Accessory dwelling units, school bus driver shortage, NYC crime

Want a nice home? Make sacrifices

No doubt we need more affordable housing, but accessory dwelling units are not the answer [“ADU’s can help housing crisis,” Editorial, Jan. 26].

To become a homeowner, I worked two jobs to buy a house in a nice residential suburb. I went to college at night to get a better job and earn more money.

Now, I feel the new normal is that people don’t want to make the sacrifices necessary to buy a home.

I want to live in a $5 million house in the Hamptons. Should residents allow me to live in their shed overlooking the water because I can’t afford a house there?

Some houses are close together. ADUs will fill the already crowded side streets with more cars, overfill cesspools that were not designed for the extra people and add to already incredibly heavy traffic.

At the Huntington Town board meeting, many people were angry because of the shortsighted way the board tried to get an approval to go through.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says there is demand for ADUs, but at whose expense? The homeowners who add an ADU will get the rent, the renters get cheap housing, Hochul gets more votes, and I get more congestion.

Even now, the town apparently can’t enforce the code.

— Mike Yando, Elwood

A reader wrote, “If people can’t afford to live someplace, they should find someplace else to live” “ADUs need strict guidelines for plan to succeed,” Letters, Jan. 28]. That is classic NIMBYism and reactionary.

Someone who has family, friends, and a job in the area should move just because someone thinks affordable housing is socialism?

My son has been actively saving to buy for years. Rising taxes, interest rates and home prices have kept knocking him out of the market. And he isn’t alone.

The real issue is infrastructure. Space, environmental issues, sewers, roads, and bridges off this island are the real issues to talk about before more housing.

People need to study the facts instead of emotionally denying people a roof for their family.

Socialism isn’t all bad, unlike dictatorships and communism. Socialism pays for your kids’ schooling, library, filled potholes, etc. Let’s get it straight, please.

— Michelle Urso, West Babylon

I sensed a reader’s frustration, his restraint and his common sense. Often as I read readers’ letters, I wonder how such a smart electorate ends up with some unthinking elected officials.

Maybe we, the people, need more town hall meetings and fewer form letters.

Do the people we put in office really care what we think — or only how we vote?

— Karen Pascale, Baiting Hollow

It’s sure not easy being a bus driver

I was a bus driver for 21 years [“Driver shortage fallout,” News, Jan. 30]. To be a bus driver, an individual must pass a written commercial driver’s license test that consists of mechanical and safety knowledge. At least Gov. Kathy Hochul has exempted the road test. In addition to that license, though, a bus driver must have a passenger endorsement.

Once the road test is completed, to be hired as a bus driver, the driver must have references, be fingerprinted, pass a background check, have a clean driving record throughout the year, pass a medical test every year, pass a physical performance test every other year, pass a state written test every other year, pass random drug and alcohol testing, pass a biannual behind-the-wheel test, take one required 20-hour safety course, and participate in two safety refresher courses during the school year.

A bus driver will be scrutinized by supervisors, administrators, parents and students. A driver cannot be harsh to students or parents or make a mistake while driving, while ensuring that students are safely picked up and dropped off.

Without a sense of humor and a strong disposition, it is unlikely a driver will last longer than a month. Yes, the bus driver turnover rate is high.

— Pete Scott, Centerport

Veto of NYPD bill says a lot about the city

New York Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, correctly laid out the reasons why inundating our fine men and women of law enforcement with more unnecessary paperwork is absolutely absurd.

So, liberal members of the New York City Council overrode his veto of a bill requiring that [“Override of Adams’ veto of 2 bills,” News, Jan. 31].

This just further exemplifies some reasons why crime has spun out of control. Unless and until our government leaders take a hard line against criminals, the situation will only deteriorate.

Why would anyone want to be an NYPD officer or, for that matter, continue living in this type of environment?

— Larry Horn, East Norwich