July 26–August 1, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 3
Fact: Poor planning or no planning will hurt your loved ones
RSVP for a FREE seminar to learn about:
Elder Law Trusts & Estates Law Estate Planning
Tues. July 30th Wed. July 31st Thurs. August 1st
11AM, 3PM, 7PM
Bay Ridge
The Greenhouse Cafe
7717 Third Avenue
11AM, 3PM
Downtown Brooklyn
New York Marriot
333 Adams Street
11AM, 3PM, 7PM
Sheepshead Bay
Buckley’s
2926 Avenue S.
RSVP: (718) 238-6500
WE’LL HELP YOU MAKE SMARTER DECISIONS THAT
Protect YOUR assets from the Government & Nursing Homes
Spare loved ones from the difficulties of probate
Apply for Home Care benefits
Can’t make it? Call for a FREE consultation with a lawyer
at any of our five offices: (718) 238-6500
Middle Village
79-43 Metropolitan Ave.
Staten Island
1250 Hylan Blvd.
Tune in on Saturdays:
8:00a: AM 570 The Mission
6:00p: AM 970 The Answer
Tune in on Sundays:
11:00a: AM 970 The Answer
Brooklyn
7408 h Ave.
Manhaan
110 E 59th St.
Bayside
200-20 Northern Blvd.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT: Connors and Sullivan Attorneys-At-Law PLLC: 7408 5th Avenue Ste. 2 Brooklyn NY 11209
‘We owe it to them’
Locals demand Downtown WWII memorial reopen
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
The city must reopen a
long-shuttered World War II
memorial in Cadman Plaza
Park Downtown, a veteran of
the conflict demanded.
The granite and limestone
Brooklyn War Memorial is
dedicated to the more than
300,000 Brooklynites who
fought in the war and contains
an inner chamber where
the names of 11,500 Kings
County heroes who perished
in European and Pacific theaters
are etched in tribute.
There’s only one problem
with the grand memorial —
part of the building has been
closed to the general public for
decades, and Brooklyn residents
deserve access to the hallowed
space, according to Marine
Parker Jack Vanasco.
“We got a lot of guys we
grew up with that we used to
play ball with that are up on
that wall,” said Vanasco, 92,
who served alongside his three
brothers as an army corporal
in the Pacific from 1939
to 1947. “People don’t have
to go to Washington to see
the names, they’re here in
Brooklyn.”
The memorial was built
in 1951 under the auspices
of then-Parks Commissioner
Robert Moses. The
city’s so-called “power broker”
planned to construct similar
monuments in each of the
five boroughs, but only the
Tillary Street structure was
ever built, according to the
city agency .
The building’s interior was
once used for a wide variety of
functions, including veteran and
community meetings, school
graduations, art shows, and
dance performances until the
early 1990s, when the city was
forced to close the memorial —
which lacks handicapped accessibility
features — sometime
after the federal Adults
with Disabilities Act was signed
into law, according to Toba Potosky,
president of the Cadman
Park Conservancy.
Potosky has worked for
years with Vanasco and his
93-year-old brother, Navy
Photo by Kevin Duggan
Photo by Steve Solomonson
Jack Vanasco
World War II veteran
Jack Vanasco (left) has
fought for years to get
the World War II memorial
Downtown to reopen
to the public. (Above)
The Vanasco brothers
Terry, Roy, Joe, and Jack
all served in World War II
from 1939-47.
veteran Roy Vanasco, and
with Brooklyn Parks Commissioner
Martin Maher —
himself a Gulf War veteran
— to bring the war memorial
back to life, including possibly
turning it into an educational
space , the New York Post reported
back in 2012.
The chamber currently holds
a collection of various kiosks
with information on conflicts
that have seen U.S. involvement,
from the American Revolution
to the War in Afghanistan, and
also has a Civil War-era cannon
— none of which appear
to have a Brooklyn-specific
connection.
However, Parks officials
will not consider reopening
the shrine until after they’ve
built wheelchair-accessible
ramps and — more substantially
— an elevator, according
to a spokeswoman, who said
the project has been plagued
by delays since it was announced
in March 2017 .
“The World War II Memorial
at Cadman Plaza is
currently undergoing capital
improvements to make it
more inviting and accessible,”
said Anessa Hodgson. “This
is among the first steps we are
taking as we explore options
to activate this space and make
it open to the public.”
The $5.5 million accessibility
project was slated to
begin construction this past
spring, but has been pushed
back to some time in the coming
months, with Hodgson
claiming the city had some
trouble with an elevator manufacturer.
“The ADA ramp and elevator
construction project was
delayed in the design phase
as we worked on coordinating
with the elevator manufacturer,”
she said. “This
project has completed procurement
and we anticipate
starting construction in the
coming months.”
The end of WWII will have
its 75th anniversary next year
and Potosky said that people
from the borough and beyond
should have a chance to use
the space to commemorate the
many Kings Countians who
helped win the conflict.
As it is, only family members
of the Brooklyn heroes
whose names are etched into
the memorial are allowed into
the inner chamber, according
to Hodgson, who advised relatives
to contact the agency’s
Brooklyn borough office at
(718) 965-8900 to schedule
a visit, where they’ll be accompanied
by a Parks staff
member.
This is more than great rates
This is more savings for wherever you’re going.
Platinum Savings Account 2.00%
"
$ %&! #
'
#'! ()
$
*&+,,,!
!!
(
$*&+,,, ! %
Guaranteed Fixed-Rate CD 2.10%
"
$
-.! #!'
#'! (
)
$*&+,,,&
Enroll in a branch by August 30, 2019.
/
'0
Ask about our business savings rates.
We’re on the radio!
‘Ask the Lawyer
with Mike Connors’
www.askthelawyer.nyc
www.connorsandsullivan.com
Portfolio by Wells Fargo !
"
# 3
1.
!"#!$#%!&'!$#(!#%!&')* * ) +, -
/02345676+8) 89
&+'$:;) 9<) =%>!!!
=%>!!!) ) +?6@
A ) B4C*6++ D ; ) *# <+) ;<
%+!!:+) 9 ))
)
&%
+E
&%) =%>!!!
) 9 )) 89
+
!>#(%!&'
89
045676
=!+!& !+!>:;!+!>:<F
23
=!+!&='''''+'' !+!>:;!+!>:<
=&!!!!!
!+&!:;!+&!:<+3 G )) +8 ) ) +
+H))
&%) )
I89))+J ) =%>+
=&%))
=(>!! +4 +8 - +B4
)
=& +%+ IF)* *) + ;<
)!"#!$#%!&'!$#(!#%!&'
=%>!!!
B4+?6@
A ) B4C*6++ D ; ) *# <+ 4B
+ )
+8 ) +
02 /4&%;(K>< ) I ;
<+4
&% ) I+
)
) +) 9))
02+ ) 02
K
02-) 9
C* L +&+%+2 ))**)
+B4
+J )
=%>!!!
) +8
*
) )
) L +,/M0 ) +M9))
+(+
B4)=(!
/=%>!!!
**) ;* 024280I 89<=>!!!!
** *; B4 550< ; &!:
<+8
B4 )
) C*AI))
+4
)+8
B4 ) *B4
0* B4 0* * )+
N%!&'B4C*6++ +2) )B4C*6++J4280+
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.askthelawyer.nyc
/www.connorsandsullivan.com
/www.BrooklynPaper.com
/www.askthelawyer.nyc
/www.connorsandsullivan.com