FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 2, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
COMMONPOINT
QUEENS NEEDS
OUR SUPPORT
It has come to my attention
that Commonpoint Queens, a
nonprofi t in Little Neck that
provides food and mental
health services, was forced to
suspend in-person programs
and services which generate
funds due to the coronavirus
crisis.
Meanwhile, during this crisis,
Commonpoint has distributed
500 emergency food packages
to those in need, including
older adults and homebound
seniors. I can attest to the good
that they do, because my wife
and myself are senior citizens
on fi xed incomes and are recipients
of the good that they do.
But now, Commonpoint
needs help to support local
food and mental health services.
Th e coronavirus has curtailed
a lot of good that they do
for those in need. So if you can
donate, go to www.commonpointqueens.
org/donate. So
please donate if you can — you
will be glad that you did.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
FIGHTING FOR
A RETURN TO
NORMALCY
Th ere are realities that are
being denied or avoided currently
as to the consequences
of the COVID-19 crisis. As
Sept. 11, 2001, changed the
world forever, the coronavirus
will impact life for at least as
long as the Great Recession
had.
Th e violent swings of the
stock market will continue
regardless of government intervention
or a federal stimulus.
Th e unemployment levels will
remain at extraordinarily high
levels for years. Fift een million
Americans are employed in
food service-related businesses,
with many more undocumented
immigrants working
off the books. It can be expected
that nearly half of them will
not return to employment for
years as so many restaurants
shall not survive. If so, more
than 7 million people could fi le
for extended unemployment
benefi ts. Other industries will
also suff er employment losses.
China has flattened the
“curve,” but has seen a rise in
infections from people returning
to the country. Th ere will
be outbreaks of new infections
for years to come. An examination
of the measles provides
strong evidence of what will
occur, even when it is assumed
the virus has been eliminated.
Americans will accept confi
nement for only so long.
Cabin fever, the need to work
and the requirement for
income will drive people out
of their homes, demanding
return to a form of normalcy
regardless of the risks. Th e
needs of the people to participate
in living and the demands
of commerce that defi ne the
U.S. will open closed doors.
Sooner than later, most
Americans will accept that
the virus will kill a percentage
of those infl icted and shall
demand returning to as normal
a life as can be achieved.
Ed Horn, Baldwin
HOW THE MTA
COULD FREE
UP MILLIONS
MTA Chair Pat Foye said in
a recent interview, “Extending
our line of credit is not a longterm
solution, and gutting
our hard-fought capital plan
is a nonstarter. We will not
allow this pandemic to slow
our eff orts to bring our system
into the 21st century. Th is is a
national problem that requires
a national solution.”
Here are the three most
obvious projects that the MTA
should consider deleting from
the current $51 billion 2020 -
2025 Five-Year Capital Plan.
Th is would not be, in the words
of Foye, “gutting our hardfought
capital plan.”
Th e MTA has budgeted $4
billion of local funding within
the $32 billion 2015 - 2019
and $51 billion 2020 - 2024
Five-Year Capital Plans to be
used toward the $6.9 billion
Second Avenue Subway Phase
Two. Th is project benefi ts a
handful of the 5 million daily
transit riders.
Th ere is also $1.5 billion
for the Bronx East Metro
North Access to Penn Station.
Suspension of the 1 percent
Arts in Transit expenditure
requirement for capital projects
could free up millions.
Implementing these suggestions
plus end wasting millions
on transportation feasibility
studies for future system
expansion projects that will
never happen in our lifetime
preserves the core MTA capital
program.
Do not initiate any new system
expansion projects until
each operating agency, NYC
Transit bus, subway and Staten
Island Railway, MTA bus, LIRR
and Metro-North Railroad
have reached a state of good
repair for existing fl eet, stations,
signals, interlockings,
track, power, yards and shops
makes more sense.
Funding these projects
gives you a better return on
the dollar. Ensure that maintenance
programs for all
operating agencies assets are
fully funded and completed
on time to ensure riders reliable
service.
Th e MTA must make the diffi
cult fi nancial decisions everyone
else does. Given the current
fi nancial crises faced by all
levels of government, the MTA
should postpone funding these
projects until the next 2025 -
2029 Five-Year Capital Plan. It
will not, in the words of MTA
Chairman Foye, “gut our hardfought
capital plan.”
Claiming that failure to provide
$4 billion in new federal
funding to deal with the
COVID-19 crisis would be the
equivalent of Washington telling
the MTA to “drop dead.”
Larry Penner, Great Neck
oped letters & comments
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL // PHOTO BY JEFFREY PFLAUM
Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper!
To submit them to us, tag @qnsgram on Instagram, visit our Facebook page,
tweet @QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
LIRR steps up
eff orts to keep
customers safe
from COVID-19
BY PHILLIP
ENG
At the
LIRR, our
team has
experience
handling all
types of situations,
from
hurricanes to power outages to managing
massive amounts of infrastructure
expansion.
Pandemic? Not so much. But our
workforce is rising to the challenge.
As we adapt to this rapidly changing
public health crisis, we cannot
forget the thousands of transportation
workers across the MTA’s agencies
— the Long Island Rail Road,
Metro-North Railroad, and NYC
Transit — who are working hard each
day to keep our system open and safe
for those who need to use it.
Our workforce is on the frontlines,
playing a key role in the response to
this pandemic. We are making sure
we are here for the heroes of this crisis,
which include our own employees,
as well as the nurses, the doctors,
the police and fi rst responders, the
grocery store, pharmacy and transportation
workers, and so many others
who are helping us live.
Together with our labor partners,
we’re ensuring that employees and
customers alike remain safe, as we
maintain an aggressive, ramped-up
cleaning schedule, disinfecting stations
across the system twice daily,
and getting to each one of our train
cars (more than 1,000) at least once
every 72 hours.
Our courageous workforce is doing
what public servants do. Th ey are not
just doing a job, they are doing a true
service to their fellow New Yorkers. I
simply can’t thank them enough.
Th ey continue to make me proud to
be a part of this railroad family. Every
day, 24/7, they demonstrate commitment
through their heroic eff orts to
provide these essential services.
With that, I ask that you please
continue to practice good hygiene.
Social distancing is key. We cannot
express enough the importance of
fl attening the curve and what it will
mean to the recovery of New York,
New Yorkers, and the rest of our
country.
We are here for you, but we all
need to participate in preventing the
spread of this virus, while our workforce
gets the job done.
Stay well. We will get through this,
one day at a time, together.
Eng is president of the Long Island
Rail Road.
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