The thoughts and prayers of the TimesLedger Newspapers family are with the Haitian Americans living in Queens who are devastated by the tragedy in their homeland. We can only imagine what it must be like not to know if family members are dead, alive or maimed or if the homes they grew up in are still standing.
But in these dark days we are moved by the response coming from around the world. The U.S. government is sending a massive amount of aid, including water, food and medical supplies, at least 2,000 Marines, doctors and nurses.
Within hours of the tragedy, the city was gearing up for its own response headed by the Office of Emergency Management. By last Thursday, 80 members of the NYPD and the FDNY were on their way to Haiti.
Last weekend 40 Haitian physicians from Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island headed to Haiti onboard a jet loaned by Forest Hills-based airline JetBlue. The plane also carried food, clothing and water donated by the office of City Councilman James Sanders.
The response in the city and throughout the nation and the world has been incredible. The people of Haiti will someday know the world was with them at their hour of need.
Outsiders Need Not Apply
The club has spoken. The leaders of the Democratic Party have made it clear they do not want anybody challenging U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. A year ago nobody in the Queens Democratic clubhouse knew who she was; now they cannot live without her.
Gillibrand, a former congresswoman representing Albany, was handpicked by Gov. David Paterson for the Senate seat after former U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton was chosen as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state last year.
Among the party elite, only state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has said he might support Harold Ford Jr., a former Tennessee congressman, if he decides to challenge Gillibrand.
There is nothing the New York Democratic Party hates more than a primary — even if the person currently holding the powerful Senate seat is regarded as little more than an empty pants suit.
