To all Community Boards - Way to Go! - keep on approving those liquor licenses. They really enhance the quality of life in our communities. I believe the greenway bike path offered to some communities is the best offer these Queens residents have had in a long time.
I do not remember Community Boards being concerned about the vandals and unwanted trash before. Has anyone looked at that old LIRR trail lately? Are these Community Boards coming up with a better plan? Something needs to be done.
Besides, isn’t it all of the Civic Organizations that come out and do all the City’s cleaning anyway? Do the Community Boards really care? What do they really do?
Joseph Volkens
Woodhaven
Moveable plate gap solution
Many years ago (maybe 30) the MTA (formerly known as the NYC Transit Authority) had a problem which was similar to the one the LIRR is having with gaps at some of their stations. The gap occurred at the Brooklyn Bridge station on the IRT Line (as it was known then) which curved, leaving a big space between the platform and the train because the train was straight and the station was not.
The solution was to have a moveable plate which automatically closed the space making it safe for passengers. Either the MTA has short memories or the solution has become buried in their files.
While I am picking on the MTA, what happened to the Second Avenue subway which was started a while back? Second Avenue was dug up starting at 125th Street for about 10 or 15 blocks and then filled in. Is the same thing going to happen now?
Sidney J. Rubin
Forest Hills
Editor’s Note: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently signed the first of six construction contracts for the long-awaited Second Avenue subway line. Work will begin on construction of the first 2.3-mile section of the subway, which will run from 96th to 63rd Streets before connecting to existing train service to provide access to the west side and Brooklyn. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held in April. This phase is estimated to cost $3.8 billion.
Find this granny basher
Concerning Rose Morat, the 101-year-old woman, and 85-year-old Solange Elizee, who were mugged and beaten in Queens by this creep, I found it very sad, and my prayers go out to these elderly women. I feel this lowlife has committed a most nefarious, egregious and despicable act upon our elderly and needs to be brought to justice.
It is said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, I say it also takes a village to protect our elderly. So if you see something, say something. Don’t leave our elderly to protect themselves.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Bellerose
‘Rice paddy’ insult
TI attended the meeting of the 109th Precinct Community Council on Wednesday March 14, which was attended by a large community audience. At the beginning of the meeting, a Michael S. Limb was introduced by name only, with no organization title indicated. The ostensible reason for his being here was to present awards to two brave detectives who had captured a perpetrator suspected of having committed a murder in the neighborhood.
Following the presentation, Mr. Limb launched into a summary of what he perceived to have been the condition of Flushing when he arrived in this country twenty years ago. Now I was raised in Flushing and have lived here for over fifty years and I was positively stunned by what Mr. Limb said. He described Flushing as having been a ‘rice paddy’ 20 years ago and attributed the so-called ‘improvements’ to our neighborhood to the arrival of his fellow countrymen. During his recital, the many members of the Asian press who had entered the room after Mr. Limb snapped a series of pictures and their TV cameras recorded his message in its entirety.
I remember when the RKO Keith Theater was still a movie house. That was before Tommy Huang bought the building and destroyed that whole end of town. I remember Jahn’s ice cream parlor, where we would go for refreshments after a show. There was a big department store on Main Street called Masters and the Gertz department store on Roosevelt Avenue. There were women’s clothing shops and many more thriving businesses that made up our neighborhood. We did not have to leave our own business center for any services, because they were all available right here in Flushing.
If I had known that my community would be called a “rice paddy,” I would never have gone to that meeting. I am very pleased with the job the 109th Precinct is doing for us, but I hope I never have to sit through another meeting like the last one, just to be insulted.
Eddie Abrams
Vice President,
Holly Civic Association
Latimer Community Center Advisory Committee
Editor’s Note: Michael S. Limb is the Executive Chair of the Asian American Council of New York. He presented awards to several detectives who apprehended Kendall Walker, 21, in the recent Lunar New Year slaying of restaurant worker Zhang Hong Qui.
