FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 23, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
A LOOK BACK
Professional and college football will kick off their new seasons in the weeks ahead, so we thought it would be a perfect time to take a glance back at Queens’ local gridiron history. Shown above is a
team photo of the 1950 Glendale Boys Club football team, with coaches Jim Murtha and Jim Donnellan. Send us your historic photos of Queens by email to editorial@qns.com (subject: A Look Back) or
mail printed pictures to A Look Back, Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you.
letters & comments
EXPERIENCE MATTERS
ON COMM. BOARDS
I am writing in support of the position
taken by Mr. Henry Euler, a member
of Community Board 11, as expressed
in your publication on Aug. 9. Mr. Euler
opposes term limits for members of the
local community boards throughout the
city. I concur.
As a young attorney with a desire to
serve my community, I became a member
of Community Board 8 in 1976, at age
27, representing Fresh Meadows, where I
resided at the time. When I subsequently
moved back to my childhood neighborhood
in Hollis Hills, I reapplied for
an appointment to Board 11. It was my
honor and privilege to serve a combined
15 consecutive years until I resigned upon
my appointment as a judge.
Without getting into a discussion on the
merits of term limits for elected offi cials,
who receive a salary from the government,
it must be emphasized the members
who serve on the community boards
do so voluntarily and devote a great deal
of time and energy for the betterment of
their respective communities.
Although the public meetings only
occur on a monthly basis, the real work is
done by the many committees that meet
regularly to review the issues and prepare
reports for such public forums and
hearings.
As pointed out by Mr. Euler, each term
is only for two years with no guarantee for
reappointment. Most members are reappointed
and some are not at the discretion
of the borough president, upon the
recommendations of the City Council
members. Some individuals leave voluntarily
for reasons of their own.
In general, members who serve do so
out of a desire to maintain the safety and
integrity of their neighborhoods. Th eir
time is valuable and could just as easily be
spent at home with their families or working
on other more profi table ventures.
Learning the ins and outs of the many
issues that arise, especially in the area of
zoning laws, does not happen overnight.
Th us, having seasoned members who
understand these intricacies and maintain
an institutional and historical perspective,
is necessary when new members
are appointed in order to teach them, so
that in the future they, in turn, can teach
others.
To arbitrarily limit one’s voluntary service,
without cause, is simply to make
changes for the sake of change. In my
opinion, it would defeat the whole purpose
of why the community boards were
created in the fi rst place.
Judge George M. Heymann
(ret.), Hollis Hills
ASHAMED OF
ANOTHER CHURCH SEX
ABUSE SCANDAL
Th e recent news story that over 300
priests in Pennsylvania were found to
have committed acts of sexual abuse on
many, many children in Pennsylvania is
indeed very upending and horrifi c.
Why should this type of behavior surprise
anybody? Th ese allegations of sexual
abuse of children by Catholic priests
have been made for decades and decades
— and no one lift ed a fi nger to stop it. Th e
hierarchy knew about these sexual molestations
and did everything they could to
keep a lid on them. Th e few who dared to
speak up in defense of the children were
silenced with threats of retribution by the
hierarchy.
So the Catholic church in this country
continues its downward spiral. It is such
an outrage that thousands of children, who
are now adults, had to endure all of this
emotional suff ering for all of those years.
It is time for the Catholic Church to join
the real world and mandate an extensive
background check of every single priest
in every single diocese of this country to
make sure that there are no sexual predators
among them that could harm any
child anywhere ever.
Shame on the Catholic hierarchy for
not taking the appropriate action at the
time all of this disgraceful and abhorrent
behavior by these priests was going
on. I have lost all respect for the Catholic
Church because of this outrage.
John Amato, Fresh Meadows
It is with great sorrow that I address
the horrifi c stories in the Pennsylvania
Grand Jury report detailing the sexual
abuse of minors by members of the clergy.
It is shameful to think that some bishops
and others in positions of authority
would have failed to recognize the gravity
of child abuse and not taken greater
steps to stop it.
I know this has been hurtful and confusing
to the faithful. It is even more painful
to the survivors of clergy abuse who
are forced to relive their trauma when
they hear additional accounts of evil perpetrated
against more than a thousand
innocent children.
Th e wounds of betrayal continue to be
reopened. I know that words alone cannot
express the anger and pain that many
are feeling. Only Jesus can bring about
healing in the midst of such darkness and
brokenness.
Many people have lost trust in the
Catholic Church, and words are empty
without action.
Here in the Diocese of Brooklyn, we
continue to urge anyone who is a victim
of sexual abuse, or is aware of sexual
abuse committed by a member of the
clergy, a diocesan employee, or volunteer
to report it. Allegations called into
the diocesan reporting line at 1-888-
634-4499 will be immediately turned
over to law enforcement and callers will
be met with compassion, support and
concern.
We are committed to ensuring that
children and the most vulnerable are protected,
that victim-survivors are heard,
and that protocols to immediately and
directly report allegations to law enforcement
are strictly followed.
Our Independent Reconciliation and
Compensation Program (IRCP) has
allowed hundreds of victims to seek some
sense of closure and compensation.
Th e Church has come a long way over
the past 15 years, but we must never
become complacent. We must never
stop working to understand and protect
against the evil that has hurt and even
destroyed so many within our Church.
And we must remain committed to
regaining the trust of the faithful.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Diocese
of Brooklyn and Queens
Editor’s note: Th e preceding was a
statement from DiMarzio posted on the
Diocese of Brooklyn’s website.
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be considered for publication. Th e views
expressed in all letters and comments are
not necessarily those of this newspaper or
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