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QC09292016

editorial 28 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SNAPS QUEENS STREET SCENE IN LIC PHOTO BY ORESTES GONZALEZ Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @ queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns. com (subject: Queens Snaps). NYC must fi x Rikers Island now They call it a “hellhole,” and that’s exactly the appropriate term for Rikers Island. Neither inmates nor corrections guards are safe there. Each day spent on the island comes with the risk of being subjected to horrendous acts of violence. No one leaves the island in the same mental or physical state in which they arrived. Rikers is a place where someone can be locked up for days, weeks or months on a misdemeanor charge and serve an unoffi - cial sentence of physical or sexual assault carried out by the dregs of society. Many guards are also subjected to violence, but some guards become as violent as the criminals locked up there. The time has come for this city to do something about Rikers. Hundreds marched through Astoria this past weekend demanding that the jail be shut down, and that the city reinvest in communities while also building smaller, more controllable facilities. The question then becomes what will replace Rikers Island, and building other jails in other areas of this city will be an almost impossible task due to politics. Think of the anger being generated at protests against homeless shelters across Queens. That anger would be multiplied tenfold, as well it should, if the city dared to propose new jails in any community of the fi ve boroughs. The city should instead concentrate on reforming Rikers from the top down, while also putting into place the kind of societal improvements designed to prevent people from turning to crime. Rikers Island has 10 jails, one of which (the Thomas Center) has been closed since 2000 due to structural issues. The city should tear down Thomas and replace it with a state-of-the-art facility specifi cally for mentally ill patients and those going through drug detox. Those inmates are currently lumped in with the sick at the island’s infi rmary. The other jails should be reorganized to keep juvenile offenders and those with minor offenses who fi nancially cannot make bail separated from the general population of violent offenders. Beyond Rikers, the Corrections Department must weed out and remove guards found guilty of committing criminal acts. Government must also reinvest in public education, social services and other programs in every corner of this city to give every resident, regardless of background, a chance at success without turning to a life of crime. Rikers Island is a complex problem, and simply shutting it down isn’t going to make those problems disappear. It’s time for the city to take meaningful action. THE QUEENS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA SUZANNE MONTEVERDI KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS Schneps Communications, 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 2016 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. identify this PLACE Photo: File/QNS


QC09292016
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