We agree. However the road to citizenship is often…
In a speech last month, US Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) said, “Queens County is the Ellis Island of the United States. One of the greatest things we make in Queens is great American citizens.”
We agree. However the road to citizenship is often not straight and can be full of potholes. While Queens is proud of its immigrant roots, it is sometimes intolerant of the newest wave of immigrants. Latino leaders say the police in the 108th Precinct have been targeting the Latino day workers in Jackson Heights. The leaders say the day workers have been the objects of a carefully orchestrated ticket blitz.
The precinct denies that there has been any blitz. They say the tickets were given out when the workers blocked pedestrian traffic or loitered in residential areas. The day workers deserve the community's respect. Many of these men send nearly all of the money they make to their families living in poverty in Mexico or Central America. Regardless of how they got here, their work ethic should be admired.
But there are limits to our empathy. We agree with the mayor that the right to vote should not be extended to non-citizens. Voting is a right of citizenship. It should be reserved for those who have demonstrated their commitment to this country by becoming citizens.
The solution is to make the process of becoming a citizen more equitable. The solution is not to let anyone vote just because he or she is passing through.
An age of awe
Forty years ago the eyes of the world were on Flushing Meadows. Those lucky enough to have visited the 1964-65 World ’s Fair shared in an unforgettable experience, one that to this day has never been duplicated.
In a special section in last week’s paper, the Times Ledger took a nostalgic look back at the World's Fair. The fair took place during a period of dramatic change in America. It was the dawn of the space age when the opportunities of the future looked boundless. Satellites and color television were shrinking our world. Disney reminded us that was indeed “a small world after all.”
It was also a time when the nation was shaken to the core by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the bitter struggles of the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and the emerging anti-war movement.
But when visitors stepped off the No. 7 Train and passed through the gates, they put aside the controversies of the day and dreamed for a moment about a future filled with high-speed travel, picture phones and mind-bending technology. It didn’t matter that the fair was not sanctioned by the Bureau of International Expositions or that countries such as France and Germany did not officially participate. That was their loss.
The nation’s industrial giants, such as G.E. and General Motors, gave us a glimpse of what the future might be like and a ride to the past. The animatronics that we take for granted today were introduced at this World's Fair – Lincoln talked and dinosaurs raised their mighty heads and roared.
For Queens this was a moment of glory and a moment of awe. It happened because people of vision triumphed over those who said a second World's Fair in Queens wasn’t practical.
Forty years later remnants of the World's Fair still stand in Flushing Meadows. The Unisphere with its fountains is still a work of remarkable beauty and still speaks of the optimism and international spirit that made this fair an unforgettable experience.
As we prepare – hopefully – to host the 2012 Olympics, we hope the leaders of Queens will be as visionary as those who planned the greatest World's Fair the world has ever seen.
