Your editorial, published in The Queens Courier on May 8 (“Stay On Point”), mischaracterizes the Willets Point area, and downplays the legitimate concerns of elected officials and the public pertaining to the proposed redevelopment.
You wrote that Willets Point is “ostensibly a garbage dump.” In fact, over 1,500 hard-working people are employed by approximately 250 vibrant businesses in Willets Point, many of which have been operating there for generations, some in buildings erected by their founders.
The “dump” conditions exist ONLY in the streets, which are the city’s responsibility, but thankfully do not reach inside the businesses.
For example, on any given day, you will find Feinstein Ironworks custom manufacturing the enormous steel beams that become high-rise buildings; Fodera Foods shipping its baking ingredients by the truckloads; House of Spices producing unique foods that it distributes across the United States and abroad; Bono Sawdust recycling woodworking byproducts into floor sweeping compound; Crown Container dispatching its trucks 24 hours a day; and Tully Construction managing very large infrastructure of engineering projects.
And of course, there are also the numerous automotive repair shops that the public most closely associates with Willets Point. Their expert, professional mechanical services are in very high demand by wise drivers of every description and income level.
Not even the notorious, cratered streets can keep the customers away.
Your editorial continued: “We are sure that CB 7 will approve the project that would transform this black hole, this blight on the face of Queens, which has been growing increasingly worse decade by decade…”
Neither you nor anyone else can possibly know at this time how Community Board 7 will vote. Second, that Willets Point is thought of as a “blight on the face of Queens, which has been growing increasingly worse decade by decade” is a direct consequence of the City of New York withholding basic infrastructure and services from the area for years, despite receiving millions of property tax dollars from the occupants. Had the city provided the infrastructure and services all along, there would be no alleged “blight” in Willets Point today.
Finally, your summary of the seven-month approval process for the proposed redevelopment glaringly neglects to mention that all of the votes concerning the project will occur long before a developer is even selected or identified publicly. It is already evident that both Community Board 7 and the City Council resent such a blatant attempt by the city to circumvent their input and authority.
Robert LoScalzo
Whitestone
Editor’s Note: We stand by our editorial.
Seeking hit and run driver
On May 13 around 2:30 p.m., I was involved in an accident that was caused by another person. The accident took place on Centerville Street and Rockaway Boulevard. I was sideswiped, a pedestrian was injured, and the person who caused the accident never stopped and sped off, passing a red light in the process. This type of behavior seems to be becoming more commonplace these days, as people do not feel the need to bear responsibility for the havoc they cause. The perpetrator was driving a dark gold or silver/gray Nissan Pathfinder with a license plate starting with BML. If there were any witnesses to this accident, please I ask you to contact me at fperri73@gmail.com. If anyone knows the driver of this vehicle, please urge him to come forward and do the right thing. Thank you.
Frank Perri
Ozone Park
We will always have ‘Judge Judy’
Even with a dozen syndicated courtroom shows already on the air, former District Attorney Jeanine Pirro has decided to join the lineup with a show of her own. The competition is fierce but “Judge Judy” leads the pack in ratings and has attracted more viewers than Oprah.
One TV pundit credits Judge Judy’s success to its game show element where somebody wins and somebody loses; another suggests it’s the voyeuristic aspect that appeals to viewers’ darker side. Pirro claims viewers watch court shows to learn something. All of the above may be true but it is Judge Judy’s inimitable merciless outbursts of moral indignation directed at those who cheat, defraud and lie that make me cheer.
There is no moral relativism or ambiguity when Judge Judy admonishes a deadbeat dad to face his responsibility and “go find a job” or advises a pregnant unwed mother of five to “find something else to do in her spare time.”
Much of today’s TV entertainment consists of amoral characters living in a world where there is no good or bad only different. It is not surprising that viewers respond positively to a show where “old fashioned values” still matter; where “good” trumps “bad,” where liars, cheaters and frauds are unmasked, where the guilty face justice and even pay a fine.
These were the elements of the TV programs of yesteryear where truth, justice and the American way were secured by the likes of Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Perry Mason, Superman, etc.
We no longer have the Lone Ranger but we do have Judge Judy.
Ed Konecnik
Flushing
Thanks to a stranger
On my way to the Post Office to mail a Mother’s Day card to my Godmother I lost the card. I wish to thank the anonymous Good Samaritan who found the card and put it into the mail. He or she made Mother’s Day more special this year.
Aldona Savicunas
Forest Hills
National identity
A country, i.e. national identity, is defined by its borders, language and culture. In a recent debate, the Democratic presidential candidates repudiated the elements which constitute our national identity.
In spite of the havoc on our southern border caused by drug smugglers, illegal alien transporters, and lack of personnel to control the unfenced border, neither candidate is committed to closing the border by building a non-porous fence or barrier to prevent illegal crossings.
Both candidates offer amnesty to over 12 million illegals already within our borders along with a path to citizenship and all the benefits that come with that privilege. All that and more is promised to those who broke the law and crossed our “border” illegally.
Both candidates voted against legislating English as our official language but hope that English would remain an important part of our daily lives.
My concern is if we have a nation with no borders inundated with countless illegal aliens who speak no English and a country with no official language where the rest of us must hope to be lucky enough to find someone with whom we can communicate, what have we become? Who are we? Are we losing our identity? Or have we already lost it.
Ed Konecnik
Flushing
Letters To The Editor
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