Mamdani presents a path to health system fixes
Manhattan: As a long-time health policy activist and a primary care doctor in the South Bronx, health care is important to us in the mayoral race. We know a lot about Andrew Cuomo’s time as governor. He listens to donors and family friends, not community residents. He anointed his father’s deputy health secretary, a former chief executive of Northwell Health, to run his effort to cut Medicaid and guide his COVID response. Northwell expanded its operations beyond Long Island with blanket approvals from the state, was given the first standalone emergency room in Manhattan and was the author of several safety-net redesign plans. Cuomo is clever at creating the pretense of an open public process while his friends enact his plans.
Zohran Mamdani offers a different path. He listens to community voices and has focused on the affordability crisis. Affordable housing, child care, transit and food are essential to support good health. Past policy and institutional choices have made health care unaffordable for 78% of New Yorkers and created deeply unequal access along lines including race, language, medical conditions, insurance coverage and ability to pay. Wealthy, tax-exempt medical institutions limit care for Medicaid patients while our public health and community care systems are left underfunded and overstretched.
Mamdani is committed to community safety that meets people with care where they are rather than dumping them in already overcrowded emergency rooms. Building on promising practices that emerged during COVID, he proposes a corps of community outreach workers to help people navigate benefits and services. His vision for a city that serves all New Yorkers offers hope — especially to patients, communities and health care workers. Judy Wessler and Dr. Musaub Khan
Call to violence
Forest Hills: To Voicer Steven Davies: Cuomo is correct in challenging Mamdani to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” This phrase means to kill Jews around the world. How is that acceptable to you or to Mamdani? Libby Gurgis
Viable alternative
Staten Island: As the days to the election dwindle, voters concerned about the future of New York would be best served by voting for Curtis Sliwa. Why are many urging him to pull out when he is the only viable candidate who truly knows and loves our city? The one who should drop out is Cuomo, whose policies have destroyed our state and who was a big-time loser in the primary. Curtis is for the people, Cuomo is for himself and Mamdani is for a socialist city. John Minichelli
Cheating the system
Whitestone: Is NYPD Chief John Chell for real? He is trying to get a tax-free 3/4 pension from the city (“Chell, NYPD top cop, eyeing exit,” Oct. 7). This is an insult to the taxpayers and citizens of NYC. He is claiming an ankle injury from a year ago but was able to work full duty with no restrictions for all of that time. It sounds to me like he is pulling a scam. This seems to be the protocol of the current NYPD and City Hall. Gene O’Brien
Bias on parade?
Manhattan: I attended the African American Day Parade last month at 125th St. and Seventh Ave., my first time attending in four years. The Daily News published no photos of our proud parade. What’s up? The Dominican Day, Puerto Rican Day, West Indian Day and St. Patrick’s Day Parades have stories and photos by your reporters, giving perspectives of the other cultures’ parades. The African American Day Parade also deserves that respect. C’mon now! Elected politicians need the Black vote in order to win in NYC. Otherwise, show some respect for the people who participated in the 56th AADP. Sean Felder
Got it done
Brooklyn: President Trump has brokered a peace deal in Gaza. Living and dead hostages must be given back. The last presidential administration failed to make a deal. It only wanted Israel to back off of war with Hamas. Hamas must give up its arms and power. They will be closely monitored. A new political regime is to be established in Palestine, hopefully for a new day with peace. People criticize the president for being too aggressive, yet he has made all parties involved sit down to work out a deal. Of course, it took time, but now there is light at the end of the tunnel. Israeli hostages coming home within a few days is a great start, then slowly implement other steps in the deal. Respect to the president. Joseph Comperchio
Blocking democracy
Manhattan: Why won’t the speaker of the House swear in newly elected Adelita Grijalva from Arizona? Because A) she is a woman and B) she is a Democrat. This is atrocious. If Mike Johnson won’t swear her in, she shouldn’t need to be sworn in, or the leader of the House minority, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, should swear her in. Republicans talk about the Constitution often but then want Trump for a third term, don’t allow the release of the Epstein files and will do everything else to circumvent the Constitution. The mainstream media is so afraid of being called liberally biased that they stopped going after Trump and Republicans. Remember all the stories about Joe Biden not having the mental capacity to run again? Now we have a totally unhinged child as president who just wants to go after Democrats and the media (ABC) is just handing him millions. Edward Drossman
It’s for us
Woodstock, N.Y.: To Voicer Thomas Facchiano: I’m curious as to where you get your health care from, because Sen. Chuck Schumer and Jeffries are doing their level best to protect all of us working Americans’ access to affordable health care. That’s what they’re holding out for. Either you are independently wealthy or, more likely, quite ill-informed. Suzanne Hayes Kelly
We’re paying for that
Kew Gardens: The albatross around the neck of the Republican Party is the tax reductions given to the wealthy. The loss of those tax revenues is now being offset by layoffs of government employees and reductions in medical coverage and other social benefits for working families. Glenn Hayes
Undeserved honors
Blairstown, N.J.: Our king lowered the flags to half-staff for Charlie Kirk and is going to give him a Presidential Medal of Freedom. When will the flags be lowered for children slain in their classrooms? When will the parents of those children get a Presidential Medal of Freedom? Kirk portrayed himself as a holier-than-thou holy roller, but he constantly spewed hate, venom, racism and vitriol, all the while saying he read the Bible. He used it all to rake in millions of dollars, much like our low-IQ king uses the White House as a cash cow. No one should get fired for telling the truth about Kirk. Ron Cristi
Stifled star
Las Vegas: Can Hal Steinbrenner be brought up on charges for continuing to rob Aaron Judge of a chance at a ring because he refuses to make changes to management? Count one: failure to realize they need culture change across the board with the manager and general manager. Count two: failure to realize that analytics do not work. Dennis Buckley
It’s something
Manhattan: To Voicer Ronald L. Badger: You said that $300 from Gov. Hochul is a drop in the bucket. People on Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance do not see a dime extra. They too have bills to pay, rent, whatever. They all get their miserly 2.5% cost of living adjustment. Consider yourself and just simmer down, you will get your $300. It’s more than the SSI and SSDI people will get. Helen M. Murphy
Proper usage
Commack, L.I.: To Voicer Marion Friedman: I’m an immigrant. My family and I emigrated from the Netherlands when I was two months short of my fifth birthday. At the same time, we also immigrated to the United States. Both emigrate and immigrate are verbs, but the former takes the preposition “from” while the latter takes the preposition “to.” Voicer Larry Maslak was correct when he wrote, “I doubt that my great-grandparents would immigrate here now.” However, he should have used the verb emigrate when he referred to “countries my ancestors immigrated from.” Yvonne Fitzner
