for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com AUGUST 20, 2015 • times 13 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com AUGUST 20, 2015 • The Courier sun 21 letters oped AA L oLooko BKAc kBACK Today, only diesel locomotives cross the Montauk branch of the Long Island Railroad between Long Island City and Jamaica. However, as this 1929 photo demonstrates, the line once had third rails powering electric cars along the line. This picture was taken in August in the vicinity of the present-day 88th Street crossing. Have a historic photo of Queens that you’d like to share with our readers? Email it to [email protected], and we may use it in a future issue of A Look Back. Have a historic picture of Queens? Share it with us by emailing [email protected]. A precious dream: finding compassion for the homeless BY niCoLe russeLL As a resident of Queens, I take great pride in my community. I grew up encouraged to dream and fulfill endless possibilities and as destiny would have it, I was blessed with the opportunity to help others in my community make their own dreams into reality. Six years ago, my mother adopted a 4-yearold girl named Miracle who suffered from severe and frequent nightmares as a result of her family’s neglect. Miracle always lit up the room with her smile and happy spirit, but her fears haunted her on a nightly basis. To help Miracle manage these tough times, my mother began introducing stress coping items and reading to her at night. Soon, her nightmares were almost nonexistent and that’s where my idea for the Precious Dreams Foundation was born. Feeling inspired and the need to give back to my community, I felt the desire to help other children who may be struggling to dream, like my sister. I established the Precious Dreams Foundation to help kids in shelter and foster care find comfort in their darkest hour, instead helping shed light on their dreams. Now in its third year, I realize the kids of Precious Dreams, of our local communities, of our entire New York City homeless population, need the help of all of us. Some of these children hail right from places like the old Pan Am Hotel on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, or the former Westway Hotel. These are children who have hopes, dreams and aspirations and who just want to be loved and accepted, like all children throughout our city. Their families come from different walks of life, who now find themselves locked in a vicious cycle of poverty, a lack of affordable housing and an unstable economy. When I hear about residents, and entire communities, outraged over the placement of a shelter, it saddens me because falling on hard times is not something reserved for a select class. This happens all across the city, in every borough. Crisis doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t pick and choose its victims, and at any given moment, anyone of us can experience some of the hardships so many of our fellow New Yorkers face. I understand there are no easy answers to homelessness. I understand it’s a complex issue. But, the truth is, we cannot continue to walk these city streets, live in our neighborhoods, and pretend like the problem is going to solve itself, or isn’t our problem. It is incumbent on us to help people up instead of continuing to break them down. We all have dreams, hopes and aspirations. Let’s offer jobs, institute internships, volunteer with organizations and really connect with our afflicted neighbors. It’s time to reincorporate the homeless back into the fabric of our communities and to rebuild a strong, stable New York. It is in our power to help break, and end, this vicious cycle and help turn the dreams of our fellow New Yorkers into reality. Russell is the co-founder of the Precious Dreams Foundation. QUESTIoNS MISSING FRoM cITY coUNcIL DEBATE Thanks for hosting the North Shore Towers debate on Aug. 5. While the debate was co-op focused, several overall resident issues could have and should be addressed. Here are several examples: Police presence: For years, residents east of the Cross Island Parkway have experienced laggard response, merely due to the scope and area of the 105th Precinct. Road repairs: Hillside Avenue, Union Turnpike and many side streets are in need of repair due to winter weather that caused potholes and bumps. Speeding: While there was much ado about the 25 mph speed limit, residents are lucky if a car does under 40 mph on a side street. Local streets are not thoroughfare blocks. No traffic lights; we need enforcement. All participants did well, but some focused on sound bites rather than issues and lacked presenting solutions instead of constantly launching criticisms. Robert Petrowsky, Floral Park cITY MUST cRAck DoWN oN ‘MASSAGE PARLoRS’ These so-called spas are nothing more than massage parlors. They do not belong in our middle-class neighborhoods. The store fronts are completely covered with advertisements highlighting their phone numbers. Upon entering one finds no price list; only massages and table washes or showers are offered. As one glances around one finds curtain-lined cubicles. Most of these massage parlors have no secondary exits and are fire traps. Calls to 311 complaining about obvious false advertising and the practice of using female Asian sex trade workers are merely referred to the Police Department. A New York Post series on this subject noted that police may not undress in investigating this situation. Who can effectively correct this problem? This situation depresses our neighborhood and discourages legitimate business. We need effective legislation to counteract this type of blatant false advertising. The blight on our business area and our middle-class neighborhoods must stop. Joseph Salow, Bellerose PUT TRASH cANS WHERE PEoPLE ARE DUMPING With fewer trash cans within the subway, more trash is deposited on the sidewalks just outside the subway, especially if, as often in Queens, the Sanitation Department refuses to put trash cans next to subway entrances/exits. For a while, at the eastern end of the Halsey Street stop on the L train, a bodega placed one can on its front ledge (but not on the sidewalk, which would be illegal). But once it closed, the sidewalk is littered with food wrappers and cigarette butts, which, to no surprise, also fill the sidewalk on the entrance/ exit across the street. One difference between Queens and Manhattan, say, is that NYC trash cans are placed where people are likely to dump garbage. Richard Kostelanetz, Ridgewood THE cASE AGAINST FLUSHING PEDESTRIAN PLAZA I am 100 percent opposed to paving over Roosevelt Avenue in front of the McGoldrick library for many very valid reasons. Here are just two. The library, which is a very important part of the community, is already suffering declining attendance because of parking problems. Eliminating the street right in front of the library will make it even tougher for people with disabilities to attend and impossible for families to drop off and pick up their children. Paving that part of Roosevelt Avenue will force drivers down crowded Northern Boulevard to have to make left turns to get on Roosevelt. All this at a time when we are hearing about the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists who are injured or killed by drivers making left turns. On July 1, members of the City Council wrote to Google asking them to eliminate as many left turns as possible from their NYC driving instructions. Joe Brostek, Flushing
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