Queens Gazette

Letters to the Editor




 

 

Why Outsiders At WTC?

To The Editor:

 

The Port Authority has awarded a contract for all the glass at the Freedom Tower to be built by a Chinese company. Although there were American companies who offered bids, the Chinese company was permitted to place another bid at the "11th hour".

As a nation we must not allow this to occur. There are currently many folks who are out of work and many companies that have closed their doors because of this recession. We must begin to use American products and offer contracts to American companies.

The Port Authority does not answer to any building codes from NYC. They are a bi-state agency. Both [New Jersey] Governor [John] Corzine and [New York] Governor [David] Paterson need to be told that at Ground Zero all of the contracts must be awarded to American companies. This is the place where non-American terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, an entire street of shops and five other buildings. This is the place where 2,750 people lost their lives. The Freedom Tower, now called North Tower 1 by Mayor Bloomberg, must be assembled by American companies.

What is wrong with our governmental agencies? The lowest bid is not always the best. We will be unable to control the quality of this glass. We will be unable to regulate its strength. The Port Authority has chosen a country that has had many recalls already. Ground Zero will still be a target. Have we learned nothing? What about the safety of the workers inside this building? Do they not count? Why would we use a company that was not on our soil so that we could monitor and inspect each and every day the quality of the glass?

We need to write to Governor Corzine, Governor Paterson, all of our Congress people and Senators to voice strong objection to this very serious and potentially dangerous action. Sincerely, Maureen Santora Long Island City

Bring NYCHA To Queens

A copy of the following letter was received by the Gazette.
Ricardo Elías Morales, Chair
New York City Housing Authority
250 Broadway
New York, New York 10007

Dear Chairman Morales:

In his remarks to the Economic Club of New York on Mar. 23, 2009, Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg placed heavy emphasis on the continued responsiveness of city agencies and departments as a critical component of maintaining New York City’s vibrancy during the economic downturn we are struggling through. City government, the mayor insisted, cannot do less simply because we have less, especially since more people need help. I couldn’t agree more- a continued commitment from city agencies will help all New Yorkers get through these turbulent times and will leave us better positioned to quickly capitalize on recovery trends when they finally emerge.

All of which leaves me especially concerned- and confused- to learn that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) no longer has an office in Queens. When I first started getting reports that our Queens neighbors needed to travel to Manhattan for NYCHA appointments and meetings, I thought it was a temporary situation. After all, how could something like that be permanent? New York City has, last time I checked, five boroughs, so it stands to reason that each borough should have at least one NYCHA office.

New York City’s public housing developments are a dynamic part of our urban landscape. They provide homes for a population as varied as the city itself. From city workers to families transitioning out of homeless shelters and from seniors to young families, NYCHA developments house some of New York’s most vulnerable and vital. Dealing with the administrative aspects of being a NYCHA resident should be made easier in trying times, not more difficult. Needing to travel to Manhattan for [a] meeting about an apartment in Queens is inefficient, time-consuming and, to be frank, gives the impression that Queens NYCHA residents are second-class citizens.

I would appreciate your office providing me a work plan detailing what efforts have been made to date to return a fulltime NYCHA office to Queens, a realistic schedule for future work towards that end and a summary of [the] decision-making that has gone into this process. I hope you’ll agree that mine are reasonable requests designed to move us to a reasonable solution for an important problem affecting real people.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from your office soon.
Regards,
Grace Meng
Member of Assembly
22nd District
Flushing

Keep SNEQ

A copy of the following letter was received by the Gazette.
Senator Malcolm A. Smith
Majority Leader
NYS Senate
Capitol, Albany, NY 12247

Re: Elimination of the State of N.Y. Northeast Queens Nature & Historical Preservation Commission [SNEQ] [Part GG – S.59-B; [43]; A. 159-B] Dear Senator Smith,

I am writing to you to ask you to reconsider the elimination of the referenced Commission [SNEQ] and transferring its function to the NYS Department of Parks. I ask you to fund SNEQ’s small budget and staff of one full time and one part time employee for the fiscal year 2009- 2010.

This Commission was established in 1973 to oversee the reasonable use and preservation of the waterfront and wetlands [the second largest in the state] of Northeastern Queens. Its jurisdiction, approximately 1,900 acres and 10 miles of shore[line] includes the wetlands and waters within and [bounding] College Point Shorefront Park, the entire College Point shoreline, Malba, Powells Cove, Beechhurst, Bayside including adjacent lands, Little Neck Bay Park, all of Fort Totten, the shoreline of Little Neck Bay, Alley Pond Park and the wetlands of Udalls Cove. These areas will be continually violated with overdevelopment and illegal use without oversight.

The Commission, in coordination with other NYC agencies, deals with the contaminated brownfields in College Point, the illegal developments in wetland areas and with the waterfront development and others to assure that the public interest is addressed. The Commission works for the benefit of the people of Queens County so that public lands may be preserved, their natural, scenic and historic assets may be maintained and enhanced, their natural beautification may be assured and that maximum feasible public usage and access will occur at all times.

There is no other agency, state or city, that performs these functions.

The elimination of the Commission will create a void that can not be filled by the state Department of Parks without a substantial local staff increase. At present the seven local volunteer Commission members provide their expertise and time to the state to ensure the mission of the Commission and spend countless hours on Commission work in addition to that done by the small 1-1/2 person staff. That will all be lost to the detriment of the hundreds of thousands of residents that live in Northeast Queens and the millions of others in Queens County and the other boroughs that avail themselves of the natural waterfront environment of Northeast Queens.

I ask you to reconsider and keep SNEQ functioning for your many constituents. Respectfully,
Bernard Haber,PE
Chair of the Commission
SNEQ

Hurts Working Class

To The Editor:

The recently announced New York state budget secretly negotiated behind closed doors will adversely affect the working class folks of Glen Oaks Village and the surrounding community. It increases spending well above the rate of inflation and will eliminate the middle class STAR tax rebate.

These rebate checks brought $400,000 into the Glen Oaks Village community. Much of that money was spent in the small mom and pop shops that dot our commercial strips. The state legislature chose to balance the budget on the backs of working class folks, rather than making the tough choices that are needed in a troubled economy.

As an accountant I know that spending beyond one’s means is a recipe for disaster. As a Democratic candidate running for the City Council, I am profoundly disappointed in my party for missing a huge opportunity to make structural reforms and changes that would ensure New York’s long-term fiscal health. Every branch of the legislature is now controlled by Democrats, so the excuse that the "other" party blocked needed reform rings hollow.

There was no pension reform, which today still guarantees some pension deposits a fixed 8.5 percent interest rate, no government consolidation of agencies, no mandate[d] relief for local municipalities and no promise to roll back the soon to be enacted higher personal income tax rates when and if the economy should improve.

To put out a budget that increases spending at seven times the rate of inflation with no structural reforms is just another reason why our political system needs a real overhaul, and that starts with voters at the next election.
Bob Friedrich
President Glen Oaks Village


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