Dear Editor:

 To my neighbors and friends in our community here in Queens, I wish to bring to your attention this November. We need to vote for change in our community; our elected representatives have sold us out. None of them came to our help when de Blasio and Cuomo anti-Semitically targeted us; they have stood against our interests and have sold us out to the far left.

Rosenthal, who is running unopposed, has a 100-percent voting record from Planned Parenthood, and even voted to remove protections for babies that survive abortions, allowing them to die. He has a radical left-voting record and votes almost always party-line and against our community. He even refused to defend us from Cuomo’s attacks and gave a half-way, wishy-washy statement that supported Cuomo’s persecution. At least in Brooklyn, the frum elected officials defend them; here they seem to put party loyalty above their community. It is time for him to resign, or at least we can write in a protest vote of “no to Rosenthal.” We must rid ourselves of Cuomo’s poodle who has sold us out to his political masters. I regret having voted for him before, and wish I could undo it.

But what is more is that our local congresswoman Grace Meng has sold us out, as well. In the last session of Congress, she has a nearly identical voting record to AOC, whom she endorsed. Over the past few years, her voting record, with the exception of Israel, has shifted far, far left, and she is no longer a moderate. She claims to support our yeshivos but has voted to reduce private school access to government funds and supported Cuomo’s attacks on yeshivos. She has joined with Pelosi in stopping the small business bail-out the Senate voted on because of the Judge Barrett situation, putting politics over small businesses that are shutting down all over our neighborhoods.

She has sold us out and no longer represents us. She regularly puts party loyalty over us. For example, she played a critical role in the watering down of the vote to condemn Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitism to protect her party. She also gave a statement trying to justify Cuomo’s targeting of the Orthodox community, rather than defend her own constituents from those lies. She no longer represents us and our interests, and I cannot imagine why anyone in our community would vote for her again. I voted for her in 2014, 2016, and 2018, but I will not this year for these exact reasons. She cannot coast on things she did for us six years ago, while selling us out today.

However, we have an option: Tom Zmich. I am volunteering to help Zmich win, because I believe in him and his vision. I have known Tom since long before he was running, and he truly is a good man and a friend to our community. He has the most pro-school-choice platform in the country, and he is a strong ally and advocate for yeshivos and private schools. He is more pro-Israel than almost any member of Congress and has a platform far more pro-Israel than Meng. He is a lifelong independent who only recently became a Republican to run, and he always puts people before party.

Lastly, he has stood by us in our fight against de Blasio and Cuomo. Already two weeks ago he came out in support of us and defended us from what he warned us was coming, and he was right; he even had a statement in the QJL before Sukkos in the Letters section. If you look at his Twitter and public statements, he has been out there for us in force, and has been our biggest defender. He even proved with the real COVID numbers on his Twitter page that what Cuomo is claiming is false and manipulated numbers, designed to target the Orthodox community.

There is so much more I can tell you about Tom Zmich, but a vote for him will be the best investment you can make for our community and our future. He is gaining on Meng in the polls every day and actually has a better chance of winning, this far out from the election, than what Turner did for his upset in 2011, in our district. We need Zmich now, we need him to be our Congressman, and we need to remove sell-out party-line hack Meng. Not just vote for Tom, but join me in volunteering and helping his campaign. We need every person we can. You can vote for him on the Republican, Libertarian, Conservative, or Save Our City party lines on the ballot. So this November, let us send a message that will be heard across the country and vote for Tom Zmich.

Rabbi Dovid P. Hirsch

Dear Editor:

 It is with great sadness and frustration that I write this letter. I had hoped that all of us – who were affected by COVID-19 from Purim time through the present time – would clearly get the message that despite all of our best efforts, COVID-19 is difficult to prevent from spreading.

We need to follow the guidelines of the finest infectious disease specialists in this country. This virus has baffled some of the greatest scientific minds in the world, yet many of us think that we can make our own decisions regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, and who has immunity. Even if we are not “afraid” of COVID-19, we should be afraid of the chilul Hashem that some of our defiant attitudes are causing. The solitude and depression many are experiencing from this plague right now is real and should not be minimized.

However, we need to exercise self-control until there is a vaccine. If we are outside near people, we should social distance and/or wear a mask. Just being outside by itself does not greatly prevent the spread of COVID-19. If we want to get together with friends to make Kiddush or have a l’chayim, we need to stop this practice. These activities lead to mask removal and no social distancing. Even if you think that it is worth the risk, bad COVID-19 behavior can affect innocent bystanders. Let’s hope and pray that there is a quick end to this terrible plague.

A Concerned Reader

Dear Editor:

 The mask giveaway was great. I think I figured out why Kew Gardens Hills relapsed.

There is a possibility that when I ended up with a “walk of rage” down Main Street this past week, it may have been a bit much. I saw several people without masks, a storekeeper coming out of his store without a mask, and people with their face uncovered going right into your face! We must not get a round-two relapse. This would be three strikes. We must not let it happen.

P.S. Are we two communities?

Marvin Finkelstein

Dear Editor:

The stores on Main Street have suffered immensely these last months, and now they will be forced to go to takeout for at least two weeks, if not longer. I would like to ask everyone to buy ONE MEAL extra (obviously if you can afford it) from any one restaurant of your choice on Main Street every week until they are allowed to open with more dining options.

Many times, we have gone to these places for donations for our tz’dakahs; it’s time for us to help them out until they are allowed to re-open. We cannot allow Main Street to become a ghost town.

Howard Schoenfeld