FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 24, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
letters & comments
AN INCOMPLETE ANSWER
Th e governor, with the expected support
of both chambers of the state
Legislature, is expected to add New York
to the growing roster of states that permit
“early voting.” Th ey will argue that it
will promote democracy. Th is makes no
sense to me.
How can someone vote intelligently
when they don’t experience the whole
campaign until Election Day? At best,
people will be voting with incomplete
information which is hardly appropriate
for good decision-making.
Moreover, the governor wants to make
Election Day a state holiday to make it
more convenient to vote. What is the
point of this when he is promoting early
voting? Election Day becomes a superfl uous
event except for those who did not
vote early. As has been said, “It ain’t over
until it’s over.”
Th e fi nal score, whether it is baseball or
elections, is not determined until the very
end of the event. Early voting, in my opinion,
is regressive and not progressive.
Joseph A. Giacalone, Flushing
LESS LANES, MORE
TRAFFIC
When it comes to the pros and cons of
bike lanes, comedian Whoopi Goldberg
took Mayor Bill de Blasio to the woodshed
on a recent episode of “Th e View.”
Big Apple traffi c congestion is a citywide
issue that has grown over time,
impacting local business and commuters
who travel by bus or car. Th ere is a corresponding
relation between reduction in
traffi c speed and the relationship to the
corresponding loss in street capacity.
A past report released by city Department
of Transportation Commissioner Polly
Trottenberg chose to ignore this. Over the
past 18 years, under mayors Bloomberg
and de Blasio, hundreds of miles of traffi
c lanes have been eliminated. Th is was
due to the dramatic increase in the introduction
of bike lanes, street calming and
pedestrian plaza projects.
Forcing buses to share less street space
with cars, taxis, Uber, Lyft , UPS, FedEx,
other delivery and commercial traffi c
along with municipal vehicles has contributed
to a decline in vehicle speed for
everyone in all fi ve boroughs. Th e result
is increased confl icts with pedestrians.
Th is is like cholesterol buildup, resulting
in hardening of the arteries.
All of this contributes to increased gridlock,
pollution and adverse impact to
local businesses, who count on timely
pick-up and deliveries along with adequate
parking for customers. Trying to
travel around town by automobile or bus
is next to impossible.
Mayor de Blasio promised to increase
bus speed by 25 percent in his recent State
of the City speech. Don’t count on this
happening.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
BAG BAN IS A BAD IDEA
Governor Andrew Cuomo wants a
plastic bag ban throughout New York.
His belief is that this ban would help
reduce greenhouse emissions. As reported,
alternatives leave much to be desired.
Paper bags use more resources and
break before the shopper gets home.
Added to that, cloth bags need to be
washed oft en for sanitary reasons.
I’m all for saving the planet but the cost
to the poor consumer could turn out to be
expensive and impractical. Th is expense
is a burden to the merchant and the consumers.
I work for a plumbing supply and we
give out materials to our customers in
plastic bags. Th ose I have spoken to tell
me to ban these bags is a bad idea. Well,
I totally agree.
A better solution is needed that does
not tax the average hard-working consumer.
I think we have the technology to
come up with something that is good for
the consumer and the planet.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
TRUMP’S RUSSIA
‘BUFFERS’
Rudy Giuliani has made it clear that
President Trump did not collude with
Russians, although his campaign staff
may have done so. In other words, he had
a lot of buff ers.
Robert Berger, Bellerose
BLAMING DEMOCRATS
It is neither surprising nor unexpected
that a government shutdown has
occurred when a continuing solution on
the budget is required. Th e leaders of the
Democratic Party are not the loyal opposition
but an instrument of disruption.
Although the president and Senate leaders
have taken actions to break the deadlock,
Senator Charles Schumer has not
moved his position. He uses his position
of Minority Leader to reinforce House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s view that a barrier
at the southern border to aid in the protection
against people and drugs illegally
entering this country is immoral.
It is virtually impossible to respond to
that position which has been enunciated
and advocated by the same person who
said only a few years ago that representatives
should not worry about the contents
of a bill before voting on it. Th ey can read
it aft er they pass it.
Th e present problem of the government
shutdown could be one easily
resolved if responsible Democratic senators
would take quick and relatively simple
action. Th ey should immediately elect
a new minority leader from among those
in their party who are reasonable, not
self-serving nor interested in vendettas
against the president.
Joseph B. Margolin, Valley Stream
Editor’s note: Th is letter requires clarifi -
cation as to the facts of the federal government
shutdown.
Since taking control on Jan. 3, House
Democrats have voted nine times on legislation
to reopen government. None of the
bills have been taken up for a vote in the
Senate. Many of these bills were identical
to ones that the Republican-led Senate
overwhelmingly passed in December 2018,
but were denied by President Trump —
who, on Dec. 11, 2018, said before Pelosi,
Schumer and members of the press, “If we
don’t get what we want, one way or the
other through you or the military or anybody
else, yes I will shut down the government.
… I am proud to shut down the government
for border security.”
Th e “compromise” that Trump proposed
on Jan. 19, in which he pledged to support
the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program for three years
in exchange for $5.6 billion in border wall
funding, was rejected by Pelosi, Schumer
and numerous other Congressional
Democrats who have stated they would not
fund a border wall, although they would be
open to negotiating more funding for overall
border security.
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(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. Names will be withheld
upon request, but anonymous letters
will not be considered for publication.
Th e views expressed in all letters and
comments are not necessarily those of this
newspaper or its staff .
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