Daily News New York City. March 29, 2020

36 Sunday,March 29, 2020 DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com

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Mask on, not off

Whitestone: I was shocked to

go into my local market and

see how many people were

not wearing masks. What

don’t you people understand?

I’m a cancer patient and I’m

wearing a mask for you, not

me. My mask prevents me

from spreading the virus to

you, and by you not wearing a

mask, you are compromising

my health and everyone else

who is vulnerable. I asked the

young cashier, “It must be

hard to work all day in a

mask?” To which she replied,

“At times, but we wear them

for the customers.” A teen-

ager has more brains than

half this town. And please

don’t tell me masks are lim-

ited. If my 90-year-old mom

can make masks out of vacu-

um cleaner bags and paper

towels, so can you. All grocery

stores should post signs: No

mask — Go home.

Stella McGuire

Mooch food

North Babylon, L.I.: Voicer

Rosemary McClane is abso-

lutely right. With all the “free

stuff ” given to people with

children was there really a

need to consider keeping

public schools open during

the Chinese virus crisis so the

“starving children” can get

free lunch? Really? How

about the parents feed their

own children with all the

“free” services they have —

WIC, welfare, food stamps,

food pantries? Please stop

having children if you cannot

take care of them. People who

work are tired of having to

pay for those who do not help

themselves. We pay for their

education, isn’t that enough?

Elizabeth Mugno

New normal

Whitestone: So many people

resent change! In this time of

crisis, when we are told to

“shelter in place” except for

absolute necessities, the folks

who cannot abide change

often suffer from bouts of

depression! The answers are

not easy, but we all must learn

to accept what events sur-

round us at the moment and

adapt to these new situations

as best as we can!

Leonore Brooks

Luxury care

Barryville, N.Y.: Voicer Francis

Viola asks, “New York is look-

ing for space to care for those

sick with the coronavirus.

How many high school, col-

lege and private indoor

basketball courts are there in

New York State?” I ask in-

stead why the Trump hotels

aren’t offering their spaces

and rooms to take in the over-

flow of patients and lack of

hospital beds?

John Tomlinson

Simon says

Ledyard, Conn.: I’m con-

cerned that President

Trump’s narcissistic tenden-

cies include magical think-

ing. With regard to the co-

ronavirus, his beliefs and

actions show that he thinks

if he downplays the virus it

will go away, and if he de-

clares war he can defeat it

like a superhero. He desper-

ately wants the economy to

bounce back before election

time and his rhetoric defies

the scientific input of the

experts. Please, everyone,

listen to the experts, not the

politicians. If we all follow

the directions to physically

isolate this will be over with

alot faster.

Lisa Allen

First in line

Brooklyn: The Texas lieuten-

ant governor suggests the

elderly should risk their lives

to save the economy. Does he

realize that the three men

campaigning for the presi-

dency are well into their ’70s?

Bill Brown

False equivalencies

Manhattan: How ironic:

Those who falsely cried

“death panels” in response to

the Affordable Care Act are

now pushing for a quick

return to business-as-usual, a

move that would guarantee

spiraling COVID-19 deaths.

Comparing COVID-19’s death

toll to that of automobile

accidents or past flus is not

only comparing apples to

oranges; it is dangerously

misleading. We have seat

belts and driving laws that

help prevent or reduce auto

deaths. We have flu vaccines

to help prevent or reduce flu

deaths. We have no proven

vaccine or cure for COVID-19.

Staying home and limiting

activity to essential services

are the only known ways to

stop spreading the virus and

ensure a real economic recov-

ery. Janet Barnhart

Rental wars

Neponsit: Interesting piece by

John Teufel (“Gov, please

cancel our rents,” op-ed,

March 25). As a landlord, I

find this article disturbing.

Tenants’ obligation to pay

rent is canceled? What about

the landlords’ obligation to

pay the mortgage(s), property

taxes, water bills, utilities and

repairs? Do all of those ex-

penses get “canceled” too?

We rely on rental income to

help pay the never-ending

and always increasing ex-

penses. Most landlords like

me struggle to pay the bills

and Teufel’s “cancel rent”

recommendation would bury

us. Rob Rose

Sardines

Maspeth: Dear Mr. Gover-

nor and MTA higher ups: I

don’t know who is the brains

behind the stupidity of cut-

ting service in the New York

City subway, Metro-North

and the Long Island Rail

Road but you are all a bunch

of idiots. I keep hearing talk

about flattening the curve

and social distancing. I am a

Local 3 electrician blue

collar worker who’s been

determined to be essential.

How about you use some

brains and don’t cut service

so us essential workers

won’t be packed into trains

because ridership is down

and you people are worried

about saving money. Every-

day de Blasio and Cuomo say

how important New York

lives are. How about you

show us essential workers

how important our lives are?

Lance Lovejoy

‘High’ tax state

Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.: Maybe

now is a good time to legalize

recreational marijuana use.

Think of all the extra revenue

it would bring in. It would

help with the moneys the

state is going to need in the

near future. Steven Deleo

Guns won’t kill the coronavirus

AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

S

taten Island:I’ve read several times now that the sales

of guns and ammunition have skyrocketed with the

advent of the coronavirus. For the life of me, I’m trying

to figure out at what point in time someone with a gun

would use it because of the circumstances that come

along with this virus. Will they walk into a store with a gun,

run over to a counter where the last roll of toilet paper is and

after arguing with a competing customer, shoot them? Will

they be refused a virus test because they don’t meet all the

qualifications, pull out their gun and shoot the health-care

worker? Do they think people will burst into their homes to

raid their refrigerators and medicine chests, so they have to

stay sentry over them with their guns?

On the other hand, I’ve met many people who have self-

lessly gone out of their way to help others during this time of

crisis in ways that even possibly put their own lives at risk. Yet

here we have people who are not just selfish, but downright

dangerous, stockpiling weapons as if we are being invaded by

life-threatening aliens from another planet. It’s times like this,

acrisis of this nature, that bring out the best and the worst in

people. I’d rather consider myself a member of the former.

Dennis Pascale