32 The Queens Courier • JUNE 27, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com
32 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 27, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
The shameful apathy of Queens
Public defender Tiff any Cabán says she
won Tuesday’s Queens district attorney
primary. Her main opponent, Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz, trails by
1,200 votes and says the margin is narrow
enough for her to wait for a full count of
all votes before making any concession.
We won’t know the winner of this race
until on or about July 3, which is when
the city Board of Elections will begin
counting paper ballots cast in the race.
However, we do know for certain that the
borough once again lost — not because of
the choices cast at the ballot, but because
so few Queens voters chose to cast a ballot
at all.
Sure, Caban voters turned out in large
numbers in the northwest, and the “establishment”
STORY: Flushing man wins $5,000,000 on ‘Set for Life’
scratch-off ticket
SUMMARY: A Flushing man is the latest Queens resident to win
millions from the New York Lottery.
REACH: 31,174 people reached (as of 6/24/19)
that supported Katz couldn’t
get out the vote in the same volume elsewhere.
Even so, based on the unoffi cial count
from the Board of Elections, about 11 percent
of registered Queens Democrats participated
in this election. Approximately
85,447 ballots had been scanned as of
Tuesday night, and if you factor in about
3,400 paper ballots left to be counted, that
brings the total to just shy of 89,000.
Eighty-nine thousand votes cast in a
borough with 2.3 million residents and
some 766,117 active registered Democrats,
according to the state Board of Elections,
in a race to determine who will be the
next guardian of law enforcement in this
borough.
Th is is shameful!
Don’t tell us that you didn’t know about
the election.
We wrote weeks of stories about the
race online and in print. Th e candidates
took out ads in print, online, on social
THE QUEENS
sun
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
WWW.COURIERSUN.COM
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
JENNA BAGCAL, MARK HALLUM, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, MAX PARROTT, 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.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. 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 QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed
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media networks, on television. Th ere were
televised debates on local news channels
and even on our own Facebook page.
Mailboxes across the borough were inundated
with fl yers from the candidates
touting their credentials, slamming their
opponents and urging people to vote on
June 25.
And yet, when June 25 came, just 11
percent of the borough’s Democrats bothered
to show up and vote in the fi rst contested
race for Queens district attorney in
nearly three decades.
New York City and state are fi nally making
a real eff ort to boost turnout, including
the approval of early voting (to come
later this year) and a new law that mandates
employers give their workers paid
time (up to 3 hours) to go out and vote.
Still, the apathy persists.
Th e Board of Elections must institute
further reforms to make it more convenient
to vote, such as same-day registration
at the polls, a vote-by-mail system
similar to one set up in Oregon and a later
deadline to change party affi liation (currently,
if you want to change your party,
you have to do that more than a year
before the next general election).
Regardless of what the Board of
Elections does, all of us must fulfi ll our
duties and responsibilities as voters by
participating in elections when they are
held.
Th ere are two popular adages circulated
around election time: “Th e people get
the government they deserve,” and “If you
don’t vote, then don’t complain.”
For Queens, we indeed get the government
we deserve, and because we don’t
vote, we shouldn’t complain about the
end result.
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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