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for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com AUGUST 13, 2015 • times 13 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com AUGUST 13, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 21 oped  A LOOK BACK letters A cAll to boost resources in Kew GArdens Hills Regarding your recent coverage of funding for Queens libraries: While the Queens Public Library system has improved since the firing of Tom Galante, much more needs to be done. One branch Borough President Melinda Katz failed to mention in her allocations list was the Kew Gardens Hills Library at 72nd Avenue and Vleigh Place. It was closed nearly two years ago for expansion, but reconstruction efforts are way behind schedule. All I see are plastic sheets covering scaffolding. We need that library not only for education and computer access, but also as a polling place to replace P.S. 164, which the Board of Elections denied us nearly three years ago. Unless the library reopens soon, Kew Gardens Hills voters will be disenfranchised in the fall election. Our representatives including Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz and City Councilman Rory Lancman apparently haven’t done much about this delay. They’re also missing in action on something else that used to be on Vleigh Place — the Q74 bus line — also called the Vleigh Place Shuttle. The MTA ended it three years ago due to financial cuts, but has since restored other bus lines. Why not the Q74? The Move New York traffic decongestion plan would fund this and other transit upgrades, but both representatives oppose it. What’s their alternative? A huge tax break for yacht and private plane owners, which the Democrat-led state Assembly and GOP-led Senate voted for? Speak up. Richard Reif, Kew Gardens Hills reAder doesn’t love lucy tribute At tAxpAyer expense Your tax dollars at work? Governor Andrew Cuomo was proud to announce a $1.5 million dollar grant courtesy of the Empire State Development Corporation to help construct the new $45 million National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York — birthplace of comedienne Lucille Ball. This will be supplemented by a multimilliondollar “I Love New York” campaign also sponsored by the ESDC to promote the facility. While Melissa Rivers, Lucie Arnaz, Kelly Carlin and the family of Harold Ramis were laughing at the groundbreaking ceremony, taxpayers footing the bill were left crying. This is just one of over $1 billion in 13 Regional Enterprise Zone projects funded by the ESDC around the state at your expense. There is little input on selection and oversight by either the state Legislature or state comptroller. It is Cuomo’s private member item pork barrel program for his friends and contributors. The joke’s on us! Larry Penner, Great Neck wHy Are fAilinG students still GettinG promoted? The recent story regarding how students are being granted a diploma despite receiving non-passing grades is absolutely outrageous! Why are teachers pressured to pass students who are consistently failing? What is the UFT’s input in this very serious matter? There is no logical reason for this to be occurring in our public school system. Chancellor Carmen Farina needs to get on the ball and have this practice of social promotion and graduation of non-passing students halted immediately. There is some type of miscommunication within the Department of Education, and that needs to be corrected post haste, without delay. The last thing that the public school system needs is to have any more unnecessary problems. The new school year will begin in about one month, and there needs to be a peaceful, smooth and uneventful beginning to the new school year. John Amato, Fresh Meadows Time to relieve side A looK bAcK effects of A train project BY ASSEMBLYMAN PHIL GOLDFEDER I have long advocated for improving transportation for families across Queens as the best way to meet the demands of our growing population and boost economic activity in the borough. I have called for the reactivation of the Rockaway Beach Rail Line as the most costefficient way to improve commutes for tens of thousands of families and take cars off our clogged roadways. Also, I recently met with Department of Transportation Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia in Howard Beach, Lindenwood and Hamilton Beach to inspect roadways where our families have long asked for improvements. That’s why I’m always willing to support the work done by the MTA, DOT or any other agency to improve infrastructure and make our commutes safer and more efficient. However, with any large infrastructure project we need to take steps to ensure minimal impact to our homes and local businesses whenever possible. Recently, I’ve been contacted by families and store owners along Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park that have been forced to deal with a traffic nightmare as a result of the ongoing Liberty Avenue Line Station Renewal Project, which is currently rebuilding A train stations between 80th Street and 111th Street. For almost a year, NYC Transit has been storing construction equipment on Liberty Avenue and 84th Street. In one area, this equipment covers about 12 car lengths along the avenue. Not only do these materials take up valuable parking spaces, but they have also created a dangerous situation as cars swerve into oncoming traffic to pass. I’ve even spoken to local business owners who have had company vehicles hit by oncoming traffic. They come into work every day wondering if they and their employees will make it safely through the workday. This is unacceptable. I’ve written to NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco urging the state agency to minimize the amount of equipment stored on this busy roadway. Our families and local businesses should expect some inconvenience as work progresses on the stations. But we should not accept any situation that hurts our local economy and puts our families’ lives at risk. By being smart about how we improve infrastructure in the community, we can ensure that our families stay safe and our local businesses remain strong. Goldfeder represents the 23rd District encompassing Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Lindenwood, Broad Channel and Rockaway. This 1932 picture shows the construction of the Myrtle Avenue overpass above the then-under construction Interboro Parkway in eastern Glendale. Plans for the Interboro Parkway were in the works as early as 1897, but construction began in earnest during the early 1930s under the auspices of master builder Robert Moses. The five-mile parkway winds its way from the Grand Central Parkway in Kew Gardens and through Forest Hills, Glendale and Ridgewood before ending in Brooklyn at the corner of Jamaica and Pennsylvania avenues. Have a historic picture of Queens? Share it with us by emailing editorial@queenscourier.com.


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