22 The Courier sun • APRIL 24, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com editorial letters Let us celebrate Earth Day April 22nd all year long. Besides recycling newspapers, magazines, glass, plastics, old medicines, paints and cleaning materials, there are other actions you can take which will also contribute to a cleaner environment. Leave your car at home. For local trips in the neighborhood, walk or ride a bike. For longer travels, consider many public transportation alternatives already available. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Nassau Inter County Express (NICE) Bus, Staten Island Ferry along with other private transportation owners offer various options, such as local and express bus, ferry, jitney, subway and commuter rail services. Most of these systems are funded with your tax dollars. They use less fuel and move far more people than cars. In many cases, your employer can offer transit checks to help subsidize a portion of the costs. Utilize your investments and reap the benefits. You’ll be supporting a cleaner environment and be less stressed upon arrival at your final destination. Many employers now allow employees to telecommute and work from home. Others use alternative work schedules, which afford staff the ability to avoid rush hour gridlock. This saves travel time and can improve mileage per gallon. You could join a car or van pool to share the costs of commuting. Use a hand powered lawn mower instead of a gasoline or electric one. Rake your leaves instead of using gasoline powered leaf blowers. The amount of pollution created by gasoline powered lawn mowers or leaf blowers will surprise you. A cleaner environment starts with everyone. Larry Penner Great Neck I had the great pleasure to serve as a usher on Easter Sunday at St. Anastasia Parish in Douglaston. Now the church was full and no seat or pew was empty and added to that there was standing room only. But as I was talking to a fellow usher he said to me,” Too bad this could not happen every Sunday and at every Mass.” It seems many people only come to Mass on Christmas, Palm Sunday and Easter. I am told this is true for others of different faiths as well. Now those who say they believe in God and yet only 30% attend their places of worship. That I feel is really a shame. You see our Lord created us and has forgiven us our sins and all he asks for us is to come by and say hello and to worship him and to thank him for all he has done for us. I think he might say to us if we would only listen,” You don’t write, you don’t call and you don’t visit, what is all that about because I love you.” Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan William J. Gorta Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola Angy Altamirano, Katrina Medoff Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Maria Romero Warren Susman Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 Sales fax: 718-631-3498 website: www.couriersun.com e-mail:editorial@queenscourier.com ads@queenscourier.com queenscourier@queenscourier.com Entire Contents Copyright 2014 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. 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IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is VISIT QueensCourier.com FOR MORE STORIES QUEENS’ OWN NATIONAL TREASURE The Courier is delighted at the designation of the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park as a “National Treasure” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It was both sad and outrageous that the magnificent structure, beloved by so many, fell into shameful disrepair over the 50 years since it opened. The designation is an important step in righting that wrong and, we hope, it will lead to the restoration of the iconic site. From the amount of response we got from our call for readers to share their World’s Fair memories, the Fair and the Pavilion are forever emblazoned in the minds of attendees. Let’s make the Pavilion great again, so future generations can share the magic. LOVE YOUR MOTHER April 22 was Earth Day. It was marked all over the borough, including the planting of 64 trees in Astoria Park , a magnificent gesture for a magnificent park. But we can all be kind to Mother Earth in smaller ways. Sure, recycling is a pain, but it keeps garbage out of landfills and helps us get several uses out of the same raw materials. And remembering (or forgetting) to bring a re-usable bag to the store is an annoyance for many. But that temporary vexation is a small price to pay for keeping your Mother happy. HATS (AND HAIR) OFF TO THE COPS OF THE 110TH PRECINCT The Courier salutes the cops of the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst for their bravery – not just the chasing bad guys kind of bravery, but also the risking your dignity kind of bravery – as they sheared off their locks to raise funds for a colleague stricken with cancer. The precinct’s commander, Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson, exposed his scalp with grace and good nature as one of his subordinates ran the clippers through the boss’s hair. Leyson contributed his locks to a good cause: to help defray the medical bills of Sgt. Paul Ferrara, who has Stage 4 cancer. Anyone interested in donating can mail or drop off a check at the precinct, located at 94-41 43rd Ave. in Elmhurst. Checks should be made out to the 110th Precinct General Fund, with “Sergeant Ferrara Fund” written on the memo line. FAR ROCKAWAY FIRE TRAGEDY It’s heartbreaking that two 4-year-old children perished in a fire in Far Rockaway on Easter Sunday, but it is horrifying to consider that the ambulance that might have saved them wasn’t dispatched in a timely fashion. Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano is launching a probe into the matter, but we note with sadness and a fair bit of outrage that this is not the first alleged screw-up with dispatching ambulances to emergencies. We know Cassano is a short-timer, but we nonetheless urge him to get to the bottom of it quickly and fix it permanently. There’s too much at stake to leave it for the next guy.
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