22 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 13, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
THE QUEENS
editorial
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
DIGITAL EDITOR
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
INSIDE SALES MANAGER
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Media, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 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.
Story: St. John’s University will require students to
be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to
campus this fall
Summary: St. John’s University will require all
students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before
arriving on campus for in-person classes this fall.
The university, with its main campus located in
Jamaica, joins hundreds of colleges across the
country that will require students to be fully
vaccinated.
Reach: 4,899 (as of 5/10/2021)
The unsafe reality
Traditionally, the head of the MTA
and the leader of its biggest labor union
are oft en on the opposite sides of most
things related to public transit.
So we took notice when MTA Chair
and CEO Pat Foye and Transport
Workers Union Local 100 President
Tony Utano came together last week
to denounce the latest rash of subway
crime in Queens and around New York
City, and practically beg the city to step
up and do something to stop it.
“Th e city appears to have defunded
the NYPD on the subways,” Foye
charged. Utano elaborated by pointing
out that the subway and bus workers
his union represents have been regularly
“spit on … punched … and stabbed.”
“And then you have a mayor who
says there’s no problem,” he added.
Th at’s not entirely accurate, but
Mayor Bill de Blasio has downplayed
the seriousness of the recent crime
spike in New York City — with major
crimes up 30 percent in April alone,
and shootings skyrocketing by 166 percent.
During a press conference last week,
de Blasio blamed the shooting spike on
a few bad apples spoiling the Big Apple,
saying, “Th ere’s a very small number of
people” — a few thousand, he surmised
— ”committing the acts of violence.”
Even if that were true, it doesn’t
shake the incredible insecurity New
Yorkers are feeling. When they read
about subway workers getting attacked,
or dozens of people being shot on a
spring weekend, or overall crime ballooning
to levels unseen in years, residents
become alarmed enough to think
twice about going out.
And that’s the last thing they need as
the city recovers from COVID-19.
Th e mayor can’t brush off the MTA,
nor TWU Local 100, nor the public
any longer when it comes to crime. We
applaud the eff orts made to fi nd alternative
enforcement to help stop crime
— from expanded mental health services
to violence interrupters. But it’s
not enough.
Th e simple answer is also the right
one: We need more cops on the streets
and subways, and we need them today.
It’s pollyannaish to think that we can
keep our city safe without the NYPD;
they are, indeed, necessary for the city’s
safety. We must not accept police brutality
or racial injustice, and we refuse
to believe that the NYPD cannot do
its job under the new reforms being
implemented.
Mayor de Blasio must increase the
NYPD’s presence, and help ensure our
safe comeback from COVID-19.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Mayor de Blasio must increase the NYPD’s presence, and help ensure our safe comeback from COVID-19.
link
/www.qns.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
