LETTERSTO THE EDITOR

the various cuts to the city budget that Mayor Adams has proposed. The duty of all public officials is to protect the citizens first, something that would be sorely compromised with the proposed cuts for the NYPD and FDNY. This is unconscionable and will not stand!

Better you look to cuts in administrative posts and fraud instead, which should be a priority in the first place.

This situation exists because of the open border policy of the Biden administration, which no Democrat has the courage to address, even though their constituents will have to pay a heavy price both financially and safety-wise.

Please do the job you were elected to do and save the New York we love because its future looks very bleak at this time.

Thomas and Constance Dowd Oakland Gardens

Salute Macy’s, shop locally

Dear Editor:

I would like to salute Macy’s for the great parade it put on Thanksgiving Day. It sure was some parade to watch, with bands, dancing, singing, floats and enormous balloons. It truly was a great kickoff to what retailers hope will be a strong Christmas season.

I hope that will come true, for it will mean more jobs, especially for those looking for extra money as things have been tough for some families.

There will be a lot of shopping going on all over New York, but let’s not forget the local stores and shops here in Queens. They have a lot to offer and good prices, too. These businesses are the heart of Queens and return back in one way or another to the community and its residents. So, let the good times roll.

Frederick Bedell Jr. Bellerose

Fight HIV harder

Dear Editor: Queens is one of 50 local areas that account for more than half of new HIV diagnoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published new reports, estimating that 1.2 million persons in the United States were living with diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV. HIV prevention efforts must go further, and progress must be faster for national goals to end the HIV epidemic to be reached by 2030. HIV can affect anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, race, gender or age.

HIV diagnosis was highest among women ages 25 to 44 years old, with rates of new HIV diagnosis being 10 times higher among Black women than white women. White women are the only group of women whose HIV rates have continued trending upward. Although progress

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is being made in HIV prevention, most women still lack the healthcare needed to prevent HIV transmission. Only 12.3 percent of women are using HIV preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which is only available by prescription.

We have the tools to end the HIV epidemic in the United States, but success depends upon increasing access to proven prevention technologies, including PrEP.

Diane Bruessow Middle Village

The writer has been a practicing physician assistant since 1993, working at multiple locations to serve patients from across Queens.

Trump hides from Jan. 6

Dear Editor:

Former President Trump’s refusal to debate is a blatant strategy to avoid questions that only he can answer, such as, why did he sit for three hours in front of a TV watching the Jan. 6 insurrection, while his closest advisors and his family pleaded with him to intervene and bring the assault on our Capitol to an end. With the full power of the presidency, he could have acted sooner. Only he can answer why he did not.

Not hearing his response to questions and challenges during a debate deprives the American electorate of being enlightened about his role related to events that occurred during his incumbency.

Glenn Hayes Kew Gardens

Comics on Trump

Dear Editor:

House Speaker Mike Johnson (same clown, car, different driver) repeatedly criticized former President Donald J. Trump during the 2016 GOP presidential primaries, saying in a 2015 Facebook post, uncovered by The New York Times, “The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House.”

Earlier this month Johnson endorsed Trump, calling himself “one of the closest allies Trump had in Congress.” As Stephen Colbert said, anyone seriously considering voting for Trump needs to metaphorically jam the sharpened stick of knowledge into the soft inner thigh of their mind and just grind it around a little bit to try to reawaken the horror of what our country would be like if this hate-filled traitor and his soulless goons ever get ahold of power again. Trump referred to his political enemies as “vermin.” Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini also used the term “vermin” to dehumanize their rivals.

So Trump is guilty of plagiarizing both of them. It’s going to be so awkward when he runs into them in hell. Then again, in order to know what words Hitler or Mussolini said, Trump would have to read. He’d have to have some basic knowledge of history. He doesn’t.

As Jimmy Kimmel said, he thinks Frederick Douglass is alive and doing an amazing job. He thinks Lincoln invented the Town Car. Hell, he thinks our army took over the airports during the Revolutionary War. People will vote for this ignorant, treasonous fool next November. God help us all.

Robert LaRosa Sr. Whitestone