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COURIER LIFE, APRIL 23-29, 2021 31
EDITORIAL
Cures for inequality
It’s no surprise that a number of candidates
running to replace Bill de
Blasio as mayor of New York City
have made health care reform a key
campaign issue amid the COVID-19
pandemic.
The health crisis, as de Blasio, Governor
Andrew Cuomo and others have
pointed out, exposed long-festering inequalities
across the city, particularly
the lack of quality health care services
available in low-income areas and
communities of color.
This disparity led to deadly consequences
during the pandemic -- with
Black New Yorkers dying of COVID-19
at twice the rate of white New Yorkers,
and Latinx New Yorkers succumbing
to the virus at 1.5 times the rate of
whites. And if we do nothing to close
that disparity in the wake of this pandemic,
then it will be the most ignominious,
shameful of failures by our
leaders.
Over the past week, two mayoral
candidates have come out with their
plans to cure some of the harmful inequality
in our midst.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s
plan seeks to consolidate the city’s
health commissioner and the head
of the NYC Health + Hospitals public
health care system into one offi ce
known as the chief health offi cer. It
also seeks to greatly expand available
health care services across the city,
and recruit teams of medical staff who
will be ready to address future pandemics.
Meanwhile, civil rights attorney
Maya Wiley offered a more issue-specifi
c plan to address another terrible,
shameful inequality in New York: maternal
mortality. New York City has
one of the highest maternal mortality
rates in the country -- and again,
Black and Latino mothers disproportionately
suffer more post-childbirth
deaths.
Wiley wants to expand prenatal
care for expecting moms and midwife
services to help eliminate the complications
of pregnancy and save young
mothers’ lives.
The costs of these reforms will undoubtedly
be substantial, and some
might well ask if the city is fi t to truly
address and resolve our health inequalities.
The answer, however, is
that the existence of the inequalities
themselves are evidence that the status
quo and the free market have failed
New Yorkers -- and now government
must step up.
It will take years, it will cost millions
in taxpayer dollars, but it must
be done. Nothing is more important
than your health -- and our next
mayor, whoever it is, must ensure that
every New Yorker gets to live their
best, healthy life, regardless of their
background.
OP-ED
BY MICHAEL QUINN
As I was spending the days,
weeks and months after 9/11
searching for my brother’s
remains at Ground Zero the
public was told that the air
was safe to breath. Inhaling
that Downtown Manhattan
air during those months felt
like heavy sand deep in my
lungs. I knew the air could not
have been safe. Nearly twenty
years later over 2,000 people
have died from inhaling that
same toxic dust.
Shortly after graduating
West Point my surviving
brother was deployed to Iraq
and later Afghanistan for a total
of 12 years. He was exposed
to burn pits that were believed
to be safe. These burn pits included
a toxic mix of waste
that included batteries, metals,
and chemicals. This time
unrestricted toxic air was being
exposed to our brave men
and women of the military. Today
thousands of veterans are
suffering from lung damage
as a result of exposure to these
burn pits even through it was
deemed safe.
Today, ferry service to Coney
Island is moving forward.
Not on the ocean side where
ferry service existed for a
good portion of the 19th century
bringing visitors directly
to Coney Island from as far as
Newark, New Jersey. Rather
the highly toxic Coney Island
Creek, one long mile from the
amusement district.
For decades traffi c has been
plaguing the neighborhood of
Coney Island. Especially the
west end where residents can
not leave their homes due to
the summer traffi c after a concert
or a Cyclones baseball
game. God forbid an ambulance
needed to make it’s way
to the west end.
This ferry planned for Coney
Island Creek along with
a potential shuttle bus will
only exacerbate the already
crippling summer traffi c.
Whereas an ocean side ferry
with a proper landing would
ease that congestion. The
creekside ferry will cause
thousands of visitors to be
walking through the residential
streets on their long hike
to the beach. Whereas ocean
side service will allow visitors
to patronize the local businesses
and return to the ferry
without disturbing the residential
area.
Starting in the 1840’s small
boats which gave way to larger
steamboats all landed at the
benign oceanside waters of
Coney Island. Four oceanside
piers welcomed boats with visitors
from all areas of the globe.
Located near the entrance to
Lower New York Bay, Coney
Island doesn’t have the same
choppy ocean surf as nearby
Rockaway Beach making it
the ideal spot for a ferry landing.
If this location was possible
during the Civil War Era
it certainly should be possible
today regardless of the size of
the vessel.
The real crime here is the
toxic dredging to make way for
the landing which has been approved
to move forward, even
though there has been strong
resistance by many members
of the community. Assembly
Member Mathylde Frontus
has been extremely vocal
about opposing this location
out of fear for the health and
well-being of her constituents.
Unfortunately, the Assembly
Member’s cries have fell on
deaf ears.
Highly dangerous levels of
mercury, lead, and pesticides
in the creek will be dredged up
yards from where people live,
fi sh and where children play.
These toxins can cause cancer,
others, such as heavy metal
as well as lead, will cause developmental
problems in children.
It doesn’t matter which
studies are conducted, common
sense screams that this is
extremely dangerous.
If this ferry plan isn’t
stopped in it’s tracks this community
will be in the same
vulnerable circumstances as
those at Ground Zero after 9/11
as well as our brave men and
women living among the burn
pits of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Nobody with a sliver of rational
thought in their head
would approve this plan knowing
these dire circumstances.
Yes. Coney Island deserves
a ferry. Not on the bothersome
highly toxic creek, rather the
much more logical ocean side.
This project must be halted
immediately for the health and
safety of the community.
Michael Quinn is a Coney
Island native, historian, and
community advocate.
Coney Island Ferry:
Right time, wrong location
link