No one deserves to be left in such conditions
Bellerose: Our local and state politicians, including Gov. Hochul, need to show more compassion for our homeless, who need help now. We also need to show more concern for those who are mentally ill and commit crimes, not to mention illegal migrants who commit violent crimes on our transportation systems, like the woman who was burned to death for no reason on a subway train. I feel more must be done.
I fully understand the homeless issue because I was homeless 50 years ago, after leaving the Navy in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. I had no family or friends who could help me. I found myself homeless. It was February, it was cold and I had body sores from not bathing. I was alone, felt very depressed and hungry and had lost hope. But due to the kindness of a stranger named Cyril from Nigeria, who showed me kindness and compassion, I had a room where I could stay until I got on my feet.
You see, he knew how difficult life can be because he was there. I did get help from Nassau County social services and did find a job so I could support myself. We have veterans today who are homeless and have mental health problems as well. Our government has a responsibility to help these homeless veterans and those who are mentally ill, who will surely die.
Too much time has passed and the homeless and the mentally ill are slowly being forgotten. This is so very sad. Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
In the limelight
Smithtown, L.I.: Rev. Kevin McCall held a prayer vigil for the still-unidentified woman set on fire in the subway by an illegal immigrant. This is the reverend signaling that he’ll be the family spokesperson for the next of kin and will team up with Sanford Rubenstein in a lawsuit against the MTA and NYC for not having a fire extinguisher. Mark my words. Andrew Ross
Potential crime
Manhattan: Letters have showed that the public is mixed on its feelings about the outcome of the Daniel Penny case. However, no one made the case for the fact that the crazed victim would have undoubtedly, in the near future, injured or killed some unsuspecting rider. This very important circumstance must be integrated into any discussion of the rightness or wrongness of the death of the victim. What if the new victim was your loved one? Jack Weiss
Justice & injustice
Bronx: I agree with “Justice for Robert Brooks” (editorial, Dec. 28) that there was no excuse for beating to death a shackled and chained prisoner. But you don’t deal with why Brooks only received a 12-year sentence for stabbing his ex-girlfriend. Why does attempted murder, as well as all cases of murder, not result in a sentence of life without parole? You never asked why Jordan Neely got no jail time for breaking a 67-year-old woman’s jaw? If he had been in jail, there would have been no reason for Penny to subdue and accidentally kill him when he threatened subway passengers. If you want to show sympathy for someone, how about American Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier? A Freedom of Information Act release in 1980 showed that the FBI’s own ballistics test proved Peltier was innocent of the killings of two FBI agents that he was convicted of. But he remains in prison. Richard Warren
Save your ire
Staten Island: Memo to the buffoon known as the mayor: It’s hard to believe you were once an NYPD officer. You don’t have a clue when you have a lieutenant who made $400,000, and it’s guaranteed she was never on patrol. What do you think she was doing? Hiding! Stop putting the cops down and do something about the understaffed and overworked officers. Wake up! Thomas Fraumeni Jr.
Superior puzzle
Ridge, L.I.: I agree with Voicers Esther Berkowitz and Gene Speroni. Bring back Jacqueline Matthews for the TV Crossword. Ricky Cruz’s versions are terrible! Peter DeMauro
Hedging hard
Holbrook, L.I.: As we get closer to Donald Trump’s inauguration, right-wing media has stepped up their bogus attacks on “the Biden crime family.” They’re making up bogus stories in anticipation of Trump’s world-class corruption. The Trump family has already taken more than $4 billion from Saudi Arabia; $2 billion for Jared Kushner, $2 billion for Trump Tower, and another $1 billion from other Middle East countries for Kushner’s “investment firm.” MAGA needs to sully Biden’s reputation so they can turn to the slavish “librul media” and say, “Don’t look at us, look at that Biden crime family.” The media will fall in line and say, “Oh well, nothing to see here. Both sides do it.” They don’t. Trump, his wife, his family and his hangers-on, are the most corrupt group to ever run Washington, which is saying something. America is counting on papers like the Daily News to not fall for this. Michael L. Wilson
He’s one of them
Carlstadt, N.J.: Re “The Matt Gaetz facts” (editorial, Dec. 27): I read the following with incredulity: “The notion that this man could have been however briefly considered a candidate for United States attorney general is, to be blunt, an embarrassment to the Republican Party, the country and our current body politic.” The Republican Party has chosen a 34-times convicted felon and sexual assaulter to be its supreme leader. It would appear that Gaetz fits right in. They act without embarrassment, only self-aggrandizement. Susan Misiewicz
Overstated threat
Brooklyn: Voicer Rose S. Wilson writes: “I am afraid this country has been infected with a stupid virus.” I guess she has been infected, too. The nuclear plants that Russia has been attacking are power plants, not the type of nuclear plants that produce nuclear weapons. She then states: “The idea is that Russia will take over those plants and they will have the greatest advantage over us. Since Trump is Vladimir Putin’s buddy, he will then have the power to become not our president but our dictator.” Wow, talk about ignorance. Rose wins the prize! Her final gem of wisdom: “Elon Musk is South African and he does not believe in workers having any rights.” Well, she got the South African part correct, but Musk obviously knows workers have rights. He employs some of the smartest engineers and scientists in the world who could get jobs anywhere but continue to work for him. Joe Altamura
Decisive action
Rocky Point, L.I.: Maybe what we should do with these drones is what the North Koreans, China and Russia would do. The drones would be gone sooner rather than later. Al Glass
Doomsday scenarios
Itasca, Ill.: Your doomsday event list is just as valid as mine, but for me, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assassination and Y2K qualify as wake-up-call events. The first two left my parents and teachers speechless. Seeing my elders not have answers for possible nuclear war or losing our president was sobering. Y2K had our IT departments guessing — a sure sign of peril. Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater (1964), Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern (1972) and Ronald Reagan vs. Walter Mondale (1984) were “there’s never been a clearer choice” contests, but America would have survived Goldwater, McGovern and Mondale presidencies. We’d go to work the next day. We once brushed ourselves off when the dust cleared, shook hands and found common ground. What has happened to us since then? Jim Newton
Follow your path
Cibolo, Texas: Epiphany, on Jan. 6, celebrates the day that three Magi from the East visited the infant Jesus. It also marks the end of the Yuletide season. For that reason, it is customary to take down Christmas decorations on Epiphany eve, also known as Twelfth Night. Yet, there is much more to Epiphany: It actually serves as a viable lesson to all of us. Just like the three Magi followed a star to reach their destination, Epiphany reminds us to follow our own stars to reach our destinies, goals and dreams. Perhaps, by following our stars and working toward our dreams, we shall achieve our goals and fulfill our destinies. Epiphany reminds us that our dreams can become our realities. John Di Genio
