16 The Courier SUN • AUGUST 1, 2013 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com editorial letters sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tonia N. Cimino Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Melisa Chan, Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola Maggie Hayes, Angy Altamirano Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Bill Krese Jan DiGeronimo 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 Editorial Cartoonist Director, Business Developm ent 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 2013 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. Political pariah The latest allegations regarding Anthony Weiner’s sexual escapades are the final nail in his political coffin. It is time for this individual to permanently withdraw from the mayoral race, and to seek professional help in dealing with this very serious problem. Why did the woman who made this latest allegation wait until now to reveal this? It really does not matter. At this point Anthony Weiner’s political career is over -- period! He has become a political pariah to the Democratic Party in this city. John Amato Fresh Meadows ‘Stupid is as stupid does’ Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner does it again, apparently with a new report that he has engaged as recently as a year ago in despicable social media acts. Meanwhile, his wife stands by him and defends him. Isn’t that precious? In the words of fictional character Forest Gump, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village Opposing the Community Safety Act In their letters to the editor appearing in most of the local press, Councilmembers Jumaane Williams and Mark Weprin make a valiant effort trying to spin the Community Safety Act as measures that will not jeopardize public safety. Weprin says, “Intro 1080 does not prevent police officers from using Stop and Frisk and would still permit the use of race, gender, age and other relevant information when pursuing criminal suspects.” What he doesn’t say is that doing so could result in finding those officers guilty of biasedbased profiling if the crime-fighting tactics employed by the police disproportionally impacts people on the basis of those very same characteristics. So how would this work in the real world? Imagine a string of vehicle breakins has victimized a middle-class community like Rosedale. A grainy security video that is inconclusive suggests that a group of white teen males may be responsible. While on night patrol a cop sees a white teen male in this predominately black neighborhood walking with no purpose, and looking into parked car windows. Although those actions are not illegal, common-sense tells us to stop and question this individual. Unfortunately, doing so would subject the police to bias-based profiling charges under this bill because the stop was based on the color, gender and age of the individual and not some other factor. Simple suspicion is not sufficient, so we can toss common-sense out the window. In another neighborhood, the police have responded to community concerns about a local bar that has been the scene of numerous gun and alcohol related problems. In a proactive effort to stop this, every Friday and Saturday night for the next month the police have set up a vehicle check point a block from the bar. After the first week, the bar patrons wise up to the police action and are on their best behavior when leaving. Although many were stopped, no arrests were made and the neighborhood finally gets needed relief. Unfortunately, these actions by the police subject them to biased-based profiling under the bill and the police cannot prove that their police actions were definitively responsible for the reduction of crime. Pro-active police actions such as these will soon end as the NYPD and individual officers come under challenge for biasbased profiling. Since the law permits full attorney fees and expenses, this financial bonanza will keep attorneys employed for years to come at taxpayers’ expense. Contrary to the assertions of Williams and Mark Weprin, these bills will not make our streets safer, they will put a serious crimp on proactive policing and will turn the focus of law enforcement away from the most vulnerable neighborhoods. That is why the nation’s most respected Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, the PBA and the chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee are opposed to this measure and do not want our city to backslide into the morass of crime and despair it once was. Bob Friedrich, Glen Oaks POLLS DON’T LIE It’s been about a week since mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner was once again mired in scandal, and the polls don’t lie. Before it came to light that he continued his online trysts even after resigning from Congress in 2011, he was in first place, according to a Quinnipiac poll. But what a difference a few days make. On Monday, July 29, a new poll placed Weiner in fourth place for a Democratic primary – behind City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former city comptroller Bill Thompson. And though we understand that polls do have a margin of error, we encourage Weiner to take a good, hard look at the numbers – and maybe reconsider his run. Better now than later, we say. SANDY SLIGHT Nine months post Sandy, thousands are still struggling to get their lives back to normal. Added to the stress for co-op and condo owners is the fact they cannot currently receive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Sandy-inflicted damages because they are categorized as “business associations.” The title makes them eligible for federal loans, but not grants. This is absolutely ridiculous. As Congressmember Steve Israel points out, “A storm does not discriminate where it hits, and FEMA should not be discriminating what type of homeowners it helps.” That’s why we’re glad Israel has proposed legislation that aims to make co-op and condo associations eligible for federal storm recovery grants. For homeowners in Cryder Point and Glen Oaks Village, the bill is welcome news, as they have had to shoulder the cost of repairs. We urge our legislators to pass the bill and bring our borough’s homeowners one step closer to normalcy. VICTORY FOR THE COMMUNITY Score one for the little guy. The southeast Queens community has successfully shut down a proposal to put a liquor store mere steps from Springfield Gardens High School. The shop was set to move into a new building on North Conduit Avenue, right across the street from the high school. But Councilmember Donovan Richards, State Senator James Sanders and the community rallied against the proposal and won the fight when the New York State Liquor Authority rejected the proposal. It is a victory on many levels – for the legislators, for the community – but especially for our children. In today’s day and age, there are enough negative influences on our future generations. So congratulations to all involved. Score one for the little guy.
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