led state. It is ludicrous that you blame Democrats for his being free to commit murder. I half expect you to blame Hunter Biden’s laptop for it next. Richard Skibins
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News