WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES NOVEMBER 16, 2017 13
LETTERS AND COMMENTS OP-ED
ELECTION TURNOUT
‘A SAD STATE OF
AFFAIRS’
During the Nov. 7 election, it was
reported that only 23 percent of voters
showed up to vote. That in my opinion
is a sad state of aff airs.
I myself got up an hour early to
vote in Glen Oaks Village to vote and
then go to work. I’m 68 years old and I
am aware how important it is to vote.
There are issues out there that aff ect
all of us, such as education of our children,
taxes, crime and the high cost of
housing.
I feel it is our civic duty to show
up and vote, and if we don’t, then we
cannot complain. Moreover, we live in
a free country, and with that comes a
responsibility to be involved in what
goes on in our community and that
means voting.
Our freedoms are what has made
America great, so next election step
up the plate and vote or we might lose
what many of us hold most dear.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
ENLIGHTENED BY
LIGHT
RAIL
PROPOSAL
A light rail is an amazing idea
and hopefully feasible. There are
areas in Middle Village, Glendale
and Ridgewood that are extremely
hard to get to. Four miles will take
you over an hour in the current
transportation system. All three
areas are booming and new people
are moving in. An alternative
means of public transportation is
a necessity at this point. Especially
for Middle Village where cars
are heavily used due to the fact
that there is no other way to get
around.
QNS member MiddleVillageUp
ACCESSIBILITY
SHOULD BE
KEY TO TRAIN
PROJECTS
Regarding renovations to Astoria
train stations: Whenever major
construction projects are planned,
accessibility should be at the top of
the list. A world-class city should
have the best accessibility. Shame on
planners for their shortsightedness
in neglecting plans to upgrade now
when during construction would be
the most cost eff ective time to install
accessible entry/exit.
QNS member AL
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WHEELS FOR ALL NEW YORKERS
BY JOHN MOREIRA
I have been working full time in the
car service industry in Ridgewood
and Bushwick for my whole career.
I love it.
We are part of the neighborhood.
We drive children to school. We take
folks to their doctor’s appointments.
We go back and forth to the airports.
And, on the way, we hear about your
vacation or your sick parent who lives
out of town. The subway doesn’t go out
to our neighborhoods. If you can’t or
just don’t have the energy to ride the
bus, we are your wheels. And we were
there for you when nobody wanted to
drive to our neighborhoods. We want
to always be here for you, no matter
what.
Collectively, the 10 or so car services
companies and 1,500 drivers
that serve our neighborhoods and
beyond are doing everything we can
to ensure that every New Yorker can
call for a safe, courteous ride when
they need one. That includes passengers
who use wheelchairs.
Here’s the problem: right now, the
Taxi and Limousine Commission has
not provided us with a way to ensure
we can provide wheelchair users with
good service. And, they fi ne us for not
being able to do it. Wheelchair users
don’t get the service they deserve and
we get fi ned.
The fact is, most of the for-hire cars
on the road today – whether you hail
them in the street, call a car service
or use an app – are not equipped to
handle wheelchairs. Drivers, who
are independent contractors who
work for themselves and decide
which car service company to drive
for, purchase their own cars with
their own money. Drivers work hard
for every dollar they get and almost
all of them simply can’t aff ord the
much higher cost and maintenance
associated with a wheelchair-accessible
car.
But, the for-hire car industry, working
together as a group, has come up
with a workable plan to increase
accessibility for wheelchair users.
Under our plan, we will guarantee
an average citywide pick-up time of
15 minutes or less, no matter where
you are in the fi ve boroughs. Wheelchair
users can rely on a prompt, safe,
accessible ride at all hours of the day
or night, whether they have reserved
in advance or not. The industry is
absolutely committed to making this
work. We pledge to make it happen
and will invest whatever is necessary
in equipment and drivers. And we can
promise to make this happen by the
end of 2018.
If you are a wheelchair user, you
know what a big improvement our
plan will make in your quality of life.
No more waiting at the doctor’s offi ce
for hours for your ride home, no more
leaving the party halfway through
dinner because you pre-booked a car
and it’s here now. The industry’s plan
will give you more than a ride. It will
give you back the freedom to come
and go as you please, just like everyone
else.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission
has a diff erent plan. The Commission
means well, but their plan just
won’t work.
The TLC plan puts the financial
burden of obtaining wheelchair accessible
cars onto the individual drivers,
who are killing themselves to make a
living as it is. Acquiring the number
of vehicles necessary to comply with
an arbitrary trip mandate of 25 percent
would cost drivers at least $500
million. Simply put, this expense will
drive people out business.
The accessibility plan that the forhire
car industry is proposing will
make wheelchair-accessible cars
available around the clock, around
the city, with an average pick-up time
of 15 minutes or less, up and running
next year. That’s a plan worth trying.
We hope the Taxi and Limousine Commission
will accept the proposal.
John Moreira has been in the for-hire
car business for over 20 years. He runs
a dispatch base in the Ridgewood/
Maspeth area.
It’s impossible to think of Eliot
Avenue — one of the most important
streets in Maspeth and Middle
Village — as being unpaved. Yet,
as this 1938 photo shows, you can
see a dirt-lined Eliot Avenue looking
eastbound toward 69th Lane. It
wouldn’t be long, of course, before
the street was fully developed, as
was the immediate surrounding
area. The farmland seen at right
would soon be lined with one- and
two-family dwellings. Send us your
historic photos of Queens by email to
editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look
Back) or mail printed pictures to A
Look Back, ℅ The Queens Courier,
38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361.
All mailed pictures will be carefully
returned to you.
A LOOK BACK
