FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 4, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
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The New York State Pavilion and Tent of Tomorrow are some of the last remaining pieces of the 1964-65 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows
Corona Park. During the fair, the pavilion’s two space needle towers served as observation decks and a restaurant. The Tent of Tomorrow
was covered in stained glass and had a terracotta map of New York state on the fl oor. Send us your historic photos of Queens by email to
editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look Back) or mail printed pictures to A Look Back, The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
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letters & comments
CHANCELLOR’S
INTERESTING CHOICE
OF WORDS
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s
recent comment that she is proud to
have brought back dignity to teaching
is a noble sentiment. However, it
would have been more to the point had
she said she was proud to have protected
the profession’s dignity. No matter
what her predecessors in the chancellor’s
offi ce took from teachers, they
could not take away their dignity.
Robert Berger, Bellerose
HEY GUV: YOU’RE NO
ROBERT MOSES!
Here is my 2018 New Year’s wish for
Governor Cuomo: Stop believing you
are the reincarnation of the late master
builder, Robert Moses.
Please fi nd real money instead of
picking the pockets of taxpayers and
riders with bonding, loan term loans
and other budgetary gimmicks to pay
for your $100 billion worth of transportation
promises.
For starts, how about the $5.8 billion
you still owe toward fully funding
the $32 billion MTA 2015-2019 Five-
Year Capital Plan; an additional $1 billion
you pledged in response to last
year’s NYC Transit subway and LIRR
Penn Station crises; $4.3 billion balance
needed toward $6 billion Second
Avenue Subway Phase 2; $7.25 billion
for your 25 percent share of the
$29 billion Amtrak Gateway Tunnel
along with paying back the $1.6 billion
dollar federal loan and $1 billion
State Th ruway Authority Bond which
helped fi nance the new $3.9 billion
Tappan Zee Bridge, just to name a few.
Th ere is not enough space for me
to list his $100 billion worth of transportation
dreams and previous commitments.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
WORKING HARD AT
HARDLY WORKING?
Happy New Year everybody! We
are all another year closer to ridding
America and the world of the current
White House infestation. A man currently
accused by 19 women of sexual
misconduct. A man who, according to
his lawyer, is too busy to address these
allegations, yet has had time to play
more golf in one year than Bush did in
eight while ignoring the hypocrisy of
his comments regarding Obama playing
“too much golf.”
Trump recently played fi ve days
in a row while having a Palm Beach
Sheriff ’s Department truck block the
view of reporters fi lming him on the
course, lest they report the “fake news”
that he played golf fi ve days in a row.
Th is was also aft er Trump said he was
“getting back to work.”
Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation
has cost American taxpayers $3.2
million so far. Trump’s fi rst seven
Mar-A-Lago weekend golf trips? $6.6
million in security expenditures, airfare
not included.
Make America great again, my foot.
Robert LaRosa, Whitestone
Editor’s note: Th e last sentence of the
reader’s letter contained a profane reference
term to the gluteus maximus,
which we’ve replaced with another part
of the anatomy. We remind our readers
to please refrain from profanity. Th is is
a family newspaper.
Email your letters to editorial@qns.
com (Subject: Letter to the Editor) or
leave a comment to any of our stories
at QNS.com. All letters are subject to
editing. Names will be withheld upon
request, but anonymous letters will not
be considered for publication. Th e views
expressed in all letters and comments
are not necessarily those of this publication
or its staff .
New York should lead
on reproductive health
BY STATE
SENATOR JOSE
PERALTA
As New
Yorkers, we take
pride when we
lead by example.
Our free college
tuition plan
and our immigrant
legal counsel
are the fi rst of
their kind in the
nation, yet we are lagging behind in women’s
reproductive health.
Th ere are eight states that have already codifi
ed Roe V. Wade into state law, with another
10 expressing their intent to do so in the wake
of what is happening at the federal level. New
York can ill aff ord to sit idly by.
New York State has the opportunity to pass
two key pieces of legislation this upcoming
year. Th e fi rst, the Reproductive Health Act
(RHA), or S.2796, updates NYS law with protections
enshrined in Roe V. Wade. Th e law in
New York actually predates Roe: NYS allowed
abortion three years prior. Th e state needs to
update its law and pass the RHA.
As part of the overall attack on women’s
reproductive health, contraception coverage
is also being restricted. Here in New York,
we have the Comprehensive Contraception
Coverage Act (CCCA) or S.3668, which provides
insurance coverage for FDA-approved
contraceptive drugs and devices. Th is bill has
passed the Assembly in each of the last two
years, and the time has come for the NYS
Senate to pass the bill.
Under the CCCA, insurance companies
would have to provide cost-free coverage for
at least one type of FDA-approved contraceptive,
including emergency contraception. Th e
bill would also apply to voluntary sterilization
procedures, extending coverage to both
men and women, and would prohibit insurance
companies from using medical management
review restrictions to delay contraceptive
coverage. In addition, the measure would also
allow patients to receive a 12-month supply of
contraception at a time.
A 2011 study found that dispensing a 1-year
supply of birth control is associated with a 30
percent reduction of unplanned pregnancies
and a 46 percent reduction of abortions.
Roe V. Wade established that every women
has the constitutional right to make her own
personal medical decisions. Now, 44 years
later, we owe it to every female New Yorker
to ensure that we protect their ability to access
reproductive healthcare, regardless of their
economic status.
Access to contraception has proven to
lower unintended pregnancies, improve public
health outcomes and help stabilize the economic
well-being of women and their families.
Comprehensive Contraception Coverage
must be brought to the Senate fl oor for a vote.
At a time when women’s access to healthcare is
in jeopardy, New York must stand up.
Jose Peralta is a state senator representing
the 13th Senate District and a member of the
Independent Democratic Conference.
A LOOK BACK