40 The QUEE NS Courier • november 7, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com editorial letters THE QUEENS Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tonia N. Cimino Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Melisa Chan, Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola Maggie Hayes, Angy Altamirano Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Bill Krese Jan DiGeronimo Maria Romero Louise Cavaliere Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor 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 Editorial Cartoonist Director, Business Developm ent Events Manager Senior Acc ount 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 2013 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. 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 five 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 Quens 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. Buses would be better “DOB reviewing Flushing Commons permit” (Melissa Chan, October 24) can still right a wrong. There have been many missed opportunities as a result of the Flushing Commons development project planned for Municipal Lot 1. This project is currently managed by the NYC Economic Development Corporation and was approved in 2010. Three years later the developers have yet to place a shovel in the ground. If it was such a good deal, why the delay? This is a sure sign that the developer may be having second thoughts about the project’s financial viability. The developer may be renegotiating terms and conditions with NYC behind closed doors. They may be looking for low cost or interest free loans, additional tax credits and municipal capital improvements from NYC -- all at taxpayers’ expense. Permits granted by NYC for this project will end in 2014. A trip down memory lane will show why canceling the project might be a better deal when considering other better alternatives for the property. In the early 1960s this site was thought of for construction of an intermodal bus terminal. This facility would take hundreds of buses off the surrounding streets, where they discharge and pick up riders. Since that time, generation after generation of public officials on a bipartisan basis for almost 50 years have failed to secure any funding necessary to support this badly needed transportation improvement. Since the 1960s, there has been an explosion in the number of commuters riding buses to Flushing and transferring to the subway. This has been complimented by a huge growth of commercial businesses accompanied by the demolition of homes to support construction of apartment houses and multi-family homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Just walk in any direction from the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in downtown Flushing and see. What are the costs for upgrades to the existing water, gas, electric, sewer and other infrastructure necessary to support the proposed Flushing Commons? Construction of a climate controlled intermodal bus terminal could assist in improving traffic and pedestrian circulation in and around the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue along with the rest of downtown Flushing. Tens of thousands of rush hour riders would be protected from heat, cold, rain, snow and winds. There could be a smoother transfer between the bus and subway. Opportunities would still be available for air rights above the bus terminal for parking, joint development of retail, office and or residential units. How disappointing that no elected official ever stepped forward to honor this commitment from decades ago as this final opportunity disappears forever. Why not discuss the viability of canceling the stalled Flushing Commons project? Building a state-of-the-art intermodal bus terminal project in the long run might be a far better investment than lining the pockets of the Flushing Commons developers. Larry Penner Playing roulette with labor rights Working men and women at Resorts World Casino hit the jackpot last week in what is sure to become a benchmark agreement for casino labor statewide. More than 1,400 employees who work at the Racino and are represented by the Hotel Trades Council (HTC) are celebrating a groundbreaking contract that will raise their wages from an average $10.15 an hour to an average $19.91. In subsequent years, the contract provides a majority of the workers with salaries of more than $60,000 annually. Additionally, the new contract grants paid sick days, holidays, personal days, vacation days, and free family health care. The victory was made possible thanks to labor peace agreements that prohibited strikes. Instead, amicable negotiations took place that did not disrupt operations at the Racino. The impact of doubling the salaries of more than a thousand workers at a southern Queens business is sure to have a direct and positive effect on the local economy. Despite the Mayor’s continual jabs at the labor movement, contract negotiations like these can lift people out of poverty and put them on the pathway to the middle class. HTC and Resorts World Casino showed us that labor can be treated with the respect it deserves without driving away business. The real gamble is the one we take when we treat those in our workforce as second-class citizens. City Comptroller John C. Liu A letter to the next mayor Dear Mayor de Blasio, Congratulations on having won the election. We look forward to you succeeding Mayor Michael Bloomberg and leading our city. When you are sworn in on January 1, 2014, there is an issue we’d like you to tackle right away: co-locations. You see, 23 co-locations have been proposed within the next four years for schools in Queens. This is absurd. How can we expect our children to succeed in school if they have no room to learn? Cramming multiple schools into one building would be a severe impediment to teaching – and learning. Class size would balloon. Common spaces – cafeterias, gymnasiums, etc. – would have to be shared. Courses, including Advanced Placement, music and art, would be endangered. Even sports programs might suffer due to decreased enrollment. And students may be made to feel alienated within the walls of their own school. “Once again, the Bloomberg administration proposed a plan without taking into consideration the consequences it will have for Queens youth,” said Councilmember Leroy Comrie. “The proposed co-locations will force these schools to share even more resources while the standards they are required to meet continue to rise.” In July, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) president Michael Mulgrew announced a union lawsuit to stop the Bloomberg administration from locking in more than a dozen school co-locations that would start after the next mayor took office. Since this is you, Mr. de Blasio, we ask that you reexamine the issue. “Forcing more schools into a single building is not the solution,” said Councilmember Donovan Richards. “When more students are squeezed into fewer classrooms, some children get left behind.” We couldn’t agree more. “There’s no room intellectually and physically for another school,” said one social studies teacher. “It’s total nonsense. It’s got to stop.” A good idea It’s been more than a month since Avonte Oquendo went missing, and now Senator Charles Schumer is calling for a program that could help prevent this from happening to another child. Schumer is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to both create and fund a program which would provide voluntary tracking devices for children with autism or other developmental disorders. The program would only include children whose parents choose to use the devices and would be designed for children with disorders in which bolting, running or wandering is common. We think this is a good idea and support it fully. After all, if it were your child, wouldn’t you want peace of mind?
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