FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 19 oped letters & comments SUPPORTIVE HOUSING DOESN’T MEAN HOMELESS SHELTER In my professional opinion, we need supportive housing at the T Building on Queens Hospital’s campus. It’s not a “homeless shelter” like Par- Central, which is two blocks to the south on Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica, nor is it an outpatient substance rehab center as Cornerstone Rehab, formerly St. Joseph’s Hospital, on Union Turnpike. We need more supportive services for both mentally and physically challenged individuals. Remember Holliswood was a good psychiatric hospital for children, and it closed. Mike Sidell, Fresh Meadows MAKE YOUR STAND AGAINST CANCER, ONE SURVIVOR SAYS “Stand up to Cancer” aired on many different channels on Friday night, Sept. 9. It was a fundraiser whose aim is to raise awareness and to hopefully fi nally achieve a cure for all those that are suffering from this most insidious disease that robs people of what they hold most dear and that is life. I myself had a aggressive form of prostrate cancer about a year ago. I had an aggressive surgical procedure and am now a survivor. Now on this program there were many cases like my own, while others were not so lucky. I had known a few people who have died from this disease, my father for one and my manager and good friend John Carey, who died two years ago after a four-month battle. He was only 58 years old and had much to live for and do. I had known him for over 30 years and miss him dearly. My mother in the 1960s was a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and would go door to door collecting donations which would help those with cancer and go to funding a cure and better treatment for cancer patients. We can beat this disease if we would only get yearly check-ups. You see, it is early detection that gives the many a better out come of a cure. Someone once told me that it is more profi table to treat cancer than to cure it. Well, in my opinion, it is time for a cure. More needs to be done so many more people can survive. We need a cure now but like anything else it takes time and money and good people who are willing to donate and to volunteer. Let’s all get involved and beat this insidious disease that destroys lives and families now. Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village ‘CONTRADICTIONS’ OVER SHELTER DEBATE I see contradictions in the articles regarding the Maspeth homeless shelter. In the fi rst, the mention of not wanting to deny people shelter but upset about the failure of community notice. This repeats itself in the third article. I am all for honestly and transparency, but I believe this specifi c topic has been focused on for that reason because people fear people who are homeless. It’s so cliche — we want to help them, we just don’t want them near us. In the second article, I’m appalled so many people feel this is a good use of their time, marching against a homeless shelter and one marcher being quoted as saying, “Who is living in this shelter?” “We are told sex offenders may live there. Will there be drug addicts and criminals? It’s just blocks from a school. It’s spitting distance from a playground!” Well I’ve got news for you, Einstein: As somebody who has pioneered a program distributing socks to homeless people, to volunteering at a soup kitchen, to participating in programs that cater to children in the shelter system, much of the homeless population are children who could benefi t from being near a playground. Additionally, a lot of people in a homeless situation are not aggressive. Contrarily, they are often preyed upon and are the victims. Then there’s this malarkey about there being no kitchens. Like these marchers are all of a sudden standing up for homeless people, like they are on their side. Many people have lived in effi ciency apartments in their day working with a hot plate and toaster. Now I am not saying this is all that should be offered to people. If you want a kitchen you should be able to have a kitchen. But surely this is better than being on the street, exposed to the elements. At least for a short term till something better. Victoria Booth NO ROOM FOR A LOOK BACK SECRECY ON COP RECORDS BY CITY COUNCILMAN RORY LANCMAN For 40 years, the NYPD, under D e m o c r a t i c and Republican mayors alike, has been releasing the disciplinary records of offi cers, giving the public a window into how the police operate. That is, until last month under Mayor Bill de Blasio. The decision to stop sharing officers’ disciplinary records is a huge mistake — the public deserves more transparency, not less. The controversial decision comes as a shock since the 1976 state Civil Rights Law, which de Blasio is relying on to withhold the information, hasn’t changed. Mayor de Blasio, who touted transparency as one of his core values, is defending this absurd and secretive decision, and is ultimately responsible for it. The secrecy is especially questionable since it would mean that disciplinary decisions in such high-profi le cases as the death of Eric Garner, who died when Offi cer Daniel Pantaleo placed him in an illegal chokehold, would be kept secret. Even though a judge specifi cally ordered the Civilian Complaint Review Board to release summaries of misconduct fi ndings against offi cer Pantaleo, the city is refusing to allow the CCRB to release the information and is appealing the judge’s decision. Instead, de Blasio claims, the state should change the law that de Blasio alone thinks is preventing him from releasing basic information on police disciplinary actions. In other words, the mayor should stop passing the buck to state for his own failure to act. Governor Andrew Cuomo was right when he noted that the state law is not the problem, and that the records could be available today if de Blasio wanted them to be released. As Governor Cuomo says, “If the mayor wanted to, he would release the records.” The city has a chance to do the right thing by continuing to allow information to fl ow freely to reporters and the public. Instead, the de Blasio administration is yet again ignoring the voices that make up our communities. At a time when tensions between police and some of the communities they protect are already high, it’s imperative for the city to do everything it can build relationships and foster trust. Decreasing transparency increases tensions. City Councilman Rory I. Lancman represents the 24th District and is chairman of the New York City Council’s Committee on Courts and Legal Services. This 1929 photo shows what was then known as “Bohack Square,” the intersection of Metropolitan and Flushing avenues in Ridgewood. Bohack Square was the headquarters of the now-defunct Bohack supermarket. The gas station shown above, along the cobblestone block-lined Flushing Avenue, bears the name of both Bohack and Socony, an acronym of the Standard Oil Company of New York. Send us your historic photos on our Facebook page, www. facebook.com/qns, by email to editorial@qns.com, or mail printed pictures to The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you.
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