WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 25, 2017 13 EXPLORING THE QUEENSWAY’S DOWNSIDE It is quite disturbing to read the fl uff y public relations articles fed to local Queens newspapers. Want to really engage your readers with some original content? Do a background search on how many years this QueensWay idea has been fl oated and shot down. Speak to all the homeowners who have backyards butting up to the proposed walkway. What about all the access streets that will now see an infl ux of up to a million visitors a year? This is not added quality of life for those who live here. We don’t have to walk past deserted areas to reach Trader Joe’s and Forest Park. Our streets are quiet, and easy to bike along. Granted, many points along the way can use playgrounds and learning centers — I see the value of those developments. Improve the spots that need it. A leafy private 3.5-mile walkway invites more mischief than not. For example, the paths within Forest Park do provide cover for unsavory encounters. What kind of security will the Parks Department provide? Frankly, if you scratch the surface, this whole idea is feeding Real Estate development. I fear the lovely sketches of bleachers and food vendors that will overrun a nice, quiet neighborhood. Pearl Gartner, Queens CHANGE PRIORITIES TO FIX CITY’S RAILS It will also take more money and change in priorities for "Railroad fi x would ease Queens commuters’ pain" (Editorial — May 18). Governor Andrew Cuomo should come up with the outstanding balance of $5.8 billion that he still owes toward the $8.3 billion shortfall to fully fund the $29 billion 2015 - 2019 Metropolitan Transportation Authority Five Year Capital Plan. He promised this money two years ago. Cuomo should also restore $3 billion cut from the same original proposed $32 billion plan in 2015 that he referred to as bloated and unnecessary. To this day, Cuomo never explained which specific projects and programs deserved to be cut. Stop wasting millions of dollars on transportation feasibility studies for future system expansion projects costing billions that will never happen on our lifetime. Do not initiate any new system expansion projects until the MTA and each operating agency, including New York City Transit bus and subway, MTA bus, Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Railroad have reached a state of good repair for existing fl eet, stations, signals, track, power, yards and shops. Ensure that maintenance programs for all MTA operating agencies assets are fully funded and completed on time to ensure riders reliable service. Larry Penner, Great Neck OP-ED In defense of reform BY ASSEMBLYMAN DAVID WEPRIN Twenty weeks ago, I was appointed by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to serve as the Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on Correction. Upon my selection, I made a point to learn as much as I could about the 63 county jails and 54 state prisons across New York. I’ve visited prisons and jails across the state, including Rikers Island, twice. There are problems in each of these facilities, as there is no way to perfect incarceration. However, over the past decade or so the problems at one of these facilities, Rikers Island, has persisted. In recent weeks, it appears as if the situation at Rikers has reached a tipping point with reports of slashings, prison violence and abuse. Then, early in May, we found out that Commissioner Joseph Ponte will be retiring as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections. The loss of Commissioner Ponte is a loss for the City of New York. Before coming to New York to take on one of our city’s toughest tasks, Ponte served for almost 50 years in prisons and jails in seven diff erent states. In New York, Mr. Ponte faced his largest challenge yet. The Rikers Island complex still houses a population of 10,000 inmates and managed over a thousand court transfers each day. In the months preceding Mr. Ponte’s appointment, two inmates with mental illness died at Rikers Island and the complex had earned a reputation for being dangerous. Over Ponte’s tenure and with the support of Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Department of Corrections achieved a lower average length of stay and a decrease in serious injuries. Under the Commissioner’s leadership, New York became the fi rst major jail system to end solitary confi nement for inmates under the age of 22. The department increased educational and vocational programming, tripled the number of surveillance cameras (with plans to add thousands more by the end of 2017); and is actively looking for ways to reduce the occurrence of contraband and jail violence. Although inmate fi ghts, stabbings and slashings have risen in the past two years, the Department of Corrections has seen an astounding increase in the number of contraband weapons found in jail facilities. New ceramic weapons, designed to evade detection by metal detectors, are being brought into the facility from the outside. The Department and City have sought to address these problems by purchasing body scanning equipment that would be able to detect ceramic weapons. However, barred from using the technology due to legal restrictions in the public health law, the city has been waiting for clearance from Albany. One of my bills would resolve that problem by providing permission for the Department of Corrections to use scanners. I am confi dent that as a city united we can make New York’s correctional facilities safer for inmates, correctional offi cers and civilian employees. I am also hopeful that our city will not dismiss Ponte’s eff orts as we move forward to improving the conditions at Rikers Island and other city jails. Assemblyman David Weprin represents the 24th Assembly District of New York, located in Queens. He has served as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Correction since January 2017. LETTERS AND COMMENTS A LOOK BACK As we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend, we should take a moment to pause in honor of those who gave their lives in service to our country. This week we present a photo of a wreath-laying ceremony in 2009 that the St. Margaret Catholic War Veterans held at the Middle Village Veterans Triangle. The monument pays homage to fallen soldiers from World War I through the Iraq and Afghanistan confl ict. If you have a historic image of Queens to share with us, send it by email to [email protected], or mail printed pictures to A Look Back, ℅ The Queens Courier, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be carefully returned to you.
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