Queens Gazette

Letters To The Editor


MLK Day: Remembrance

To The Editor:

In 2022, the struggles of our nation are as com­pelling and urgent as they were when Rev. Dr. Mar­tin Luther King, Jr. walked the Earth and preached a message of justice, unity and peace. We are re­minded of him and his message every year since his birthday first became a national holiday on January 20, 1986. For many, the holiday probably seems like it was always there as a day of remembrance and celebration of his life, but like most things that are important, it was not readily accepted and equally held in high regard. The day was not celebrated in all of the 50 states until 2000. Acknowledging this fact makes it a bit easier to understand how it is that we have not been able to coalesce to arrive at a shared commitment to a public health strategy to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the recurrent issues related to the pandemic, there is the ever widening disconnect across political, racial, economic and ideological lines. We can easily be­come overwhelmed and discouraged by the multi­ple layers of dissension and resistance that mark the current state of our troubled union, but then there is MLK Day that stands as evidence that even though it may take time, we can have confidence in the fact that we can overcome differences and unite for pos­itive change.

Just as with the civil rights movement that con­tinues to evolve with Black Lives Matter and voting rights challenges, the COVID crisis continues to evolve, morphing into new strains and new threats. Both the civil rights movement and COVID strug­gles have cost lives and continue to heighten the sense of polarization that shows up, as often around the dinner table or over coffee, as on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. A war of wills and the pursuit of right and wrong can suspend us in a perpetual state of conflict, if we find our­selves incapable of rising above our differences in search of common ground. In the meantime, lives and futures continue to be lost. None of this is easy to grasp in terms of our daily lives, but I would like to invite us to try to open ourselves up to embracing a shared vision just as Dr. King presented his vision so many years ago.

This morning while driving my husband to work, I opened a conversation with a casual remark that led to further discussion, and my husband chose to refute a statement that I made with newly acquired information that debunked my point of view. We exchanged thoughts and were immedi­ately thrust into separate camps. Even with my clear understanding of what was happening, I got fully engaged in defending my position and experienced a breakdown in my capacity to yield to our obvious differences on the topic in favor of mutual coexis­tence. Consequently, when he departed he seemed more relaxed with the situation than I was and his parting remarks were an attempt to be disarming, while my response was silence as cold as the 16 de­gree temperature outdoors. In fact, I am writing this with the full knowledge that I failed miserably to pick things up and join him in a pleasant “good- bye.” Although this disclosure may be damaging to my hypothesis that we can just get along, it fully qualifies me to report that coming together is not easy stuff. This will serve as my point of departure for launching this tribute to Dr. King and the people of our nation. Struggle will likely always be a part of how we ultimately come together. I struggled to be heard and understood for my point of view in the face of a self-assured, oppositional challenge. The dissonance and discomfort in the aftermath of this exchange had me searching for a way to integrate the experience and arise from it with greater under­standing and acceptance. Perhaps this is what hap­pens in a country where free thinkers and diverse opinions abound.

My caution and heartfelt hope is that we will not sacrifice life and limb, liberty and justice, peace and progress for the perceived advantage of feeling right at the expense of losing sight of what is really im­portant. I throw myself on the altar of this endeavor and confess that I have successfully moved on to the higher ground of non-judgment and non-resis­tance to my husband’s expressed view. The result is that I happily have adopted a “live and let live” ap­proach that allows me freedom from the dictates of my beliefs that leaves room for other perspectives. This approach also places emphasis on living and a life-sustaining appreciation for the ideals and beliefs that make peaceful coexistence possible.

Most of us have seen footage of the brutality and carnage associated with our nation’s struggle with the acceptance of equality during the height of the civil rights era. We have also seen and heard the re­ports of people clinging to life on respirators, as well as lives lost to the devastation of the COVID pan­demic during the months prior to the development of vaccines. In both instances, these events can begin to seem abstract and somehow virtual and un­real. Hearing about hundreds of years of cruelty or hundreds of thousands of deaths can become more than we can fully comprehend. The result of our on­going struggles may be that we start to blur the im­ages and quietly dismiss the rising numbers of fatalities as though the counting represents some inanimate objects. Not seeking reconciliation and making peace, or not fully regarding the loss of life as the central issue, might leave us bereft of our basic humanity.

Yesterday, I had an experience that has stayed in my consciousness since it happened. I was walk­ing from my car in a municipal parking lot when just ahead of me, I noticed something moving. At that distance, it appeared that it could have been a discarded bag or something else. The moving part seemed attached to another part that was still and fixed upon the ground. As I came closer, I could see that it was an injured pigeon who continued to mo­mentarily lift its head as its body remained motion­less. I wanted to help, but I could see that the pigeon was seriously hurt and there was little that I could do to intervene. Just then, its head stopped moving and at that moment, I was a witness as life left this small creature’s body. Instinctively, my hand went over my heart and I felt the sorrow from this tiny life that passed away. In an instance, life and death became very real. I mention this here as a reminder that all life is sacred and to feel is human. It re­minded me of the need to recommit to honoring our living world and the dream of Dr. King who envi­sioned a future where we all could live together in harmony. Grappling with feelings and beliefs may be a crucial part of embracing such a vision, if it en­ables us to arrive at the understanding that we are in a life and death struggle to imagine a better world. Perhaps this is what makes us truly human, and like Dr. King, gives us the ability to sustain a vision of hope for the future.

Dr. Sharon M. Cadiz
Astoria

Space Heaters And The Cold

To The Editor:

It is quite sad about the fire in the Bronx and the many that died and were injured. Now, as reported, this fire was caused by a space heater. The reason for a space heater is because of lack of heat in the dwelling in the winter. Well, I understand that only too well. Lack of heat in the winter puts a person and families in most painful circumstances. Added to that we have senior citizens whose health is in danger under these conditions. I truly can feel their pain. You see, in the 1970s, after I finished in the United States Navy, my then-girlfriend and myself rented an apart­ment in a Bayside complex that I will not mention the name of. During the winter the apartment was extremely cold although we complained a lot to management. We had to commit to extreme meas­ures to stay warm. We ran a space heater and had the stove on while boiling water to stay warm. We even­tually moved but many people can’t afford to do that. But being cold and getting sick from a cold apart­ment is not very pleasant. This is what many of our poor residents are going through now. Something must be done or more families will be forced to en­gage in extreme measures trying to keep warm.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Bellerose

Transport Improvements

To The Editor:

NYC Mayor Eric Adams has more to do besides appointing term limited Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez to be the next NYC Department of Trans­portation Commissioner. The Mayor gets to appoint four of the fifteen member Metropolitan New York Transportation Authority Board. It makes sense to also appoint Rodriguez to assist him to be one of his four MTA Board members. This would help foster better coordination, more cost effective transporta­tion and improved bus, subway, ferry and commuter rail services within the five boroughs.

Any changes to the MTA $51 billion 2020-2024 Five Year Capital Plan have to be reviewed and ap­proved by the State Capital Program Review Board (CPRB). The MTA is counting on several billion dollars more out of the $1.2 Trillion Build Back America Infrastructure bill. These dollars and proj­ects will have to be adopted and amended into the ongoing Five Year Capital Plan in the next two years. This four member committee is composed of one representative appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart- Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and NYC Mayor Eric Adams. The Mayor’s representative can only vote on NYC projects. Democrats control all four votes. The Mayor has to insure the Big Apple is receiving its fair share. One way to develop a good working relationship with Hochul, Heastie and Cousins is to also appoint Rodriguez to the MTA CPRB.

The federal planning process to access Federal Transit Administration funding is managed by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC). NYCDOT Commissioner Rodriguez along with the next NYC Department of Planning Director each have a vote along with representatives from the MTA, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Put­nam County, Rockland County, Westchester County and New York State Department of Transportation. NYMTC will decide in coming months how almost $2 billion in FTA formula funding and billions more in Federal Highway Administration funding distrib­uted among the voting members. They also vote on adopting the annual federal required Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). All transportation agency transit and highway projects including those from the MTA must be included on the approved TIP and any TIP amendments. It is one of many legal requirements before federal funding can be approved for a transit or highway project.

Serving as NYC DOT Commissioner along with being a voting member of both the MTA Board, CPRB Board and NYMTC would provide Ro­driguez with the best detailed knowledge and lever­age necessary to help him deliver all the transportation improvement projects and programs promised by Mayor Adams on behalf of Big Apple taxpayers and commuters.

Larry Penner
Great Neck

A Terrible Plague

To The Editor:

The no bail reform must be stopped, and the state legislature must do something to end this terrible plague. Crimes are committed and then the arrested people are released to plague merchants, throw peo­ple into the subway tracks, and otherwise injure, kill and do other terrible things. There is just too much crime; a lady was pushed in front of a train at Times Square for no reason.

It is an abomination and I am appalled that hostages were held at a synagogue in Texas by a ter­rorist. This hatred and danger was put to an end by heroes of law enforcement and the hostage taker is dead. I am glad that our mayor is placing law en­forcement protection at all Jewish houses of worship in our city as a result. This hatred must not be part of our lives. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought that with passive resistance and nonviolence and it was rabbis who marched with him to achieve free­dom and civil rights. In his memory antisemitism and hatred should be stopped.

I am glad that Apple Bank will open a branch in Astoria. I remember Apple Bank being in Astoria in 1970’s as well.

Cynthia Groopman
Little Neck

Fair Pay For Home Care

To The Editor:

I’m writing to you regarding the growing home care crisis in New York State and the need to include Fair Pay for Home Care (A.6329/S.5374) in the Governor’s executive budget.

Home care is vital for the safety of our older New Yorkers and those with disabilities who rely on it to live their lives, work, and contribute to the economy. Without adequate home care, the more they end up in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and congregate long-term care facilities putting further strain on sys­tems.

As a social worker who works with older adults, I recognize the vital role home care plays, not only in the healthcare industry, but in our social infrastruc­ture. Without secure and adequate home care our system will fail our most vulnerable. Without fair pay for home care workers there will be no way to recruit and maintain this vital workforce.

I have seen, time and again, clients suffer without secure home care, not able to maintain their medica­tion regimens or medical appointments. I have seen clients forced into poor nutrition choices without a home care worker available to prepare healthy meals, and even succumb to injury after taking a risk due to not having a home care worker there to assist with a needed task.

I have also seen many home care workers make difficult choices as they weigh the needs of their vul­nerable patients against their own financial security. While they understand the moral imperative of their work, many are forced to change to more high-pay­ing jobs after recognizing the home care industry is inadequate to support themselves and their families. In fact, even while working full time, many must use public benefits to survive.

As a result, I urge that Fair Pay for Home Care (A.6329/S.5374) be included in Governor Hochul’s executive budget. Fair Pay for Home Care is not just a moral imperative, it is part of our social fabric. De­spite this, home care workers are not asking for the moon and stars. All they are asking for is their fair share.

Joseph Dibenedetto, LMSW
Ridgewood

Finally Omicron Has Peaked

To The Editor:

Governor Hochul said that we have reached the peak of infection-rate with the Omicron variant, which is the best news that we have heard here in many weeks. With this being the case, hopefully hos­pitalizations and infections will continue to drop sharply over the next few weeks which would be very good news for all of our very hardworking, ded­icated and caring medical personnel in hospitals all across our region. Also, people should continue to get vaccinated and boostered if their health will per­mit them to do so. This is another way of fighting the virus. Hopefully, the omicron surge will be the last one that we will have to deal with, although there are some medical experts who are saying that there could be future variants of COVID. This medical cri­sis has beseiged our area for over two years, and has taken a physical, emotional, economic and social toll on all of us. Now, finally, a ray of hope is beginning to emerge from behind those very dark and ominous clouds of the past 24 months. Let us hope that this will truly mark the beginning of the virus fading into an endemic state, so our lives can get back to some semblance of normalcy. All of us are suffering from pandemic fatigue, especially all of our wonderful, dedicated medical personnel as well as our wonder­ful, dedicated first responders.

John And Lori Amato
Fresh Meadows

Hit And Run, No Arrest

To The Editor:

My mother, Erenia Casiano, 73, was hit by a car as she was walking home on the sidewalk in East Elmhurst, on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 12. She suffered a fractured pelvis and sacrum. She is currently in stable condition in Elmhurst Hospital after undergoing a long and complicated surgery to fuse her sacrum. This was the result of a hit and run and no arrests have been made. Can your publication possibly assist my family in alerting the public that there are suspects at large?

Please let me know if you can assist me, and if there is any further information I can provide you.

Charles Casiano

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