FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 16, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Final steel beam fi tted into LaGuardia’s Terminal C
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
LaGuardia Airport offi cials and construction
Photos by Dean Moses
Pro-cop rally in Queens attempt to counter anti-police sentiment
BY TODD MAISEL
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
A rally in Far Rockaway on July 11
brought several hundred pro-police demonstrators
out to show their support for
the NYPD and counter the Black Lives
Matter protests that have emerged in
recent weeks.
Th e demonstration in Queens followed
weeks of Black Lives Matter protests, with
some marchers supporting defunding the
NYPD and a few even calling for the abolition
of the NYPD altogether.
Another protest broke out in Brooklyn
at 13th Avenue and 77th Street, before
moving up 86th Street. Several hundred
residents carried signs in support of police
offi cers in the predominantly upper-middle
income neighborhood.
Th e demonstrators apparently came
together loosely, no one group taking
credit for bringing the people there
together.
“Th e NYPD and America needs our
support now more than ever. We must
support them,” said Patrick Park, a resident
of Dyker Heights, who attended a
pro-police rally in Brooklyn.
One off -duty police offi cer at the protest
said he appreciated the support
and wanted people to understand, “Th is
is not about being anti-Black Lives
Matter.”
“We believe this is all lives matter and
we need to respect each other,” said the
offi cer, who didn’t want to give his name.
“We all feel the George Floyd death
was very wrong, but that doesn’t
mean that every police offi cer is a
killer — most of us really just want
to do right. Th at’s so wrong
that they lump us all in
that way.”
Meeting the group of
protesters were Black
Lives Matter protesters,
who charged that the
demonstration was “out
of touch with reality.”
One demonstrator in
Rockaway, identifi ed only
as Colleen, said, “I’m out
here supporting the NYPD
because they are calling to
defund the police. What
are we going to do if we
don’t have a police department?”
Calls to defund the NYPD
would not mean the department is eliminated
altogether. Rather, supporters of
defunding the police are calling for a shift -
ing of public money from law enforcement
towards social services.
workers came together to celebrate
the fi tting of the fi nal steel piece in
what will soon become Delta’s new arrival
and departure center in Terminal C.
On Th ursday, July 9, Rick Cotton, the
executive director of the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey, joined construction
workers and other airport offi -
cials in autographing the fi nal steel beam.
Together, the crowd watched as the
beam was hoisted into place.
“Th is is a very exciting day. We are
building the fi rst entirely new airport in
the United States in 25 years, while keeping
the old airport active. We move from
building to building, as we fi nish one, we
tear down another,” Cotton said. “From
our point of view the project is now
60 to 70 percent complete.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo
spearheaded the effort to
rebuild LaGuardia Airport
beginning in 2016.
Th e airport’s new
Terminal B
opened to the
public in
June.
Counter demonstrators showed their disdain for the pro-cop rally. Photo by Jon Farina
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
