28 The QUEE NS Courier • march 7, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com View More Neighborhood News queenscourier.com editorial A dollar too much In theory, we like the rationale behind the MTA’s $1 surcharge on each new MetroCard purchase. The idea is that it will reduce trash on subway platforms and tracks and save some $10 million a year in card manufacturing costs. We’re all for recycling MetroCards by reusing them. But what of the tourist, who just wants to enjoy the exhiliration of subway riding? Or the very occasional user of subways or express buses, who don’t often need to buy the card? That extra dollar makes the MTA seem greedy and grabby. Better: a bonus from the dispensing machine every time you add a certain amount to the card rather than “taxing” the infrequent rider. Failing the students Five-year-old Angelo Geremia decided to take a walk on February 27. Out of his kindergarten class. Out the doors of P.S. 229 in Maspeth. All the way to his house on 62nd Street, in the rain, where no one was home. A neighbor called Angelo’s mother. The principal, Dr. Sibylle Ajwani, reportedly told the mother, Georgina Geremia, that she couldn’t promise it wouldn’t happen again. You’re kidding, right, Dr. Ajwani? The school is said to have nearly 1,400 kids, one security guard and no security cameras. The principal, the teacher, and a teacher’s aide have all flunked the most essential task of kindergarten: ensuring the safety of the students. Adding by subtraction The big news in Big East men’s basketball last week is that St. John’s coach Steve Lavin suspended star player D’Angelo Harrison, the third leading scorer in the nationally renowned division and the team’s top scorer. This happened last weekend when there were just three games left and a Red Storm spot in the annual tournament known as March Madness at stake. Harrison’s attitude had become a negative presence in the locker room. In an era in which even criminal behavior by athletes at big time universities is too often tolerated by authorities, we commend Lavin for doing the right thing: for his team, for his university and for Harrison. THE QUEENS Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 website: www.queenscourier.com e-mail:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2013 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. W riters should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, 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 QUENS 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 QUENS COURIER within five 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. letters Time for change With Pope Benedict having resigned and the news about a sex scandal involving some clergy, is it any wonder that the Catholic Church’s credibility is rapidly diminishing? It is totally outrageous that these immoral acts allegedly committed by clergy are happening! Also, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was the former Archbishop of Milwaukee, certainly must not be considered for the role of Pope, due to the fact that he allegedly protected scores of priests who were accused of molesting children. He is a windbag who is always smiling whenever he is interviewed. It is time for the Catholic Church to undergo a major metamorphosis. It must come back to the real world, not the glass bubble that has been protecting it for thousands of years. We cannot and will not accept anything less. John Amato Fresh Meadows A bastion of good on TV Our hearts and minds have been imbued with moral relativism by today’s TV programs that mostly feature amoral characters living in a world where there is no “good” or “bad,” only different. We are oblivious to pervasive and subtle deception and accept the premise that the actions of the government are truthful, legitimate and in our best interest. We have grown accustomed to the inherent corruption and immorality of government coercion, control and micromanagement of our lives. Consider the following: we have been led to believe Social Security contributions made by you and your employer are in a trust fund, a so-called “lock box.” If you die before you are eligible to collect, do you ever wonder what happens to all that money? We are told a “tax cut” is an expenditure which implies that all wealth belongs to the government to dispose of as it wishes; whose money is it anyway? In the name of “fairness,” the government caps and limits incomes, penalizes affluence and prosperity while rewarding the less productive with cell phones, food stamps and myriad subsidies. Are we not nurturing mediocrity? We lack heroes and a venue where truth prevails, where liars, cheaters and frauds are unmasked, where the guilty face justice and even pay a fine, where “old fashioned values” still matter. These were the elements of TV programs of yesteryear where “good” trumped “bad,” where truth, justice and the American way were secured by the likes of Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Perry Mason, Superman, etc. Fortunately, there is still one television courtroom program featuring an intrepid arbiter who possesses an uncanny ability to detect liars and frauds and whose inimitable merciless outbursts of moral indignation directed at those who cheat, defraud and lie has earned the respect and admiration of millions of viewers. If only we could summon members of Congress to this court. We no longer have the Lone Ranger, but we do have Judge Judy. Ed Konecnik Flushing Hypocrisy at its finest While City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn in her recent State of the City speech talked about her concerns about the middle class facing an affordability crises attempting to make ends meet living in the Big Apple, her loyal City Council members have no problems making ends meet. Never shy around a camera or microphone, Quinn quietly issued checks for 50% of each councilmember’s annual awarded lulus of between $4,000 to $28,000. This supplements a $112,000 base salary to her loyal members for chairing a Council committee or subcommittee. The base salary plus lulu is three times what an average constituent earns for a job officially classified as part time. Hard working municipal civil servant employees and most ordinary middle class New Yorkers would never see such treats from their respective employers. Larry Penner Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tonia N. Cimino Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Wayne Robins Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Melisa Chan, Terence Cullen, Cristabelle Tumola Maggie Hayes, Angy Altamirano Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Bill Krese Jan DiGeronimo Maria Romero Louise Cavaliere Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Copy Editor Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Editorial Cartoonist Director, Business Developm ent Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller President & CEO Vice President
QC03072013
To see the actual publication please follow the link above