Rounding up workers is leaving the work undone
Holbrook, L.I.: For those unfamiliar with Long Island, eastern Long Island is very agricultural, from corn, lettuce and strawberries to wine grapes, etc. Almost every weekend, we take a drive out east to pick up fresh fruits and vegetables from a number of long-time farm stands.
Last weekend, we went to one of the largest and were shocked at what we found: very little! There was almost no fresh produce. But there were much higher prices. Outside of a few register clerks, there were no workers to be seen, either inside or in the fields. The clerk admitted that their workers have evaporated. She said she wasn’t sure how long this decades-old company could stay in business. We then made another regular stop with the same result — little fresh produce.
This weekend, we went to check another favorite farm stand and found tables, usually piled high with produce, now covered with a single layer of potted plants — lots of plants. Farm stands large and small looked the same: limited produce but lots of shipped-in flowers. A quick drive by the vineyards revealed unkempt vines and no field workers.
This is the near-future America: limited choices and higher prices. Unusual for me, I held my tongue when a guy in a MAGA hat behind me complained about selection and price. I wanted to tell him, “Wanna know why? Look at your hat. There’s your answer!” Michael L. Wilson
Successful system
Glasgow, Scotland: I had a momentary chuckle reading Voicer James McCaffrey’s letter where he proclaimed, “socialism has been a deadly failure.” He demonstrates that the pro-Trump crowd does not understand the word socialism, using it to connote evil. According to the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, the top five happiest nations in 2025 — Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands — are all run under, as you put it, “the insanity of democratic socialism.” So please, Mr. McCaffrey, stop promoting the propaganda that democratic socialism is insanity and bloody evil. An unbiased, educated understanding and interpretation of history will show that authoritarian fascism, not unlike America under your current Trump administration, and not democratic socialism, is the progenitor of violence and discord, as we witness political assassinations and arrests along with masked goon squads violently rounding up hard-working immigrants who are just trying to live the American dream. William Ina Kay
Be a bulwark
Ithaca, N.Y.: Where the hell are you, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and any other would-be reasonable Republicans? You voted to advance President Trump’s nightmare budget bill that will leave 11.8 million Americans uninsured by slashing $930 billion from Medicaid and that removes $300 billion from SNAP, which feeds millions of low-income children and their families? Read the damned bill, senators, and ask yourselves how it will impact the lives of so many of your constituents. How many hospitals will close in your states? How many children will die? Stop being so frightened of the Great Bully and do the right thing! Nina Miller
Lawful protest
Manhattan: To Voicer Thomas Murawski: A so-called insurrection? On Jan. 6, 2021, a Trump-backed horde tried to overturn a legitimate election, including threatening to kill the vice president who was there to certify it. Trump pardoned all those people. Yes, he won in 2024 legitimately, if hardly by a landslide (77.3 million for Trump versus 75 million for Kamala Harris, while 85.9 million did not vote). Yet, his popularity is tanking. Polls show that people don’t support tariffs, deportations as they are being carried out or dropping bombs on Iran. Violence should never be accepted. But millions of people have turned out for completely non-violent No Kings Day and Hands Off protests, and ones between and subsequently. Never-Trumpers and regretful Trump voters are under this big tent. It’s not a tantrum, it’s a movement — a joyful pro-democracy movement like the ones against authoritarians around the world. Laurie Aron
No comment
Scarsdale, N.Y.: I was watching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodging questions while smirking, saying that he won’t answer hypotheticals. That seems to be the go-to response to unpleasant queries these days. If I were interviewing a candidate for a job and gave him or her a problem to solve, and their answer was they couldn’t do it because it was a hypothetical, I’m pretty sure I’d be interviewing the next applicant in a heartbeat. John Kern
Face of injustice
Manhattan: Thank you for publishing the picture of Amy Coney Barrett on your editorial page on Saturday (“National injury,” editorial, June 28). I cut it out and put it right on the bullseye of my dart board. Joie Anderson
Goofy guy
Manhattan: Voicer William T. Bredin compared Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy to Foghorn Leghorn. I disagree. The senator actually both resembles and sounds like Mr. Haney from “Green Acres.” Manny Morales
Costs of doing business
Brooklyn: Re “Small landlords too need help on costs” (op-ed, June 29): Thank you, gentlemen, for stating the obvious. Doing business in this city is challenging at best. Of all businesses in this city, 98% are considered small. They employ fewer than 100 people, but in many cases, it’s unpaid family members who work toward the collective American dream. However, regulations, taxes and fees strangle even the most successful of them. Inspections three times a year with a $600 fee, taxes to support the MTA and a variety of city services and regulations that limit expansion. For landlords, it’s even worse. As you said, you are supporting families in your buildings. It is not in your interest to provide poor service, all due to limiting rules and regulations. I happily repeat your words: “They say freeze the rent; we say, then freeze our expenses. Freeze property taxes and water/sewer rates.” Susan Caprio
Scant coverage
Bayside: Predictably, NYC tabloids such as yourselves and your competitor are either fawning or stoking fear over the presumptive Democratic candidate for mayor of our great city. I’m sure many of your readers would benefit from learning about the one candidate who has a viable plan to take NYC forward into a brighter future, and that is Curtis Sliwa. Please make an attempt to practice journalism and provide the public with fair and balanced reporting on all the candidates. Margaret Dabraccio
Rich in wealth
Staten Island: To Voicer Dan Arthur Pryor: Fear not about the possibility of a wealth drain out of the city — it seems we can spare a few. According to a recent article, NYC topped the 50 wealthiest cities in the world. Manhattan is home to 384,500 millionaires, 818 centi-millionaires and 66 billionaires. They’re rich, remember? They probably already own a mansion and a yacht in Florida. The other cities in the top 10 were the Bay Area ranking second, L.A. fifth and Chicago 10th. Something seems similar in all those cities, wouldn’t you say? I personally don’t feel bad for the rich, but I feel sorry for the poor soul trying to make it on $16.50 an hour. Gina Ottrando
Top-heavy
Suffern, N.Y.: The San Francisco Giants are erecting a replica statue of Barry Bonds, but his head is so large that it keeps toppling over. Rick Sinclair
Too far out
Congers, N.Y.: Re “Hochul’s smart atomic boost” (editorial, June 27): Gov. Hochul’s nuclear “boost” is a serious squandering of time and money. A “zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant” is a speculative project that will likely cost tens of billions of dollars and can’t be designed, sited, licensed and constructed in less than decades. It is of no immediate use in lessening reliance on fossil fuels. It is more corporate socialism, redirecting public resources away from ordinary citizens who could benefit from continued government investment in decentralized residential solar and end-use efficiency measures, as well as in wind and solar farms and their accompanying storage technologies. Such investments can address the electric energy supply far more quickly and at lower cost while creating and sustaining far more jobs. Jeff Kluewer
Crowdfund
Staten Island: To Voicer Steven Vaiselberg: May I suggest that you make a GoFundMe page to secure the funds required to get your family back on U.S. soil. People grovel for less than the potential catastrophic outcome of what could happen to your family. May Hashem be with them on their journey. Myra Goodman
