FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 14, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
letters & comments
STORY: Philadelphia cheesesteak giant Tony Luke’s coming to
Queens as part of NYC ‘invasion’
SUMMARY: One of the biggest names in Philadelphia
cheesesteak is making a move up the New Jersey Turnpike to
New York City — and has its sights set on opening a Queens
location.
REACH: 38,265 people reached (as of 2/11/19)
FOREST HILLS WILDLIFE // PHOTO SUBMITTED BY FLOR ANGELA CASTRO
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editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
BEING THE CHANGE
THEY WANT TO SEE
Th e organization I lead, a nonprofit
consulting fi rm called Community
Resource Exchange, serves upwards of
500 nonprofi ts annually. In the past
year, we have seen an uptick in requests
from social sector organizations seeking
guidance on how to prevent and
address issues of sexual harassment and
assault, driven in part by the #MeToo
movement.
Social sector organizations are driven
by their missions to do good for others,
but even mission-driven organizations
are susceptible to issues of sexual
harassment.
Seizing the #MeToo moment to bring
change gives employees the respect and
equity they deserve. It’s also an opportunity
for organizational risk engagement:
the good work of any nonprofit
can be jeopardized by just one person’s
actions, exposing structural weaknesses,
power imbalances and disparate
responses.
As we heard during a panel we hosted
last week, all of this is oft en infl uenced
by unconscious bias, and disproportionately
harms women, gender non-binary,
and trans women, and in particular,
people of color.
To address these issues, nonprofi ts
must focus on workplace culture, not
just compliance. Th ey must identify and
address disparities that exacerbate gender
inequity; diversify their leadership
and board; and focus on strengthening
accountability and on investing in necessary
human resources.
Nonprofi ts exist to advance a social
purpose that betters the world. Now
we all must dig deeper and implement
institutional change to illustrate that we
are truly committed to the real, lasting
benefi ts that equity can bring.
Katie Leonberger, President & CEO,
Community Resource Exchange
LAMENTING MORE
CATHOLIC CLOSURES
Th e recent announcements by both
the Archdiocese of New York and
the Diocese of Brooklyn that several
Catholic elementary schools will be
closing their doors for good aft er this
school year ends in June is most distressing.
Why can’t these dioceses fi nd ways
to keep these very vital institutions of
learning from closing? All of the students
attending these schools will now
have to fi nd other schools to attend in
September. All of the administrators
and faculties from those schools will
also have to fi nd new positions, if there
are any available.
Th is is so unfair, especially considering
that these two dioceses have more
money than the Vatican. Why aren’t
there available funds to keep these
schools solvent and operating? Both
dioceses are probably too busy paying
off sex abuse claims from many victims
of sexual abuse by the clergy!
Shame on Cardinal Dolan and Bishop
DiMarzio, for not working to keep all
of these schools open. Th ey are nothing
but politicians in clerics’ clothing who
really could care less about the state of
Catholic education.
John Amato, Fresh Meadows
TOO MUCH BORROWING
ON BOTH SIDES
First it was the Democrats who doubled
our national debt from $10 to $20
trillion over eight years under President
Obama. Now it is the Republicans who
have added another $2 trillion over the
past two years.
Will we ever learn from past mistakes
and attempt to reduce both borrowing
and long-term debt instead of allowing
them to grow yearly. Th e new $22 trillion
federal debt is only going to continue
growing by $1 trillion per year. Th is
inheritance could bankrupt future generations.
Uncle Sam needs to do a better job
with several trillion dollars in annual
generated revenues already available,
rather than pick the pockets of taxpayers
for even more. It is time for a
return to passing annual fi scal year
budgets on time by Oct. 1 rather than a
series of continuing resolutions to keep
Washington open.
Returning to pay-as-you-go budgeting
means testing for all government
assistance programs; real balanced budgets
without smoke and mirrors; stop
hiding spending under so-called independent
authorities whose budgets are
off line with little or no oversight along
with actual surpluses and down payments
to reduce long term debt for all
levels of government.
Everything needs to be on the table
including the infamous “third rails”
of American politics — Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security and military
spending.
How ironic that aft er winning the
Cold War against the Evil Empire of
Communism, it may be mismanagement
of our economy that defeats us in
the end.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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