9/11 fi rst responder Luis Alvarez mourned in Astoria
BY MAX PARROTT
Hundreds of people
gathered outside Immaculate
Conception Church in
Astoria on Wednesday for
the funeral of Luis Alvarez,
an NYPD detective and 9/11
first responder.
Alvarez, who died from
complications with colon
cancer on June 29 at age 53,
spent his last years fighting for
9/11 first responders’ funding.
A former marine and bomb
squad detective who searched
for survivors in the aftermath
of 9/11, Alvarez testified
before the House Judiciary
Committee with former “Daily
Show” host Jon Stewart,
urging legislators to restore
the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund, which
is expected to expire by 2020
without renewed funding.
The funeral was attended
politicians and public figures
including Police Commissioner
James O’Neill, Congressman
Peter King and former Daily
Show host Jon Stewart. A
uniformed procession of NYPD
officers as well as firefighters
and state police stretched for
blocks around the church.
“Everything he said was
said for the benefit of other
people. He made a plea that he
had been many places and had
seen many things but he would
have been no other place but
Ground Zero or the Pentagon
or Shanksville. As he said,
we stood up before the world
and said terrorism would
not have its day,” said Father
John Harrington.
Harrington, who served as
Alvarez’s pastor when he was
growing up in East Elmhurst,
spoke on Alvarez’s personal
life, his devotion to the Marine
Corps and Police Department,
and selflessness.
The son of Cuban
immigrants, Alvarez, joined
the NYPD in 1990, where
he served as an undercover
narcotics officer before
switching to the bomb squad.
He is survived by his wife and
three children.
When O’Neill addressed
the parishioners, he made the
political point that no person
who responded on 9/11 “should
ever have to beg our elected
officials to act,” citing the fact
that more than 500 members
Rev. John P. Harrington blesses the casket during the funeral ceremony for Detective Luis Alvarez,
at Immaculate Conception Church, in the Queens borough of New York, Wednesday, July 3, 2019.
Alvarez, 53, who died after a three-year battle with colorectal cancer, fought until his final days for
the extension of the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund. AP Photo/Richard Drew
of the NYPD have contracted
illnesses as a result of
their work.
“Detective First Grade
Luis Alvarez was an authentic
man. He let you know exactly
what he thought,” said O’Neill.
“At the end of the day, Lou just
wanted to do what’s right. And
he wanted others, particularly
those in positions of great
power, to follow suit.”
While the House Judiciary
Committee voted unanimously
to support sick survivors and
extend the VCF until 2090,
the full House is not expected
to vote on the measure
next month.
After Alvarez sent
handwritten note to Senate
Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, the senator
pledged to pass the VCF bill
before August recess.
“Please look deep into
your conscious and realize
it’s the right thing to do and if
you pass it I will die a happy
man,” Alvarez wrote in
his note.
Reach reporter Max
Parrott by email at mparrott@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260-2507.
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