FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 33
TIME FOR LIGHT AT
LOCAL SCHOOL
Th is fall’s school semester
marks the 70th anniversary of
P.S. 164 in Kew Gardens Hills.
I was part of the inaugural class
in 1949 and the fi rst graduating
class in 1951.
But when 2019 classes
resumed, so did a persistent
problem: high volume and hazardous
traffi c conditions on 77th
Avenue, where P.S. 164 is located.
As a nearby resident, I’ve witnessed
near collisions and road
rage incidents during the school’s
morning opening and aft ernoon
closing hours. Working
with P.S. 164’s principal Lisa
Liatto last year, I drew up a petition
signed by teachers, safety
offi cers and parents to convert
77th Avenue into a one-way
street going east from Park Drive
East to Vleigh Place.
Community Board 8 rejected
it. But we have another option,
installing a traffi c light at the juncture
of 77th Avenue and 137th
Road, which has a much better
chance of success.
That’s because NYC’s
Department of Transportation
recently approved a traffi c light
for P.S. 376 in Bayside, which
faces similar traffi c congestion
and accident potential. Bayside
City Councilman Paul Vallone
and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic,
acting on parents’ complaints
and
with Community Board 11’s
backing, pressured the DOT to
authorize the traffi c light.
Kew Gardens Hills residents
deserve similar support from
City Councilman Rory Lancman,
Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal
and state Senator Joseph
Addabbo Jr. Lancman’s job is
term limited, but Rosenthal and
Addabbo face re-election next
year. If they ignore our voices,
they’ll lose our votes.
Community Board 8 is a big
roadblock. Despite term limits
on membership, it remains tightly
run by a cluster of cronies
who resist change. Th ey view the
board as a private fi efdom rather
than a public forum to implement
new ideas and methods.
P.S. 164 parents must urge CB
8’s leaders to serve their community.
Make your voices heard.
Richard Reif, Kew Gardens Hills
WHAT HAPPENED
AT MASPETH HIGH?
Th e latest story about Maspeth
High School is just outrageous!
Reportedly, teachers are being
threatened with disciplinary
action by school administrators if
they do not pass failing students
so they can graduate, and some
teachers have given answers to
students during regents exams.
Even students from other grade
levels at that high school have
been reportedly passed by their
teachers due to pressure from
the administration to do so. How
could this high school principal
have been awarded the National
Blue Ribbon award?
I certainly concur with City
Councilman Robert Holden’s
request for an investigation into
Maspeth High School. If students
are failing consistently throughout
the school year and are not
showing up for class, how could
they receive passing grades to
either go on to the next grade
level, or to graduate? What is the
UFT’s input on all of this? Th e
union should also demand an
investigation.
No teacher should ever be pressured
by any principal or assistant
principal to “infl ate” any student’s
grades for any reason, nor should
any teacher be threatened with
disciplinary retribution for refusing
to change a student’s grades.
Any school administrator who
acts in such an unprofessional,
demeaning way should be fi red!
John Amato, Fresh Meadows
LONG BUSES LOST
IN QUEENS
Aft er only a few days in passenger
service, NYC Transit has
removed the 60-foot articulated
buses from service on the Q12
Glenwood Street City Line to
Main Street Flushing route. My
sources tell me that this was due
to mechanical problems.
Th ese buses were transferred
from a Bronx Garage to the
Casey Stangel Flushing Garage.
Th is facility is used for maintenance,
operation and storage of
buses. Using articulated buses
aff ords more riders the option
to sit instead of standing. Two
60-foot articulated buses provide
the same capacity as three
40-foot standard buses. Th is
saves NYC Transit costs of fueling,
cleaning, maintenance and
operations.
Introduction of these 60-foot
buses included closing more than
six bus stops and lengthening others
to accommodate longer buses.
Th is will not be a welcome change
for customers.
Th e next step to improved service
on the Q12, regardless of
bus size, would be to run limited
stop buses during rush hour.
Th is has proven successful on the
Q36 Little Neck Parkway/Jamaica
Avenue, Q43 Hillside Avenue and
Q46 Union Turnpike routes to
other subway stations. It could
shorten travel time for commuters
from Little Neck, Douglaston
and Bayside who ride the Q12 and
transfer to the Flushing No. 7 subway
at Main Street.
Consider running every other
bus local from the Nassau County
line to Bell Boulevard, and limited
stops for the balance of the ride
to Flushing. Th is could easily save
fi ve to 10 minutes as buses would
not have to stop and start again
at several dozen additional stops.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
oped letters & comments
Free apartments for
some, chaos for everyone
BY JAY MARTIN
As building owners try to
make sense of the Tenant
Protection Act of 2019, a
sweeping package of rent
reforms passed in the state
Legislature in June, it has
become increasingly clear
that politicians in New York
are determined to put them
out of business. One way is
by eliminating almost all of
the consequences for tenants
who don’t pay their rent.
Under the new laws, a
tenant who has a good credit
score, a steady income and a
clean criminal history should
have no problem getting an
apartment.
And, if they are willing to
deal with the legal process
and move to a new apartment
every year or so, they
can basically stop paying rent.
Here’s how. In the new laws,
there is a ban on landlords
using what has been dubbed
a “tenant blacklist.” Th e idea
that there is an actual list that
is shared with building owners
and operators is ludicrous,
but what has been standard
practice was to check public
data to see if a tenant had
been part of an eviction proceeding.
Th at is now illegal
for a building owner to do.
So building owners are now
forced to make all rental decisions
based solely on credit
score and income. Some cautious
landlords have already
started to set strict thresholds
for renting — like a better
than 700 credit score and
an income that is fi ve times
the annual rent — a standard
out of reach for most working
class New Yorkers.
Once securing an apartment,
by paying one-month
security deposit and your fi rst
month’s rent, a tenant can
likely live rent-free for the
rest of the year. It’s illegal for
the landlord to “harass” you.
Most building owners,
despite the propaganda of
professional tenant activists,
are honest brokers who do
the best they can to follow
the layers of bureaucratic regulations.
So, all they will do
when a tenant doesn’t pay
rent is send them a late notice
by certifi ed mail, and then
eventually, follow up with
eviction proceedings that
they know will take months
in the courts.
When the tenant fi nally
has to appear in court
they can ask for an adjournment,
which gets you at least
a 14-day delay. When the
tenant returns to court, and
loses, the judge will set a date
for you to vacate the apartment
— which likely will be
several months later.
If you don’t vacate by that
date, the landlord will hit you
with a Warrant of Eviction,
which buys you at least
another 14 days before you
are forced to move.
Most tenants are good people
and we expect they don’t
take advantage of this gaping
loophole in the laws. But,
it is easy to see a tenant in
the fi nal four months of their
lease, planning on moving
out, straddled with student
loan debt and a revolving balance
on their credit cards, just
deciding they are going to
pay their other bills.
Stiffi ng the building owner
up to or even more than
$5,000 is likely not going to
come with consequences.
Imagine if thousands of tenants
start to take advantage of
this failure of the rent laws?
At fi rst, the already packed
housing courts will get busier.
Lawmakers have no political
motivation to provide
them extra funding, because
long delays help tenants facing
eviction. Owners’ rental
income will be cut, making
it impossible for many to pay
for basic maintenance. Th at
will drive down the quality of
living for people who do pay
their rent.
As buildings crumble and
building owners abandon
properties, even rent payers
will give up. Developers
and investors are going to see
this mess and run away from
New York as fast as possible.
Th e city’s property tax base,
which is heavily dependent
on multiple family housing,
will collapse.
Th is doomsday scenario
may sound farfetched in New
York City, but the embers of
this fi re have already been
lit by self-described socialist
elected offi cials. And it’s a safe
bet they will continue to gleefully
stoke it on.
Jay Martin is the executive
director of the Community
Housing Improvement
Program (CHIP), representing
building owners providing
rent-stabilized housing
to more than 400,000 New
Yorkers.
SUNSETS AT LITTLE BAY PARK // PHOTO BY LISA FEST-KEIN
Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our
paper! To submit them to us, tag @qnsgram on Instagram, visit our Facebook
page, tweet @QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
