Rented rooms help homeowners and housing needs

New City, N.Y.: There is a simple solution to relieving the current housing affordability crisis: Make boarding houses legal again! Did you know that Edgar Allan Poe wrote the poem “The Raven” while living in Mary Brennan’s farm house located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side? In today’s housing market, would Poe have been homeless?

In New York, there are hundreds of thousands of empty-nest elderly homeowners who struggle financially while living lonely lives of solitude. Passing a law allowing homeowners to have legal roommates will have an immediate effect upon excessive apartment rental prices. Boarding a room in a house is a lot cheaper than renting an apartment. Giving homeowners the right to have as many roommates as bedrooms would lower demand for housing, therefore lowering rental prices.

All over New York, there are hundreds of thousands of empty bedrooms that can’t be rented because of draconian laws passed by local town boards. For example, the Clarkstown Town Board has decreed that there will be no boarding houses, and only two unrelated people can live in the same house, no matter its size. Redefining family violates the most basic of constitutional rights.

In the past, common practice for empty-nest homeowners, especially widows, was to have boarders living in their empty bedrooms to help pay their bills and avoid eviction. Rooming houses were common! Also, because of the lack of affordable housing in New York, one-third of 30-year-olds still live with their parents! Matthew I. Brennan

Opening the gate for hate

Brooklyn: Mayor Mamdani decides to revoke a couple of the former mayor’s executive orders that combat antisemitism. The new mayor wants to define antisemitism himself. Basically, this would make it easier for more antisemitic attacks. Protesters would have more freedom to spread hate. I’m sure the federal government will have its eyes on how this develops, because hate crime is a federal crime. With the new mayor labeling NYC a democratic socialist city, he could force the Jewish community to leave if they can’t be protected. It looks to be the beginning of new executive orders being forced on hardworking people, much like a socialist state — a Third World country. Will people revolt down the line? Anything is possible with a regime in charge that’s sort of like a dictatorship. Joseph Comperchio

Bad news

Manhattan: I would like to give a special shout-out to all fellow Voicers who have been planning and preparing for the upcoming turbulent times to take place in 2026 and beyond. Happy New Year to all, but the reality is it’s not going to get any better in the world, especially for those who continue to believe the lies from the media and government and who live their lives by what the news media tells them, especially economically. Cheers to 2026! Omar Branch

Final project?

Darien, Conn.: Since we have just gone through “Project 2025” with plenty of hardships, to say the least, please tell me we do not have to go through a horrid “Project 2026.” Dan Singer

Baited and switched

Middle Village: Randall Fox’s op-ed “Protecting NYC tax dollars using whistleblowers” (Jan. 1) was excellent. However, when he talked about NYCERS, pension funds and union misuse of money, the people truly responsible for all the problems are the presidents of the two largest unions, Henry Garrido of DC37 and Michael Mulgrew of the UFT. The comptroller’s office just released a lengthy report citing the misuse of more than $2 billion from the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, reducing health benefits for both retirees and active employees, and misleading workers by promising to keep their health insurance premiums free while adding and increasing copayments. All of this was done to save money, allowing active workers to get raises without negotiating with the city and requesting that they pay for it. Lee Rottenberg

A sinking ship

Manhattan: Do we get health insurance or don’t we? That’s the question on the minds of more than 20 million Americans who’ve previously been able to get insurance through the Affordable Care Act regardless of preexisting conditions but now face up to doubling and even tripling premiums because the GOP won’t move to extend the tax credits that make this crucial coverage available. The ACA boosted the number of insured Americans, allowing them to be healthier and less likely to die. President Trump and the Republicans were against the ACA from the beginning, never fulfilling their promise of producing a better plan. Trump’s notion of giving Americans $1,500 to buy their own insurance is laughable. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has forced a vote approving the ACA tax extensions, getting some breakaway Republicans to go along. GOP senators better look at Trump’s tanking approval ratings and the ongoing collapse of MAGA before casting their votes. Trish Anderton

Cushy jobs

Bronx: To Voicer Raymond McEaddy: I’m always amazed at the amount of courage, fortitude and tenacity it must take for liberal, multi-millionaire, Trump-hating comedians masquerading as political analysts at Trump-hating TV networks located in Trump-hating cities to spout off to Trump-hating audiences about how much they hate Trump. Rosa Parks has nothing on them. Charles T. Compton

Easily imagined

Manhattan: I have to laugh every time I see a member of the brainwashed Trump cult who states in a letter to The News that Trump won in a landslide. Obviously, those people failed their junior high school math class. He won by 1.5%, which is hardly a landslide, Voicer Dom Mastropolo. Maybe remedial math should be in the future for Dom. What would America be like if the lady were elected, he asks. Well, no pending war in Venezuela, inflation would be down and employment would be up. No tariffs to bleed the consumer, and our allies would be our allies once again. And we would have a president with class and intelligence who does not go around insulting anyone who disagrees with her. Richard Simon

Unsettling settlements

San Mateo, Calif.: Suppose Israel had followed a “smart break” policy rather than the “clean break” strategy — “smart” meaning following UN Security Council Resolution 242 passed some 59 years ago. What has it gained by ignoring this legal command? It has 700,000 illegal settlers living on occupied land. That’s a good thing? Suppose Israel had instead worked toward repatriation of the original 700,000 Arab refugees of the 1948 conflict. Had this smart strategy been adopted, what now? Perhaps no Yom Kippur War, and so many other wars in the area? Many Israeli and Palestinian lives would still be with us. Israel would probably be enjoying universal recognition and positive relations with all the surrounding countries. With its scientific expertise and intellectual know-how, Israel would be the go-to powerhouse for the resolution of so many of the area’s problems. History will judge the foolish paths taken versus the smart ones avoided. Mike Caggiano

Better believe it

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Thousands of man-hours and sophisticated equipment have been applied to the examination of a boat-like structure resting on Mt. Ararat, near the Turkey/Armenia border. So far, the evidence is inconclusive. Many people believe the ark and flood are a fairytale, but there is someone who disagrees. “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating, drinking and marrying until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away” (Matthew 24:38). Jesus Christ is all the proof we need. Another flood is on the horizon. It will be far worse than Noah’s. It’ll be a global flood of judgment from heaven on a corrupt and immoral world that turns its nose up against God. Yes, God does love you, but His justice demands punishment of sin. Jim Black

Went public

Somers, N.Y.: Many years ago, in 1952, I was in the Air Force and wrote a letter to Voice of the People complaining about having frankfurters for dinner four nights in a row. You printed my letter in your Sunday international edition. On Monday morning, I got a visit from the commanding general and his entire entourage of officers. “This just arrived from the Pentagon. Is this true?” the general asked. “Why the hell didn’t you go through the chain of command? Our asses are in hot water. We’ll investigate this, you’ll hear from me.” Bob LaGravinese