ICE crackdown, Medicare, blue wave, Penn Station restroom

Is ICE the problem or the employers?

The article "LI restaurant owners lament ICE crackdown" [News, Nov. 2] should alarm every Long Islander, whatever their politics. Owners described short-staffed kitchens and businesses that have been built over decades but are now struggling. Many workers swept up in raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were lawfully present in this country.

This damage was unnecessary. Sensible enforcement should focus on people who pose a real danger to our communities. Instead, broad roundups have been taking cooks, dishwashers and servers who show up every day and pay taxes, including people with legal status. Workers and customers are being frightened away.

These are leadership choices. Many officials directing immigration enforcement seem to have little experience in law enforcement, labor markets or the industries they are upending. They are following a president who has shown little understanding of how much our economy depends on immigrant labor. The results are dark dining rooms, lost wages and lost tax revenue for Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Long Island's restaurants, farms and healthcare employers depend on these workers. Our representatives in Congress should demand enforcement that is targeted, competent and accountable before more local businesses pay the price.

Ken Feifer, Massapequa

People who are living in our country illegally braved vast distances and faced great challenges to get to Long Island, but the reality is that they are exploited at every step of that journey, from the smugglers who demand exorbitant fees, the slumlords who house them in firetraps and, finally, the businesses that hire them over all others and exploit them.

No, I am not sympathetic to any businesses that have suffered a loss of productivity because they are facing a shortage of desperate people whom they can easily exploit. Nor am I sympathetic to any landlord who no longer has tenants whom they once exposed to danger because the tenants are afraid of immigration enforcement.

We have a duty to build an economy that does not rely on such cruelty. It is a moral necessity that such businesses be investigated for their part in this human tragedy.

Mackenzie Hudson, Southold

TV pitches obscure Medicare's two paths

Newsday missed an opportunity to clarify a critical point about Medicare ["What's new in Medicare for 2027," LI Business, Nov. 9]. Television commercials inundate viewers with pitches for Medicare or, more accurately, Medicare Advantage. These commercials, often endorsed by celebrities, create confusion about how Medicare is delivered to eligible recipients and about the basic differences between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.

The article focuses primarily on the fact that some Long Island seniors will have their health insurance discontinued. This situation is specific to Medicare Advantage — healthcare administered by private insurance companies. The alternative program, the government's original Medicare, will not discontinue recipients' benefits in 2027.

The methods and costs of administering healthcare under these two Medicare options are very different. Recipients can decide whether to choose the government's Medicare or choose Medicare Advantage only by researching both options and evaluating which is best for their personal situation — without the influence of celebrity endorsements.

James Santangelo, Stony Brook

Yes, people still hold the power for change

I have always believed in the power of the people — from the protests that helped lead to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 to the mass effort to block the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, finally decommissioned in 1994.

Now, two new events have affirmed the power of the people — the blue wave, which sought a change in the country's direction ["Stunning blue wave of Democratic victories in NYS," News, Nov. 5], and the reinstatement of Dylan Skolnick as co-director of Huntington's Cinema Arts Centre after a huge community effort ["Cinema rehiring Skolnick," News, Nov. 7].

It is comforting to know that "We the People" still can make a difference.

Diane McGuire, Northport

Penn Station's shine fades in men's room

Penn Station's Long Island Rail Road concourse has become a thing of beauty. The renovation turned it into a palace with a flamboyant escalator, terrific signage and lovely stores. It was worth every dollar of the $414 million spent on it.

But when I visited the men's room inside the waiting area, it was like a zoo ["Often-closed restrooms irk LIRR riders," News, Nov. 8]. Three of the five stalls were missing doors, and one of the two stalls with doors seemed to have a man living in it. A line of four men waited to use the one available toilet.

The attendant said the doors had been ordered months earlier. I asked where Penn Station workers find a bathroom. He said they walk to Moynihan Train Hall instead and explained that bathrooms are Amtrak's problem because it runs Penn Station.

I read that Rob Free, who is leaving as president of the Long Island Rail Road on Nov. 20, got his start as a station cleaner ["President of LIRR is stepping down," Long Island, Nov. 10]. I appeal to him to quickly ask Amtrak to do something about the disgrace that is near Tracks 18 and 19.

Steven Edelman, Merrick