16 THE COURIER SUN • DECEMBER 24, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com editorial sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH ALAN SELTZER STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JENNIFER DECIO, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE ANGELA MATUA, ALINA SURIEL CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI DEMETRA PLAGAKIS WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR 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 EVENTS MANAGER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER 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 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@queenscourier.com for advertising e-mail: ads@queenscourier.com Entire Contents Copyright 2015 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, 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 COURIER 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 COURIER SUN within fi ve 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. SNAPS QUEENS CITI FIELD AT NIGHT // PHOTO BY STEPHEN REINA Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us via our Instagram @queenscourier, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@queenscourier.com (subject: Queens Snaps). What do you expect from the new Star Wars movie? “I am very excited and I have high expectations. Even though I am not a fan of the prequels, I think this movie will be great.” Dwlan Legarda “I have very low expectations because I think the storytelling is not good.” Naim Rogers “I think it will be too animated and that special effects will take away the story.” Pawel Tokarski “I think the new movie will have a better quality in regards to sounds and graphics.” William Capistrano BY IRENE SPEZZAMONTE “I am not a big fan, but I think it will be great and that it is defi nitely something to look forward.” Ryan Pekson street talk “I think it will be better than prequels especially because they have actors from the old movies.” Mario Naoum “I think it will be less based on the story.” Roscoe Kapatos “I think the old ones would be better.” Jason Castillo City sees the light on homelessness The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) spent city tax dollars-- your tax dollars-- to allow homeless people to live in fi lthy, cramped and insecure shelters. That’s the essence of an audit that City Comptroller Scott Stringer released on Monday which found that the DHS failed to provide proper oversight at emergency shelters across the city where some 12,500 homeless families reside. The fi rst step toward solving any problem is recognizing that there is one. Finally, within the last few days, the city not only acknowledged that it has a homeless problem, but that the agency responsible for fi xing it has only exacerbated the plight of the homeless rather than help rebuild their lives. First, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that his administration would examine and overhaul the DHS following the resignation of its commissioner, Gilbert Taylor. Days later, the administration unveiled “Home-Stat,” a service in which city offi cials will engage with homeless New Yorkers and help connect them to permanent housing and social services. Stringer’s audit revealed what many homeless advocates feared: that the shelters where many homeless families were sent to reside were simply unfi t for residence. The problems included violations typically committed by slumlords; 53 percent of shelter apartments were vermin infested, and 87 percent of units had serious health and safety concerns such as mold, mildew, peeling paint, even broken smoke detectors. Again, this was allowed to happen on the department’s watch, which Stringer’s report also noted was inadequately staffed to properly inspect and oversee these shelters. Many of these shelters are privately owned and operated, but subsidized by the city with your taxpayer dollars. To call it disgraceful would be a gigantic understatement. This is a shame which we all share as New Yorkers because this government acted on our behalf to treat homeless families like second-class citizens. We believe the city is fi nally moving in the right direction after this last week of startling revelations and calls for reform. The city must advance this renewed mission to treat its homeless with dignity, shelter them in proper conditions and provide them with the resources they need to get back on their feet and live productive and independent lives. The most wonderful time of the year Aside from all the problems in the city, the country and the world, we arrive at the holiday season. Having already celebrated Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, we come to Christmas on Dec. 25 and Kwanzaa on Dec. 26, followed by the new year. As we celebrate this most joyous time of the year, we should refl ect on the year’s events both in the world around us and in our personal lives. We should count the blessings that we have, however many or few, and be grateful to have received them, while also keeping in mind those less fortunate through charity and other good deeds. We should also resolve in 2016 to do our part to help make Queens a better place for all. In particular, turn to your local civic associations, many of which are in need of members. These groups work hard to protect their communities and advocate for resources from the city and state-- and their existence and relevance help keep our communities strong. We wish all of our readers a happy holiday season, and a joyous and prosperous new year!
SC12242015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above