FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com FEBRUARY 13, 2014 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29 HALL OF SHAME Incidents of graffi ti have risen. The Courier invites you, our readers, to submit photos of vandalism — or addresses where you see graffi ti — for our “Hall of Shame.” Conversely, if a home or business has “cleaned up their act,” submit them for induction into our “Hall of Fame.” Send all high resolution JPG images (300 DPI) to [email protected] with a location and a contact number. Otherwise, contact us at 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361. Help us take our borough back from the vandals! BY KATELYN DI SALVO Do you think more should be done to keep I think for the sake of the elderly and younger children more needs to be done to keep pedestrians safe. I think if street lights were longer it would make it safer to cross the street. Alex Forbes I believe some roads in Queens are very unsafe, and I see people all the time crossing the street at a red light, so I think more should be done to prevent jay walking. Alicia S I’ve never had a bad experience, but these streets are very unsafe so I think something needs to be done to keep pedestrians safe and fatalities Although countdown clocks have been added, I think more should be done. There is still a lot of traffi c and the drivers don’t seem to have a care in the world. Hermina Diaz down. Martha Culma We’re from Woodhaven and Woodhaven Boulevard is an unsafe road. We think more speed bumps should be put in, as well as longer lights so people can cross safely. Kendall & Elaine O I feel that streets are fi ne the way they are. I haven’t seen any dangerous action while I’ve lived here, I just think people need to be more careful when crossing the street. Innilys Rodriguez pedestrians safe? oped street talk We believe that these streets are unsafe. Sometimes we get nervous crossing the street because the cars will just speed by, so they should decrease the speed limit on the most dangerous roads. Angela R. & Ariana D. Personally I don’t see anything wrong with how things are, and I don’t see any change that could be made. I think people just need to be cautious and aware of their surroundings Laura C. Courier LET’S BE THEIR VOICE BY U.S. SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER The heartbreak and agony that Avonte Oquendo’s family has had to endure is one that I can’t even begin to imagine. Over the course of the past few months, Avonte became more than just a face on a missing poster. New Yorkers came together to search for Avonte and pray for his safe return; we felt like he was a child we knew personally. While we cannot change the past, we must take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again—and that’s why I am introducing “Avonte’s Law.” Avonte’s running away was not an isolated incident; running away or wandering among children and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder is more common than one may think. In fact, nearly half of children with autism over the age of four have attempted to wander. Often times, these children wander due to being over-stimulated by loud noises or bright lights – something that is a particular challenge for children with autism in New York City. I recently met with Vanessa Fontaine and Doris McCoy, Avonte’s mother and grandmother, as well as Michael Rosen, the Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks. Mr. Rosen shared personal stories about his son, Nicky, who has autism and is nonverbal. He spoke about Nicky’s experience with wandering. I listened intently when Mr. Rosen said that Nicky once ran out of the house and made his way into the neighbor’s living room to watch Disney movies—a fascination of Nicky’s. Thankfully, Nicky was found safe. Our children are too precious for us to wait another day when life-saving technology and precautionary measures are right at our fi ngertips. Technology such as GPS or Radio Frequency(RF) tracking is on the market now, and they allow parents, schools and law enforcement to locate a child if he or she wanders or goes missing. The Department of Justice runs a very successful program that provides tracking devices to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease who have similar wandering tendencies. So, after Avonte went missing, I urged the Department of Justice to use their existing grant funds to allow children with autism access to these life-saving tracking devices – this past week, they did just that. The program would be completely voluntary for parents, but it would be a major stress reliever for the thousands of parents of children with autism. Most importantly, though, this technology has the power to save lives. That is why when the world learned of the tragic fate of Avonte Oquendo, I drafted legislation that will create a permanent program with dedicated federal funding to provide tracking devices for children with autism, as well as training and education for parents and communities. The legislation, “Avonte’s Law,” will allow Avonte’s memory to live on while helping to prevent any more children with autism from going missing. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice will allow existing DOJ grant funds to be used for children with autism. This is terrifi c news, as it means that localities can soon put federal funds towards these life-saving tracking devices as well as education for law enforcement that deal with this issue on a daily basis. This is a major step in the right direction, and I will continue to work on this very important issue until “Avonte’s Law” is passed, which would provide a more solid stream of funding to help children across New York and the rest of the country. We must be the voice of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Schumer was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998. Following the elections of 2006, Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed him to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic Conference, the number three position on the Democratic Leadership team and a position he continues to hold. In 2009, Schumer was selected as the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees federal elections, voting rights, campaign fi nance, and the operation of the Senate complex. He also sits on the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; the Judiciary Committee, where he is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security; the Joint Economic Committee, where he is the Vice Chairman; and the Joint Committee on the Library. 115th Street and 9th Avenue in College Point
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