Letters to the Editor — July 19, 2023
The Issue: The arrest of a suspect in connection with the murders of four women in Long Island 13 years ago.
Rex Heuermann’s reported modus operandi is strikingly similar to that of Jack the Ripper, a fiend who terrorized the dark streets of 19th-century London (“Gilgo ‘serial killer’ nabbed,” July 15).
Like the Ripper, Heuermann allegedly murdered prostitutes with knives in a particularly heinous manner. Both killing sprees went on for years. The Ripper taunted the police; Heuermann reportedly taunted the families of his victims.
However, the two differ in one crucial respect: This apparent latter-day Ripper was caught. For this, we should all be grateful.
Stuart Ellison
Brooklyn
The recent arrest of a suspect in the Gilgo Beach murder case is an outstanding example of dogged police work by people dedicated to investigating and solving crimes.
They were able to use DNA samples that were years old. Modern methods were used, and they got results. This is in contrast to the brief investigation into the discovery of cocaine in the White House. It was a serious crime in the most protected building in the country. The investigation was ended after only two weeks.
The Secret Service should ask the task force from Suffolk County for assistance if they really want results. Somehow I think they’re happy and relieved that’s it’s over.
Robert DeCandia
New Hyde Park
Heuermann, who has been arrested in connection with the brutal murders of several women in the Gilgo Beach area going all the way back to 2010, should be shown no mercy at all by the criminal court system.
This poor excuse for a human being allegedly committed absolutely atrocious crimes during a murderous rage and, if guilty, should be incarcerated for life for it.
He does not deserve mercy, in my opinion, because of how police say he murdered these innocent victims and caused so much unnecessary and terrible emotional pain and suffering for their families and friends.
I do feel very sorry for all of them, and even for this monster’s wife and children. Let justice take its course.
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
Congratulations to all the law-enforcement personnel who worked on the Gilgo Beach serial killer case. It took them 13 years, but they identified the alleged killer.
It is a good thing that we did not have the Secret Service, which worked on the White House cocaine incident, investigate. It would’ve given up after 11 days.
Pete Massaro
The Villages, Fla.
The Issue: A $1.8 billion judgment in a lawsuit that found the city’s teacher-certification test was biased.
So the test was racist simply because the litigants failed it (“A lesson in abject failure,” July 16)?
What about the sizable percentage of black and Hispanic applicants who passed it?
The city is doomed. It can spend billions on “refugees” and now $1.8 billion more to compensate people who failed a merit-based test.
This opens a Pandora’s Box, since this will surely invite more lawsuits involving any civil service tests going back years that failed to yield the desired “equality of outcomes.”
Dennis Middlebrooks
Brooklyn
While I don’t have the test in front of me, I have taken the teacher’s certification exam and know many, many others who have done the same.
The question about Andy Warhol’s meaning as a pop artist most assuredly did not require prior knowledge about him for a correct response.
The test is basically a reading test. If you can read and comprehend in a timely fashion, you can pass.
John Sheridan
The Bronx
