22 The Queens Courier • april 4, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com
22 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 4, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
An insult to our intelligence
“Th is event is closed press.”
We can tell you from experience
in the newsroom that we’ve seen this
phrase all too oft en on emails from
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi ce since he
fi rst took offi ce in 2014.
Normally, this phrase is applied to
various events on the mayor’s daily
public schedule. But of late, it’s become
something of a motto for the de Blasio
administration — specifi cally when it
comes to public meetings about community
STORY: Bend the knee to the Queen of Queens: Local ‘Game of
Thrones’ fan fi nds Iron Throne at Fort Totten
SUMMARY: On Thursday, March 28, 22-year-old Melanie
Joaquin found the last of the six thrones tucked away in the
historic Bayside park. HBO placed six thrones around the world
as part of the Quest for the Throne contest to promote the
eighth and fi nal season of “Game of Thrones.”
REACH: 30,033 people (as of 4/1/19)
jail plans for Kew Gardens and
other neighborhoods of New York City.
Last week, the mayor himself attended
a recent meeting about the Kew
Gardens jail proposal — and of course,
that event was “closed press,” too. Were
it not for a recording confi dentially
provided to us from an attendee, we
would not have known what the mayor
told a Queens community asked to bear
the brunt of a new jail.
In recent weeks, meetings of a community
advisory council on the Kew
Gardens jail were also closed to the
press, despite the boisterous objections
of council members who rightly believe
that reporters’ attendance was necessary
to inform the public about the
matter.
When asked why the press was being
kept in the dark at these meetings, city
offi cials off ered the most asinine of
excuses: that the presence of reporters
would stymie a real conversation
about the Kew Gardens jail, and prevent
THE QUEENS
sun
WWW.COURIERSUN.COM
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
INSIDE SALES MANAGER
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
JENNA BAGCAL, MARK HALLUM, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Media, 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 2017 by The Queens Courier
All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER 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.
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community residents from saying
their piece about the subject.
To have a real conversation on any
important issue requires a knowledge
of information about the issue — but
that’s diffi cult to achieve if reporters
are prevented from gathering information
about the issue, and then telling
the public about it.
Moreover, it sends a terrible message
to the council members and the public
at large — that they can say what
they want at a meeting, but they cannot
share their remarks outside of that
forum. It’s the city’s way of controlling
the narrative, and skewing public opinion
about the project.
Th e press ban is both a dangerous
precedent and an insult to the public’s
intelligence.
When he fi rst ran for mayor in 2013,
de Blasio pledged that his administration
would be far more open than
his predecessors. We’re not sure what
his defi nition of “openness” is, but it’s
certainly nowhere close to the actual
Webster’s dictionary defi nition: “the
free expression of one's true feelings
and opinions.”
It’s time for the public to no longer
allow the de Blasio administration
to insult their intelligence by keeping
the press in the dark. Call the Mayor’s
Offi ce at 212-788-7585 and urge him
to lift the reporter ban on community
advisory council meetings on the Kew
Gardens jail plan.
Publisher & E ditor Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Co-Publisher Joshua A. Schneps
Chief Operating Officer Bob Brennan
E ditor-In-Chief Robert Pozarycki
Art Director Nirmal Singh
S ocial Media Manager Emily Davenport
S taff Reporters Jenna Bagcal, Mark Hallum, Katrina Medoff
Carlotta Mohamed, Bill Parry
Contributing Reporters Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni
Production Manager Deborah Cusick
I nside Sales Manager Celeste Alamin
Chief Financial Officer Maria Valencia
President & CEO Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Vice President Joshua A. Schneps
Schneps Media, 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 2017 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 office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation,
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 five 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.
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