By Barbara Morris
One of life’s greatest prizes is to be able to live in a nice community that has convenient transportation and shopping, local houses of worship and schools, easy access to recreation, and above all, safety provided by the Police and Fire Departments — and neighbors who respect and are respectable themselves.
The vast majority of the people living in southeast Queens respect others and are respectable themselves. They are the folks we like to live near us, like to meet and greet, and hope they will stay here for a long time. They have been our past winners, and we want them to continue to claim that title. We hope, in fact, to welcome each and every one who wants to live in southeast Queens into the winner’s circle.
However (I’ll bet you guessed there would be a however), loud, obstreperous events — parties or otherwise — preclude those responsible for even a trial entry. Be warned, too, that an after-the-fact apology just doesn’t cut the mustard either.
Once the zero tolerance rule has been broken, especially if injury, death or property damage has resulted, the possibility of even attempting to get a toe in the winner’s circle is very remote. Of course, if the lesson has been well-learned, all the good guys and gals here would rejoice at hearing you made it into the winner’s circle at your next location.
Remember, the most valuable thing anyone can have is a good name and reputation. It is understandable that everyone cannot know everything. Laws change constantly and that is why communication is so very important. Announcements have been made in newspapers (including this one), on radio, on TV and at civic and other meetings that the vast majority of people want to live in peace and harmony.
Laws have been made, and updated to keep up with technology, to protect that right and to confiscate equipment that enables owners or renters who choose to violate those laws. Communities in southeast Queens stand staunchly with law enforcement and we will only support legislators who are willing to do so as well.
We have had our fill of noise and crime and we want to help those who want to help us. We hope you are willing. If you hear of a proposed party, call 311 with as much information as you can supply on date, time, location, and type of party. Do the same if you discover a loud or nasty party already under way.
Do not be afraid to call. Be afraid not to call. You might be preventing some kind of tragedy.
Local civic associations and law enforcement will be more than happy to tell violators that complaints have come from many sectors of the communities they serve, demanding that these events so out-of-character with our communities be stopped. We feel we should also mention that in the past there have been occasions in which neighbors became so incensed at the lack of respect for our laws by others that they got permits and demonstrated against the offenders. We are certainly not advocating such a process. It is time-consuming and not pleasant for anyone.
We hope such demonstrations are a thing of the past. There are those, however, who still remember that they were effective.
Recently in some areas of southeast Queens, some people have made mistakes — serious mistakes. Some (particularly in Rosedale), were inexcusable.
A contingent of citizens — white and black Americans and Caribbeans — recently met with officers of the 105th Precinct, including former Deputy Inspector Thomas Manzolillo, to support their officers and those of the 103rd and 113th precincts who had to respond to an out-of-hand situation that had supposedly started out as a party. There were injuries, summonses and arrests — all of the latter two items very deserved.
Events like that have, in the past, caused some of the good people in southeast Queens to move. Some are threatening to do so again. We don’t want them to move. We hope we can convince them to stay and we hope everyone else will help us do that.
