Letters

Make Street 1-Way?

A copy of the following letter was received by the Gazette.

The Honorable Catherine Nolan

Assembly Member, 37th District

61-08 Linden Street

Ridgewood, New York 11385

Dear Assemblymember Nolan:

Thank you for your letter and attachments received July 11, 2003, written on behalf of local businesses in Sunnyside, Queens, regarding their concerns about a proposal to turn 39th Street into a one-way street.

Queens Borough Commissioner Constance Moran will work with the operational group and provide you with a more detailed response on or about October 17, 2003.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Sincerely,

Iris Weinshall

Commissioner,

New York City

Department of Transportation

Spurns Fragrant Flushing

To The Editor:

I would like to know why the mayor makes appearances at the most inopportune times. Why can’t he show up in Flushing at rush hour time? For instance, in the mornings he can smell the freshly rotten garbage that gets picked up when people are trying to get to their trains or buses or try to walk a slalom course as the vendors are picking up the 55-gallon drums of discarded fat from the fast-food restaurants. 

After the first phase of this triathlon, he can use the unworkable escalator. This has to be the only escalator that won’t escalate.

As he continues his tour on the Number 7 line, and I’ll be nice and just let him go to Shea Stadium, he can see if his lungs can tolerate good old Flushing Bay.

On his return trip, while visiting the 109th Precinct let him try to get by the municipal parking lots on 41st and Union Streets. This is where cars don’t let buses go through by blocking the intersection, a stone’s throw from the precinct. Now I know what traffic means. The roads around Flushing flow into congestion.

If the mayor wants a colorful view of Flushing, don’t ask the city council person, ask the concerned citizens. We live and commute through there. I always thought there [were] medical personnel living there but now I know, it’s the surgical masks that people wear to cover the stink.

Randy Savitt

Beechhurst

Where To Skate?

To The Editor:

Hi I’d just like to introduce myself my name is Anthony Aldorasi. I am 15 years old and I live in Astoria and I’d just like to point out that the local skate boarders and roller bladers have no skate parks to go to here in Queens. I have seen that they have just built one in Far Rockaway but that’s almost near Rochester and no local train takes you near it and that’s a problem for us teens and children because we get kicked out or receive a summons and I don’t think that’s right. We need a close place to skate and I don’t know what’s the big deal with having a local skate park. There are plenty of places to build it like [Rainey] Park, Astoria Park, DS Park and the only real close park is Athens Park on 30th Avenue and 30th Street in Astoria.

Thank you

Anthony Aldorasi

Astoria

Media? What Media?

To The Editor:

Hidden in the ramblings concerning the "liberal media" is an assumption based in ignorance. There is no "Media" to speak of, as the media in America is not a monolithic entity. When analyzing the politics of the media, people need to pay attention to the distinctions existing between radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, newspapers, and various news topics. Furthermore, the notion of there being a "liberal media" is severely misguided.

Radio broadcasts have become quite conservative, with virtually no obnoxious liberal voice to compete with Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. On the print side, editors and publishers endorsed conservative candidates for president in almost every election cycle of the twentieth century. Though there appears to be more liberal print journalists, many tend to be more conservative on financial issues and more liberal with regard to social issues. This would stand to reason since the nature of their jobs often encompasses exposing social ills. Lastly, the ideologies of television stations tend to be split, depending upon who owns the stations. For every Ted Turner, there is a Rupert Murdoch.

In general, there is more conservative money in the media than ever before. Think about it Pat Robertson gets much more air time than Ralph Nader. Television lends more credence to a man that many see as a far right professional con artist than one of the most productive and benevolent citizens in American history. In addition, conservative interest groups representing Republicans and more right-leaning Democrats have worked tirelessly over the past 10 years to keep out progressive third party ideas.

Currently, media outlets have tragically mocked the Democratic candidates running for President - referring to them as the "9 dwarfs." I say this is tragic because the increasingly conservative media is misrepresenting some of the candidates and creating a bias in the minds of American voters. First, any one of those 9 dwarfs is better equipped to be President of the United States than the dumbo in the white House. Just listen to the debate-there are real candidates discussing real issues with a real grasp of details. The high quality debate goes far beyond anything we ever hear out of the mouth of [President George W.] Bush. Second, the media that attempts to downsize the Democratic candidates is the very same media that allows him to be the sound-bite president. The increasingly conservative media never seems to press Bush (or [Arnold] Schwartzenegger) into detailing any of their ideas. Lastly, this same media portrays any candidate left of the right leaning Bush as being "too liberal." Right now, operating with three-fourths of a political spectrum, centrists who balance budgets, such as Howard Dean, become "liberal." Our only hope is that the Conservative ideological zest for power leads them to push too far, just as they did with Monica Lewinsky, angering Americans and causing a liberal/populist backlash. I hope that a leader will soon emerge, who can balance out the political spectrum and move the entire nation back toward the center.

David Di Padova

Fresh Meadows

Beg Pardon

Pastor Vincent Micelli was incorrectly identified as Monsignor Vincent Micelli in the story and photographs of the Borgetto Festival on page 48 of the August 27 edition of the Gazette.