EDITORIAL
MLK AND TODAY’S
DEMOCRACY
As we celebrate his legacy in 2022, we can only
imagine what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would
say were he to look upon America in the present
day and see its political fracture.
We would think that Dr. King, a man of unwavering
courage, determination and peace who devoted his life to
the pursuit of equal rights for every American, would shudder
at the voter suppression efforts happening across this
Dr. King was on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement
in the 1960s, and his efforts helped pave the way for
not only the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting
Rights Act, but also the ratification of the 24th Amendment,
which abolished poll taxes that Southern states used to prevent
Black Americans from voting.
Today, voter suppression has taken on numerous other
forms. States controlled by Republican governments are
now closing poll sites, restricting their hours of operation
and even imposing restrictions for people waiting to stand
in line to vote.
Trump-loving Republicans are even trying to control
who counts the votes, with some states flirting with allowing
state legislatures to override the results of a presidential
election by appointing their own electors for the candidates
of their choice, not the voters’.
And there’s further evidence, through an indictment of
11 members of the right-wing militant group the Oath Keepers
last week, that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol
was a “seditious conspiracy” aimed at forcibly overturning
the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Democracy is under attack in America, from within,
like never before. We believe Dr. King would undoubtedly
feel the despair many Americans feel these days in witnessing
such an orchestrated effort to suppress the right to vote
— something that generations of freedom fighters and freedom
riders fought so hard to defend, risking their own lives
But were he with us today, we know that Dr. King would
be the loudest of voices in America countering the flood of
lies and anti-Americanism with truth and a devout love of
country. He would want not just the government to act, but
all truly patriotic Americans to take a stand against the autocracy
in our midst — and to do so peacefully.
Regardless of our backgrounds, we must recognize the
threats to our democracy and the right to vote and act, as Dr.
King would have, to oppose them wherever they arise.
As he said in February 1968, just months before his assassination,
“There comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must
take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
HOW TO REACH US
country.
in the process.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.14 COM | JAN. 21 - JAN. 27, 2022
Were he with us today, we know that Dr. King would be the loudest of voices in America countering the flood of
lies and anti-Americanism with truth and a devout love of country. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
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There are better alternatives to Governor Hochul’s
announcement supporting a new Brooklyn
to Queens Subway Connection. The cost
could easily be several billion more than the
2016 Regional Planning Association cost estimate of
$1 to $2 billion.
Hochul and other project supporters forgot to tell
you about the existing G line service that has been
running from Brooklyn to Queens for decades. It was
built as part of the municipal Independent Subway
(IND) system constructed in the 1930s! Whoever provided
her with the proposed system map airbrushed
this out.
Completion of Communication Based Train Control
on both the Queens Boulevard E, F and R line
along with F line Brooklyn routes will provide increased
capacity on both subway corridors. Current
G line service terminating at Court Square could be
extended to Forest Hills, Continental Avenue. This
would restore this connection which was terminated
several decades ago.
In Brooklyn, G line service could be extended
beyond Church Avenue to Coney Island Stillwell Avenue
Terminal. This would provide connections to
the D, N and Q lines. The G line Fulton Street train
station is located several blocks from the Atlantic
Avenue/Barclay Center LIRR/NYC Transit subway
station complex. A simple underground passageway
could be constructed. This could provide a direct indoor
connection to the G line from the 2, 3, 4 and 5
IRT, B, D, N, Q and R BMT subway lines along with
the Atlantic branch LIRR. Upon initiation of service
to support East Side Access to Grand Central Terminal,
the LIRR will convert this branch to a simple
scoot service between Jamaica and Flatbush Avenue,
maintaining stops at East NY and Nostrand Avenue.
The MTA has a planned capital project for renovation
of the East New York J/Z/L/A/C subway station
complex along with the adjacent LIRR Station. Few
people use this LIRR station due safety and security
issues, poor lighting along and outdated physical conditions.
Upgrading the East NY LIRR station might
make it more attractive for those who use any of the
five mentioned subway lines. The L line connects Canarsie
with the 14th Street Manhattan corridor running
through numerous Brooklyn neighborhoods.
The J/Z connects Jamaica Center with Wall Street
via numerous Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods.
The A and C connect Lefferts Blvd and the Rockaways
with various other Queens and Brooklyn neighborhoods
before reaching Manhattan.
The Woodhaven Boulevard Queens Atlantic
Branch LIRR Station was closed in 1977. It is still in
the concept planning phase. Reopening is estimated
to cost $40 million.
All of the above could be implemented far more
quickly. The cost for a new underground subway
passageway connection, purchase of additional subway
cars and modifications to increase capacity for
storage and maintenance of equipment at a rail yard
necessary to increase service on the G line to support
extended service to Forest Hills and Coney Island
would be far cheaper that Hochul’s proposal.
Larry Penner,
Great Neck
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