Exactly how the state Vehicle and Traffic Law applies to parking lots continues to evolve. Though many are privately owned, people can’t just do as they please. Try driving drunk in one and see what the cops think of that. They, and the courts, will probably tell you that the law applies to parking lots open to the public much like it does to roads.

But apparently it does not in every respect, which is why the state Legislature passed a bill this session specifically saying police must be allowed to enforce the law against reckless driving in parking lots. We urge Gov. Hochul to sign the legislation.

If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.

SPORTS BEAT

Major League Baseball’s expansion of wildcard berths has changed the calculus for many teams when it comes to how they will manage the July 30t trade deadline. There are far more buyers than there are sellers of talent. Six weeks ago, Mets Pr…

The MTA public hearing on the Queens Network Bus Redesign, set for July 24, must be postponed until 2025 for the following reasons:July is vacation time.

EDITORIAL

Jewish people in Kew Gardens Hills should be able to go to synagogue without fear of being harassed or attacked on the street. That’s it. End of story. No ifs, ands or buts.Not only are they right to do so, it is their right to do so. And the…

I am surprised the blacksmiths union didn’t prevent the auto industry from using horsepower to measure a car’s unit of power as an infringement on their stock in trade (“How slow can you go?” Letters, July 11).It must have been quite stressfu…

I would like to praise Rep. Grace Meng for her involvement in getting the United States Postal Service to implement measures to combat mail theft. As reported, Meng announced that the USPS will implement recommendations from a federal investi…

March 12, 2024 marked the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Jack Kerouac (“Beat icon Kerouac was the Wizard of Ozone Park,” I Have Often Walked, by Ron Marzlock, July 11). It made me reread one of his best writings, “On The Road.” His works r…

In observing the events of the previous months, we have seen President Biden call MAGA supporters domestic terrorists and extremists; at the same time, he was soft on the pro-Hamas protesters, only saying that he did not want their votes. Mea…

First let me say that the assassination attempt on former President Trump was a disgusting occurrence, a horrible act that left an innocent Trump supporter dead and others injured.Having said that, Republican news outlets immediately blamed D…

Project 2025 is a Christianity-based, Conservative manifesto that will dramatically affect how we are governed and the way we live. When “Mein Kampf” was published in 1925, the world largely ignored that manifesto. Let’s not make the same mis…

To enact a 20-mph speed limit is insane (“Lower speed limits soon,” Editorial, July 4). Twenty-five mph isn’t a driving speed, it’s a rolling speed, and the cameras make drivers feel like we’re being watched by a stalker.Many bikes, especiall…

SPORTS BEAT

Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil was the 2022 National League batting champion. Judging from fan reaction and his stats since then, those heady days for McNeil feel like a decade ago, and not just two years removed.Theories for his drop-off in…

EDITORIAL
  • Updated

It was only three weeks ago, in our 27th Annual Celebration of Queens: On the Cutting Edge special edition, that we had an article marveling at the amazing volume and type of data the city provides everyone, online, for free. It was just one …

Your excellent editorial regarding the city’s ludicrous decision to lower the speed limit to 20 and 10 mph in places reminded me of an even more ludicrous decision made by some illustrious legislators.In the late ’70s or early ’80s Forbes mag…

EDITORIAL

The two teenage boys were standing in water only knee-deep, the reports said. How dangerous could it be? And yet it was deadly. A wave hit and they were swept away, never to be seen alive again. Their names were Elyjah Chandler and Christian …

Re Naelsha Rose’s July 4 report “E-scooters in Eastern section of Queens” (multiple editions):I agree with Councilman Jim Gennaro’s statement, “E-scooters have no place in our community.” Neither do e-bikes, because both pose a hazard to pede…

The national holiday of “7/11” is here. It is predicted that thousands of people will make their annual pilgrimages to 7-Eleven stores to participate in the ritual free Slurpee. Young and old, black, white and other, Christian, Muslim and Jew…

As I read your July 4 editorial “America: still great at 248” I was thinking about an article I saw the very same morning in the New York Post on page 19. The title was “July 4 Punks Fry The Flag.” (Online it was “Disgraceful America-hating a…

Democracy has never come cheap.By comparison, review the books of any totalitarian government apparatus.

In the June 27th debate, Donald Trump used a strategy called “The Gish Gallop” to undermine President Biden’s performance. In a short space of time, the galloper confronts an opponent with a rapid series of arguments, half-truths, misrepresen…

American voters should be aware ... if they vote “Mr. 34” president in November, they will give him majority control of our Supreme Court.He appointed three justices in his first term as president. If he has a second term, he may have the rig…

OPINION

New York City was built on the backs of working-class New Yorkers; people like my mother, Dorothy Mae Adams, a single mother who worked multiple jobs to support my five siblings and myself. She sacrificed everything for us, and I know that th…

Oh, the irony. UFT President Michael Mulgrew suddenly drops his plan to force retirees into a Medicare Advantage program, then criticizing Mayor Adams for pursuing it. If you know the history, it was Mulgrew himself who initiated this scheme.…

SPORTS BEAT

The Mets’ comeback to respectability in June was a happy story few saw coming. The Mets were 11 games under .500 in late May. After a rough series against the Dodgers at Citi Field, the team held a players meeting, and that sparked them. Yes,…

EDITORIAL

“Turn your car off, please. Do you know why I pulled you over?”“No, officer.”

OPINION

With summer break underway, Queens parents are enjoying having their kids at home but may be wondering how to keep them entertained and ensure that they maintain the academic gains they made this past academic year.You’ve all probably heard o…

EDITORIAL

They can take Thomas Jefferson’s statue out of City Hall, but they can’t take his immortal words out of our nation’s soul.“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal,…

The NYC Planning Commission under Chair Dan Garodnick and Mayor Eric Adams have put forth a very unpopular proposal called the “City of Yes” Housing Opportunity. It is even worse than the Economic Opportunity part that recently passed the Cit…

Re “Mays began, ended storied career in NY,” June 20, and “I remember Willie Mays,” Letters, June 27:

According to the Congressional Budget Office, our current $34.866 trillion national debt will soon grow to $2.9 trillion annually, reaching $56 trillion by 2034. Today’s tab averages $103,471 per citizen or $266,952 per taxpayer. (Source: Jun…

Nancy Pelosi is alleged to have said that in her district a glass of water could be elected if there was a D in front of it. Apparently, the Democrats are testing out this theory by giving us Joe Biden as their presidential candidate.

Michael Bloomberg has stated that he regards Trump to be an existential menace, yet he continues to support President Biden, despite the fact that the latter is clearly cognitively impaired and rates low in current public opinion polls. There…

President Joe Biden’s poor performance in the first debate with Donald Trump has prompted many Democrats to consider replacing him with a younger candidate. The debate reinforced Trump’s two major advantages over Joe Biden, namely, that Trump…

SPORTS BEAT

Regular listeners to WFAN’s afternoon drivetime show, “Evan & Tiki,” know Evan Roberts is an obsessive Mets fan, and his on-air partner, former Giants running back Tiki Barber, has fun with that.Roberts, now 40, has followed the Flushing …

I read your editorial on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity (“City of Yes rezone: too much,” June 13), and it couldn’t be more divorced from reality if it tried. I could go piecemeal through it, but I wanted to point out the most fundame…

EDITORIAL

Asked what he thinks of the plans for new dedicated bus lanes along Hillside Avenue, state Sen. Leroy Comrie cut right to the chase.“The city seems determined to destroy our small businesses,” the veteran lawmaker told the Chronicle Tuesday. …

The New Hamilton Beach Civic Association has written a letter expressing our strong opposition to the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” initiative. While we understand and appreciate the need for increased housing opportunities in our cit…

Michael Gannon’s June 20 report “Mays began, ended storied career in NY” evoked powerful childhood memories. I saw Willie Mays play at the Polo Grounds during the early 1950s when I was in junior high school. His skills, speed and power blew …

Crackpot Shakespeare Theorist and humorist Jim Haines laments to the Chronicle “looking at 60 years old” and realizing he could never play Hamlet. “I’ve aged out of it. But still have strong opinions about how Hamlet should be played” (“The b…

In his letter of June 20, “Policies impede traffic,” Larry Penner highlights just a few of the reasons for increased traffic congestion, among them the elimination of 1,400 miles of traffic lanes and lower speed limits (especially on the form…

I’ve had this idea for over 20 years. If we could have people leave their jobs in 15-minute intervals during both morning and evening rush hour, you would dramatically cut down on bumper-to-bumper traffic, gridlock and the bottleneck effect.F…

I would like to respond to Sarah Kaplan’s obviously uninformed statement in the article “Do Jewish Queens residents feel safe?” from June 20: “... I don’t think most pro-Palestinians want to see Jews dead …” Yes, many do. They chant, “From th…

I am impressed and thank the Chronicle so much for your articles about anti-Semitism and for being pro-Israel and for the Jewish people. That is refreshing.I am so elated that you published Rabbi Pearl’s comments about anti-Semitism in your a…

SPORTS BEAT

The Mets returned to Citi Field from London last week after splitting a pair of weekend games with the Philadelphia Phillies. I spoke with some of the players to get their recollections of their time across the pond.Jet lag was, not surprisin…

Re “Bye, bye, congestion pricing,” Editorial, June 13:“Thirteen dollars and 88 cents a car round trip? Who are you kidding?” asked no Queens newspaper ever with respect to the RFK, Whitestone or Throgs Neck bridge toll.

EDITORIAL

Technology is moving so quickly today that at Kennedy Airport, those managing the New Terminal One project hold off on placing major orders until the last minute to ensure they get the most up-to-date products. They want to be certain that up…

We, all 51 members of the City Council, urge you to renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. ACP provides essential financial assistance for high-speed internet access, and is crucial to closing the digital divide. High-speed in…

Last month, the U.S. House Agriculture Committee advanced a version of the Farm Bill that hurts animals, undermines state sovereignty, and ignores the will of the electorate. The Committee-approved bill contains a slew of problematic language…

Big Apple traffic congestion is a citywide issue that has grown, impacting local, limited-stop, select and express bus service operations.Consider the connection between the reduction in traffic speed and its relationship to the corresponding…