WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 11, 2019 13
Our promise to ‘Never forget’
September 11th Victim Compensation
Fund (VCF) because the fund is
currently facing a budget shortfall.
The Special Master of the Fund
announced in February that,
because of lack of funding, it was
forced to start cutting awards by 50
to 70 percent to extend the fund’s life.
The Henrys are one of the families
devastated by this reduction.
But we will fix that by passing this
bill.
Not only does the Never Forget
the Heroes fully fund and make
permanent the VCF
for the future, but
it also directs the
Special Master to
revisit all the reduced
awards paid out to
the 9/11 community
because of the budget
shortfall and make
these families whole.
Af ter 9/11, we
vowed to Never
Forget and with
that, we made a
commitment to
make sure every 9/11
first responder and
survivor, and their
families, never have
to go without the
support they need
or deserve. It is the
very least we can do
as a grateful nation.
Congres swoman Mal oney
represents New York’s 12th District
spanning parts of Queens and
Manhattan.
LETTERS AND COMMENTS
DROWNED BY
‘SNOWFLAKES’
The snowf lakes fell heavily
in Queens, even though it’s still
summer.
First came Tiffany Cabán’s
apparent (but not yet officially
confirmed) Queens DA primary
victory. She wants to de-criminalize
sex work, prosecute ICE agents, end
cash bail for all
offenders.
Now, Queens City Councilman
Donovan Richards wants the NYPD
to notify minors and their parents
when entering their names in a
database of suspected gang members.
He claims police conduct racial
profiling and wants to eliminate this
database completely.
Donovan echoes the sentiments of
fellow Councilman Rory Lancman,
who condemned the database for
racial bias. But police tapped this
tool to arrest 14 members of the
Trinitarios gang for the killing of 15-
year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-
Feliz in the Bronx last year. Five of
them were convicted of murder.
Police also used the database to
arrest MS-13 members for other
violent crimes. What should they
rely on instead, a list of suspects
approved by the ACLU?
Cabán, Donovan and Lancman
are part of a growing pack of felonfriendly
politicians who want to
replace the rule of law with a wave
of sympathy for criminals. If they
win, we all drown.
Richard Reif, Kew Gardens Hills
THE TRIBORO X
FANTASY
Bronx Assembly member Latrice
Walker calling for the MTA to study
potential construction of the Triboro
connector which would run from
Co-op City in the Bronx via Queens to
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn may be a waste of
time and money.
In 2016, the Regional Planning
Association updated release of an old
proposal from 1996 for construction
of the Triboro X new rail service.
Just how did the RPA come up with a
potential cost of $1 to $2 billion? My
experiences of over 31 years in the
transportation fi eld tell me it could
easily cost several billion more.
The proposed route will traverse
dozens of neighborhoods impacting
several hundred thousand people
living nearby. How will they react to
potential noise and visual impacts of
a new elevated subway? There are
serious legal and operational issues to
be resolved with the Federal Railroad
Administration.
There is not enough space here
to list many other transportation
projects in NYC whose costs range
from $50 million to $6 billion that
might be considered a higher priority
than the “Triboro X” line.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
Email your letters to editorial@qns.
com (Subject: Letter to the Editor) or
leave a comment to any of our stories
at QNS.com. You can also send a letter
by regular mail to Letters to the Editor,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All
letters are subject to editing. Anonymous
letters will not be published.
SNAPS
SUNNY DAYS AT THE LIC WATERFRONT
PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM @jeff waltersphotography
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).
OP-ED
BY CONGRESSWOMAN
CAROLYN MALONEY
Last week, we lost an incredible
New Yorker – an American hero
– NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez.
I vowed that we would finish his
last mission – to take care of the 9/11
community.
On July 11, the House is scheduled
to finally vote to fully fund and
make permanent the September
11th Victim Compensation Fund to
take care of every
first responder,
c o n s t r u c t i o n
worker, volunteer,
and survivor who
is now sick and the
spouses left alone
and the children
l e f t wi thout
parents because of
illnesses caused by
9/11.
In honor of
NYPD Detective
James Zadroga, the
first person to die
from 9/11 illness;
FDNY Firefighter
Ray Pfeifer and
NYPD Detective
Luis Alvarez, who
dedicated their
last breaths to
fighting for the 9/11
community; and for all the heroes
who are still dealing with the effects
of 9/11 each and every day, we will
get this done and send this bill to the
president’s desk.
We have a double moral obligation
to these heroic men and women. Not
only were they there for us in one
of our nation’s darkest hours, but
our government told all those who
worked on the pile and lived, worked,
and went to school near Ground
Zero that the air was safe to breathe,
and water was safe to drink when it
wasn’t. They are sick because of us.
Last month, Congress heard from
Anesta St. Rose Henry as she testified
in front of the House Committee
on the Judiciary, sitting in front of
two of her children that she is now
raising alone.
She lost her husband Candidus
Henry less than a month earlier to
glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer,
connected to his time working on
the pile at Ground Zero.
She told us and the American
people about Candidus, and the hole
he left behind – a hole only made
larger by the fact that, because her
husband died in May instead of two
years ago, she and her family will
not receive a full award from the
/QNS.com
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
