WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 8, 2018 13
LETTERS AND COMMENTS OP-ED
TRUMP HYPOCRISY &
NRA MEANNESS IRK
READER
So now after the latest shooting,
Trump has pledged to tackle the “diffi
cult issue of mental health.” How honorable
— and only a few months aft er
he rolled back federal regulations that
made it more diffi cult for the mentally
ill to buy guns.
The fact is the top 10 recipients of
NRA donations in the Senate and the
Congress are Republican. The Trump
campaign received $30 million.
Now Trump is endorsing having
teachers armed with weapons. You
know who is against it? Every major
police department in the nation. Of
course the NRA is in favor. Why?
Increased gun sales.
Want more fi lth? NRA representative
Dana Loesch said, “Many in the
liberal media love mass shootings. You
guys love it,” and “you love the ratings,”
she added. “Crying white mothers are
ratings gold.”
How does she sleep at night?
Robert LaRosa, Whitestone
ANDIDATE TAKES
AIM AT SENATOR’S
RECORD
In an article by Angela Matua from
Feb. 22, state Senator Jose Peralta
erroneously stated that the Senate
Democratic leadership told him that
re-introducing the Dream Act was
“going to hurt the marginals in Long
Island.” That is impossible as there
were no Democrats elected to
the State Senate on Long Island at
the time.
Peralta also claimed, “Democrats
did not want it to happen.” This
cannot be true either. Though the
Dream Act failed to pass by two
votes (one of them from a Democrat
who is no longer in offi ce), it would
not have made a diff erence. There
was not one vote from the Republican
Conference in favor of it.
Now as a Trump Democrat, how
does his partnering with the Republican
Conference help pass the
Dream Act today? It is clear state
Senator Peralta undermines his
own bill by conceding power to the
Republicans. Republicans are in
power because they have his vote.
He would rather attack Democrats
who provided support for his bill
than his new friends who didn’t
provide any. I’m running against
him to put an end to this charade
and actively work with Democrats
to stand up for our youth.
Jessica Ramos, Candidate for State
Senate in District 13
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School breakfast expansion
can help fi ll the Queens hunger gap
BY JOEL BERG, CEO,
HUNGER FREE AMERICA
Queens has traditionally been
thought of a solidly middle class
area, so it’s easy to forget the
borough has a serious poverty and
hunger problem. Yet, due to a combination
of low wages and high housing
costs, nearly a quarter of a million
Queens residents live in households
that can’t always aff ord enough food,
according to federal data analyzed by
Hunger Free America.
Even worse, one in 10 Queens
children struggle against hunger.
Statewide in New York, more
than 2.5 million people, and more
than 700,000 children, live in food
insecure homes.
Why do so few children who need
school breakfasts in New York get
them? Breakfast it is often served in
the cafeteria before the school day
starts. Transportation schedules
and social stigma, among other
factors, prevent kids from participating
– often leaving them starting
the school day too hungry to learn.
Breakfast After the Bell – where
breakfast is offered after the
official start of the school day
– is proven to be one of the best
practices to overcome barriers
tp school breakfast participation.
Schools across New York that have
implemented a Breakfast After the
Bell program have experienced significant
increases in the number of
students who eat school breakfast.
Beyond improving school breakfast
participation, Breakfast After the
Bell has also been linked to stronger
academic performance, improved
student behavior, and reduced absenteeism
among students.
On top of all that, the vast majority
of the costs for these breakfasts are
paid for by the federal government.
It is no wonder that, for all of
those reasons, Mayor Bill de Blasio
has mandated that all elementary
schools in New York City provide
Breakfast After the Bell. The mayor
deserves great credit for this huge
leap forward.
Those are also the reasons why
we strongly support Governor Andrew
Cuomo’s proposal to require
schools statewide with more than
70 percent free and reduced price
(F/RP) meal eligible students to offer
Breakfast After the Bell, while
providing some limited state seed
money to support schools as they
implement the program.
The governor’s proposal would
be very benefi cial to children across
the state and we are grateful to him
for his progressive leadership in
advancing this solution. However,
we recommend the Legislature
improve upon the proposal in two
ways: by requiring all schools at the
70 percent F/RP rate to off er breakfast
free of charge to all students; and by
lowering the threshold for requiring
a Breakfast Aft er the Bell model in
schools from 70 percent to 60 percent.
These simple changes would allow the
proposal to reach a total of nearly
150,000 students statewide and would
generate approximately $53 million in
federal reimbursements. Such eff orts
would ensure that many middle and
high schools in Queens serve such
breakfast.
These efforts alone won’t solve the
problem, because families will still
need sufficient food during nights,
weekends and vacation. That’s why
our society needs to create more
jobs, raise wages and ensure that
other federal nutrition programs,
such as SNAP (food stamps), remain
strong. Still, providing breakfasts
to every child on every school day
will take a huge bite out of child
hunger.
New York state leads the nation
on so many fronts, from growing
the nation’s most delicious apples to
the producing the country’s greatest
theatrical performances. The
time is long overdue for New York
to also lead the nation in ending
child hunger.
A LOOK BACK
Here’s another gem from long ago
found in the Queens Library digital
archives. This 1927 photo shows
Rockaway Boulevard looking east
toward the at-grade crossing for the
Long Island Rail Road’s Rockaway
Beach Branch. The state’s Public Service
Commission ordered the at-grade
crossing eliminated that same year to
make way for a bridge carrying the
tracks over the roadway. The LIRR took
the Rockaway Beach branch out of
service in 1962, but the MTA converted
the tracks into an extended A train
servicing the Rockaways. Send us your
historic photos of Queens by email to
editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look
Back) or mail printed pictures to A Look
Back, ℅ Schneps Communications,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
All mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you.
Photo courtesy of Queens Library Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/
