A couple of disagreements

To the editor:

I rarely disagree with Howard Elterman. But I have two problems with his "Adams reflex responses unhelpful" letter (The Chief, Sept. 16).

First, I agree with him that bad cops should not be blindly defended by Mayor Eric Adams or anyone else. But I also felt that when good cops are blindly attacked, that is also wrong.

Secondly, Jose Alba is not a cop. He worked in a Manhattan bodega when he took back a bag of potato chips from a girl because her mother couldn't pay for it. The girl's mother called her boyfriend, Austin Simon. Simon attacked the smaller, older (61-years old) Alba. Alba stabbed Simon in self-defense.

The fact that Simon did not use a weapon in the assault is irrelevant. He could have seriously harmed or killed Alba with his bare hands.

Now Simon's brother is threatening to sue Alba. Why? Because he refused to die? But I'm sure a lawsuit will not stop people from using weapons to defend themselves against criminals. As the old saying goes, "I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six."

On the matter of Nat Weiner's contentions (The Chief, Sept. 23): First, the benefits civil-service workers get are good. But you can't use them to pay rent and buy food. You still need wages above poverty.

Secondly, the fact that other people are poorer doesn't mean that many civil servants are not poor. It also does not mean that there aren't people (cops, firefighters, etc.) who make above poverty wages but are still underpaid.

If you want to play Weiner's game, that will create an endless race to the bottom. After all, those making the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour still receive more than "illegal" aliens who are paid less.

Richard Warren