Sunnyside residents hold a rally standing up against Asian hate
crimes on March 6. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
TIMESLEDGER | Q 10 NS.COM | APRIL 2-APRIL 8, 2021
BY BILL PARRY
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards is calling
on New York’s “hometown airline”
to stay grounded in Long
Island City.
In a letter to JetBlue CEO
Robin Hayes, Richards urged
the company to commit to
keeping its corporate headquarters
in Queensboro Plaza
instead of moving its operation
to Florida.
“When JetBlue initially
chose Kew Gardens and later
Long Island City as the site of
its corporate headquarters,
it marked the beginning of
what has become a deep and
mutually beneficial partnership
between your airline and
the borough of Queens,” Richards
wrote. “Let’s continue
that partnership. I understand
the COVID-19 pandemic has
placed significant strains on
JetBlue and other airlines, and
that emerging from the nadir
will require difficult choices.
But I know that it would be a
long-term mistake for JetBlue
to abandon its relationships
and roots in Queens, thereby
losing out on everything our
borough and its residents
can offer.”
Senator Charles Schumer
recently called Hayes and
asked him to stay after the
lease on the Long Island City
headquarters runs out in 2023.
The potential move could affect
1,300 corporate workers
and another 7,000 JetBlue employees
who report to work at
various New York locations
including LaGuardia and JFK
airports.
“The purpose of my call to
Mr. Hayes was simply to remind
him that JetBlue’s roots
and its future is here in New
York,” Schumer said. “With
the critical pandemic relief
dollars we just delivered on to
help save airlines like JetBlue,
and the thousands and thousands
of New Yorkers they
already employ, the airline
should actually clear the runway
to grow here, not recede.
Bottom line, I am confident Jet-
Blue will remain New York’s
hometown airline for a long
time to come.”
Schumer made the call
after reading details of a corporate
memo to employees
announcing that JetBlue was
considering options for when
its lease runs out at its Queensboro
Plaza headquarters.
“We are exploring a number
of paths, including staying
in Long Island City, moving
to another space in New York
City, and/or shifting a to-bedetermined
number of headquarter
roles to existing support
centers,” the memo said.
“We now have more leasing options
as greater vacancy rates
have changed the economics;
the role of the office and our
space requirements will evolve
in a hybrid work environment;
and our own financial condition
has been impacted by
COVID-19.”
A JetBlue spokesperson
called New York the company’s
home for more than 20 years.
“We have terrific options
in both New York and Florida,
and are exploring a number
of paths, including staying in
Long Island City, moving to
another space in New York
City, and/or shifting a to-bedetermined
number of New
York-based roles to our existing
campuses in Florida,” the
spokesperson said, adding that
the company expects to have a
plan in place later this year.
BY ERIN YOON
The recent influx in hate
crimes directed toward
Asian American communities
in Queens and across
the nation has garnered
much public attention on the
subject of racial hostility.
While there have been several
protests throughout the
borough in recent weeks, the
anti-Asian sentiments have
not gone away. In Queens
alone, there have been several
recent incidents, including
one in which a man
hurled anti-Asian slurs at a
woman on board a subway
train before destroying her
phone while she made a call
on Tuesday, March 23.
That incident came after
a group of teenagers attacked
a 13-year-old Asian
American boy on a Flushing
basketball court.
As the issue continues
to plague the borough and
the country, Asian American
teenagers in Queens
transparently shared their
thoughts with QNS upon being
asked to explain their
feelings toward the current
situation.
“I don’t feel safe at all,”
said Tyler Lee, a high school
senior residing in Flushing.
“Although I haven’t been affected
personally by the recent
attacks, it’s both threatening
and infuriating to see
a list of new crimes against
Asians on the news each
morning.”
The hate crimes, according
to Lee, are not committed
due to the wrongdoing of
victims. The victims so far
were innocent individuals;
they were simply attacked
for their racial identity, Lee
said.
For this reason, violence
against Asian Americans
cannot be justified in any
way, according to Lee.
“It’s crazy because last
year, I was afraid to leave the
house due to the virus. But
now I don’t want to leave my
home because I could easily
be attacked while walking
down the street or waiting
for a train,” claimed Sarah
Wang, a high school senior
who lives in East Elmhurst.
Wang said her parents,
who own a beauty supply
store in Astoria, have been
told “go back to your country”
a countless number of
times since the outbreak of
the coronavirus.
Wang suspects that the
sudden projection of anti-
Asian sentiments is an outcome
of the blame that Asian
Americans have taken for the
ignition of the pandemic.
However, it is also evident
that racist attitudes toward
the Asian American community
are not a part of a new
trend; they have been present
long before the recent
surge in hate crimes.
“I attended a private institution
for five years during
my elementary and middle
school days,” said Sandi
Shao, an 11th-grade student
who resides in Bayside. “I
was the only Chinese student
in my grade, and I was
shamed for it.”
Some of her non-Asian
classmates, Shao recalled,
were quick to make insulting
generalizations regarding
her background.
She said she was often fallaciously
mocked for being a
“dog-eater.”
Because she wished to
feel less isolated and belittled
by her surroundings,
Shao made efforts to blend
into the American-style atmosphere
of her school environment
and to conceal her
traditional background as
much as she could.
However, such actions
collected more sneers from
her classmates.
“Some kids would joke
around saying that I was
a ‘banana’: yellow on the
outside and white on the inside,”
she told QNS. “It took
me a while to realize that I
wouldn’t be appreciated and
included either way.”
The current rise in anti-
Asian sentiments, she continued,
provokes her to use
her past experiences to raise
her voice against the conflict.
In order to make change,
more people should explore
the issue and help fight
against it, according to
Shao.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards calls on JetBlue to
remain in Queens when its Long Island City lease ends in 2023.
QNS/File
‘I don’t feel safe at all’
BP Richards urges
JetBlue to remain
in Long Island City
Queens Asian American teenagers open up about
recent nationwide surge in anti-Asian hate crimes
/NS.COM
