20 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 21, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Story: ‘Rolo’s,’ a new restaurant, cafe and grocery
shop, opens in Ridgewood
Summary: The new eatery, located at 853
Onderdonk Ave., opened on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The
owners, chef trio Howard Kalachnikoff , Rafi q Salim
and Paul Wetzel — alums of the popular Gramercy
Tavern — decided to team up to create the new
neighborhood restaurant to highlight cooking with
simple and seasonal ingredients.
Reach: 15,351 (as of 1/18/21)
Bending toward justice
As we celebrate the life and legacy
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we
are reminded once more that we have
miles to go to fulfi ll his dream of equality
for all.
Th at reminder came in the form of
a lawsuit that New York state Attorney
General Letitia James fi led against New
York City and the NYPD over police
brutality that occurred during last summer’s
George Floyd/Black Lives Matter
protests.
In her extensive case, James outlined
that too many of the offi cers on patrol
during the demonstrations simply went
too far — from bashing people with
batons, to pepper-spraying individuals
without provocation, to “kettling”
marchers on the street, sealing them in
a perimeter and leading to standoff s.
In a much more damning light, many
offi cers seemed to target individuals
based on the color of their skin. One
Black protester, Andrew Smith, said an
offi cer walked past several white marchers,
pulled down his mask and doused
his face with pepper spray, though
Smith said he did nothing to provoke
such a reaction.
As news of the lawsuit hit, Mayor Bill
de Blasio and the NYPD came out in
defense of their actions. Additionally,
they endorsed recommendations previously
made following probes by James’
offi ce in the summer, and the city’s
Department of Investigation last month.
Th ey repeated once more a commitment
to reforming policing, but argued
that the lawsuit James fi led won’t bring
about reform any faster.
For years, we’ve heard promise aft er
promise of corrective measures at the
NYPD to end police brutality and racial
injustice — yet both problems persist
today.
It took a federal court order for the
NYPD to fi nally stop employing “stopand
frisk” tactics. Th at also brought
about the renewed approach to community
policing which kept crime
down while improving police-community
relations.
Under James’ reasoning, it might take
another federal court order to fi nally
get the NYPD to change its protest
response tactics. But why let it get to
that point?
Th e NYPD should work in concert
with James’ offi ce to settle the case and
implement the reforms needed to keep
future protests orderly, and all protesters
and police offi cers safe.
It’s not an impossible objective to
achieve, provided we work in cooperation
with one another — and remind
ourselves, as Dr. King said, that “Th e
arc of the moral universe is long, but it
bends toward justice.”
Photo by Dean Moses
New York state Attorney General Letitia James fi led a lawsuit against New York City and the NYPD over
police brutality that occurred during last summer’s George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests.
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