reif Archives - Page 2 of 2

Hochul panders

webadmin on September 1, 2021

Dear Editor,
Governor Kathy Hochul promised us a clean break from Albany’s disgraceful past upon taking office in August.
But she broke that vow by immediately urging a speed up in payments to illegal immigrants under the state’s $2.1 billion Excluded Workers Fund program passed by the legislature in April. It provides $15,600 to low earning undocumented immigrants who claim to have lost a job or suffered a 50 percent drop in earnings because of the COVID pandemic.
They are entitled to this money even if they worked off the books and paid no taxes. Moderate Democrats on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley and upstate opposed the measure, but progressives called them “racist” and rammed it through the legislative process.
State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs chided progressives by noting that it’s not racist to question a program that gives “undocumented, non-taxpaying, off-the-books workers a humanitarian grant.”
Lawmakers passed the bill to benefit illegal immigrants who were excluded from the Trump and Biden
administrations’ COVID stimulus programs because they are in our nation illegally. Why can’t New York’s political leaders follow Washington’s example?
Blatant vote grabbing is one reason. Hochul plans to run for governor next year and needs left-wing voters to win her party’s primary election. Many of them live in New York City, where two-thirds of the 200,000 illegal immigrants eligible for COVID benefits reside and have relatives who vote.
I don’t know which NYC legislators voted for this measure, but those who did should be rejected by voters when they face re-election next year. They betrayed their taxpaying constituents and must be held accountable for it.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

Kim exposes Cuomo

webadmin on August 25, 2021

Dear Editor,
Assemblyman Ron Kim of Queens is blowing the whistle on $88 million in state contracts awarded to a politically connected public relations firm.
Kim urged State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to investigate “ludicrous” state contracts given to Kivvit, a PR firm run by former Andrew Cuomo communications staffers Josh Vlasto and Rich Bamberger.
While both managing directors left Kivvit in August, the firm’s current managing partner, Maggie Moran, was Cuomo’s 2018 campaign director. The Post said Kivvit’s contracts were not subject to regular “pre-audit” procedures.
Taxpayers need to know if Kivvit get those contracts via competitive bidding or on a no-bid basis, and if our $88 million was responsibly spent.
For example, what precisely are the “strategic planning & media buying” services that cost SUNY $10 million? Could that money have been used for student financial aid instead?
Kim deserves praise for exposing this scandal, and legislators in Albany must join him in pressing for a probe. They should urge Governor Kathy Hochul to cancel Kivvit’s contracts if they were obtained via illegal or unethical practices.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

End the draft

webadmin on August 12, 2021

Dear Editor,
As a veteran drafted to serve in Vietnam (Air Force, 1964-68), I agree that women and men should not have to register with Selective Service for a possible wartime draft.
But men are now required to so, even though no American has been drafted for nearly 50 years. After U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, President Richard Nixon converted our military to an all-volunteer force, ending the draft.
President Jimmy Carter restored Selective Service registration in 1980 for all U.S. male citizens between the ages of 18 and 26 after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Proponents of registration say it may be necessary if war breaks out, but we’ve fought several wars over the past four decades, including a 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.
Implementing a draft would force the military to drastically lower physical and mental standards in order to fill its enlarged ranks.
The Selective Service system also costs taxpayers $24.4 million a year to run. Ending it will not only save money, but also eliminate an unfair and unequal burden on our nation’s young people.
The draft was unfair because because of two conflicting elements in its structure. It was created by the Universal Military Training Act, but administered by the Selective Service system.
It was universal during World War II when 10 million Americans were inducted. But the draft became more selective during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Many college students were granted deferments for as long as they could stay in school, while men in key professions got occupational exemptions.
This placed the burden of military service on poor and disadvantaged people, while those of wealth and privilege largely avoided conscription.
Selective Service is a relic of that painful past. Let’s end it completely for everyone.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

Sore winner

webadmin on July 20, 2021

Dear Editor,
Donovan Richards’ crude tweet after his apparent primary election victory makes him a sore winner. By insulting opponent Elizabeth Crowley, he played the race card and dealt it from the bottom
of the deck.
Richards attacked Crowley partly because she opposes defunding the police, a measure that he supports. Like many woke warriors, he views public safety efforts as racist, even though most violent crime victims are people of color.
Richards owes an apology to Crowley and all Queens residents, even those who voted for him. We deserve a class act, not a crass act, in Borough Hall.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

Board of Rejections

webadmin on July 14, 2021

Dear Editor,
Regarding your July 8th opinion piece, “The embarrassing Board of Elections,”
the vote-counting error shows why it should be called the Board of Rejections.
I fought a seven-year battle with the BOE to reopen the P.S. 164 polling site in Kew Gardens Hills for the 2019 Queens D.A. primary election. It has become even more dysfunctional since then.
Under state law, the BOE’s full-time staffers are chosen by Republican and Democrat party leaders in each of state’s 62 counties. That makes it a patronage pit for
political hacks instead of a professional outfit.
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic of Queens and State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan proposed bills to reform the BOE and rid it of all political influence. That may require amending the state constitution and will likely face fierce resistance from bosses of both parties.
All legislators in Albany must back the reform measures. Those who refuse do not
deserve our votes when they face re-election in 2022.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

Ditch the mandate

webadmin on May 19, 2021

Dear Editor,
I’m proud to be among the more than one million Queens residents who got COVID shots this year, but why must I still wear a mask? And why should reluctant New Yorkers get vaccinated if they still must wear masks after being jabbed?
If the government wants to boost vaccination rates, it should eliminate mask mandates for people who can show proof of vaccination.
The White House should launch an ad campaign with the slogan “Get
jabbed in your arm to get rid of the mask on your face.”
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

Master chef

webadmin on May 4, 2021

Dear Editor,
Regarding Frederick Bedell’s recent Dispatch about Bernie Madoff, he feels sad for all the retirees who trusted Bernie Madoff with their life savings. But whose fault is that?
They fell for the world’s greatest chef who cooked the books for $65 billion. Madoff concocted a
deceitful dish that enticed some the biggest bold-faced names, such as director Steven Spielberg, Nobel Prize winner Elie Weisel and former Mets owner Fred Wilpon, plus thousands of smaller investors.
How could they all be foolish enough to entrust Madoff with their money?
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills

End the silence

webadmin on April 27, 2021

Dear Editor,
As a Kew Gardens Hills resident & former member of the 107th Police Precinct Community Council, I was shocked & saddened over the suicide of Commander Denis Mullaney on April 5.
At age 44, he left behind a wife, young son and a 20-year career of dedication to
public safety. We’ll never know what drove him to this desperate act, but Father Joseph Ponti told mourners at St. Mel’s Catholic Church in Flushing that “people are fragile, they break.”
What was Deputy Inspector Mullaney’s breaking point? The 107th Precinct, which he headed since September, has one of the city’s lowest crime rates, with auto theft as its top problem.
The 107th’s total crime rate dropped substantially under his command. But police in New York City and nationwide face pressure from rising violent crime and anti-cop
crusaders.
More than 30 cops across the U.S. killed themselves during the first three months of 2021.
Mullaney was going through a divorce from his wife, also a cop, which may have
been a catalyst.
But the NYPD’s blue wall of silence regarding mental illness might be another factor. Cops fear losing their badges if they seek therapy or psychiatric help.
As a Chicago wire service reporter in the early 1960s, I saw the pressures facing police. Even a mundane incident like a family quarrel could suddenly explode into violence.
But the pressures today are much greater. Cops deal with heavily armed criminals and felon-friendly lawmakers who want to empty prisons and slash police budgets.
Like all of us, cops are human and sometimes make tragic mistakes. They must be held accountable when that happens, but this doesn’t justify a blanket condemnation of the entire law enforcement profession.
Cops risk their lives daily to protect us and preserve the quality of life in our neighborhoods. They deserve our support.
Sincerely,
Richard Reif
Kew Gardens Hills