APRIL 2019: NST’S PAC COMMITTEE DOES IT AGAIN
BY JILL DAVIS
THE HONORABLE GARY
ACKERMAN VISITS NST The PAC Committee presented
two important events at
the Towers last month. The
first, held on Wednesday, Apr. 3,
drew nearly 200 NST residents
to hear former U.S. Congressman
Gary Ackerman share his
thoughts and answer some of their
questions. The event was organized
by NST’s PAC Committee
which is led by PAC Committee
Chairwoman Felice Hannah and
PAC Committee Program Chair
Vicki Mazel.
Ackerman is renowned for the
length of his service in Congress,
spanning 30 years from 1983 until
his retirement in 2013. During his
tenure, he was a delegate to the
United Nations, served as Chairman
of the Asia Subcommittee and, perhaps
most notably, led Congress’s
efforts to aid Ethiopian Jews to
emigrate to Israel.
But Ackerman wasn’t always a
politician. After graduating from
Queens College, he became a
schoolteacher; he didn’t know it
then, but his work as an educator
would ultimately lead him to
become involved in politics. After
the birth of his daughter in 1969,
Ackerman applied for an unpaid
leave of absence to allow him to care
for her. The request was denied, as
the law of the day permitted leaves
only to women. Ackerman successfully
sued the Board of Education
to allow either parent to take leave
in what became the forerunner to
the Family and Medical Leave Act,
which Ackerman himself signed
into law some 25 years later.
On this evening at the Towers,
however, Ackerman had other
things on his mind as he opened
the conversation. “I have no prepared
remarks tonight,” he began,
then paused. “This was a country
that drew people from all over
the world. Parents wanted their
children to do better than them…
but things started to change.” He
discussed his observations that
we now “have language and attitudes
unheard of before” and that
there seems to be “two Americas.”
He recalled how in Congress,
Democrats and Republicans were
once able to debate civilly but that
in these current times, citizens and
politicians “cannot find common
ground.” When asked how these
issues can be resolved, Ackerman
responded, “I don’t have the
answer.”
He did, however, share his
ideas on the causes for the current
political climate and placed
some of the responsibility on the
electorate. “Only about 50% of
those who can vote, do so,” he
said, and added that the public
tends to be more liable to believe
negative news and question the
positive. Accordingly, the media
plays a huge role in this dynamic.
“The press is lazier,” he said, “and
news vs. entertainment…people
can’t tell the difference.”
Despite his concerns, however,
Ackerman ended on an upbeat
note. He especially emphasized
the importance of expressing
optimism to future generations.
“Be positive to your grandkids,”
he said. “Concentrate on hope.”
Most important, he concluded,
“This is a great country. Don’t give
up on it!”
THE BRONX-QUEENS
CONNECTION
On Tuesday, Apr. 9, NST
residents enjoyed a conversation
with Bronx
Borough President Ruben Diaz,
Jr. and NYC Councilman Barry
Grodenchick, who represents
Queens District 23. The event,
coordinated by PAC Chairwoman
Felice Hannah, brought together
issues that concern residents of
both the Bronx and Queens.
Grodenchick—who began his
talk by pointing out that he’s a
Bronx native—recapped some
recent achievements in NYC,
including increasing the NYC
budget to provide emergency food
for NYC residents in need, resulting
in feeding tens of thousands
of additional people and funding
more than 500 food pantries in
the city. More locally, he cited the
renovation of the schoolyard at P.S.
186 in Little Neck, which had not
undergone any improvements since
the school was built in the 1950s.
Introducing Diaz, Grodenchick
pointed to the vast improvements in
the Bronx during Diaz’s tenure over
the past 10 years. “Under Reuben
Diaz, Jr., the Bronx is soaring again.
It’s become a place where people
from all over the world feel comfortable
living in,” Grodenchick
said. “Today, people are investing
hundreds of millions of dollars
in building new real estate and
businesses largely because of the
efforts of their borough president
and others he leads.”
Taking the podium, Diaz elaborated
on investment in the borough.
“In the last 10 years,” he said, “over
95 million square feet of development
and over $19 billion in private
money has been invested in our
borough. There are over 45,000
new units of housing, much of it
built on the rubble I played in as a
boy.” He concluded, “People are
starting to realize we’re more than
the Yankees, the Bronx Zoo and
the Botanical Gardens.”
The discussion then focused on
two areas of particular interest to
both Bronx and Queens residents:
education and transportation.
Diaz began, “We need an increase
gifted and talented programs; we
should have automatic testing for
gifted and talented kids. The system
has done away with that pipeline.
He also said that, “In the Bronx,
we’ve been able to incentivize the
best teachers to stay and hopefully
we can take that throughout the
city.”
The idea of providing free tuition
for teachers came up. Diaz recommended
that “we should start with
more synergy between business and
the CUNY system. For example,”
he said, “why don’t we negotiate
with Wall St. from Baruch? Lehman
has a great nursing program; what
about those graduates and the public
hospital system?” He suggested,
“Maybe there should be some
student forgiveness on loans.”
The conversation then turned to
the challenges of transit and the
new NYC congestion pricing rules.
Diaz, who has been consistently
opposed to congestion pricing,
acknowledged that both northeastern
Queens and the eastern
corridor of the Bronx are “transit
deserts.”
Diaz is not convinced that congestion
pricing will actually reduce
congestion, but he does believe that
the revenue from it should “be in
a locked box and should stay in
NYC” and “the best way to have
that locked box is to give NYC
Transit back to NYC.”
Grodenchick added, “Give people
viable mass transit options.”
Cost is a factor and “we want
the LiRR fares within the city to
be comparable to the MTA. Diaz
said, “I’m excited about bringing
the Bronx and Queens together
but if folks want us to keep our
cars home it has to make sense.
You need the LIRR; we need Metro
North.” Grodenchick summed up,
“We’ve got to raise our voices as
one and we can make this happen.”
Gary Ackerman with l-r: PAC Program Chair Vicki Mazel; Board Member
Phyllis Goldstein; attorney Geoffrey Mazel; PAC Chairwoman Felice
Hannah; Board First Vice President Fred Chernow. Photo by Dawn Steinberg
l-r: Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz, Jr.; PAC Chairwoman
Felice Hannah and NYC
Councilman Barry Grodenchick.
Photo by Dawn Steinberg
May 2019 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 17