Friday, September 22, 2023
ohtadmin
Migrant And School Crisis
To The Editor:
As everyone knows, the influx of migrants to our city, and the cost local government must pay to ensure their guaranteed living conditions, has put a strain on our city.
OANA’s overriding position is that this is an interstate, not in intrastate issue. Because both international and state borders are being crossed, the federal government has the indisputable authority and responsibility to deal with migrant workers and asylum seekers. They alone have the resources, both financial and diplomatic, to come up with a solution that protects everyone’s rights. And our entire federal system is based upon Washington’s responsibility to deal with any issues that involve international relations and multiple states.
If the federal government continues to shirk that responsibility and tries to dump it on states and cities, then it is rejecting its entire reason for existence.
Therefore, we call upon our federal officials to fully fund our city and state costs to ensure that our responsibilities to migrant and asylum seekers are fully realized.
And most importantly, they need to come up with a holistic program to deal fairly with any immigrants, including guest worker programs and paths to citizenship, fully enforceable by the federal government, that meets clearly stated standards for eventual citizenship, plus our needs to supplement our labor force. The last was in 1986 under President Reagan. This is completely irresponsible of our federal government, putting politics above good government.
OANA feels, however, that while the macro issues that are being thoroughly discussed, such as the right to work, federal responsibilities, and sanctuary city status are all very important, we also need to look at the smaller operational issues that can help in the short term.
To this end, we would like to propose that English classes be set up as soon as possible at the various facilities housing the migrants. These classes should be immersive, can be perhaps eight hours per day just utilizing English. There is no better or quicker way to pick up a basic understanding.
We know the city is hiring more ESL teachers and offering them tenure. The only difference we are proposing is where they hold their classes, and that they be all day long.
We feel that a basic knowledge of English will serve the youth in the shelters, as they will be able to have a better understanding of the curriculum they are taught in our public schools. As a matter of fact, it might be better not to have them enter the school system until they have the necessary language skills. We can instead offer them an immersive English language course at their housing facilities, and in a few months many should have the basic skills needed to truly benefit from our public schools.
These classes should also be offered to adults, so they can develop skills to enter the job market when available and also to help them understand their rights when interacting with our legal system and bureaucracy.
We have been told that many students have being denied entrance to the school of their choice because the migrants/asylum seekers are being prioritized. If this is true, by preparing the students at their housing facilities before entering the student body, our schools will be able to open spots for those deserving students that are now being denied entrance.
Richard Khuzami, President
Old Astoria Neighborhood Association
Billion Dollar Dreams
To The Editor:
It will take more than a “QueensLink Rally At City Hall Park For Transit Equity” (September 13) to advance this project. The rally participants still need to convince Governor Hochul, Senator Schumer, Mayor Adams, MTA Chairman Lieber and LIRR President Renaldi to get on board. The MTA must be convinced to serve as project sponsors. Hochul and Adams need to instruct their respective MTA Board members to request this. The MTA and LIRR are looking at this project along with over twenty other system expansion or enhancement projects for consideration to be added to the MTA’s 2025 – 2044 Twenty Year Capital Needs Plan. Many have similar local project supporters, needs and costs as QueensLink.. The plan was promised by Hochul and Lieber to be released on October 1, 2023. QueensLink is competing against many other projects that also cost billions. These include (1) NYC Transit Manhattan Hell’s Kitchen 10th Avenue station on the #7 Flushing subway line – $1 billion; (2) Extension of the Brooklyn New Lots Ave #3 subway line – billions; (3) Brooklyn/Queens Interborough Express Connector – $5.5 billion; (4) Reactivation of the LIRR Queens Lower Montauk Branch – $2.1 billion; (5) Brooklyn Utica Avenue Subway – $5 to $10 billion depending upon the length and number of stations; (6) Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 to 125th Street – $7.7 billion; (7) Staten Island West Shore $1.5 billion and Staten Island North Shore $600 million Bus Rapid Transit; (8) Port Jefferson LIRR electrification $3.8 billion; (9) Brooklyn W subway line Red Hook extension – $2.9 billion; and (10) Metro-North Stewart Airport Access – billions.
Failure to include the Queens Link transit project in this critical MTA planning document would end any hope of advancement, regardless of finding future funding for any federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Impact Statement. Should the MTA agree to be project sponsors, their next step would be to obtain permission from the Federal Transit Administration to enter this project under the FTA national competitive discretionary Capital Investment Grants (CIG) New Starts Core Capacity Grant program. This is the same program that funded MTA’s $11.6 billion LIRR East Side Access to Grand Central Madison and NYC Transit $4.5 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 1. Financing construction for restoration of passenger service on the old Rockaway Beach branch would require a FTA Full Funding Grant Agreement
FFGA). The tab for construction, be it the QueensLink groups estimated cost of $3 billion or MTA’s estimated cost of $8 billion, would require the MTA providing between 50% to 66% of the local share necessary to leverage the balance of federal dollars. These dollars would have to be programmed under future MTA Five Year Capital Plans. For a project of this size, scope and cost, it averages five years from admission into the FTA CIG program before a transit agency successfully completes the process and obtains federal funding under a FFGA grant. Only then, would you see a shovel in the ground to begin construction of QueensLink. We will soon need destiny for the QueensLink when the MTA 2025 – 2044 Twenty Year Capital Needs Plan is made public.
Larry Penner
Retired Former Director,
Federal Transit Administration
NY Region
Office of Operations and Program Management
Hate Is Poisonous
To The Editor:
When we single out something, someone, or a group and proceed to isolate, reject and show disdain, we jettison ourselves back to the worst chapters in the annals of human history. In a flash, we will find ourselves summoning the energy of scarcity, separateness and hatred. Sadly, it is this collective energy that has created concentration camps, walls, reservations, slavery, prisons, massacres and genocide. However, there is another energy to explore that has the power to rescue us from these extreme interpretations of our shared reality, and it a spirit that simply unifies us to affirm our common need for survival and fair treatment. Change, suffering and the frustrations that may accompany our daily struggles to survive and thrive can produce a longing for answers and relief. However, when we believe that the escape from our pain or suffering can be achieved through inflicting pain and suffering on others by punishing and judging, we only add to our problems. We may also come to realize that hatred is heavy and poisonous to its host.
This week, I went back to a quote that I recalled from Deepak Chopra who said: “There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill…” the rest of the quote could be interpreted in many ways, and it says: “…and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.” This latter part could easily contribute to another old notion that the power to fit in is solely a task for the individual. The thing about ideas is that they welcome different views and ways of finding meaning, so we may see this part of the quote and believe that those who do not readily fit in are in some way out of order, or flawed. We might ask, “Why haven’t they pulled themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps? What’s wrong with them? Why do they need so much extra help to fit in? I take another approach that reminds me that Chopra is describing the original design; and there have been multiple adaptations that have intruded on the notion that one could be unobstructed in their use of free will to find their place in the world, and subsequently, put themselves in it. One way that we have obstructed the progress of individuals fitting in is by declaring some are worthy and others are not. In my mind, his quote translates into the idea that there are no spare or inconsequential parts that are expendable, or here to be sacrificed through neglect, extinction or exclusion. We all matter and we are all here for a reason, even if we ourselves do not readily know it.
An episode of “This Old House” is my positive reference point this week for what we can accomplish together. It showed a diverse group of experts coming together to restore a home and yard of a Black woman in a neighborhood that could use some love and attention. The woman was an elder and someone with enough open-heartedness to want a place for family and neighbors to gather. The skilled tradespeople and community volunteers all came to add their support for this endeavor. The team restored her home and yard as if they themselves would live and recreate there. For this act of generosity and kindness, they got to stand with her at the end of the project as she declared her gratitude for their service which helped to create a valued place for her and her community. It reminded me, too, of a barn raising enactment that I saw many years ago during a visit to a rural part of Pennsylvania where such things were quite common. This show allowed me to know that the spirit of unity is indeed alive and well. It allows me to imagine that you can probably recall your own example of charity, kindness and generosity delivered by those who care.
As I hear the accounts of what is happening as school begins and migrant children are added to the throng of students heading into school rooms, I can only hope that they do not absorb the hateful rhetoric that surrounds them. If we look back to our own stories, we may recall how we were treated or saw family members treated. If we separate ourselves into a more privileged group and negate any element of similarity, we can easily free ourselves from any sense of obligation to these young children. Over time, we may forget the familiar phrase that children are the future, or attempt to adopt a partial view that edits this to read: “some children are the future.” When I have gone to the New York Historical Society, I have observed the photographic records of immigrant school children being checked for head lice and other possible conditions, a situation that a dear friend of mine also recalled as part of her origin story, having arrived from Italy to Mulberry Street in the 1940’s. Being checked at school in this way made her feel different. In my story, I recall the shame that came from a note my mother sent to my teacher as she wrote: “Sharon was absent because I had to carry her to the doctor.” My mother was raised in the South, and I am certain that her reference to carrying me to the doctor might have seemed unfamiliar to the teacher, but to me it felt like I was being mocked when she made a comment. I felt different because of those few words and how they were highlighted. All these years later, I recall this, just as my friend remembered how it felt to be checked for head lice and other issues regarding her hygiene, as though the underlying message was that she was unclean, and in the instance of my mother’s note, that there was something wrong with how my mother expressed herself. In both cases, there was nothing inherently wrong about what was done, but the unintended consequence is something that influenced two young children.
There are reasons for everything that we do. Problems need solutions and errors by leaders, and those in positions of authority, can create victims and targets for hatred, discrimination and bias. I read a recent headline that the Mayor’s “latest proposed 15% budget cuts overstate fiscal strain of migrant crisis.” When I saw this, I considered that the Mayor might actually be trying to get off the hook for his poor choices about receiving more migrants than our sanctuary city could reasonably accommodate. Rather than addressing an error in judgment with directness, we may be looking at subterfuge and a veiled attempt to shift the blame to the vulnerable migrant population, equating their arrival with budget cuts. Rather than taking on the homelessness issue with comprehensive plans and community engagement, the people of the city are seeing the problem compounded over the decades of mayoral terms of office. The potential for adding to this strain caused by homelessness on the people of this city, is understandably creating strong feelings that are being inflamed by the addition of migrants and asylum seekers. We, likewise, have seen the erosion of affordable housing stock and the concurrent increase in luxury housing. We have seen the increases in the cost of health care, and the increases in out-of-pocket costs and deductibles. Rather than seeing tax relief and stabilization in city services, people are seeing their tax dollars used to patch up holes in the budget. Folks are understandably angry and looking for someone to blame. Many want to lament rising gas prices without taking on the task of mobilizing to move in the direction of solutions that reduce dependence on fossil fuel. Maybe there are many to blame, but if we take the bait that has us fighting each other as those who dwell in this metropolis, the real architects of this misery get off scot free. If this analysis of the Mayor’s budget miscalculation and wrongful connection to migrants is correct, it shows how efforts can not only misrepresent problems and solutions, it can serve to malign specific groups. Equating budget cuts with funding migrants fuels the heated brewing dissatisfaction with the newest group of “crabs in the barrel” of city politics. As we all struggle to make our way out of the barrel, we are fighting it out, seeing each other as enemies, rivals and opponents, maiming and maligning each other in the process. In a silent corner of this picture are those who are rich enough to pay more of their fair share, but don’t because they are not compelled to do so. In all fairness, there are those who voluntarily share their wealth, but I suspect that there are far more who continue to get a ride on the backs of the average taxpaying public. There is an established history of initiating “newcomers” with maltreatment that assigns the worst jobs and living conditions. I doubt if we will reverse this, however, we might want to consider what the picture would look like if we were able to work together to solve the problems that confront us all like affordability in housing for homeowners and apartment dwellers alike, fair wages and working conditions, health care for a healthy nation of people living a decent quality of life, and actions that foster a broad inclusive commitment to safe communities, peace, freedom, as well as prioritizing the environment and solutions for its challenges. Climate change may have the last word and those of us who relish our superior rank, may one day find ourselves knocking at the door of another country for shelter after an episode of extreme weather or environmental devastation and its aftermath. No matter how distasteful it is to even imagine, this is the sobering reality that confronts us all.
I was recently blessed to have the opportunity to go to see the “Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” film with my extended family. It uplifted us up and showed us how family endures, and how traditional beliefs can even change to embrace deeper levels of love and connection. [Spoiler Alert:] The film’s depiction of a marriage between a Greek young man in the family to a young woman who was a Syrian refugee in Greece, sent a powerful message to me. It echoed in my heart although I am sure it could have also prompted disdain for this union. My hope is that we may grow in our collective understanding that we are better together. When we separate to “other” those who are different, we shrink our capacity for love and, instead, plant seeds that unfortunately can easily grow into hate.
Dr. Sharon M. Cadiz
Long Island City
Chaos
To The Editor:
As the date approaches for a possible government shutdown, one thing is for certain – if this should occur, the country will be in very serious trouble. With all of the problems our country continues to face, shutting down the government would be a political and economic disaster! Why can’t the politicians in Washington D.C. ever work cohesively to avoid such potential problems? Democrats and Republicans need to get their act together, and to stop the constant political infighting that continues to cause such instability in Congress. America is still the best country in the world, and the American people are strong and resilient. Congress needs to do its job, and do it right!
As leaders from the member countries of the United Nations prepare to meet here in New York City for their annual meetings, will they be able to accomplish anything substantial? With simmering conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the continued war between Russia and Ukraine, rising tensions that some Asian nations are having with China, as well as North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear saber rattling, there is quite a lot on the agenda for the U.N. to discuss and deal with this year. The U.N. was founded in 1945 for the purpose of working together to promote peace and stability and to also reduce the threat of another global conflict. Now, world peace and stability are more precarious than ever before, given all that is currently going on. All of the leaders of the member nations must really work hard to find common ground, for the sake of all humankind. The Doomsday Clock’s hands have been moved ever closer to midnight. The world must work hard to reverse those clock hands now!
The recently announced mandate from Mayor Adams that every city agency must initiate a five percent cut in their budgets by this coming November because of the ensuing fiscal strain being placed on the city due to the influx of illegal migrants is totally ridiculous! Why should the people of this city have to have less in the way of necessary city services because of all of these migrants streaming into the city? Why aren’t the state and federal governments intervening in this crisis? Why haven’t our two state senators done anything to help with this as well? Where are they – hiding in their basements like sleepy Joe Biden? New Yorkers need to make their voices heard regarding this latest charade that the mayor is pulling. He was the very person who said originally that migrants would be welcome to come to live in our city. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth closed!
The announcement by Nancy Pelosi that she will be running again in 2024 is nothing short of a major disaster film. She is 83 years old, and the American people have had enough of her political shenanigans for all of the years that she served as Speaker of the House. That is why there must be mandatory term limits for all members of Congress. Our politicians in Washington,
D.C. seem to think that once they are elected, they have the position forever. Not so, and this has to change immediately. If Pelosi wins in 2024, it’s all downhill in the House, as well as the Senate. She has a very arrogant attitude, and thinks that her word is the final word. Not so, Mrs. Pelosi.
Vice President Kamala Harris has said that she would be ready to take over the responsibilities as president should Joe Biden decide to not finish out his current term. This country is already in a political tailspin, as well as facing severe economic issues, racial polarization, the continuing surge of illegal migrants, as well as an uptick in Covid cases, not to mention the continued dangerous international situation with regard to the continuing war in Ukraine. If Harris were to assume the presidency, all semblance of normalcy as we now know it, would come to an abrupt, screeching halt. As the so-called border person, appointed by Biden, she has done absolutely nothing to resolve this continuing serious problem, with the borders being overrun by thousands of illegal migrants. How could she even begin to know how to run this country as our president? This country would be plunged into such civil unrest, that our democracy could be on the verge of political Armaggedon. Call in the Wizard of Oz and Glinda. They could run the country better than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris!
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
Fire Biden
To The Editor:
It has come to my attention that President Biden spends 40% of his time on vacation, more than previous presidents. My question is: who’s watching the store? I have been working for Northeast Plumbing in Mineola for 44 years and am 74 years old, and only take vacation that has been prescribed by company policy. The exception is sick leave. If I took more time I would not have a job. To be president of the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, demands a president’s full attention. There have been many problems like wars and issues and disasters in our country and around the world that President Biden is faced with. This demands President Biden be at work at least 80% on the job. So, why has he not been fired?
Frederick Robert Bedell Jr.
Bellerose
Get Flu & Covid Shots
To The Editor:
I am so proud of the 9/11 memorial and the ceremonies that were held and may the memory of all of those who died at the terrorists’ hands be for a blessing. We do not forget and we remember and protect our homeland.
I am glad that the President and Governor will help already-strapped NYC with the migrant crisis. However we need cash on the barrel head, so to speak.
It is important that all of us six months and older get the Covid vaccine, since there is an uptick in cases. In addition we must take precautions. It is important to realize that the flu shot is important too and we do not want a triple pandemic of disease. Masks must be worn again. This is a first time that our Governor will give a Covid report. I remember our past governor, Cuomo, giving his noontime report on TV every day during the dark days of the pandemic.
I am glad that Spectrum and Disney restored ESPN and ABC7; settling differences is important.
Again more and more people are dying of related diseases from being at the WTC site and rubble. I urge everyone be aware of the Zadroga Act.
The US is short of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.
It is ridiculous to have an inquiry for Biden for impeachment. There must be unification in our nation.
I wish all the Jewish readers a sweet, happy, healthy New Year of 5784, and may all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good, healthy year. Also it is a year of beginnings so all be blessed.
I believe that holidays must be taught in school and they should not be a day off for children, since day care is difficult to find.
Cynthia Groopman
Little Neck
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