12 JUNE 13, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Time for N.Y. to green-light licenses for all
New York granted driver’s
licenses to undocumented
immigrants up until the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Then-
Governor George Pataki, in the wake
of the disaster, instituted new rules
that mandated that drivers have a
Social Security number to request or
maintain their licenses.
Aft er years of struggling to restore
the benefit to undocumented New
Yorkers, the fi rst “green light” is fi nally
visible on a road full of stops.
This week, the Green Light Bill
that would grant driver’s licenses
to undocumented residents was
approved by the Assembly, but the
legislation has yet to be ratifi ed by the
Senate to become law.
The fate of around 265,000
undocumented New Yorkers hangs
in the balance, but that’s apparently
not enough to motivate the leaders of
this legislative chamber.
Although Senate Deputy Majority
Leader Michael Gianaris has said he
supports the bill, the Democratic-led
Senate continues to refuse to bring
the bill to a vote. Immigrant advocacy
groups have asked Gianaris to use his
EDITORIAL
power to convince the state Senate
to commit to passing the Driver’s
Licenses and Privacy Act.
The legislative chamber ends
session in the middle of this month,
and that worries immigrants who
depend on a car to commute to work
or school.
With or without this legislation,
undocumented immigrants are
driving. Why not ensure that they
have licenses to boost the economy
while making roads safer?
Legislators have an obligation to do
what is in the best interest of public
safety and ensure that all drivers
have a driver’s license in the state, so
that each driver is trained, certifi ed,
registered, inspected and insured.
This would mean that thousands
of immigrants living in the shadows
can take their children to school, go
to medical appointments and drive to
their jobs without fear that a routine
police traffi c stop can put them on the
road to deportation.
It’s time for the Senate to act. Call
Gianaris’ offi ce at 718-728-0960 and
tell him to get this done.
The cry for help
The New York Police Department
suff ered two shocking suicides in as
many days last week in Brooklyn and
Queens.
Assistant Chief Steven Silks, a 38-
year member of the NYPD, took his
own life on a Forest Hills street on June
5; he was mere days from a mandatory
retirement from the force.
The next day in Brooklyn, Detective
Joseph Calabrese of the Brooklyn
South Homicide Squad also killed
himself. According to reports, it
happened a few hours aft er his wife
had been hospitalized for a condition.
Some of us think of our first
responders as real-life heroes there
to protect us against the bad guys.
Of course, the reality is that police
offi cers are humans, not comic book
characters. They grapple with both
the everyday issues life brings us,
but they are compounded by issues
unique to their job.
They have seen crime scene horrors
no one should see. They deal with
high-pressure situations that could
threaten someone’s life, or even their
own. Some have dealt with the trauma
of a close colleague being killed in
the line of duty, while others have
made tragic decisions that cannot be
reversed.
We urge our police offi cers who are
struggling with their mental health to
seek the care they need. Don’t throw
your families into undue suff ering. It
can get better.
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ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ROBERT POZARYCKI
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
EMILY DAVENPORT
MARK HALLUM
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
MAX PARROTT
BILL PARRY
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