FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 18, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
BEWARE OF AN
UNDERCOUNT
A severe undercount in the 2020
Census would dramatically reduce the
amount of federal funding New York
receives for a range of critical programs
delivered by nonprofi ts – jeopardizing
the very existence of these organizations,
causing them to cut staff , end programs,
and cripple their ability to connect
with underserved communities.
Twenty billion dollars a year is on the
line for New York City alone.
A Community Resource Exchange
survey found that nonprofi ts fear they’ll
be forced to reassess how to eff ectively
meet needs if they have to scale back,
particularly because they already operate
on budgets stretched thin due to
years of government underfunding.
We’re at serious risk of a 2020 undercount
due to the late start in funding
outreach eff orts, the proposed citizenship
question, and apprehension around
online submissions. Th is would build
on the decade of under-investment we
saw because of the last Census undercount.
Nonprofi ts are dedicated to the city’s
most critical issues, like homelessness,
hunger, health, and criminal justice
reform. Further, their long-term presence
in many neighborhoods serves as
a valuable, trusted conduit to achieving
an accurate count, as illustrated
by a Quinnipiac poll noting that New
Yorkers would be more likely to participate
when contacted by a local nonprofi
t.
While the $20 million recently allocated
in the state budget for Census outreach
and education is a start, it is insuffi
cient to cover the cost required to do
appropriate outreach. Many groups will
need more support to ensure outreach is
successful over the next year.
By investing more fully in the nonprofi
t sector, New Yorkers everywhere
will be better off and our city — and
state — will be a stronger place in which
to work, live and thrive.
Katie Leonberger, President and CEO,
Community Resource Exchange
AVOID BUNNIES AS
EASTER GIFTS
Sadly, thousands of rabbits, chicks
and ducklings are purchased every year
and given as whimsical Easter gift s.
Oft en bought on impulse by people
with little awareness of the commitment
involved, rabbits, are not shortlived
animals. Properly cared for, spayed
or neutered pet rabbits can live eight to
12 years.
Rabbits need as much care as a dog or
a cat. Litter boxes need to be changed,
cages need to be cleaned and rabbits
need to be fed, watered and exercised.
Th ey are also highly social and require
time and attention from their owners.
Th ey should live indoors as members
of the family, and they are not recommended
as pets for very young children.
Th e majority of rabbits sold in pet
stores also come from large-scale commercial
breeding operations that confi
ne animals in small, dirty cages and
fail to give them adequate care.
If, aft er doing your research, you
decide a bunny is right for you and
your family, wait until the weeks aft er
Easter. Sadly, 80 percent of shelter rabbits
are abandoned Easter gift s but the
only humane alternative for these now
unwanted pets since domestic rabbits
cannot survive outdoors on their own
and hence should never be set free.
Th e same goes for chicks and ducks.
Many ducks have been so domesticated
that they cannot survive in the wild, so
dumping them at the community pond
is inhumane. Fowl abandonment is also
a crime in New York. Abandoning a
domestic bird is the same as abandoning
a dog or a cat.
Since ducks can live up to 10 years
and chickens eight to 10 years, they
should also never be purchased as a
whimsical Easter gift .
Buyer also beware that Easter lilies are
fatally toxic to felines and should never
be inside of a home where cats reside.
Dogs are not susceptible to the toxins
in the plant.
JoAnn Cave, Humane Society of
the United States volunteer
A TALE OF TWO PROJECTS
Diff erences in opinion and politics
between north and south can not only
be discerned on the national scene, but
locally as well.
Northwestern Queens scuttled the
Amazon HQ2 deal, a proposal that
would have greatly benefi ted Long
Island City and cleaned up a sorely
blighted area. While here in southern
Queens, we not only have a successful
casino at Aqueduct Racetrack, but a
high rise hotel is now under construction
. Th e concerns that residents of the
area in the vicinity of the casino were
much the same as those in Long Island
City. But the traffi c, gangs, congestion,
crime, drug deals and prostitution that
residents feared never materialized. Th e
casino has been a welcome, cooperative
neighbor. It created jobs, brought in
commerce, business, revenue and tourism.
Th e surrounding businesses have
profi ted. Th ere have been no drawbacks
nor any negative results.
The politicians who killed the
Amazon deal severely hurt the districts
they represent.
In the years to come, the residents
of the district have no one but themselves
to blame for electing politicians,
at the local, state and national levels.
Th ey were more interested in their own
careers and having citizens depend upon
government than having people use
their own ingenuity and skills to create a
vibrant, fl ourishing local economy.
Edward Riecks, Howard Beach
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letters & comments
oped
A dollar makes
the diff erence
BY RORY LANCMAN
Last week the City Council passed a number
of impactful bail reform measures,
including my bill requiring the Department
of Correction (DOC) to create a notifi cation
system for whenever someone is held on
bail of $1.
You read that right: $1 bail is a reality in
New York City. It is part of the nightmare of
our cash bail system. DOC reported that 149
individuals were held on $1 bail from August
2018 through December 2018.
One dollar bail can be set on a case to allow
a defendant to receive credit for the time they
spend incarcerated on another open case or
because of a hold from another jurisdiction. It
is merely an accounting mechanism to allow
the court to keep track. However, if the other
case is resolved, defendants, their family, and
even their lawyer may be unaware that $1 is
all that is preventing them from going home.
On too many occasions, defendants spent
extra hours or even days in jail on bail less
than $10, solely because of poor communication.
Th e Center for Court Innovation in
December 2015 reported that “the potential
perverse result of dollar bail, as stakeholders
explained, is that defendants or their families
or friends pay the larger bail, are unaware
of the $1 bail, and defendants continue to be
held on what is essentially an administratively
driven bail amount.”
Unnecessary incarceration upends the lives
of those stuck in Rikers Island, comes at great
expense to taxpayers, and is a tremendous
blight on our justice system.
To rectify this problem, the city claimed
that it created “a $1 bail alert to notify both
court personnel and the defense attorney
when a defendant may be held solely due to
$1 bail.” However, the $1 bail alert the city
was touting was not actually operational, and,
as DOC testifi ed last year, only incarcerated
individuals were being notifi ed about $1 bail.
Unsurprisingly, communications problems
still persisted with $1 bail. Public defenders
alerted the City Council in December 2018
that the process to release individuals — aft er
$1 bail has been paid — is littered with delays
that can take hours.
Th e horrors associated with $1 bail must
end. My bill requires DOC to inform both
an incarcerated individual and their defense
attorney when they are being detained solely
because of bail under $10 and sets limits on
how long DOC can take to make the notifi -
cation. Th is will ensure that DOC is promptly
communicating with all stakeholders and
hold the caity to its commitment to create an
eff ective $1 bail notifi cation system.
One dollar bail should not be all that is
standing between someone and their freedom
— and my bill will help make certain
of that.
City Councilman Lancman represents the
24th City Council District based in Fresh
Meadows. He is also a candidate for Queens
District Attorney. Th is op-ed was provided
from Lancman’s district offi ce and is not a
paid political advertisement.
BAYSIDE IN BLOOM // PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ADAM MARIGLIANO
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