36 THE COURIER SUN • october 9, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com editorial letters OUR MAYOR INSULTS TAXPAYERS & POLICE If the Olympics had an event for stupidity, New York’s mayor would win a gold medal. Bill de Blasio topped off a string of dumb decisions by hiring and defending a key staffer who’s lived with a convicted killer and drug dealer for the past six years—a thug who called cops “pigs” on Facebook. “You don’t fire someone for something her boyfriend said,” de Blasio told reporters. Wrong, you fire her if she’s a $170,000-a-year city employee responsible for improving police/community relations who failed to mention her criminal companion in a Department of Investigation background check. Bumbling Bill fired his campaign press secretary for living with Elliott Spitzer. But client No. 9 didn’t have a 20-year rap sheet. Rachel Nordlinger also lied about her child’s health to get exempt from a rule requiring all appointed NYC staffers to live in New York. She claimed her 17-year-old son needs medical treatment for severe injuries, requiring her to live in New Jersey. Really? Than how does he play linebacker for his high school’s football team? A fact disclosed by the N.Y. Post. Keeping Nordlinger on the payroll insults taxpayers, police and all honest city staffers. If de Blasio doesn’t fire her, voters must deny him a second term in office. Dick Reif Flushing LETTER GRADES FAIL… Good riddance to the phony letter grades that in recent years were used as summary judgments of the quality of individual schools. Chancellor Farina was wise to abolish them. They had unfairly tarred the reputations of many fine institutions of learning. Those grades were simplistic, unbalanced and unscientific. They didn’t take into account the many variables and complexities of different schools. The ratings were politically, not educationally, driven. The worth of a school to a child and its value to the community cannot be responsibly pegged by such gimmicks. Ron Isaac Fresh Meadows … AS SO DO MANY SCHOOLS It is outrageous that there are 143,000 students who are in failing schools throughout the New York City public school system.What is going to be done to help all of these students, who deserve to receive the best education possible? The UFT and DOE better get their act together and start to find ways to alleviate this ever/growing crisis. Chancellor Carmen Farina needs to work with other DOE officials and officials from the Mayor’s office to turn this situation around—NOW! There are thousands of justifiably angry parents, teachers and administrators regarding this situation, and action needs to be taken within a reasonable amount of time. Our students are the future of our city, state and country, and they are entitled to an excellent education to help build their morale and shape their adult lives. John Amato Fresh Meadows A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY Civil libertarians who are on the alert to oppose tyranny fail to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions. The importance of an educated citizenry, as envisioned by the architects of America’s Constitution, is that they have the analytical and intellectual ability to recognize and challenge inevitable government corruption. If people can’t read, or simply will not, or are distracted, the safeguard of a democracy, an educated informed citizenry, is in peril. It is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in a media-dominated age where the lines between politics and news reporting are blurred. Superficiality, voyeurism, celebrity and image trump truth. Humanity’s predilection for distractions and love of entertainment and trivia has, according to some, destroyed our capacity to think. The individual is engulfed by a group mindset and the tyranny of mob-think. Some authors and pundits warn that we should fear those who would ban books, but perhaps we should fear there would be no reason to ban a book because there would be no one who wanted to read one. Author and media critic Neil Postman observes, “Our devices deliver so much information we have become a captive audience preoccupied in a culture of trivia where truth is drowned in a sea of irrelevance.” Postman writes that Aldous Huxley in “Brave New World” fears man is controlled by inflicting pleasure, that what we love will ruin us. In other words, we are amusing ourselves to death. Ed Konecnik Flushing sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan William J. Gorta Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola, Angy Altamirano Katrina Medoff, Eric Jankiewicz, Salvatore Licata Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Demetra Plagakis Warren Susman Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 Sales fax: 718-631-3498 website: www.couriersun.com e-mail:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2014 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE CO URIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, 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 CO URIER 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 CO URIER SUN within five 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. IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is SOWING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE Well, Mayor de Blasio really kicked grass on Tuesday, announcing $130 million for underfunded small parks. We could not be more pleased (unless, of course, there was more money) at this unalloyed good news. We were also gratified that the mayor came to Bowne Playground in Flushing to make the announcement instead of staying in Manhattan for a standard Blue Room spiel. We thank the mayor for his attention to the more populous of the boroughs and for taking care of the parks used by the city’s children and taxpayers. ALL WRAPPED UP We enjoyed reading the heartwarming — and neck-warming — tale of the “Scarves for Zoë” Facebook page. We were touched by the outpouring of support for Zoë Bonowitz, 14, the brave heroine who has stared down cancer three times. After twice defeating kidney cancer, Zoë was afflicted with thyroid cancer and its removal left a scar on her neck. She began wearing scarves to cover the scar and her family joined. But the movement took off after her aunt created the page and kindhearted souls from around the world posted pictures of themselves wearing scarves to support the teenager. We applaud all of Zoë’s supporters and we join them in wishing Zoë the best of health. INCHING ALONG Another day, another proposed incremental improvement in transit. Now we’re talking about Select Bus Service between Flushing and Jamaica. Sounds great. Except we’re going to be talking for at least a year before any implementation. Come on. Nothing takes that long to figure out. We’ve said we’re waiting for the big idea. This isn’t the big idea; neither is it worth waiting a year or more for. Do it or don’t — but either way, let’s do a lot more a lot sooner. QUEENS RESTAURANT WEEK It’s time for Queens Restaurant Week — so good it can’t be restrained by the silly strictures of seven days. It kicked off on Oct. 6 with an al fresco sampling from 12 restaurants and Queens Brewery. Queens Restaurant Week begins officially on Oct. 13 and runs through Oct. 20. More than 200 restaurants will be participating and most will offer a three-course prix fixe dinner for $28 and lunch for $14. It’s a great opportunity to experience the diversity and culinary sophistication of our borough, and we encourage everyone to visit one — or several — of the restaurants.
SC10092014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above