Too many ID hoops for seniors

Brooklyn: I am 66, retired and receiving my Social Security. I find that some institutions seem to make it hard for seniors to make transactions unless they have a particular form of identification, which can be a hardship for some if they don’t have a state driver’s license or non-driver’s-license ID. I went to Bank of America to deposit $100 in my cousin’s account, which is in Florida. I had to show a driver’s license or a passport to make the deposit. My Social Security card, which is issued by the government, is not accepted. So if I am not a licensed driver and don’t have a non-driver’s license, I am required to always travel with my passport, if I have one, just to deposit a few dollars in an account — when in my possession is my benefit card, with my photo issued by New York State.

I showed the clerk, as well, how I arrived at the money, withdrawing $400 from my bank and depositing $300 in another bank that did not require me to show an ID.

The question is, was it because Bank of America was caught up in some money-laundering scheme some time ago that the ordinary man on the street, seniors even more so, who can’t easily get around, must produce only a state ID that Bank of America approves of?

Lenny Wright

Tracking truth

Atlanta: The facts are: John Samuelsen had been fired from Transport Workers Union Local 100 staff two years before track safety legislation was enacted by the New York State Legislature (“Motor on, John,” editorial, Sept. 29). The story that he was instrumental in safety reforms in any way is a myth, if not a lie. I did not run in the 2009 elections. The two times Samuelsen ran against slates that I led, he lost. But . . . why let facts get in the way of a good story?! Roger Toussaint Former President TWU Local 100

Two sides to hospital drama

Manhattan: The article “It’s Plain Sick” (Oct. 1) tells the important story of who is served by New York City Health + Hospitals and how the system is shortchanged by the governor and the state. These hospitals serve the most uninsured and a high percentage of those on Medicaid. This is the formula to get the federal Disproportionate Share Hospitals money. But more goes to the private hospitals, which don’t compare in whom they serve. But “Hospitals in the ER” (editorial, Oct. 1) underplays the importance and quality, instead continuing to spout political instead of real info. Judy Wessler

Trials for truth

Brooklyn: Sixteen years after the 9/11 attacks, terrorists sit in Guantanamo awaiting trial in military court. Guantanamo defense teams and a newly appointed convening authority are asking 9/11 families to consider a plea deal for terrorists with life in prison and no death penalty. A trial is the only way people will learn the truth. Sept. 11 families deserve swift and certain justice, as promised by President Obama. If the military court can’t get the job done, then put these terrorists in federal court, which has a proven record in cases involving terrorism. This is truly American justice at its worst. Jim Riches

Why Petty was grand

Manhattan: Tom Petty has been a spiritual leader for me since my dazed days in a teenage haze. His songs, from “Refugee” to “Even the Losers” to “I Won’t Back Down” to “Learning to Fly” to “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” expressed how I felt in an alienating world: awkward and unsure, but ready to rock, take life by the throat and hit the road. Petty (and the Heartbreakers!) was a class act, always so humble and grateful to his fans (and able to musically argue the analgesic effects of cannabis). I will always count the night I saw TP and the HBs at Irving Plaza in the late 90s as one of the most memorable concerts I ever attended. He may have been a complex kid, he may have reached the end of the line, and it may be time to move on, but without a shadow of a doubt, Tom Petty has ascended to a room at the top of the world and leaves us all, through his music, with the means to run down our dreams and go down swingin’, like Sonny Liston. Kevin Gallagher

Free-fallin’ grief

Rosedale: This American Girl tried not to Breakdown when she heard about the death of Heartbreaker Tom Petty. R.I.P., TP. You will be missed, but your music lives on! Carol Matson

What Hef left behind

Great Barrington, Mass.: What a sanitized version of Hugh Hefner, who commercialized the continued exploitation of women (“Hugh Hefner biographer reflects on the legacy he left on American life,” Op-Ed, Sept. 29). Riding the coattails of the broader ’60s sexual revolution, while adding a dollop of serious-sounding intellectual fare, does not a liberator make. That scores of nubile young women, dazzled by material largesse and a slickly packaged version of “the good life,” chose to participate in their own degradation is simply sad. Get real! Jennifer Wade

The McCain myth

Brooklyn: Sen. John McCain is living proof that if you tell a lie often enough to people who know no better, it becomes fact. The heroes of the Vietnam War never came home; they died in a rice paddy, the jungle or a prison camp. The heroes never betrayed their fellow soldiers; they suffered, but did not break. McCain broke and gave information. He was responsible for those who did not break receiving worse conditions. Maybe if his father hadn’t been an admiral he would have been brought up on charges at home. Instead, McCain has done everything possible to make sure POW-MIA documents never see the light of day. Why? Maybe if Voicer Nelson Marans had served, he’d realize that McCain is no hero. Ralph DeNicola

Waiting for the end

Manhattan: Just when you think Dumb Donald can’t sink any lower, he spews more despicable bile. Telling the mayor of San Juan that the people of Puerto Rico “expect everything to be done for them” in the aftermath of an epic, monumental tragedy is just reprehensible. He is the most unfit President in history, and his administration is the most corrupt. His impeachment surely looms near. And I will cherish the day when he is no longer the face of America. Pamela Carter

A selfish mayor

Brooklyn: The mayor of San Juan had harsh words for the President concerning receiving of no aid after Hurricane Maria. Remember that Texas and Florida were hit with devastating hurricanes; both states will take time to rebuild. Thousands of federal workers were sent to Puerto Rico, not counting the tons of food and medical equipment. Could be she is grandstanding to bring more focus on her city. Sounds selfish to me. You don’t hear Texas and Florida complaining. Surely there are many people in those states who lost everything; they, too, must start again from scratch.

Joseph V. Comperchio

Different kneeling

Bronx: Dear Voicer Stephen Minter, how ignorant are you? Tebow kneeled to pray; the other players who kneeled are protesting the flag of the United States of America. Major difference!

Patty Marsibilio

No bridge between religions

White Plains, N.Y.: That Voicer Cathy Sheehan-Wilson was “disgusted” that the old Kosciuszko Bridge was demolished last Sunday rather than on Saturday, and her “Oh, we all know why, don’t we!” was not just very thinly veiled anti-Semitism, but ignorant as well. Saturday was Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day of the year. How would she have reacted if the demolition had been carried out on Good Friday or Easter? David C. Berliner

For the record Nothing to laugh at

GETTY Bayside: To Voicer Cathy Sheehan-Wilson: great letter! The best part — “Why wasn’t it done on a Saturday? Oh, we all know why, don’t we!” The only thing you left out was the word “Jew.” Sorry that you “hate New York.” Hope you made it to your worship. And yes, the Daily News did print your vile letter. Jack Cohen Brooklyn: Is it my imagination, or have comic strips in the Daily News become more dry and less funny over the years? In the 1980s, 1990s and even into the 2000s, observational humor kept strips like “Hagar the Horrible” or canceled comics like “Cathy” and “The Far Side” alive and clever. From the looks of it, cartoonists are now so afraid of offending/bullying people, being politically incorrect and creating negative body image, that we’re left with empty story lines for “Zits” and “One Big Happy.” The funnies aren’t as funny as they used to be — seemingly because people have become overly sensitive and draw their own ignorant conclusions.

Dara Mormile