Jackson Heights Life

Excellent condition full-size futon and pinewood frame.  Free for pickup, weekends best.

I love Fuchsia Dunlop's books. Both Land of Plenty (for Sichuan recipes) and The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (for Hunan specialties) are fantastic and superbly researched.

For Indian food, I recommend Madhur Jaffrey's books. She has many to chose from and recipes are focused on the home cook and have clear explanations and descriptions.

NY1 did a follow up on Hiram Monserrate's silence. http://www.ny1.com/Content/Top_Stories/100243/monserrate-silent-on-gay-m
arriage-bill/Default.aspx. 

It is deeply concerning, as many of you have already indicated, that he has chosen to stay silent on THE major civil rights issue of our times. Gaining concessions for deals is typical in politics but it is cowardly to do so when it comes to issues of equality, liberty and human rights.

I urge us all to contact his office here in the district or in Albany regarding this. No matter what we think his staff knows or what we think he will do, we need to have our voices heard and our opinions counted. The addresses, phone numbers and email address are below. 
District Office:
32-37 Junction Blvd.
East Elmhurst, New York  11369
Tel:  (718) 205-3881
Fax:  (718) 205-4145

Albany Office:
944 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Tel:  (518) 455-2529   
Fax:  (518) 426-6909
Email: monserra@senate.state.ny.us

In addition, here is sample letter that Empire State Pride Agenda has on their
website (http://www.prideagenda.org/tabid/70/Default.aspx):

Sample Letter to Your Legislator on Marriage
[Date]

The Honorable [Legislator's full name]
Legislative Office Building, Room

Albany, New York [12247 for Senate, 12248 for Assembly]

Dear [Senator/Assemblymember Last Name]:

I am a constituent in [city, town or village] in [name of county]
County.  I am writing to ask for your support of legislation allowing
same sex couples to marry.  I hope that you will become a co-sponsor of
this legislation, advocate with your colleagues to do the same, and
approach the legislative leader in your chamber to bring this important
issue to a vote.

Marriage bestows 1,138 federal and over 500 New York rights and
responsibilities to couples entering into it.  These literally
life-and-death protections are denied to same-sex couples and their
children because they are denied the opportunity to marry.  The state
protections or marriage include medical decision making authority,
inheritance rights, immunity from having to testify against a spouse in
court, access to Family Court for orders of protection from domestic
violence, divorce and the ability to adopt children as a couple.  Many
of these protections can only be achieved through marriage and not by
any legal document a couple may try to create to protect themselves.

[Insert a personal story or example of why marriage equality is
important to you.  For example, you might start with something like, "I
am afraid that in a time of crisis my family will not be cared for and
supported the way other families are," and then give a specific example
of how your family is left vulnerable without marriage.]

I urge you as my elected representative to support marriage equality so
that all loving New York families can be protected equally by their
government.  I will be watching throughout the year to see how you vote
and advocate on this issue that means so much to me and my family.

Sincerely,
[Your Signature]

We sent in a letter to the editor at Times. Here is our text:


To the Editor:

Adam Ellick found our Queens neighborhood to be “exotic” and “impenetrable” (In Queens: A Melting Pot, and a Closed Book, Published: January 2nd, 2009).  Rather than attributing his difficulty in building local relationships to inhospitable ethnic populations laboring and living in Jackson Heights, he would be wise to consider another explanation. Perhaps our neighbors simply found his attitude, assumptions about their immigration status and incessant search for “colorful” anecdotes voyeuristic and disturbing.