editorial 22 THE COURIER SUN • MARCH 31, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA RAISA CAMARGO KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS WEB EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE COURIER SUN and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. SNAPS QUEENS ROCKET THROWER PHOTO BY EMMANUEL LOZADA 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 @ queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). Make Queens more affordable for all Now that the City Council has adopted a modifi ed version of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s housing plan, Queens arrives at a moment of developmental truth. Where-- or, more appropriately, how much higher-- does it go from here? The mayor’s plan tries to address affordability with revised zoning and affordable housing requirements in new developments. Well intentioned the plan may be, the changes must not come at the expense of Queens’ diverse housing character. Over the last decade, entire neighborhoods have been rezoned for the specifi c purpose of preserving specifi c housing stocks. Such hard work cannot merely be fl ushed down the drain. The city must encourage greater affordable housing development in areas that can handle the extra development, but it should pursue other avenues toward making Queens a more affordable place for everyone to live. Queens’ diversity is great and comes in many forms, not the least of which is its housing stock. Want to live in a bustling urban area? There’s Jackson Heights and Flushing. Want a more relaxed urban oasis? Try Sunnyside or Ridgewood. Looking for a suburban paradise without having to travel far? Welcome to Middle Village, Bayside or Whitestone. Want to live the good life? If you can afford it, try Forest Hills, Jamaica Hills or Douglaston. There’s also the seaside wonders of the Rockaways, a real treasure in the summer. The problem for many Queens residents has indeed become affordability. As we report this week, Queens is the 12th most expensive real estate market in the nation. Even if the current housing bubble bursts, the price reduction that would follow still wouldn’t make homeownership affordable for the vast majority of Queens residents. Changing a few zones here and there and expanding affordable housing opportunities is a step forward, but many more ideas toward easing fi nancial burdens in this borough must be considered and ultimately adopted. The last thing we want, the last thing the city wants, is for Queens residents to be priced out of this market and into another. End foster care horror stories The life of a foster child is already diffi cult beyond comprehension. Circumstances have pulled them away from their parents and into the arms of total strangers tasked with caring for them. For an unfortunate number of foster children, however, the pain doesn’t end there, as the Daily News has reported in recent days. Too often, foster children are being sent to live with abusive individuals and child predators posing as loving, caring people. Perhaps the most damning example is Cesar Gonzales-Mugaburu, a Suffolk County man accused of repeatedly abusing children sent to live with him by a nonprofi t group affi liated with the city’s Administration for Children’s Services. Worse than the alleged abuse is the alleged inaction by government agencies. The Daily News reported that the children in Gonzales-Mugaburu’s care fi led numerous complaints of abuse against him, but investigators found no wrongdoing. Even worse, foster children continued to be sent to live with him. Since charges were fi led against Gonzales-Mugaburu, the city severed its ties with SCO Family of Services, the organization that sent foster children to the suspected child predator. The children that SCO placed in foster homes across the tri-state area are now being reassigned to other foster care agencies under contract with the city. We believe the city should launch a full investigation into its responsibilities to foster children to make sure that those entrusted to care for them never betray that trust. These kids deserve the best care the city can give them, and the assurance that they won’t be sent to live with monsters. How do you plan on spending your summer vacation? Hopefully interning, I’ve been applying to a lot of different places. Nick Doglio Working in Providence, I’m graduating I’m probably going to get a summer job as a teacher’s assistant. I did that last year as well. Eric Mei this year. Liz Marcotte I’ll probably be coaching tennis and playing for a local British team. I coach kids from 4 to 12 years old. Rachel Tyo BY ALAN BURTON Either interning here or in DC, so not much of a vacation. Cheyanne Gonzales street talk I’m working abroad in Paris. Professor Larkin Still not sure, probably working. Lauren Eden I’m going to London for about a month. Anthony Francis
SC03312016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above