FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com january 3, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 Indicted former park administrator dies BY TERENCE M. CULLEN [email protected] Estelle Cooper, the long- time administrator of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park who was alleged to have stolen $50,000 from an organization she established, died on Saturday, December 29. She was a 82. Cooper, who was accused of taking money from her conser- vatory group, Unisphere Inc., oversaw the borough’s largest park for nearly two decades before stepping down in January Fire marshal remembered 2011. -In 2003, she helped estabTHE COURIER/Photo by Mike DiBartolomeo AS A HERO were not accounted for when Flushing Meadows.-lish Unisphere Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization that worked onsprucing up and restoring thepark. It was through this organization that Cooper was accusedof misspending funds — mainlythrough ATM withdrawals that BY MELISSA CHAN he used to pick her up and hug her,” said were done. a barrier-breaker,” he said, “Wethe conservancy’s 2010 taxes“While we mourn the loss of [email protected] Helena Barsky, who lived next door to Rumors that Cooper would also celebrate the life of a dedi- McHale. “He helped out the neighbor in the be indicted for wrongful spend- cated public servant and hope The FDNY fire marshal who died of a next house. She had somebody robbing her ing started swarming in June that Estelle’s 50-year legacy to heart attack in his car Christmas Eve was house, and he chased down the robbers and of 2012. These were confirmed civic service offers an example remembered by friends and family as a fear- got them caught.” when she was arraigned on to young people around the less hero. McHale served the FDNY for 23 years and Tuesday, July 17 at the Queens world that hard work can truly Martin “Woody” McHale, 50, was behind was a member of the department’s football Supreme Court. She was charged make dreams come true. We ask the wheel of his gray Chevy Silverado on team. He became a fire marshal in 1999, the with second- and third-degree that you share in understanding December 24 when he suffered a heart FDNY said, and earned the Commissioner counts of grand larceny, and if and kindly respect our privacy, attack around 6:40 p.m. and crashed into Martin Scott Medal in 2007. convicted, she could have faced as we continue through one of a tree less than 200 feet from his Hollis Longtime friend Steven Molinari said up to 15 years in prison. She was the hardest moments our family Hills home, police and the Queens Medical McHale constantly ran towards danger, on due back in court in February. will face.” Examiner’s office said. and off-duty, when others would bolt the Despite the charges and alle- The Parks Department issued The off-duty officer was later pronounced other way. He also showed his valor in small gations in the last few months a statement that expressed sor- dead at North Shore University Hospital. acts of kindness, Molinari said, like helping of her life, Cooper will also be row for Cooper’s passing and “He was a wonderful person. You couldn’t people in wheelchairs get home safely. remembered for her dedication sent its condolences to her meet anyone better,” said his cousin, Brian McHale’s compassion and bravery led to to the park she oversaw since family. McHale. “He had a heart of gold.” Molinari naming his West Village bar after the 1990s. “The Parks Department was Neighbors and friends said it was McHale’s the hero, while he was alive. Mike Balsamo, speaking for saddened to hear of Estelle natural instinct to help others, even on his “That’s who he was. Just over and over all of Cooper’s family, said the Cooper’s passing,” the statement days off. He was a hero in the city and on the again, these were the types of things he did. late park administrator would read. “We extend our deepest quiet Queens block where he lived with his He went out of his way to help people,” be missed and remembered for sympathies to her family during three-year-old twin boys, they said. Molinari said. “He was a hero even in the the years of service she gave to this difficult time.” “My daughter used to run up to him and small things he did.” Pols call for safety after second subway shove death BY BILLY RENNISON undergoing psychiatric evaluation to determine if and Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer proposed to [email protected] she is mentally stable. prevent further fatalities were installing sliding doors, “The defendant is accused of committing what an intercom system that could connect riders with the After a second New Yorker was pushed to his death is every subway commuter’s worst nightmare — Rail Control Center and more security cameras. in a subway station this month, a pair of local pols being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the “It does strike me that in a post-9/11 world that are calling for the MTA to take measures to ensure path of an oncoming train,” said District Attorney there are no cameras at any stop,” Van Bramer said the safety of city straphangers. Richard Brown. “Beyond that, the hateful remarks at a recent press conference. Sunando Sen, 46, was killed Thursday, December allegedly made by the defendant and which pre- The station where Sen was killed did not have any 27 when he was shoved in front of an oncoming cipitated the defendant’s actions can never be working cameras; Menendez was captured fleeing by No. 7 train at the 40th Street/Lowery Street station tolerated by a civilized society.” nearby surveillance cameras. in Sunnyside. This marked the second incident in December “In less than a month, two of my constituents Police arrested and charged Erika Menendez, that someone was pushed to their death in a sub- have been pushed onto subway tracks and killed,” 31, of Rego Park, with murder as a hate crime after way station. Ki-Suk Han, 58, of Elmhurst, was Peralta said. “I urge the MTA to immediately act on the suspect allegedly told investigators she pushed killed on December 3 when he was pushed in front common-sense measures to improve rider safety and Sen because of her scorn for Muslims and Hindus. of a Q train at the 49th Street-Seventh Avenue security.” “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because station. Suspect Naeem Davis was arrested and Installing barriers between passengers and the I hate Hindus and Muslims. Ever since 2001 when charged with second-degree murder. train would “be both expensive and extremely chal- they put down the Twin Towers I’ve been beating Aside from the two push deaths, 52 other strap- lenging,” the MTA said in a statement. The agency them up,” she allegedly told detectives. hangers were killed on subway tracks this year, did say though that they are considering testing such Menendez, who was seen at the station mutter- whether by accident or suicide. equipment “on a limited basis.” ing to herself before shoving Sen, is reportedly Among the safety steps State Senator Jose Peralta — Additional reporting by Maggie Hayes
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