EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Do your part to help NYC spot water pollution
Many people believe that
climate change is a major
problem, but not as many
people realize the magnitude of
the worldwide water pollution
dilemma.
For example, NOAA
(the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Agency) has a
website that tracks the size and
location of the “Great Pacific
Garbage Patch,” which are huge
swaths of plastic and other debris
in the Pacific Ocean as well as
smaller patches that spread far
and wide.
Styrofoam, cloth, wood,
glass, rubber, metal and
medical wastes are categories
of floatables. Fish, birds and
turtles might ingest these items
or get tangled in them. Raw
sewage from combined sewage
outflows is also considered
floatables.
The New York City
Department of Environmental
Protection Citywide Floatable
Control Program devised a
study to provide and evaluate
the information collected. A
Volunteer Beach Floatable
Survey Program was established
to compile information by
utilizing surveys. Data was
collected from “man-made”
waterborne waste only.
The survey area encompasses
a 200-foot section of beach
or shoreline.
Volunteers do not perform
beach cleanups. Some recent
studies find that levels of plastic
debris in the ocean will continue
to increase in the next decade.
In New York City, we are
making significant strides
in waste management and
reducing floatables that have
been documented by this
program since 1998. However,
since plastics in city waters
remain the dominant floatable,
59 percent according to our
2018 report, and 62 percent in
our report during 2017, we have
significant work to do.
Volunteers will receive
all materials necessary
for monitoring, including
letters of authorization and
acknowledgement.
If you have any questions,
please contact 917-658-2380 or
email ozonelayerllc@me.com.
Robert Gans, NYCDEP
Volunteer Beach Floatable
Program Manager
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LOSING FOCUS IN QUEENS
They call it the “budget dance,” the annual City
Council hearings where members try and claw back
funding that was eliminated from the de Blasio
administration’s budget proposal. This year, the
Mayor’s executive budget set a record at $92.5 billion,
and he boasted of $916 million in savings, equal to 1%
of the new budget.
Queens Public Library had been seeking $9.7
million in operational support to deliver the current
level of service and costs associated with having a
larger footprint. That was denied.
On May 14, Queens Public Library honored more
than 170 adults who in the past year earned a high
school equivalency diploma, learned English, started
a food-related business or became a certified health
aide through one of the thousands of programs QPL
offers each year, that may take a hit if the budget of
the cities libraries are cut next year.
The amazing adults that gathered in the auditorium
of QPL’s Flushing branch had to overcome huge odds
to complete their courses. That opportunity may be
closed to people like them next year unless City Hall
restores QPL’s funding request.
Meanwhile, City Councilman Costa
Constantinides and Astoria Houses Tenant
Association Claudia Coger are awaiting word from
the Mayor’s team regarding the city’s asinine plan
to close the senior center, which was about to be
reopened following a $500,000 renovation program,
and bus the seniors more than a mile away to the
Queensbridge Houses.
The topic was covered during budget hearings
on May 7 but right now this is still just in ongoing
budget negotiations.
The councilman lent a sense of legitimacy to
Monday’s ridiculous stunt in the Trump Tower Atrium,
where the Mayor put “President Trump on notice for
the millions of dollars his properties will owe” under
New York City’s pending Green New Deal.
Constantinides, the architect of the Green New
Deal, spoke briefly in the middle of the maelstrom.
The subject of the Astoria Houses Senior Center
never came up because the Mayor didn’t find the
time to even speak with Constantinides, who was
sitting right next to him.
Here’s a suggestion for the mayor.
Stop trying to get on the cable news shows
with silly stunts like rallying in Trump
Tower. It impresses nobody, especially the President.
The Mayor’s time would be better spent properly
funding the Queens Public Library so it can
continue helping adults find success in their lives.
And while he’s at it, he should find the $220,000 in
funding needed to keep the Astoria Houses senior
center open.
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TIMESLEDGER,16 MAY 17-23, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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