16 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Street co-named for Woodside 9/11 hero
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
A Woodside fi refi ghter who helped
rescue 16 people during the 9/11 attacks
but later died from illnesses he contracted
while working at Ground Zero
was honored with a street co-naming
on Sept. 9.
Jimmy Lanza, who died in April at 71
due to 9/11-related brain cancer, was
part of the team that pulled people out
of what is now referred to as the “miracle
stairwell.” Lanza served in the U.S.
Navy during the Vietnam War and aft er
that, joined the FDNY in 1979 where
he worked for 28 years at Engine 53,
Ladder 43 in East Harlem.
To honor his service, Councilman
Costa Constantinides co-named 31st
Avenue and 54th Street in Woodside
“Jimmy Lanza Way.” Lanza’s name was
one of 32 names added to the World
Trade Center Wall last week. Th e wall
honors those who died of 9/11-related
illnesses.
Lanza’s family, elected officials,
the current commander of American
Legion Post 1836, FDNY Queens
Borough Commander Ed Baggott, Kurt
Lester, a retired fi refi ghter who served
with Lanza and 200 members of the
public attended the ceremony.
“On behalf of the Lanza Family,
we want to thank everyone involved
for this wonderful tribute and honor
bestowed upon Jimmy Lanza,” said his
sister and niece, Marian and Stephanie
Pennachio, in a statement. “He will
never be forgotten. Every time a person
looks up and sees this street sign,
he will be remembered. He was a genuine
American hero and we are so very
proud of all his accomplishments. He
truly was a gift from God and lived his
whole life helping others. He taught us
well and now it is up to us to carry on
his legacy.”
Photo courtesy of FDNY
Lanza was also heavily involved with
the Wounded Warrior Project and
helped to take care of the families of
fallen FDNY members. He was also the
commander of American Legion Post
1836, which was based in the Boulevard
Gardens co-op where he resided.
“I am proud to recognize Jimmy
Lanza’s memory with this street
co-naming. We honor Jimmy’s service
in the Navy and at FDNY, especially his
assistance at the World Trade Center,”
Constantinides said. “His legacy of selflessness
and devotion to his community
serve as a role model for our entire city
through this co-naming.”
A street in Astoria was co-named after Jimmy Lanza, a Woodside fi refi ghter who helped rescue 16 people during 9/11.
CB 11 wants city to toss Bayside bike lane plan
BY MICHAEL RIZZO
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
A spirited discussion of plans for a
bike lane along Northern Boulevard in
Bayside took up most of Community
Board 11’s monthly meeting on Monday
night, as the advisory body rejected a
NYC Department of Transportation
(DOT) lane proposal that it had approved
in June and sent the agency an alternate
one.
But offi cials with the DOT said they’ve
already begun implementing the plan
recommended in June to create the lane
along the thoroughfare between between
223rd Street and Douglaston Parkway.
Th e board’s new proposal would
expand the sidewalk on the north side
of the boulevard to make a wide pathway
that would be used by pedestrians
and bikers while keeping the roadway
unchanged. Th e plan that the DOT
has put into motion will eliminate a lane
of westbound traffi c and resurface it as
a new bike lane. A concrete barrier for
most of the route would separate the bike
lane from cars driving on the street.
Board 11 member Bernard Haber recommended
the new proposal during the
Sept. 11 meeting at M.S. 158. He said his
plan would provide more safety for bikers,
would only cost about $600,000 and
could be completed quickly.
Haber was especially concerned about
the section of Northern Boulevard over
the Cross Island Parkway. He said the
DOT’s plan to simply change a traffi c
lane to a bike lane there was very dangerous
because of the highway’s entrance
and exit ramps.
DOT offi cials in attendance disputed
Haber’s cost estimate as too low, and said
the plan approved in June was safe and
the most immediate to construct.
Th e offi cials said Haber’s proposal
could run up to $10 million and take
years to complete due in part to the need
to reconstruct the Alley Creek Bridge that
spans the boulevard, and to compensate
the Parks Department for uprooting trees
along the route of the wider sidewalk.
While the board voted in favor of
Haber’s proposal, the support was not
unanimous. Some members argued the
board’s action in June had already gone
through appropriate review. An additional
objection was that Haber’s wider
sidewalk put pedestrians in harm’s way
by having them share the space with bikers.
“We have agreed to look at Mr. Haber’s
plan,” said Ted Wright, director of the
Bicycle Program for the DOT, “but
the June proposal is already underway.
Construction hasn’t started but we’re
arranging work contracts and obtaining
supplies.”
“Th ey’d be foolish to implement the
fi rst plan,” Haber said aft er the vote. “One
accident on their plan and the city will
have serious liability issues. I hope our
elected offi cials will review and support
tonight’s plan.”
Photo by Michael Rizzo
CB 11 board member Bernard Haber addresses attendees at board’s Sept. 11 meeting about his
Northern Boulevard bike lane proposal.