Where we’d be if our billionaires contributed
Bronx: According to the business magazine Forbes, the U.S. was home to 902 billionaires in 2024.
Here are the net worths of the richest 20 people on its list: Elon Musk, $244 billion; Mark Zuckerberg, $197 billion; Jeff Bezos, $181 billion; Larry Ellison, $175 billion; Warren Buffett, $150 billion; Larry Page, $136 billion; Sergey Brin, $130 billion; Steve Ballmer, $123 billion; Bill Gates, $107 billion; Mike Bloomberg, $105 billion; Jensen Huang, $104 billion; Michael Dell, $101 billion; Jim Walton and family, $95.9 billion; Rob Walton and family, $94.3 billion; Alice Walton, $89.2 billion; Julia Koch and family, $74.2 billion; Charles Koch and family, $72.5 billion; Jeff Yass, $49.6 billion; John Mars, $47.6 billion; and Jacqueline Mars, $47.6 billion.
On July 17, the House of Representatives approved cuts of nearly $1.1 billion from public broadcasting services and about $8 billion from humanitarian foreign aid programs. Among the many other cuts in the Trump administration’s budget are a decrease of $49.1 billion from the U.S. Department of State, about $33 billion from the Department of Health and Human Services (which includes the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control), $45.5 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (more than half its previous funding) and a cut of $2.46 billion from the Environmental Protection Agency.
It is obvious that even a small number of the nation’s total number of billionaires could easily contribute enough money to restore virtually all the cuts included in the current administration’s budget proposals. Miriam Levine Helbok
Step up and stop it
Manhattan: Palestine’s people are dying. Fix this situation, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Yes, Israel has the right to exist. That’s a non-starter. But this situation in Palestine is killing 2 million people. The country is destroyed already. Don’t let this genocide happen. Tedd Merritt
Moral deterioration
Brooklyn: What Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox zealots are doing to the Gazan people is inhumane, sinful and cruel. For the first time in my long life, as the son of Holocaust survivors and as someone who lived in displaced persons camps in Germany as a child, I’m ashamed of the actions of the Israeli government. I’m disappointed that the Israeli people have not pushed back hard enough against Netanyahu’s continuing criminal behavior. Herman Kolender
Continuum of cruelty
Vancouver: What is happening in Gaza now is similar conduct to a few years ago, when the Israel Defense Forces was sent with their scoped rifles to the fences around Gaza to purposely cripple demonstrators inside the fence. The soldiers would shoot at knee joints and the groin to permanently cripple their targets. Unfortunately for the thousands of innocent and starving people, the disgusting orange creep allowing and supporting this inhumanity owes the pro-Israel voters for a large part in his reelection. He has a very large bill he is committed to pay. Wayne Bailey
Unencumbered approach
Brooklyn: To Voicer James A. Fragale: Thank you for saying exactly my thoughts as soon as I saw that photo of Shane Tamura walking in plain sight with that assault rifle! That area of Manhattan is never deserted! How did no one see him and call 911?! JoAnn Delpin
Yet again
Manhattan: He had a plan / He got a gun / With the intent / To kill someone / Another senseless tragedy / Thinking of each family / They lost someone / They’re filled with sadness / We must do something / To stop the madness / Nothing shocks us anymore / It feels as if we’re in an endless war / Indecency, disobeying laws / Guns and violence, our fatal flaws / We have to try / To make it end / To save a relative / A stranger, a friend / We wring our hands / We shake our head / Another innocent / Ends up dead / These senseless killings / Are unacceptable / The news is upsetting / And totally reprehensible / It won’t be ended / Just by closing our eyes / To the corruption of politicians / Telling us platitudes and lies / Tomorrow is on its way / What will we face / More heartache and suffering / That just thoughts and prayers will never erase. Phoebe Celentano
Always angling
Bronx: As reports of the mass shooting in Manhattan began circulating, political opportunists on the left and right waited in anticipation to learn the murderer’s political views (if any) so they could portray their opponents as extreme, dangerous and violent. We should be better than this. Dimitri Cavalli
Well illustrated
Manhattan: Great Bramhall on Aug. 1! A cartoon worth a thousand words. Bramhall drew Lee Zeldin, former Long Island congressman and current EPA head, literally polluting the skies by incinerating stacks of regulations that control carbon dioxide emissions while using an old coal furnace. It’s all there — the obsolescence, decrepitude and destructiveness behind the Trump administration’s efforts to undo our nation’s pollution regulations. Rachel Makleff
Picture of ill health
Carle Place, L.I.: How ironic that the most out-of-shape president in my lifetime wants to bring back the National Fitness Test for school kids. If a child claimed they had bone spurs, would they be excused from participating? Rudy Rosenberg
Cheap shot
Gainesville, Fla.: “Despite the executive order, Trump himself reportedly does little in the way of exercise beyond frequently playing golf. He’s considered overweight by health experts, famously loves McDonald’s and, according to the New Yorker, once argued that exercise is misguided.” Was this comment really needed? It is apparent that you take every opportunity to diminish President Trump. You even manage to insult him when the article is about something else. You disgust me. This is exactly why the mainstream media is losing face, gravitas and revenue. An article like this with blatant anti-Trump bias adds to the problem. You liberal turds deserve the communist you have running to lead your city. Good luck with Mr. “Seize the means of production,” hahaha. Fools, all of you. Philip Singer
Demeaning
Sayville, L.I.: Might I suggest that for as long as Trump keeps calling the governor of California “Gavin Newscum,” we refer to the president as Donald J. Hump? Michael Hooker
Freedom of preach
Floral City, Fla.: In 1954, the Johnson Amendment became a law of the land by which nonprofit organizations, including churches, were prohibited from publicly declaring their political preferences. For any violation, they lose their tax-free status. Never have I heard that threat being carried out. However, too many fearful church leaders lack the intestinal fortitude to boldly voice their honest opinions. Let us “gird our loins” by calling, texting or writing to our congressional representatives and impress upon them the wisdom of revoking that old and ludicrous law. Regarding churches, it flies in the face of that portion of the First Amendment that clearly states: “Congress shall pass no law regarding the establishment of religion, or preventing the free exercise thereof.” One might argue that the Johnson Amendment does not violate the First Amendment. Consider Isaiah 33:22. In it, we see all three branches of our American government. Fred A. Stock
Needs work
Bronx: As an accounting professor focused on the intersection with emerging technologies, I share the desire to ensure that artificial intelligence is developed responsibly. But the proposed New York RAISE Act risks doing more harm than good, undermining our homegrown innovation ecosystem. The bill’s broad definitions could sweep in smaller AI startups, subjecting them to costly compliance mandates that only tech giants with large legal departments can afford. That’s not how you support the next generation of innovators, it’s how you entrench the top firms. With legislation like this, we risk adding to a patchwork of conflicting state laws that will make startup founders think twice about developing their products here. Larger businesses will avoid investing in the Big Apple too. Even though academic research is technically exempt, vague language around what counts as “deployment” will have a chilling effect on the work our institutions of higher education are willing to take on. Sean Stein-Smith
Cool spot
Bayside: With all the uncertainty going around, the Museum of Modern Art is cool for the summer. Take a break with air conditioning and art. Gayle Dorsky
