The one and only Frank Sinatra

Mooresville, N.C.: Let’s celebrate legendary singer/actor/entertainer Frank Sinatra’s 102nd birthday on Tuesday, Dec. 12. I hope his legions of fans will join me in this yearly celebration, including Tony Bennett, singer actress Jane Powell, Peggy King and the All Star Jazz Trio, music archivist Anthony DiFlorio III, Global Productions talent promoter Billy Jon Coogan, music historian Jonathan Schwartz, DJ Ronnie Allen, music director/bassist George Roumanis WYYR program director Chris Valenti and entertainment columnist/author Will Friedwald. One sad note, the passing of big band vocalist Harry Prime (he sang with the Tommy Dorsey and Ralph Flanagan orchestras) earlier this year at age 97. Prime was an ardent fan of Frank Sinatra and Bob Eberle, vocalist with the famous Jimmy Dorsey band.

So here we are once again to say Happy Birthday to Frank Sinatra, whose recordings, films and music remain timeless. As they say in Italian: Salute! Herb Stark

Shooting galleries

Massapequa, L.I.: Does the House’s bill to allow concealed weapons into states that prohibit them extend to the visitors’ galleries in Congress? Paul Pepe

Sex abuse double standard

Bronx: The Democrats force Al Franken to resign, yet Bill Clinton will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser hosted by Andrew Cuomo. W. Twirley

No bus there

Manhattan: A sign in the Second Ave. Q trains promises “better bus connections with the 3rd Ave. & Lexington busses” in Manhattan, but they don’t. The “limited” busses on that route don’t stop at E. 63rd St. Colin Ferenbach

Agents know their stuff

Washington: A recent article reported “Half of American adults are health-care illiterate,” (Nov. 29). These folks don’t understand even basic details of their insurance plans. Health insurance agents and brokers can clear up this confusion. A majority of agents have 10 or more years of experience in the business. And 72% report spending “most” or “a lot” of their time explaining coverage to clients. This expertise is why consumers shopping for insurance on the exchanges rate agents as more helpful than any other source of assistance.

Janet Trautwein, CEO National Association of

Health Underwriters

Family hero

Toms River, N.J.: I recently visited Ellis Island and came home to do some research about my family immigrating to America. My great-great uncle is Lt. Joe Petrosino, the NYPD detective murdered by the Black Hand in 1908 in Sicily while investigating organized crime. My grandfather was Peter Petrosino, Joe’s nephew and son of Prospero (Joe’s brother) and Maria (Mungo) Petrosino. My grandmother, Julia Petrosino, lived to be 103 and passed away on May 25, 2015. She was always proud of my grandfather’s uncle and I would like to discover more research about my family and hope to be able to get in contact with the author and/or producers of the forthcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, “Black Hand.” My father had an interesting life, to say the least and disappeared when I was about six years old. Either way, I look forward to learning and sharing more research.

Bob Petrosino

Sour note

Hadley, Mass.: I have known about of Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine sexually abusing boys since the early 1980s when I heard about him at a Metropolitan Opera Club event. I hope that he will finally be brought to justice. After I learned about him, I could not listen to any music he conducted nor attend any performances he conducted. Charlotte Schwab

Getting the history correct

Duxbury, Mass.: Voicer Neil C. Giannelli invested his time to question the facts in my letter. First, Czar Alexander II did free 23 million serfs in Russia which inspired Lincoln to do the same here in the United States. There is much evidence for this, including a letter from Secretary of State William Henry Seward to Lincoln connecting the Emancipation Proclamation with the Czar’s vehement opposition to slavery. Both Lincoln and Alexander are portrayed by historians as the “Great Emancipators.” Second, Daily News readers must know that Giannelli was not being snarky when he said the King of Siam did not offer elephants to Lincoln. He was simply 100% incorrect, the King did offer breeding elephants to Lincoln! This fact is easily verified at the National Archives. Finally, Both President Trump and Abraham Lincoln are complicated humans with pros and cons that are indivisible. Paul Mellen

Natural wonders

Manhattan: As a descendant of Utah pioneers (pre-1850!), I am horrified by President Trump’s foolish and short-sighted decision to reduce the Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase national monuments by 2 million acres. Hopefully, the Native American tribes and environmental groups in Utah can reverse this decision through imminent litigation. The gorgeous State Of Utah deserves to be protected and its land preserved in perpetuity. Sue Daglian

Professionals and profits

Whangarei, New Zealand: I am the owner of The Bach (rhymes with “catch,”) an ethical escort agency in Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand. I read with interest S.E. Cupp’s Nov. 30 column “Needed: #metoo, for prostitutes” and I’d like to clarify a few points. The World Health Organization endorses the decriminalization of prostitution, not the legalization. These are two separate things. New Zealand is the only country in the world where sex work is decriminalized, meaning it is treated like any other profession and is not unduly regulated. Since the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act, sex workers are empowered to call on the police for help, and officers are able to to assist — whether it’s escorting a client to an ATM to make sure he pays, or by taking a report of sexual harassment or assault. The ladies who work for me are not exploited or exposed to violence. Rather, they are single mothers and young professionals, saving hundreds (and sometimes thousands!) of dollars a week for their future. Does sex work cheapen sex? That’s a matter of opinion. But I’ll tell you what most of my ladies say to me, when they leave work with a smile and a fistful of cash: “I can’t believe I was doing this on Tinder for free!” Antonia Murphy

A cell phone’s journey

Briarwood: The other day, while on my way to work at 6 a.m. my cell phone unexpectedly fell on the tracks. I did not panic but wanted to make sure the phone would not break when the train passed by; thankfully it didn’t. I then proceeded to inform the token booth clerk who said that I would have to wait until after rush hour for the MTA to get my phone. I stayed calm, after all, I am a NYC public school teacher and I am not dependent on my cell phone, especially at work. When I headed home and went to the booth, the clerk there gave me the phone. I just assumed the MTA did what they had to do and thought nothing of it. I later found out from my mother that a gentlemen had called her (as she was the last call that I had made on the phone before dropping it). He

The Jewish homeland

GETTY informed her that he went to the tracks and picked it up and would give it to token booth clerk. She got the call at 7:55 a.m. Clearly that time was the heart of rush hour and he just jumped on the tracks. I am sure the person who took such a huge risk to retrieve a phone that was not the theirs was not expecting a thank you from me since they didn’t leave a number or name. So whoever you are, thank you so much; you are very brave to do such a thing. On another note, the incident served as a great story to tell my students who are so attached to their electronics. Maribel Nieves Shadmot Mehola, West Bank: Re “Bias seen in schools’ free lunch” (Nov. 28): If the vegetarian meals are vegan, then this would accommodate all. But my advice for any Orthodox Jew is, instead of trying to fit into an America that has become increasingly and nonstoppingly anti-Semitic, come home to where you belong and are wanted and needed, to your homeland, Israel, like this I did, a former New Yorker from Chelsea. You are being discriminated upon severely in the U.S. now. The university campuses are just like the Nazi-era campuses in the 1930s. Jews are now afraid for their physical well-being on the overwhelming majority of universities and colleges, in particular on all the Ivy League ones. I implore you to see the writing on the wall. Get out now, before it is too late. Ruth Broch