34 The QUEE NS Courier • JUly 31, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com editorial letters WHO PAYS FOR THE TAPPAN ZEE? YOU DO Gov. Andrew Cuomo reminds of the cartoon charter Wimpy who famously said, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” concerning how he will pick up the tab for construction of a long overdue replacement to the Tappan Zee Bridge. Neither Cuomo nor the New York State Thruway Authority has made public how they propose to pay back a major federal loan that financed the majority of the $3.9 billion cost for replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge. Just how much more will Queens and other motorists have to pay in tolls to pick up the tab? Will it double or more over the coming years and decades? Neither will come clean until after Election Day. The real final cost of this project could rise up to who knows how many billions more based on previous estimates if you add either Bus Rapid Transit, Light Rail or Heavy Commuter Rail capacity. Larry Penner Great Neck CHRISTIANS IN MIDDLE EAST IN DANGER Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere are suffering a tremendous amount of prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance for practicing their faith. This includes the burning of Coptic Churches in Egypt, the imprisonment of a pastor in Iran and the exodus of Palestinian Christians. Now in Iraq Christians are asked to convert or pay a heavy tax or die. The nations of the world including our own under the Obama administration don’t seem to be too concerned about their plight. In the Western World— and that includes the United States—those of different faiths are protected under the law without prejudice. Yet in some Muslim countries those of different faiths are not tolerated and are asked to convert or to leave or die. As a Catholic and as Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus council #5911 in Douglaston, I pray for my fellow Christians in their hour of need. Remember this, too: Evil thrives when the nations of the world do nothing! Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village ENTIRE PLANET ENDANGERED BY WAR Right now there are no fewer than 41 separate conflicts raging across the world. These are all potentially deadly situations that are threatening to gradually expand beyond their origins. All nations of the world need to somehow put aside their conflicting ideologies and begin to work together to bring these individual conflicts to an end, especially the ones raging in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Syria and Iraq. All humankind will be affected by what continues to go on. Our precious planet is indeed in danger. John Amato Fresh Meadows PUT AN END TO ANCHOR BABIES The current flood of kids overwhelming our southern border diverts media attention from another major crisis -- maternity migration (also called birth tourism). Pregnant women and their partners come here to obtain automatic U.S. citizenship for kids born on our soil, granted under the 14th Amendment. This exodus is not just from poor areas like Mexico & Central America, but also from wealthy nations like China, as spotlighted in network news reports on “anchor babies” -- infants born to parents who enter the U.S. illegally and remain here unlawfully. The 14th Amendment’s “Citizenship Clause” was drafted after the Civil War to protect children of newly freed slaves in the U.S. It did not apply to babies born here whose parents came from other nations, but has since been expanded, perverted and exploited by politicians & immigrants. GOP congressional representatives introduced a bill that would deny automatic U.S. citizenship to kids born in our country, unless at least one parent resides here legally. The House will probably pass this bill, but it faces strong Senate opposition from liberal leaders who pander to ethnic voting blocs. Unless Congress passes and President Obama signs this measure, comprehensive immigration reform is not possible. Richard Reif Flushing IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is BOTCH JOB The Parks Department is on a roll. After a rough start to the beach season in Rockaway, Parks turned its attention to bocce. To much ballyhoo, the department unveiled new bocce courts in Juniper Valley Park after spending $850,000 on a refurbishment. Nearly a million bucks for bocce courts? Yep. Given the cost of things, that price would almost be understandable had all that lira produced the Sistine Chapel of bocce courts. Sadly, that didn’t happen. At the grand opening, rife with smiling politicians and other officials, bocce players said the new courts gave them agita. Players complained the design gave no protection from the sun on hot days and let rain soak the courts in bad weather. Worse, they said, the courts weren’t level. Parks officials chose not to defend themselves or the design. That’s their prerogative. But we would feel a whole lot better if we were to be convinced that the design and execution of Parks Department projects were truly on the level. PAIN IN THE PLAZA The Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Grand Place in Brussels. The Piazza San Marco in Venice. Drew Street and 101st Avenue at the Brooklyn-Queens border. OK, so as far as public spaces go, the last one is at a disadvantage. But that’s no reason for the city and the nonprofit in charge of the plaza in Ozone Park to let it become an eyesore that disrupts business rather than building it up. The community gave up at least five parking spots — crucial in areas housing small businesses — to create the plaza in the hope that it would attract foot traffic to the area. And the increased presence of people was supposed to propel profits from mom-and-pop businesses. You all know about the road to Hell, right? So now the forlorn plaza sits empty, robbed of its furnishings but rich in overflowing trash cans. And small businesses are suffering. Now there are fewer parking spots, fewer pedestrians and certainly no boulevardiers. Enough. It’s time for the Department of Transportation either to force the Bangladesh American Community Development and Youth Services Corporation to clean up the plaza (as they’ve agreed to do) or to scrap the plaza and return the streets to their previous condition. THE QUEENS Victoria SchnepS-YuniS JoShua a. SchnepS BoB Brennan William J. Gorta amY amato-Sanchez nirmal SinGh Graziella zerilli Stephen reina ron torina, Jennifer Decio, cherYl GallaGher liam la Guerre, criStaBelle tumola anGY altamirano, Katrina meDoff, eric Jankiewicz cliff KaSDen, Samantha Sohmer, elizaBeth aloni criStaBelle tumola Demetra plaGaKiS louiSe caValiere celeSte alamin maria Valencia Daphne fortunate Victoria SchnepS-YuniS JoShua a. SchnepS Publisher & editor Co-Publisher AssoCiAte Publisher editor-in-Chief VP, eVents, Web & soCiAl MediA Art direCtor AssistAnt to Publisher AssistAnt Art direCtor Artists stAff rePorters Contributing rePorters Web editor eVents MAnAger senior ACCount exeCutiVe ClAssified MAnAger Controller offiCe MAnAger President & Ceo ViCe President 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 2014 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 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. 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