FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 20, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 33
BILLIONS FOR BQX
NOT NEEDED
Th e BQX streetcar, already over budget,
was going to be $2.5 billion and is now
projected to be $2.7 billion, with a shorter
route.
Buses can do the same job and the $2.7
billion needed for the BQX could be used
to fi x the subway system, where the funds
can improve the system.
If the BQX is so great, maybe we should
get rid of all the buses and put this streetcar
system in all over the city. Why is the
BQX better than the buses we already
have?
In the mornings, I see crowds trying
to go from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and
from Queens to Manhattan. Where is the
need for more transportation between
Brooklyn and Queens that we already
have?
In the end, as we all know, the fi nal price
for this project will be somewhere in the
$3 billion-plus range, the taxpayers will
be stuck with the bill, and the mayor who
thought this up will be long gone by the
time it’s done.
Robert Hartling, Flushing
Editor’s note: To be clear, work has not
yet begun on the BQX project, although
the cost projects have increased, as the
reader noted. Th e city still needs $1.4 billion
in federal funding to move the project
forward, and that is not guaranteed
to happen, according to experts familiar
with the project.
NOT A FAN OF THE
CHANCELLOR
NYC Schools Chancellor Carranza is an
out-of-control social justice warrior who
plays racial roulette with our city’s school
system to end what he calls its “toxic
whiteness.”
But he started his job on false terms in
2018 by breaking a three-year contract
he signed with Houston’s Independent
School District in 2016. Maybe he was
lured by a $345,000 yearly salary which
tops that of his boss, Mayor de Blasio, by
$86,250.
He spends $23 million on a “racial equity”
training program staff ed by high paid
consultants, while those funds should
be used to improve classroom instruction
in poor performing schools. He is
our town’s worst schools chancellor since
Mayor Mike Bloomberg appointed former
Hearst Magazines boss Cathie Black
in 2011. She lasted 95 days on the job.
How much longer will Carranza survive
in his post?
Richard Reif, Kew Gardens Hills
RESOLVING MTA’S
ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEM
Th ere are solutions to the ongoing lawsuits
against MTA for the lack of suffi -
cient accessible subway stations for riders
with disabilities. Here are two ways to
obtain fi nancial support to pay for accelerating
the number of subway stations
to reach compliance with the Americans
Disabilities Act.
The Metropolitan Transportation
Authority receives $1.4 billion in annual
assistance from various Federal Transit
Administration formula funding grant
programs. Th e MTA, based upon the
court’s decision, will have to update their
long term Americans Disability Act Key
Stations Compliance Plan with FTA.
Th is is currently in place and approved
by the Federal Transit Administration
Washington Headquarters Offi ce of Civil
Rights. Without an approved plan in
place, it is diffi cult for the FTA to approve
any new grant funding.
Th e upcoming MTA $30 to $50 billion
2020 - 2024 Five-Year Capital Plan will
probably have to program up to a billion
more for New York City Transit to dramatically
increase the number of additional
subway stations reaching full ADA
compliance.
Why not ask any major business, college
or hospital who benefi t from subway stations
adjacent to their facility to sponsor
installation of elevator(s)? Let them split
the cost 50 percent with the MTA NYC
Transit in exchange for naming rights to
the elevator(s).
Th e MTA may have to make some diffi
cult decisions as to what other projects
and programs may have to be canceled or
reduced in the next $30 billion or more
MTA 2020 - 2024 Five-Year Capital Plan
to fi nd additional funding for installation
of ADA-compliant elevators at more subway
stations.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
Email your letters to editorial@qns.com
(Subject: Letter to the Editor) or leave a
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com. You can also send a letter by regular
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Th e views expressed in all letters and
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oped letters & comments
CELEBRATING SOCCER IN JACKSON HEIGHTS // PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM @dvsonm
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QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
Take the time to
vote this Tuesday!
BY CONGRESSMAN
GREGORY MEEKS
On Tuesday,
June 25, voters
in New York
City will vote
in primaries for
the next Queens
district attorney,
the 45th City
Council District
in Brooklyn and
judicial races
throughout the city. And, chances are,
you probably had no idea.
Th is election will be particularly
impactful for Queens, where the district
attorney’s offi ce will be under new leadership
for the fi rst time in decades.
Yet, despite the candidates reaching
out to as many voters as they can, despite
endorsements from elected offi cials and
labor organizations, despite religious
and civic leaders urging them to vote …
a relatively small number of people will
actually vote.
What’s missing? Th e business community,
for one.
While business leaders don’t hesitate
to advocate for specifi c policies, businesses
are conspicuously absent from
these eff orts to get people to participate
in the democratic process. How we
vote and what we vote for aff ects our
daily lives, so it’s only common sense
that we’re reminded of our civic responsibilities
right where we spend much of
our day.
Th is is not only common sense; it is
now the law.
Starting today, New York state law
requires employees to post conspicuous
notice “where it can be seen by
all employees as they come and go”
that they have the right to up to three
hours of paid time off to vote on election
day. Th is law mandates that time
off must be granted in consultation with
the employer as long as the request is
made at least two working days prior to
the election.
Employers should not tell workers
how to vote, but they should absolutely
encourage civic engagement to make
our city stronger. Democracy works best
when it is more representative, and it can
only be representative when more people
are part of the democratic process.
Th is city is far too complex to govern
without the voices of all people being
heard at the ballot box. Th e same diversity
of talent and perspective that makes
New York the greatest city in the world
must be brought to bear on choosing our
leaders. And that takes time.
Please make sure everyone at your
workplace has a plan to vote on June 25.
Congressman Gregory Meeks represents
the Fift h Congressional District
of New York, which covers much of
southeastern Queens and southwestern
Nassau County.
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