24 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial
Our mayor must be our champion
Not counting the “New York” football
THE QUEENS
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ZACHARY GEWELB
NIRMAL SINGH
JACOB KAYE
ANGELICA ACEVEDO, JENNA BAGCAL, KATRINA MEDOFF,
CARLOTTA MOHAMED, BILL PARRY
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
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CELESTE ALAMIN
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VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
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Story: Little Neck restaurant sues mayor and
governor over indoor dining shutdown
Summary: A Little Neck restaurant has sued
Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and
the attorney general’s offi ce over the continuation
of the shutdown on indoor dining in New York City.
Reach: 7,094 (as of 9/8/20)
teams that play in New Jersey, it’s
been a very long time since this city
had a winning sports team.
In fact, it was the Yankees in 2009
who last celebrated down the Canyon
of Heroes. Our other non-football pro
teams have given us year aft er year of
futility.
A champion is a symbol of civic
pride. When a team wins, we all share
in their success in some way. We get
a little more attention in the national
spotlight, and a little more swagger
in our step.
As badly as we desire champions at
the Garden, Yankee Stadium or Citi
Field, the greatest champions in New
York City have been found at Gracie
Mansion.
New York has hit nadirs before in
times of crisis when it seemed all was
lost — and each time, the mayor stood
tall to rally the city into recovery.
Fiorello LaGuardia championed
the city’s recovery aft er the Great
Depression. Ed Koch pulled the city
from the brink of bankruptcy in the
late 1970s. Rudy Giuliani helped summon
the city’s heroes and strength aft er
9/11 and helped set into motion recovery
and rebirth that followed under
Mike Bloomberg’s leadership.
Where does Bill de Blasio’s response
to COVID-19 and the related crises
rank with his predecessors? Not very
high.
As Politico pointed out in analyzing
de Blasio’s handling of the public
school reopening, his major policy
decisions are oft en reactionary, and
come aft er somebody else has seized
upon the issue.
From school reopenings to criminal
justice reform to half-fare MetroCards,
we don’t see de Blasio out in front
on anything. With the school issue
resolved, the attention is focusing again
on indoor dining — and once again, de
Blasio is leading from behind as City
Council members and small business
owners beg for help just to survive.
Th e mayor hinted that a decision will
come later this month. But the restaurants
and their employees can’t wait
much longer, especially as New Jersey
and Long Island eateries are opened on
a limited basis.
Th is city, right now, starves for a
champion to come up with big ideas to
save both lives and the economy — to
do more than gripe when outside forces
balk at helping our city — and to
push back against the naysayers who’ve
already declared our city dead.
For God’s sake, Mr. Mayor, lead! Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
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