EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Never forget the sacrifi ces
our veterans have made
Our nation will observe Veterans
Day on Nov. 11.
On this solemn day, all
Americans should remember
our brave veterans who have
sacrificed so much so we can
continue to enjoy the freedoms
that we have in this great nation.
From the American Revolution
right through the Afghanistan
and Iraqi Wars, and all of
the conflicts in between, these
brave men and women fought
against tyranny, fascism, Nazism
and Communism and always
prevailed.
So, on Nov. 11, if you are
off from work or from school,
just pause for a couple of minutes
and say a silent, reflective
prayer remembering our
wonderful, brave veterans and
their families.
God bless all of them and
God bless the United States
of America, the greatest and
most wonderful country in the
world!
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry, Mark
Hallum, Carlotta Mohamed, Jenna
Bagcal, Emily Davenport,
Max Parrott
Photographers: Nat Valentine,
Ellis Kaplan, Robert Cole
Copy Editor: Katrina Medoff
Contributing Writers/Columnists:
Tammy Scileppi, Robert Cole
ART & PRODUCTION
Production Manager:
Deborah Cusick
Art Director: Nirmal Singh
Layout: Zach Gewelb
Cartoonist: Tip Sempliner
ADVERTISING
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Wenk
Account Executives:
David Strauss
Sherri Rossi
PROUD MEMBER OF NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
PUBLISHER
Brian Rice
EDITOR
Zach Gewelb
V.P. OF ADVERTISING
Ralph D’onofrio
CIRCULATION
Robert Palacios
CLASSIFIED
Classified Director:
Celeste Alamin
Classified Sales
Manager:
Eugena Pechenaya
THE EASY WAY
When he announced that NYPD Chief of Detectives
Dermot Shea, 50, will take over as police commissioner
on Dec. 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio called him “one of the
best prepared incoming police commissioners this city
has ever seen.”
The mayor then touted Shea’s personal story of
growing up in a cramped one-bedroom apartment, the
son of Irish immigrants, who had to achieve everything
through hard work — and his 28-year career clearly
show he has the right stuff.
Shea will join the likes of John Francis O’Ryan,
Thomas Francis Murphy and Patrick V. Murphy as the
leader of the nation’s largest police force, a tradition
in which the majority of commissioners in the last 120
years have been of Irish descent.
The mayor is correct when he called Shea’s appointment
“an American-dream story if there ever was one,”
but reformers see something else.
Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz tweeted, “At a time
when the relationship between police and communities
couldn’t be worse — we chose another white guy?”
City Councilman Donovan Richards, the chair of
the committee on public safety, took a more nuanced
approach. After praising Commissioner James O’Neill,
who is leaving for a job in the private sector, Richards
questioned the mayor’s decision-making process.
“As we look towards a new commissioner, I am concerned
with the direction we are going. The faces of everyday
officers is changing, as the NYPD shifts to a majority
minority department. The top of the department
should reflect that.”
The mayor looked into the faces of the changing
NYPD just last month during a swearing-in ceremony
at the Police Academy in College Point, where the latest
class of 697 recruits is the most diverse in city history
with more than 60 percent representing a minority
Should de Blasio have followed the path followed by
Ed Koch in selecting Ben Ward or David Dinkins appointing
Lee Brown by going with First Deputy Commissioner
Ben Tucker, who was reportedly interviewed
by the mayor over the weekend?
Maybe that was just for optics — and the mayor
punted, telling NY1 “you will see an intensification of
diversity in the leadership ranks in the coming years.”
De Blasio, who is term-limited out of office in 2021,
basically admitted that he had made up his mind on
picking Shea a while back.
“I started watching Dermot in action six years ago...
And I became convinced a long time ago that he was the
future of the NYPD,” de Blasio said.
That is not thinking outside of the box. It was an
easy choice made by a lame duck mayor.
HOW TO REACH US
group.
MAIL: 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361
PHONE: Display Advertising: (718) 260-4537
Editorial: (718) 260-4549
WEBSITE: Visit www.qns.com
E-MAIL: Editorial: timesledgernews@schnepsmedia.com
Display Advertising: brice@schnepsmedia.com
Classified: classified@schnepsmedia.com
TO SUBSCRIBE: Call (718) 260-2515
Copyright©2019 Queens CNG LLC.
16 TIMESLEDGER, NOV. 8-14, 2019 QNS.COM
/www.qns.com
link
link
link
/www.qns.com
/QNS.COM
link
link
link
