28 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 2, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
those who need the most help. Whether
or not you agree with that philosophy,
depriving extra funding for libraries and
other public institutions seems to be a
sign that de Blasio has forgotten his own
mission.
In that respect, it’s up to the City Council
— which must hammer out a fi nal budget
with the mayor — to remind the mayor of
what needs to be done.
We encourage all of you to reach out
to your local City Council members and
urge them to take a stand for our public
libraries and keep them adequately funded
in the next fi scal year. Photo via Facebook/Queens Public Library
STORY: Cops crack down on parking spot savers in Maspeth
who blocked street spaces with garbage cans
SUMMARY: Homeowners using cones and garbage cans to
reserve parking on the streets of the 104th Precinct got a rude
awakening from the NYPD as the command completed a sweep
of Maspeth.
REACH: 23,899 people reached (as of 4/29/19)
Keep the libraries fully funded
Why is it that every mayor, regardless
of political persuasion, decides to take
the budget ax to educational institutions
across the city whenever times get tough?
In unveiling his $92 billion executive
budget last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio
touted nearly $1 billion in budget tightening,
as if that somehow makes a big diff erence
in such a lucrative amount of spending.
But that budget tightening excluded
additional operating funds sought by the
Queens Public Library and the two other
public library systems serving the city
(Brooklyn and New York).
It’s not as if Queens Public Library
sought to break the bank for the coming
fi scal year. Th ey submitted a request
for an additional $9.7 million to meet its
expenses — which, like any other business
or person living in New York City, continues
to increase every year.
Th at $9.7 million is equal to 0.0001% of
the city’s $92 billion budget. For comparison
purposes, that’s equal to pulling one
penny out of a glass jar containing $100
in coins.
And yet, without that paltry sum,
Queens Public Library might be forced
to curtail some of the many great services
it off ers to the 2.2 million people that call
this borough home. Th e library has indicated
it could also slash operating hours,
put a stop to new hires and decrease its
inventory of books, ebooks and DVDs
available to library card holders.
Make no mistake, the Queens Public
Library is more than just a place to borrow
novels or conduct research for school
papers. Each branch is a community center
that provides activities — mostly free
of any extra cost — designed to educate
and improve lives.
Th e library may want another $9.7 million
from the city, but the return on that
investment is priceless. Th at the mayor
would want to deny public libraries additional
funding in the coming year is counteractive
to much of his own philosophy
of government.
De Blasio has made a career of talking
about lift ing up people of all backgrounds,
and opening wide the doors of city government
THE QUEENS
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
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toward improving the lives of
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
JENNA BAGCAL, MARK HALLUM, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, MAX PARROTT, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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