Letter: Alarming

Published 12:15 am Saturday, June 29, 2024

By Staff Reports

With the wonderful weather we are finally experiencing, I have been exploring my hometown and visiting neighborhoods on foot. The lack of awareness and respect for pedestrians at marked crosswalks I have experienced the past few days is alarming.

Yesterday, while crossing Seventh Street at Niagara Avenue (across from the Peter Pan Market) a driver didn’t even bother to slow down, just a few feet from me, as she headed north on Seventh turning east onto Niagara.

Earlier this week, as I was crossing Lief Erikson Drive at 37th Street (by Astoria Coffee Roasters), a westbound car blew past me, even as yellow crosswalk signals were flashing! A subsequent westbound car then moved partially into the center turn lane to go past me.

I always assume that drivers don’t see me, so I try make eye contact prior to crossing a street. (In car versus pedestrian accidents, cars are basically undefeated). My experiences this past week have made me even more cautious.

To all, please be on the lookout for your neighbors/pedestrians, and respect their right of way at crosswalks.

SCOTT FERGUSON

Astoria

To the proprietors of the businesses in Astoria who use an ethnic slur in your business names, I’d love to invite you to reconsider your choice.

Every year our community receives visitors from all over the world. Many come from parts of the world where the Romani people are marginalized, criminalized and dispossessed. “Gypsy,” while conjuring whimsy and magic for some, is the slur used to diminish and write off the humanity of a whole group of people across Europe, Africa and the Middle East — a group targeted in the Holocaust, derided and excluded to this day.

This is not about being “offensive.” It’s about refusing to carry the water for bigotry and oppression in a global society — even if you may never meet a victim of these pernicious stories. I invite you to lean into the creative opportunity to find new names, and maybe even to put up a little sign in your window explaining the change.

Respect, kindness and goodwill are better foundations for your brand than bigotry or ignorance.

ANGUS MAGUIRE

Astoria

Marketplace

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