22 The Queens Courier • january 23, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Legislation to expand paid sick leave BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com More New Yorkers could be protected from losing their jobs for taking a day off when they or their family members are ill. Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced legislation on January 17 that will extend the right to paid sick leave to businesses with five or more employees, which expands on a law enacted by the City Council. Leonardo Hernando, a Queens car wash worker, was at the announcement. The father of four has lived and worked in the U.S. for nine years and has never had a job that provided paid sick days. With the new legislation, that will no longer be true. “Families will be more stable and secure because they have paid sick leave coverage,” de Blasio said. Under the expanded legislation, about 500,000 more New Yorkers, 200,000 of whom do not currently have paid sick days, will now have the right to paid sick leave, according to de Blasio. The City Council enacted the New York City Earned Sick Time Act on June 27 in a 47-4 vote, overriding then- Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto of the legislation. According to that bill, beginning in April, businesses with 20 or more employees will be required to give at least five paid sick days per worker each year. Starting in October 2015, businesses with 15 or more Mayor Bill de Blasio announced legislation on December 17 that will expand the right to paid sick leave to businesses with five or more employees. workers will have to do the same. “While that legislation was a good start, it was not nearly enough,” Mark-Viverito said. The new legislation would take effect for all business with five or more employees, starting this April. De Blasio said he believes the legislative process will move Photo by Rob Bennett for the Office of Mayor Bill de Blasio quickly so it can be enacted by that time. The law also removes exemptions for the manufacturing sector and adds grandparents, grandchildren and siblings to the definition of family members. In addition, it cuts out legislative red tape that could have delayed paid sick leave. CALL FOR TRAFFIC STUDY OF ASTORIA STREET BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com A local politician is calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a study to increase traffic and pedestrian safety on one busy Astoria street. Councilmember Costa Constantinides gathered on January 17 at 21st Street and 33rd Road with local officials, leaders, advocacy groups and residents to call for a traffic study. The group wants the DOT to examine traffic calming effects, countdown clocks and a traffic light for pedestrians, along with a flattened crosswalk for pedestrians with disabilities or parents with strollers. “We need to work together to improve the conditions of 21st Street,” said Constantinides. “Traffic flow needs to be improved, whether it’s through better-timed countdown clocks for pedestrians, well-maintained crosswalks or traffic lights.” The corridor of 21st Street that runs from Queens Plaza to 20th Avenue is “notorious for pedestrian fatalities,” with seven deaths from vehicular collisions over the last decade, according to Constantinides. “Nothing is more important than keeping our streets safe, and it is clear that more needs to be done on 21st Street,” said Senator Michael Gianaris. “We can’t have a city street looking like a highway in an area filled with senior housing, schools and museums and parks that are citywide destinations.” The need for improvement in traffic flow and pedestrian safety is crucial because of the increase in young and senior populations, and combined commercial and cycling traffic. The corridor is home to Long Island City High School, I.S. 126, Bishop Iakovos Senior Housing, and Queensview North and East. “The increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic along 21st Street is a boon to our local economy,” said Constantinides. “Any additions to our business and residential communities bring benefits to all. We need to work together to make sure our infrastructure keeps up with this increase in traffic. There is no excuse for us not to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities by vehicles to zero.” The DOT did not respond for comment as of press time. Maspeth family pushes for safety after fatal accident BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com Angela Hurtado’s family knows that nothing will bring her back, but they are hoping something will be done to protect other pedestrians. Hurtado, 68, was hit and killed while crossing Grand Avenue at 69th Place at about 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 18. She had been going to play bingo at a local center, according to her daughter, Zoraya B. Torres, who had spoken to her just hours before. “My mom was a very humble woman, a goodhearted person and a loving mother,” Torres said. “It’s hard to believe that something so horrible could have happened to her.” It was the last time she would talk to her mother, as a driver in a Mitsubishi Montero swung around the corner to make an illegal left turn, hitting Hurtado, according to the NYPD. She was rushed to Elmhurst General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Cops arrested the driver, Abel Tinoco, who remained at the scene. Tinoco, 28, was driving with a suspended license, and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operator, police said. His sentence is pending. But that’s not enough for Torres, because she believes more awareness is needed for the intersection. Just visiting the scene, she noticed other people making the same illegal turn. Torres wants to contact transportation and elected officials to remedy the problem. “Something needs to be done, because someone else could get hit,” Torres said. “My family is devastated, we are in shock to know that we are not going to see her, or feel her love. I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what we are going through.” Torres said Hurtado went to church every day. Originally from Ecuador, she moved to America when she was 21 years old and had lived in Queens since. Photo courtesy Zoraya B. Torres/by Robert Stridiron Angela Hurtado (right) was struck and killed by a driver with a suspended license, making an illegal turn. Hurtado was a former housekeeper for the 3 World Trade Center Marriott Hotel at the time of the 9/11 attacks, but left the building before it was destroyed. She also beat cervical cancer when she was 33. A wake for Hurtado was held on Tuesday, January 21 at Gerard J Neufeld Funeral Home in Elmhurst. On Wednesday, January 22, her body was flown to Ecuador, where she will be buried. “My mom always would tell us, ‘If anything ever happens to me, I want to go home,’” Torres said. “She asked us to do it, because that’s where her parents are.”
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