editorial 22 THE COURIER SUN • AUGUST 18, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SNAPS QUEENS PREGAME // PHOTO BY STEPHEN REINA Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). identify The easy way out isn’t working By the hundreds, Maspeth residents came out last week to voice their strong opposition to a homeless shelter planned for their neighborhood. They were hot under the collar for reasons that had nothing to do with a summer heatwave. Why were they so angry? Was it simply because of NIMBY-ism, as some have suggested? No doubt there were some in attendance who felt that way. For the vast majority of people, however, their anger was over a city government that just doesn’t seem to get it when it comes to tackling the homelessness crisis. How many times must the city be told that converting any underused hotel or factory into a homeless haven is bad not just for the community but also for the homeless residents themselves? Mayor de Blasio himself acknowledged months ago that this was not the panacea to the crisis. He stated that the city had to move away from merely warehousing homeless persons and moving toward expanding affordable and sustainable housing programs citywide. Yet here we are with another Queens community forced into fi ghting City Hall over bad public policy and maltreatment. The problems documented at the Pan American Hotel-turnedhomeless shelter in nearby Elmhurst are proof positive that the city’s homeless policy is a miserable failure. Families have had to live in cramped quarters without a cooking space. Registered sex offenders managed to be placed among children at the shelter. The city, to its shame, let this happen. And when approached by the press about why, they provided the same tone-deaf, boiler plate response they always give to every inquiry: the city is required by law to house homeless people, regardless of who they are or where it is. We get it; we know the law. What we don’t get is the city exploiting the law to create homeless shelters wherever it wants, conditions be damned. What we don’t get is why the city is relying on simplicity to resolve a crisis that’s complex in scale and scope. Finances aren’t the problem; the city is spending in excess of $80 billion this fi scal year in a balanced budget. Politics isn’t the problem; de Blasio and the City Council are cooperative and closely aligned in ideology. Why can’t this city fi nd a better way to house the homeless other than cramming them into hotels? Queens has many abandoned homes that can be easily purchased at or below market rate, renovated and converted into affordable housing. That would be much more preferable than hotels with curfews and lax security. The city can’t take the easy, immoral way out any longer. It’s time for the city to adopt a real program that provides housing with a soul. sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA BRIANNA ELLIS KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT Schneps Communications, 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 2016 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 offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, 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 fi ve 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. this PLACE Photo: Stephen Reina/THE COURIER
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