FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com MARCH 13, 2014 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3 TALE of COURAGE Auburndale amputee determined to walk again MENG HELPS FAMILIES OF CRASH VICTIMS Family members of the two teens killed last month in a tragic car crash will fl y to Queens to bring their loved ones’ ashes back to China, a spokesperson for Congressmember Grace Meng said. Jiahao Liang’s mother and sister and Jennifer Gao’s grandmother were granted visas Tuesday after interviews with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. The two died February 18 when their car swerved off the Long Island Expressway, near Kissena Boulevard, and wrapped around a tree. Meng said she intervened with the American Consulate after a friend of both families reached out to her for help. “The death of these two teenagers is a terrible and horrible tragedy, and our hearts go out to their family and friends,” she said. “We will assist them with whatever needs they may have during this diffi cult time.” Liang, 19, of Flushing, and Gao, 16, of Oakland Gardens, were cremated about two weeks ago, Meng said. Melissa Chan BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD FOR SENIOR HOUSING PLANS Controversial plans for senior housing at the former Bellerose site of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus have once again been sent back to the drawing board. The Indian Cultural and Community Center’s (ICCC) variance application for the construction of two six-story residential and community facility buildings at 78-70 Winchester Boulevard was initially on the agenda for a March 6 land use public hearing, according to a spokesperson for the borough president’s offi ce. The Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), however, told the ICCC to “revise the proposal to reduce the proposed fl oor area and building height to be more compatible with the surrounding neighborhood,” the BSA said. If the hearing on the variance had proceeded, Borough President Melinda Katz would have issued a recommendation, her spokersperson said. “Our plan to modify and reduce the project is pursuant to the meeting we had with BSA several weeks ago,” said Jordan Most, an attorney representing the ICCC. Their next hearing with the BSA is scheduled for May 20, he said. Community members and local leaders have objected to the ICCC’s plans for building senior housing on the site after it initially proposed building a community center, athletic fi eld and parking, according to Community Board (CB) 13 land use chair Richard Hellenbrecht. The current plan is a modifi cation of a proposal for two nine-story towers that the BSA previously asked the ICCC to revise, he said. During a February 24 meeting, CB 13 voted against the six-story buildings. The problem with constructing housing, Hellenbrecht said, is it is a landlocked site. “The community would most like them to come back with their original proposal,” he said. Cristabelle Tumola THE COURIER/Photo by Melissa Chan Teena Katz is on the road to recovery, as her husband Ben stands by her. BY MELISSA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com / @MelissaCourier The plan is to walk again and then ultimately soar through the city’s skies in a fl ying trapeze. Teena Katz, who lost her legs after she was struck by a No. 7 train at Grand Central Station, is recovering quickly from the horrifi c accident last December. “Minute by minute, day by day, it’s not easy by any means,” Katz said. “Some days are easier, and some days are harder. I just have to take each obstacle as they come and fi gure it out.” The 31-year-old Auburndale fi nancial analyst was on her way home from dinner in Manhattan the night after Christmas, when she felt light-headed on the subway station’s platform. She dragged herself away from the edge of the platform “just in case,” but the next few moments were a blur. “I leaned myself up by a staircase, and the next thing I know, I was waking up and I was laying on the tracks,” Katz said. “I didn’t realize that was where I was at fi rst. I don’t have any recollection of being hit by the train or even falling.” The “no-nonsense individual,” however, won’t be kept down. She has been chronicling her healing process on her blog, teenavsthe7train.com, which she peppers with jokes. “There’s no happy ending to this story,” said her husband Ben, “but she never dwelled on the ‘how did I get here.’ She pushed those thoughts out of her mind. I think it’s what’s helped her recover as quickly as she has.” Katz won’t be fi tted for prosthetics for another two to four months, but she has high hopes of returning to a normal life. That means fi guring out how to get through once-easy daily activities like sitting on the couch and getting ready for bed. “Very simple things like that, I have to plan for,” she said. “Everything takes twice as long now.” It also means learning how to walk on new legs and, in the future, going back to the Trapeze School New York in Manhattan, where she used to fl y at least twice a month. “Hopefully one day, I’ll be able to do stuff like that again,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to. It’s going to be hard. I might just swing. We’ll see.” The family, who owns the Maggie Moo’s on Bell Boulevard, is accepting donations to fund the costly recovery process. Contributions can be hand-delivered to the ice cream shop at 39-33 Bell Boulevard or be sent to Teena Katz at P.O. Box 604312, Bayside, NY 11360. ROCKWELL RECOVERED BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com/@CristabelleT A valuable Norman Rockwell painting that disappeared from a Maspeth storage facility last year has been recovered, police said. The piece, called “Sport,” went missing from Grand Avenue’s WelPak Art Moving and Storage on September 13. Painted in 1939, it was signed by the artist and was used as a Saturday Evening Post cover. In May, the stolen oil painting was sold from a private collector for more than $1 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, according to published reports. Jean Gardner, a lawyer representing WelPak, told the Wall Street Journal that a private investigator recovered the painting in Ohio and that it was reportedly found undamaged. She also said no one has been charged in connection to its disappearance. Photo courtesy NYPD
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