editorial 32 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 11, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SNAPS QUEENS SNOW DAY IN LIC / PHOTO BY ORESTES GONZALEZ Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us via our Instagram @queenscourier, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing [email protected] (subject: Queens Snaps). What are your plans for spring break? “For my break I’ll be knitting and baking a lot. That’s the plan. “ Ashleigh Binger “I’m going to California to soak up the rays!” Carly Johnson “I’m going to be busy with mock trial practice.” Mercedez Taitt-Harmon “I’ll probably just crotchet and drink tea….oh yeah, and I’m going to Universal Studios.” Tianna Bennett BY MIGUEL VASQUEZ “I’ll be attending a conference in Florida.” Yougnand Paul street talk “I don’t know yet, but my roommate is going to Peru.” Leslie Fernandez “This is my last semester, so I want to do something fun with friends like go to Boston.” Merin Cherian “I’m going skiing in Vermont.” Angela Di Mercurio Fourth time shouldn’t have been the charm Three times before last week, the city considered a contract making a temporary homeless shelter in Elmhurst permanent — and each time, City Comptroller Scott Stringer turned the contract down. He had good reason to do so; the shelter, at the former Pan American hotel on Queens Boulevard, has a history of problems from dilapidated infrastructure to vermin infestation. That all changed on Feb. 5, when the comptroller’s offi ce — in typical “weekend news dump” fashion — announced that Stringer approved the fourth contract for a permanent shelter at the Pan Am. The approval came on the condition that the operator — Samaritan Daytop Village — meets certain conditions regarding the shelter’s construction and upkeep. We believe that’s too little, too late; Stringer should have stuck to his guns and rejected the contract again. The approval came less than two weeks after the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development issued 17 violations for defective bathroom fi xtures, broken windows, broken wall tiles and other problems at the Pan Am. Stringer’s offi ce insisted that the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), which drew tremendous criticism for allowing quality-of-life problems at shelters citywide to persist, assured him the Pan Am problems were fi xed. Additionally, in the approved contract, the operators agreed to turn the shelter into a “Tier II” facility, with each unit being remodeled to include working kitchens. There should have been kitchens in the facility from the start; a DHS representative in May 2014 ruled out using the Pan Am as a shelter because each room lacked a working kitchen. But a few weeks later, the agency went against that statement and began moving families in anyway. The city’s failing oversight of the Pan American Hotel shelter, and other shelters across the city, has been disgraceful; such failings have been welldocumented. The sorry state of the shelter system, amid the overall homelessness crisis, led to Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor’s resignation, and Mayor Bill de Blasio seeking reform of the DHS under the direction of the Human Resources Administration. Despite those encouraging steps, the approval of the Pan Am contract is distressing. Stringer should have called for a new operator to take control at the Pan Am and not only bring the site up to code, but also turn the shelter into a genuinely safe haven for those unfortunate people seeking to rebuild their lives. If the city is serious about reforming the lives of homeless people, it should ensure that every shelter operator provides safe dwelling quarters for its residents right from the start. Anything less is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Show your local businesses some love Valentine’s Day is this weekend, and if you haven’t already bought something special for the sweetheart in your life, you still have time to make that special purchase — and the opportunity to do it locally. Looking for a precious stone or some shiny symbol of love fi t for a hand, neck or wrist? Turn to your local jeweler on your neighborhood shopping strip. Want to share a special intimate dinner? Make reservations at a restaurant or bistro in Queens — there are plenty to choose from in almost every kind of cuisine imaginable. Our message is the same as it was during the holiday shopping season. It’s something that applies not only to special occasions but every day of the year. Shopping locally is good for Queens and good for the people of Queens. It brings dollars back into small businesses rather than large corporations; creates and maintains good jobs for local residents; brings tax revenue to support government and civic functions; and keeps our communities viable as a whole. THE QUEENS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS WEB EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS MANAGER CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH ALAN SELTZER STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JENNIFER DECIO, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA, ALINA SURIEL KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI DEMETRA PLAGAKIS CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: [email protected] for advertising e-mail: [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
QC02112016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above