12 OCTOBER 12, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
EDITORIAL
Keep shameless ex-cons off the ballot
Elections have consequences.
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
Eight more ‘johns’ caught trying to
pay for sex at Ridgewood’s prostitution
hotbed
SUMMARY:
Cops rounded up another group of
eight “johns” looking for a good time
at Ridgewood’s known prostitution
hot spot last month.
REACH:
11,111 people (as of 10/5/17)
COMMENTS:
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
Reporter
ANTHONY GIUDICE
© 2017 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC.
General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361
TELEPHONE: 1-718-821-7500/7501/7502/7503
FAX: 1-718-224-5441
E-MAIL: editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com
WEB SITE: www.qns.com
ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
FOR 108 YEARS
COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving
ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper
is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and
only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears.
It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy
does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any
other requirement.TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is Listed With
The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member Of The New
York Press Association
SNAPS
THE GREAT PUMPKIN
IN LONG ISLAND CITY
PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM
@sophie_frenchie_nyc
Send us your photos of Queens
and you could see them online or in our paper!
Submit them to us tag @queenscourier
on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting
@QNS or by emailing editorial@qns.com
(subject: Queens Snaps).
That’s a phrase you might
have heard in recent months.
It’s a reminder that we must be careful
of whom we vote for in an election,
because regardless of the candidate we
choose, we will all be impacted by the
winner’s success or failure.
Too oft en, in recent years, the choices
we’ve made at the ballot box have
come back to bite us. Take, for example,
the case of former state Senator Hiram
Monserrate of Queens, who wound up
being convicted twice: once for assaulting
his former girlfriend, and the other
time for embezzling campaign funds.
Then there’s former Congressman
Michael Grimm of Brooklyn and
Staten Island, who once threatened to
throw a reporter off the Capitol Hill
rotunda balcony because he didn’t like
the question asked of him. Grimm was
later convicted of tax evasion charges.
What do Monserrate and Grimm
have in common? Despite facing the
consequences of their illegal actions
— despite bringing shame to their own
constituents — they both can’t stay
away from the lure of politics.
Monserrate has made two failed attempts
at mounting a post-penal political
comeback. In 2016, he very narrowly
lost a Democratic district leader race,
with just 57 votes separating him from
the winner. Then, earlier this year, he
came way too close to reclaiming the
21st Council District seat he previously
held; fortunately, the voters chose Assemblyman
Francisco Moya over Monserrate,
who wound up losing by about
500 votes in a low-turnout election.
Grimm, meanwhile, is now mounting
a challenge against a member of his
own party — Republican Congressman
Dan Donovan — for the Congressional
seat he once occupied. He seems to be
in denial that he was truly convicted; in
an MSNBC interview, Grimm claimed
that the tax evasion case, in which he
pleaded guilty, was politically motivated,
thus making it okay (in his eyes) for
him to run for public offi ce again.
Why are these ex-cons permitted to
run for public offi ce in New York State?
They were found guilty of betraying
the public trust. If elections have
consequences, so should the criminal
convictions of disgraced lawmakers.
In recent years, we’ve seen too many
public offi cials in New York State get
walked into a courtroom in handcuff s
for one misdeed or another. If our state
government is serious about reform, it
should start by enacting a law barring
convicted former public offi cials from
seeking elected offi ce again.
We’re all for redemption, but there
are better ways for disgraced lawmakers
to redeem themselves than by campaigning
for public offi ce. Our choices
on Election Day should be between
good citizens looking to improve our
lives, not self-serving grandstanders
attempting to pull the limelight away.
