Telling it like it is

Dear Editor (Queens Chronicle):

In response to Cristina Tiliakos’ letter to the editor (the Queens Chronicle, Jan. 24) — thank you for your honesty in telling it like it is. I too live in Ozone Park, and the denigration to the quality of life here in just the past few years is disgusting. Our schools are insanely overcrowded, and our neighborhoods have become little more than third word bazaars. Like you, I once enjoyed the quiet, tree lined streets where everyone knew each other, had respect for their neighbors and their neighbor’s property, and obeyed the law. Now, we are subject to loud parties, weddings that go on for days on end in private homes and yards, cars that are little more than boom-boxes on wheels, and homes meant for no more than two families turned into warrens of cubicles with mattresses on the floors.

Don’t be fooled by the new facades, wrought iron fences, fancy doors and windows and porticos on the outside of the homes, inside they are nothing more than illegal multi-person boarding houses. People complain about how overcrowded the schools are; gee, I wonder why? Check into where the money gets spent in the schools and see facilities that provide education in a multitude of languages. Do you think that doesn’t cost anything?

It is time to put the brakes on the insane immigration policy and the time could not be riper. At the end of the year we will go to the polls to elect a new president — look carefully at the immigration policies of the candidates and remember them when you cast your vote. Controlled immigration along with assimilation made this country great. I am the grandson of immigrants, as are so many of my fellow Americans. However, uncontrolled immigration that encourages people to isolate themselves in their own cultures and literally creates little nations within a nation is an absurd policy that is costly and dangerous.

The same politicians who “embrace” the illegal immigrants are the ones whose children go to private schools and live in upscale communities where the laws are actually enforced. My suggestion is that come Election Day, we throw out all the incumbents in Congress and start fresh — same with the president. If you hardly recognize your neighborhood now, in 20 years you won’t recognize this country.

Steve Rychlenski
Ozone Park