Free Wal-Mart

to the editor: new york city residentswill miss out on wal-mart's offering a $20meal for eight people this thanksgiving. this includesa 12-pound turkey at 40 cents per pound, along with discounts on vegetables, cranberry sauce, stuffing, potatoes, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie.theunemployed, seniors,those on fixed incomes and the less fortunate will suffer.

consumers continue tobe denied the opportunity to shop atwal-mart. this is a result ofnarrow-minded new york city council members who refuse to allowwal-mart anopportunity toopen stores within the five boroughs.

in 2008, millions of americans cashed more than half a billion dollars worth of stimulus checks at wal-mart. the chain offers generic drugs for $4 and three months of medicine for $10,shared more than $2 billion in profits with employees as bonuses and reducedprices on more than 16,000 types of back-to-school clothing and supplies, including inexpensive computers for kids. even with anti-wal-mart hysteria, the company still committed to transferring several hundred employees to support expanding the new york city business offices.

isn't it time to let consumers make the decision on what to buy and where to shop, rather than council speaker christine quinn and her colleagues?

larry penner great neck, long island

letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.