FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 21, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
BOARD 9 VOTE SERVED CIVIC GROUP, NOT PEOPLE
It was a sad day indeed in Kew
Gardens when Community Board
9 voted down safety measures proposed
by the DOT.
Th e members of CB9Q unanimously
voted to support the single
family homeowners association
(Kew Gardens Civic
Association) in spite
of hundreds of residents
on 116th,
118th and the surrounding
streets
begging for any safety
measures to make their
lives safer.
For over three years, a large
group of Kew Gardens citizens
have worked hard to get
safety measures put in place
to make the lives of their
children, senior citizens and
friends safer. Speeding traffi
c on 116th Street has created such
a dangerous condition that residents
fear even walking on the sidewalk.
A concerned community member
testifi ed to this before CB9, “I ask
that you help us for my children,”
but her plea for help for children fell
on deaf ears.
Community Board 9 had previously
voted down a request for speed
humps on 116th Street to appease
a homeowner not wanting to hear
brakes squealing in front of his home.
Aft er protest CB 9 sent letters to
homeowners on two blocks asking
their opinions on implementing
safety measures.
Th e second set of
traffi c safety measures
proposed by
the DOT to make
the community safer
was to convert the street
into one-way, which had
the added benefi t of restoring
numerous parking spots
to the parking-challenged
community.
Nicole Garcia, NYC
DOT, Queens Borough
Commissioner wrote of the
one-way conversion proposal, “Based
on our observations of 116th Street,
we are recommending a northbound
conversion of 116th Street from
Babbage to Metropolitan Avenue.
… Th e proposed changes will help
enhance safety and overall traffi c circulation
for the area.”
The recommendation of the
Queens Commissioner was not suffi
cient to overcome the lobby by the
single-family homeowners association
(KGCA) to Community Board
9. In fact, at the open meeting of
Community Board 9 Queens, Rabbi
Daniel Pollack, Community Board
9 Queens Member stated they must
oppose these recommendations in
light of the opposition from their “sister
organization,” the Kew Gardens
Homeowners Association.
It is truly a sad time in our community
when the Community Board
Members appointed by Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz,
Council member Eric Ulrich and
Council member Karen Koslowitz
vote against safety for the children
in the community. Numerous letters
to the Council members have
gone completely unanswered. Letters
to Borough President Melinda Katz
were sent. Her staff responded that
she is taking no action.
Indeed, it seems like the single-family
homeowners’ association (KGCA)
owns more than single-family homes
in Kew Gardens.
M.K. Moore, Kew Gardens
oped letters & comments
We are better than this
BY QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT
MELINDA KATZ
President Trump’s immigration policy is dehumanizing
individuals, ripping children from the
arms of their parents and tearing families apart.
It makes this otherwise proud American deeply
embarrassed of my home country. Th e future
history of the United States will be unkind to this
national shame and humanitarian crisis.
We are better than this. We must be better than
this.
I could talk about the poem on the Statue of
Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched
refuse of your teeming shore.” I could cite
that sacred document called the Constitution that
lays out basic due process needs by which a government
must abide. I could also reference the
Four Freedoms that President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt espoused and is memorialized in the
State of New York by the great Park on Roosevelt
Island.
As an attorney by trade, a former professor of
Constitutional Law, and as the president of
the Borough of Queens where 48 percent of our
2.3 million residents were born outside the United
States, I hold all these principles to be “self-evident.”
Today, however, all of it – including the character
of our nation – is being tested.
As a mother, as an American, and as a woman
of faith, our nation’s broken immigration laws
and policies shake me to my core. It keeps me up
at night to imagine having my 7-year-old urgently
memorize a phone number, knowing that once he
is ripped away from my arms indefi nitely into the
unknown, his ability to remember those precious
10 digits will be the only lifeline to connect to any
family. It wrenches my heart to imagine the horror
of my child locked up behind a chain-linked cage,
and not having any way to contact or track him,
much less know where or how he is.
Even in a Sanctuary City like New York, broad
raids and sweeps of immigration enforcement –
even of those without a criminal record – have successfully
spread fear and imposed a chilling eff ect
on everyday activities and responsibilities.
Th is is an issue that transcends any debate about
immigration or borders. Such cruelty betrays the
American narrative. It is a barbaric, xenophobic
immigration policy unfi tting of the greatest
and most powerful nation in the world. Set forth
by President Trump, this government-sanctioned
nightmare is wreaking terror upon millions of
families, including American citizens.
To separate families like this challenges and
compromises our humanity. With one action by
the president, this horrifying reality can come to a
halt. We must not and will not rest until then. In
the meantime, Queens will continue to do everything
possible to help counteract the hostility of
the current political climate. We are a nation of
immigrants, and Queens is about all of our families’
futures.
Next week, I am hosting a “Know Your Rights
Week” for immigrants in partnership with a host
of organizations and colleagues in local government.
Th e legal advice is free and confi dential,
available at fi ve events across fi ve neighborhoods
between June 25-29 designed to connect our various
communities to committed legal experts, advocates
and other resources. Queens has your back.
See page 20 for more information on Know Your
Rights Week.
CITY’S TO BLAME
FOR DELI’S DEMISE
I was very saddened to hear that
“Ben’s Best,” one of my favorite
restaurants, will be closing. However,
I am not surprised.
Th e city is to blame — not only
because of the bike lanes on Queens
Boulevard, but also the trucks’ loading
zones in front of the restaurant
(every day, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
which is taking away parking places,
worsening the ability to continue the
business.
I can’t forget my bitter experience
recently. I wanted to surprise my family,
who lives in Virginia, with the
taste of New York City and bring
them pastrami from Ben’s Best, But
what a surprise, I did not realize that
10 minutes of parking in front of the
restaurant would cost me a $95 parking
ticket. I was especially surprised
because I thought I followed the law
and bought ticket for 1 hour from
the meter. Unfortunately, the sign for
the truck loading zone was not clear
enough.
I wonder who decided to designate
truck loading area in front of a restaurant,
forcing cars and customers to
seeks other options.
Malka Gross, Corona
CAMPAIGNING FOR HIS
WIFE ON FATHER’S DAY
One evening, my wife, Jessica Ramos,
and I hosted a phone bank in our apartment.
When I had a caller on the line,
he said he thought Jessica sounded like
the right person to represent our community
in the state Senate.
“But,” he asked, “Doesn’t she have
children? Is there a husband in the
picture? Is he willing to…you know,
take care of the children?”
Yes. Yes, and yes.
My wife is running for state Senate,
and I’m proud to support her. I love
being her partner on the campaign
trail — which oft en means I watch
the kids, do the dishes, fold the laundry
and phone bank alongside her.
Women have been supporting men
and their professions for years. It’s
time for us to step up.
Yet every day on the campaign trail,
Jessica faces endless skepticism and
judgement. Questions abound around
her identity as mother and wife.
Before anyone asks about her candidacy,
she must face inquiries on her
approach to motherhood and marriage.
I want to scream, “Hold on —
we’re partners. We share the responsibility
of raising our kids. I can take
care of them, too!”
How many aspiring politicians have
we lost because they were questioned
about motherhood? How many fully
qualifi ed women are discouraged
every year by this invisible barrier?
To run, my wife had to do so much
more than a man. She had to overcome
societal obstacles and skepticism.
She had to sign an unwritten
pledge to put her motherhood and her
womanhood up for debate. She had to
accept that our children will be pitied
by judgmental parents.
And yet, she ran. Jessica’s the fi rst
Colombian-American to run for state
Senate, and the fi rst woman to run in
District 13. She is superwoman to me
and my children — making fundraising
calls in the morning, picking the
kids up from school in the aft ernoon,
writing speeches about rent reform on
the 7 train, attending town halls and
debates in the evening. Th ere is no
better model for our two young boys
than Jessica.
We support each other’s dreams,
goals, and fi gure out the logistics —
together. Jessica doesn’t love me and
our children any less — she is doing
this for us. Jackson Heights is our
home, and we want to make sure
the neighborhood is there for them
as they grow. But to keep Jackson
Heights aff ordable, so much needs to
change.
So to fi x our neighborhood, she
didn’t complain or angrily post on
Facebook. Jessica grabbed a clipboard
and she ran for offi ce. Th at’s who she
is to the core. And as her partner, I
grabbed a clipboard and ran with her.
Brendan Sexton, husband of
state Senate candidate Jessica
Ramos, Jackson Heights
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