for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 • The queens CourieR 29 oped A LOO K BACK letters Reader riled over landmarking laments After reading Ed Konecnik’s letter in last week’s issue about landmarking, I thought at first that I would simply ignore it because it was so crammed full of misinformation. I felt it would take too much time and effort to correct his errors. Then I thought about all of the negative letters he continually sends to the editors of various newspapers and realized his criticisms just come from an unfortunately negative basic outlook. He really doesn’t care about landmarking. He just cares about complaining. With regard to landmarking, I would suggest the following to him: In Douglas Manor there are more than 300 landmarked properties. On Douglaston Hill there is a smaller but not insignificant number. In the borough of Queens there are something in excess of 1,000. I invite him to interview any and as many of those homeowners as he wishes. I suspect he will not get anything resembling a negative answer about owning and living in a landmarked property and/or designated district. If that doesn’t change his attitude about landmarking from negative to positive, we will know one thing for certain. He just derives pleasure from expressing negative thoughts regardless of how far from the truth they are. Stuart Hersh Douglaston Appalled over sale of papal visit tickets I was appalled and distressed to read that scalpers are trying to sell pope tickets online. For example, on Craiglist, one person is offering a ticket for $2,500 and two tickets for $3,000 for the Central Park event in which there were 40,000 pairs of tickets given out on a lottery system. These tickets offered these people a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the pope for free. I think greed knows no bounds. Furthermore I believe this goes against everything Pope Francis stands for. Now as a Catholic and as a Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus Council #5911 in Douglaston, I find this most troubling. Pope Francis is a beacon of light in a most troubling world and who is concern for all mankind. He wants to safeguard our world and to insure actions to be taken to protect our Earth from further destruction which our creator has given us to live upon in true harmony. These people who are trying to sell these tickets do not understand what Pope Francis is all about. I think these scalpers should atone for this most egregious sin by giving these tickets to the poor and those in a great spiritual pain. Now that would take a great leap of faith that I hope truly happens. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village AL CITY PARK TREES NED TO BE INSPECTED IMEDIATELY The recent incident in Bryant Park in which a tree fell and injured some people is yet another wakeup call for citywide inspections of all park and curbside trees. There may be many trees that are weakened due to age and insect infestations and also this protracted dry spell that our area has been experiencing the last several weeks. The Department of Parks needs to make this a top priority, since we are now coming into the peak of the hurricane season and the fall season when our region can be hit with severe coastal storms. The safety of the public in our parks and on our streets must always be a top priority! John Amato Fresh Meadows A Look Back It’s no longer here, but this modified Victorian home once stood at the corner of Madison Street and Fairview Avenue in Ridgewood. The picture was taken in 1958; note at right the metal beams supporting the elevated M line which passes through the area. Today the site is part of Rosemary’s Playground. Have a historic photo of Queens that you’d like to share? Email it to us at [email protected]. The modern family and the fight for a 21stcentury workplace By Sc ott M. St ringer “Work/life balance is part of the reason why I’m leaving New York this year.” Those were the parting words of a full-time employee from Sunnyside, Queens—one of more than 1,100 New Yorkers who recently took a survey from my office about workplace policies in the five boroughs. The results of the survey show that the need to reshape the 21st-century workplace could not be more urgent, with a clarion call for “right to request” legislation, paid family leave and advance notification of schedules. Forty-five percent of respondents reported not having access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs). Of those, more than three-quarters (77 percent) said their lives would be “more manageable” if such policies were in place. Furthermore, among those workers at companies where FWAs were not widely available, 58 percent reported being “uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” requesting a flexible schedule. That’s why I support Council legislation that would allow employees to seek flexible schedules, without fear of retaliation. In addition, the survey showed how a lack of paid family leave has had a profound impact on New York families. While the majority of respondents have had to take time off work to care for loved ones at various times, only 11 percent took paid family leave and nearly a quarter were forced to take unpaid leave. No New Yorker should ever have to choose between holding down a job and taking care of loved ones. Luckily, there is a solution we can enact right here in the Empire State—a paid family leave system that would be funded by employee payroll deductions of no more than 45 cents a week in the first year. Eighty percent of respondents supported such a system, with 86 percent of believing that fathers and mothers deserve an equal amount of paid family leave. Lastly, we must address last-minute scheduling practices that too often prevent shift workers from securing child care, engaging in job training and higher education, and being able to care for their families. Nearly 20 percent of shift workers in our survey received their schedule with only one day of notice. That’s hurting Gotham’s families and our economy. I’ve called on the New York City Council to pass a law requiring that workers receive their schedule at least 72 hours in advance of their shift. Whether it is providing a more equitable workplace for women, ensuring that business can secure talent, or enabling New Yorkers to better themselves through education, the conclusion is clear: government and the private sector must embrace family-friendly workplace policies as critical components of New York City’s economic competitiveness in the 21st century. Scott M. Stringer is the comptroller of the City of New York
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