QUEENS CHRONICLE, Thursday, November 30, 2023 Page 10
C M SQ page 10 Y K
P Discipline needed after riot EDITORIAL
“T
here are some people calling for us to suspend 500 students,” city Schools Chancellor David Banks said Monday. “We are not going to do that.” Why not? Banks was speaking about the anti-Semitic riot that broke out at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Nov. 20 after students discovered that one of their teachers, who is Jewish, posted on Facebook a photo of herself at a rally with a sign saying that she stands with Israel. Of course she stands with Israel in its war against the terrorists of Hamas. Not only is she Jewish, she is civilized, and all civilized people should oppose the massacres launched against Israel Oct. 7 — the stabbings of babies, the burnings of homes, the machine-gunning of concert-goers, the raping and maiming too. But there’s a sizable pro-Palestinian segment among our young people, and hundreds ran rampant at Hillcrest. Mayor Adams responded with words like “We are better than this” — apparently we’re not — while teachers union boss Michael Mulgrew cited the need for “a safe environment.”
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No kidding. That’s why every student who got out of control should be suspended, whether its 200, 300, 500 or more. Not just the ringleaders — they should be expelled and never allowed back into the building. But Banks isn’t telling us what administrators are doing to discipline the rioting students so much as what they’re not doing. “Violence, hate and disorder have no place in our schools,” he said. Blah, blah, OK. Neither do consequences these days. But they’re the chief answer. So, whether it’s the Jewish students at Cooper Union or a Jewish teacher in Queens, we have people who never threatened anyone but have been forced to hunker down as out-of-control youth, fueled by TikTok, anger, hormones and misinformation, rage against some machine they don’t understand. They claim there’s a genocide against a people whose population has increased fivefold in 60 years. There isn’t. They claim anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism; this incident again proves them wrong. Sorry, folks, but we need more good oldfashioned teaching and discipline in our schools.
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Saving Latimer, UCC Dear Editor: As a member of “The Committee to Save Latimer House,” I applaud your recent article “celebrating a Renaissance man” (“The Lewis Latimer House Museum,” 45th Annual Anniversary Edition: Cool Spots, Nov. 16). In fact, when the committee was formed the wrecking ball date, Aug. 15, 1988, had already been decreed. On Aug. 9, 1988, then-Borough President Claire Shulman (a member of the committee) and then-City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin announced an agreement to use $25,000 from an impact fund, established when the Port Authority’s lease for LaGuardia Airport was extended. That special fund had been set aside for the benefit of Queens residents and what a top-shelf earmark it has become! The vital allocation was merged with funds raised by civic groups to save the Latimer House, now a city landmark. On a slightly snowy Tuesday morning, Dec. 13, 1988, on a flatbed truck the Latimer House traveled north on Kissena Boulevard, arriving by 1 p.m. at Leavitt Field. As part of the Queens Memory Project (Queens College and Queens Library), enter “Lewis Latimer” in a keyword search, and one can retrieve all digitized archival materials (digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org). There you will find images and reflections I © Copyright 2023 by MARK I PUBLICATIONS, INC. All rights reserved. Neither this newspaper nor any part thereof may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, recording or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the publishers. This copyright is extended to the design and text created for advertisements. Reproduction of said advertisement or any part thereof without the express written permission of MARK I PUBLICATIONS, INC. is strictly prohibited. This publication will not be responsiblefor errors in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Bylined articles represent the sole opinion of the writer and are not necessarily in accordance with the views of the QUEENS CHRONICLE. This Publication reserves the right to limit or refuse advertising it deems objectionable. The Queens Chronicle is published weekly by Mark I Publications, Inc. at a subscription rate of $19 per year and out of state, $25 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid (USPS0013-572) at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mark I Publications, Inc., 71-19 80th St., Suite 8-201, Glendale, NY 11385.
Compromise in Corona
W
e’re glad to see a fair compromise reached on the vendor situation in Corona Plaza, where 14 sellers, all with the required permits, will be allowed into a space that had gotten out of control. Ten will be food vendors and the rest will sell goods. That should allow the community to again enjoy the plaza without being so jammed in, and for brick-and-mortar businesses to better compete. The vendors will be regulated and supervised by a quasi-government organization. Taxes should be collected, making for a more level playing field with storefront businesses that pay their share already, not to mention rent. The vendors can only be there Wednesdays through Sundays,
E DITOR
contributed when I visited — on the 175th Arrival Anniversary of Lewis H. Latimer (Sept. 4, 1849) — the now shuttered (2022) Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church, located at the southwest corner of 149th Street and Ash Avenue. Mr. Latimer was a founding UUC member in 1908, and was active until his transition (Dec. 11, 1928). Time to save another crucial part of the landmarked tapestry that makes Queens County the “World’s Borough” at #LatimerLightLives. Frances E. Scanlon Flushing
More caring for caregivers Dear Editor: I was in complete agreement with Roberta Morris’ letter “Care for caregivers,” Nov. 23. As a “super ager” myself, I may need a live-in caregiver when I can no longer live indepen-
giving the city a chance to keep the space reasonably clean and residents a chance to fully enjoy it two days a week. The deal is not quite enough for some, like Borough President Donovan Richards, who sided with unlicensed vendors en masse against the laws of the city he was elected to serve. But that’s what compromise is. He can rest assured many of the unpermitted former vendors will find other work off the books. We hope this pattern gets repeated: that when laws are broken they get enforced, that when compromise among stakeholders is possible it gets made, and that ongoing oversight ensures it all works out well going forward.
dently. So far, I am able to drive and live at home. Assisted living facilities are far beyond most of our means. Distance to others in the family, costs and demanding jobs, rule out caregiving. I will gladly contact Assemblyman Ed Braunstein and state Sen. Toby Stavisky to increase funding for this vital program. I urge your readers to do so also. Barbara K. Brumberg Howard Beach
No cuts to cops and fire Dear Editor: (An open letter to City Councilmember Linda Lee) You have just recently been reelected to the City Council. As two New Yorkers, born and bred here, we appeal to you as our representative in the City Council to voice strong opposition to
