FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 19, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 35
WE MUST STAND
TOGETHER AND
LOVE EACH OTHER
Jersey City became a war zone
when two evil-doers went on a killing
spree, which resulted in the death
of a dedicated police officer, Det.
Joseph Seals.
Th ese two allegedly entered a Kosher
supermarket and killed those inside
market. It has been reported anti-Semitic
duo targeted the Jewish store
because of their hatred of Jews.
We are a nation based on freedom
and respect for all those who come
here. As such, my heartfelt prayers go
out to those who have lost love ones as
a result of this heinous act.
As a Catholic and as Grand Knight
of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus
in Douglaston, I stand fi rm with all
my brothers and sisters of the Jewish
faith and pray for the end of anti-Semitism,
which is on the rise in our country
today.
You see, our creator created the
human race and as his children, we
are all brothers and sisters of the same
human family — regardless of our religion
— and we were created to love one
another. So. let’s teach our children to
do the same.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
HERE’S HOW TO KEEP
SUBWAY CARS CLEAN
Here are some ways the MTA New
York City Transit can assist beleaguered
car cleaners at end of subway line terminal
stations, including: #7 - Flushing
Main Street, F - Jamaica 179th Street, E,J
& Z - Jamaica Center Parsons/Archer, M
- Middle Village Metropolitan Avenue,
A - Ozone Park Leff erts Blvd, N & W -
Astoria Ditmars Blvd., A -Far Rockaway
Mott Avenue and A -Rockaway Park
Beach 116th Street.
Every year, judges sentence non-violent
off enders to perform several hundred
hours of community service. Why
not assign some of these individuals the
task of helping clean subway cars? How
diffi cult can it be to push a broom, pick
up trash or mop a subway car fl oor?
Why not ask any major business, college
or hospital who benefi t from subway
stations adjacent to their facility to
sponsor cleaning crews as well?
NYC Transit should also consider
installing separate cans for recycling
newspapers, plastic and glass along
with regular garbage. Selling advertising
on the side of cans could generate
revenue to help cover the costs of more
frequent off -peak and late-night collection
and disposal.
If asked, the NYC Department
of Sanitation could do the same on
the street adjacent to subway station
entrances. All of the above could assist
in keeping our fl eet of over 6,000 subway
cars clean.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
WHY WON’T NYC DOE
MENTION CHRISTMAS?
As this wonderful holiday season
continues, why is it that the NYC
DOE cannot list the period during the
last week in December as “Christmas
recess” on its academic calendar for
each school year?
Every other holiday, among them
Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover,
Diwali and Chinese New Year are
always listed as days off during the
school year, but Christmas is never
mentioned. Th e only Christian holy
day that is listed on the school calendar
each academic year is Good Friday.
As a retired teacher and a Catholic, I
fi nd it very insulting that the DOE is not
listing Christmas among its holidays.
Do people at the DOE have a problem
even saying “Merry Christmas?”
Where is the diversity?
Th is writer would like to extend to
everyone in the NYC Public School
System, the UFT, as well as the NYC
DOE my best and most sincerest wishes
for a Merry Christmas, Happy
Hanukkah,Happy Kwanzaa and Happy
New Year.
John Amato, Fresh Meadows
oped letters & comments
QUEENS STREET REFLECTIONS // PHOTO SUBMITTED BY LISA KEST-FEIN
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Protecting tenants
against landlord
harassment
BY LETITIA
JAMES
In my years representing
New Yorkers
as an attorney and
elected official, I
have worked with
rent-regulated tenants
subjected to some appalling tactics by
their landlords to force them out of their
homes.
Despite the severity of these acts and so
many others, not a single landlord has ever
been convicted of tenant harassment under
a 20-year old state law intended to prevent
such behavior. Th at’s because the standard to
prove criminal culpability for tenant harassment
was impossibly high. Th at changes
starting this week.
My offi ce spearheaded the passage of a new
law that will fi nally make it possible to hold
landlords accountable when they engage in
abusive behavior towards tenants.
Tenant harassment has become a big business;
in fact, an entire real estate investment
model was created on the basis of
purchasing buildings with signifi cant numbers
of rent-regulated units and then using
heavy-handed tactics to force out those tenants
to maximize a building’s value.
Th is is not a new problem. Culprits have
included small landlords and some of the biggest
and most notable real estate tycoons in
the city, including Donald Trump.
Before he was president, Trump purchased
a building with rent-regulated tenants. He
then hired, in his own words, a company
that “specialized in relocating tenants,” and
embarked on a fi ve-year campaign of tenant
harassment.
Before passage of our law, prosecutors had
to meet a remarkably high standard to prove
harassment: that the landlord wanted to force
out the tenant and, in so doing, intentionally
or recklessly caused physical injury to a
tenant. Th is defi nition fails to capture all sorts
of the most common – and dangerous – tactics
including those referenced here, many of
which are objectively harassment but might
not ever cause an actual physical injury.
Th is new law will make landlords think
twice before they use abusive tactics against
their tenants, and will give tenants the proper
protections to defend against this type of
abuse — abuse that we all know should be
prohibited.
To be clear, landlords will still be allowed
to pursue lawful evictions of rent-regulated
tenants. But the law will recognize the insidious
tactics that bad actors have previously
been free to employ to intimidate and abuse
tenants.
It’s unconscionable for a landlord to unlawfully
force a family from its home simply to
improve his own bottom-line. Now prosecutors
in New York will fi nally have the
tools they need to prevent abuse and tenants
throughout New York will be safer.
James is the attorney general of New York
State.
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