By Eric Wolf Schoen
I happen to like the theater in London. So it’s no surprise that the queen has been preparing for her funeral for so many years and what we are witnessing is like a Broadway show. Should we have what’s going on in the UK when one of our leaders die? Though there certainly have been differences in the Royal family it’s nice to see everyone come together to salute a 96 year old woman who though she has limited and more ceremonial powers means so much to her people and the world.
Would I stand on a line for 30 hours to pay my respects? Some may stay for days to personally view the grand mum. I think I would be happy watching the Queen’s casket pass by on the street and get a glimpse of the vehicle set with glass with her body in it covered by the flags of the lands she represents.
A funny story about my first visit to London and the English countryside. I was on a tour and we kept passing homes with ‘Thatched Roofs.’ It was the time when Margaret Thatcher was prime Minister, so I thought the ‘thatched’ roofs had something to do with Prime Minister Thatcher. I told the tour guide and she laughed telling me thatched roofs had nothing to do with Margaret Thatcher. They are a style of construction in the U.K.
Let’s hope the wonderful Relationship between the U.K. and the United States continues to prosper under King Charles.
I was glad to see that the death of the Queen did not overshadow the 9-11 ceremonies at least in the New York Metropolitan area. My 9-11 story is so vivid in my mind that it needs repeating again. It seems like only yesterday that I was coming out of a Chamber of Commerce Breakfast at the Regency Extended Care when a colleague of mine yelled out that a plane hit the World Trade Center. We ran back to the office not knowing what was going to happen to the 26,000 children and staff. The word quickly got around, and we at the end of the day set into gear a dismissal with a location to bring children whose parents didn’t pick them up to a central location.
Fortunately, parents and relatives picked up the students and we did not have to use the emergency facility, loaded with cots and food and staff to take care of the kids whose parents didn’t pick them up. At the same time I was coordinating this operation with other administrators I was frantically trying to contact my sister who though far from the World Trade on 74th street had to figure out a way home walking to Grand Central Station and catching Metro-North, the only thing running from Manhattan to Yonkers.
After a long day I got home, my sister got home, and it hit me what had happened when I woke up in tears that next morning. I got to the office, and then Superintendent of Schools Joe Farmer complimented me on what I had done.
Let’s never forget what happened on September 11, 2001 and make sure we teach the horrors of that day to our children and their children. May it never ever happen again.
Speaking of education, let’s hope that the Board of Regents this week made sure that students who go to private religious schools get the same education as students in public schools. The New York Times ran an article discussing the disparities between the education students are getting in public schools and the education students are getting in private schools. This while the state is paying for a basic sound education. It is terrible the money, our tax dollars that are being spend on religious education for some students who are not getting the education their peers get in Public Schools that would lead them in productive lives. Many of these students end up illiterate.
What floored me is that the State Education Department doesn’t know how many private and religious schools there are in New York State. In Yiddish this is called a ‘shanda’ or disgrace. If the state can’t get a count the number of private and religious schools out there the administrators in charge need to find other work.
Horrible story of the mother who drowned her 3 kids in the waters of Coney Island. The woman clearly needed psychiatric care, and we will soon learn if she requested it and got it. Always a reminder that Help is available, and if you don’t know the 988 number just dial 911. There is a lot going on in the world between Covid, Monkeypox, the economy and the fragile state of affairs of the nation. Fortunately our government has resources but you have to get to them and know about them to take advantage of them.
And you can be a good neighbor by helping those you see in need get the resources they may not know about. Sadly we all know someone, and we don’t want what happened in Coney Island to happen to them.
It’s about time that the Thruway Authority crack down on toll invaders by suspending their licenses and registrations. People like us who pay our way have to subsidize those who don’t. It just isn’t fair, it’s been going on for years and hopefully some cars will get booted until their owners pay their fair share. The tolls are too damn high to begin with.
Glad to see there are some rational people out there fighting this absurd congestion pricing. People are not coming into New York City and working from home now. New York wants people to come back to work in the city. If they have to pay $26 they will work from home. That $26 hurts the car driver and the guy in the sandwich shop where he works and would pick up lunch.
Columbia University, that magical institution drops in ranking because they incorrectly reported data. Parents spending $100’s of thousands of dollars to send their kids to a school that can’t do math.
The Democratic Party in New York sends out Absentee ballots with Covid 19 circled as an excuse for needing the absentee ballot.
If people can’t circle a reason why they need an absentee ballot on the form requesting one, should they be allowed to fill out the form? Let’s be fair here. I can understand if they need help. The Board of Elections Can certainly help them, as can their friends. Food for thought!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen on the Westchester Rising Radio Show alternating Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, WVOX.com click listen or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
