FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 6, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
LIVING IN AMERICA’S
‘TWILIGHT ZONE’
I have fi nally come to the realization
that everything is about to
change. No matter what I say, how I
vote, something evil has invaded our
nation, and our lives are never going
to be the same.
I am confused by the hostility of
family and friends. I look at people I
have known all my life so fi lled with
hate that they will agree with opinions
that, if they were in their right
minds, they would never express as
their own.
I think we have entered a Twilight
Zone where it is un-American for
the census to count how many
Americans are in our country;
Russians infl uencing our elections is
bad, but having illegal aliens voting
is good; $5 billion for border security
is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion
for “free” health care is not; people
who claim there is no such thing
as”gender” demand Joe Biden select
a female candidate for vice president;
and there is a growing number
of people who think that people who
have never owned slaves should pay
slavery reparations to people who
have never been slaves.
Th e great ship Titanic America has
hit an iceberg. Pointing out hypocrisy
does not make anyone racist. I
beseech those who hate President
Trump to consider what is at stake
in the next election: our history, our
way of life and our future.
Ed Konecnik, Flushing
OUR SENIOR CITIZENS
NEED HELP
It’s been very hot lately and it has
been a challenge going back and
forth from work and to the stores,
especially during the COVID-19
pandemic. But think about this: Our
elderly have it even harder.
Please check on your elderly neighbors
who maybe don’t have family or
anybody close by to check on them.
My wife and I are senior citizens ourselves,
but are a little better off than
some. We have a few neighbors we
know who are elderly — we call them
to see how they are doing and try to
visit with them.
Also, any extra food we have we
have, we give to them, being that
they may not always be able to get
out and shop for themselves. So,
please check on your elderly neighbors
and see what you can do to help
them.
Additionally, we are in the middle
of the hurricane and tropical storm
season, a time when our elderly
neighbors need our help. Remember
many of our seniors are on fi xed
incomes and may not be able to buy
the food they need to stay healthy.
You can also help them to get
in touch with the Get Food NYC,
which delivers meals to struggling
New Yorkers.
So, please do what you can for our
senior citizens during this pandemic
and hurricane season.
Frederick R. Bedell, Bellerose
PLAYING BY THE WHITESTONE BRIDGE // PHOTO SUBMITTED BY JAVIER FOJO
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oped
Keeping New York City’s
transit system safe from
COVID-19 and criminals
BY SARAH E. FEINBERG
As the city continues its
reopening, our greatest
and most important obligation
remains the same
— keeping our riders
and our employees safe.
Whether that means safe
from a virus or safe from
other harm, safety remains
New York City Transit’s
top priority. It’s a duty we
take incredibly seriously.
If you are just now returning to the transit system,
you should know that there are some new amenities
and safeguards in place to help keep you safe.
We are installing protective barriers on buses
between riders and operators, and we are off ering
free masks on buses via our new, homemade
mask dispensers. We also provide free masks and
free hand sanitizer, in every subway station, along
with new signs and fl oor decals reminding riders to
social distance. We are also continuing to clean and
disinfect our system 24/7.
But the most important element of keeping yourself
safe in the transit system is to be vigilant about
wearing a mask. We know that wearing a mask or
face covering is the best thing we can do to protect
ourselves and others from illness, and it’s also the
law. I am so proud that the vast majority of our customers
— consistently hovering in the mid-90 percents
— are complying with the mandate.
Keeping you safe isn’t just about cleaning, disinfecting
and providing masks though — it’s also
about preventing and deterring crime in our system.
It’s important for us to be honest and transparent
about what we are seeing — in recent weeks we’ve
seen an unsettling increase in assaults on both MTA
employees and riders. Th is is intolerable. One incident
would be too many; that there have been multiple
attacks is outrageous.
Some of our bus operators have been targeted for
asking passengers to wear a mask. Our conductors
are sometimes attacked and spat upon. Just this past
week, a pregnant MTA cleaner was attacked and
beaten. Th ese brave employees are heroes helping to
move our city during an unprecedented crisis, and
they deserve so much better than this.
Policing in America, and in New York, is going
through an important self-examination — as it
should — but we cannot lose sight of the importance
of an engaged, respectful law enforcement
presence in our system to prevent and deter crimes
like these from even occurring.
To be clear, we have a safe transit system— and
one that New Yorkers can be proud of. But we have
to keep it that way, and the reality is that even one
violent incident is too many.
For the future of the city, it is critical that people
continue to come back to mass transit. Most days
last week, we served more than 2.4 million customers
on the subway and buses. I am proud of those
numbers, and proud that New Yorkers are starting
to come back to Transit.
But if those numbers are ever going to increase
to pre-pandemic levels, we must be able to promise
New Yorkers a safe system. Anything less is unacceptable
— to our riders and to us.
Sarah Feinberg is interim president of MTA New
York City Transit.
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