Obstructive Weeds

To The Editor:

The ‘mall’ on Queens Boulevard between 58th Street and 61st Street is once again overrun with nine-foot-high weeds. This mall used to be cement and was planted by the city Department of Parks and Recreation (DOP) when the fences were installed, by the city Department of Design and Construction/DOP. Since then, the DOP does not maintain these weeds on a regular basis. They seem to come out only once a year to cut them down. In the meantime, plastic bags stick there and it makes a great home for rodents. It is unsightly and I would like to recommend re-cementing the area and giving up the responsibility to maintain the weeds. Some of the concrete barriers have also been crushed by motorists and need replacement.

Cement, fencing and removing the bags would be enough to do without the landscaping chore. Please consider repaving. I send this request every year when the weeds are taller than me.

It also makes it difficult for pedestrians to see cars coming along Queens Boulevard, which defeats the purpose of putting up the fences in the first place. Lorraine McAndrews

U.N. Small Arms Treaty

To The Editor:

I write to protest the UN-proposed “Small Arms Treaty” which would violate U.S. sovereignty, infringe upon our sacred Second Amendment rights, and also severely penalize our job-creators’ livelihoods by denying them the right to sell the fruits of their labor. Ask yourself: Besides firearms, what American-made product is valued by anybody at all? (Okay, maybe Harleys.)

With the so-called “International Arms Control Treaty”, the statists have gone too far. In point of Constitutional fact, there is no qualitative or quantitative difference between Pa selling an old shotgun to Gus at the filling station and a sovereign individual selling a surface-to-air missile (this is a “small arm” as anyone who ever shouldered one can attest) to anyone he chooses in a voluntary, uncoerced transaction.

The statists show their true hypocrisy here. Most of what is called “foreign aid” is really weapons coupons. U.S. tax money goes to a foreign dictator, who takes his cut, then buys U.S.-produced ordnance. (If anything, this is just another form of corporate welfare.) Plus, I doubt anyone is so naive as to believe the photoops of our Special Forces feeding little foreign waifs turkey dinners are anything but staged.

The statists whine about “terrorism” and “international crime syndicates” verily as they subsidize same—when the mood strikes them—in the name of international geopolitics. But if a free citizen of the Republic wants to make an honest deal with whomever he pleases, he finds his Constitutional rights trampled. Sure, Al Qaeda and the Norwegian Defense Front are unpopular (in many circles) now, but so were Germany and Japan not so long ago. The statists obviously do not believe in free enterprise, but at least they used to pretend to.

When American statists appear to bow before the will of the internationalists (i.e. the same New World Order whose symbol appears on the U.S. dollar bill), we must ask why. But with the “International Small Arms Treaty” the answer is simple. They want to disarm every single one of us not wearing a uniform, here and abroad.

Peter Kropotkin
Jackson Heights

Find Illegal Guns

To The Editor:

There have been 16 murders in the past five days. So far this year 193 murders have occurred and most by illegal guns. I feel even one murder is too many. As reported, there have been seven murders since Friday which included children, clubgoers, a shopkeeper and a husband. In Queens this weekend, three men were killed with an AK-47 and about 63 shots were fired.

There are those who complain, like the ACLU, who feel civil rights are being violated by NYPD’s Stop and Frisk Policy. Well I wonder, if they lost one of their loved ones due to illegal guns might they then say, “Why isn’t more being done”?

Let’s talk about civil rights, what of those being murdered—don’t they have civil rights too?

Let me also point out our Finest are doing their best and are being shot at and wounded in the line of duty, trying to protect us. Illegal guns must be stopped and taken off the street, including those carrying them.

I have a partial solution, and that is if you know someone with an illegal gun, report them to the police because the life you save could be your own.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village, NY

Congress Works By Seniority

To The Editor:

Now that we are graced with Grace Meng as our congressmember in the 6th Congressional District, we can all applaud.

However, but and nevertheless one important facet of her nomination, and probable election has been left in the dust. Congress works by seniority: the longer you’re there the more power and muscle you have. Gary Ackerman had 30 years of real muscle that would benefit Queens, Long Island and ultimately the state of New York.

Our Grace Meng has zero (nada, zippo, etc.) power among the 435 members. Let’s hope she lasts 30 years so that we can get our muscle back again! Kenneth Lloyd Brown Brown and Brown

Attorneys and Counselors at Law
Jamaica, NY

Schools A Disaster

To The Editor:

Well, as the 2011-2012 school year has come to a close, the next question is, “What will the 2012-2013 school year bring for teachers, administrators, students and parents?”

The New York City Public School system is nothing short of a major educational disaster. Classes are overcrowded, teachers have to teach under very stressful conditions, with little support from some administrators, some parents are very difficult to deal with, and there is a lack of teachers’ materials, which forces many teachers to buy them out of pocket. Also, with 24 schools closing, all of the teachers in those schools have to re-apply for their jobs, which is very unfair and stressful.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs to not be in control of the school system; he should allow Chancellor Dennis Walcott to run it his way. The chancellor needs input and support from his superintendents and his principals and teachers, and he needs to be supportive of all of their tireless and sometimes, thankless efforts to motivate students in all of the schools to want to learn.

All of the teachers and principals, paraprofessionals and other school staff deserve a well-rested summer vacation. They are going to need every ounce of strength when they all return after Labor Day to deal with yet another stressful and uncertain school year. Also, the teachers deserve a new contract—what is the delay?

John Amato
Fresh Meadows, NY