4
QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 12, 2019
2019
* plus tax and season pass.
TOP $ PAID
FOR JUDAICA
COLLECTIBLES
HOUSE
CALLS
SAME SAME DAY
DAY
SERVICE
SERVICE
AVAILABLE
AVAILABLE
HOUSE
CALLS
SERVING QUEENS
AND THE ENTIRE
TRI-STATE AREA
ANTIQUES AND ESTATE BUYERS
WE PAY $ CASH $ FOR
ALL GOLD, GOLD & STERLING SILVER
COSTUME JEWELRY, ALL COINS, PAPER
MONEY & STAMP COLLECTIONS
ALL GOLD...BROKEN OR NOT
PRE- 1960 FURNITURE, CLOCKS & WATCHES
(WORKING OR NOT) TIFFANY,
BACCARAT, LALIQUE
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������The List is Endless
YERS
SEE OUR AD IN THE SUNDAY POST
������������������������������������������������
ASK FOR CHRISTOPHER
www.AntiqueAndEstateBuyers.com
����������������������
for Antique
������������������
ANTIQ
������������������������
ES
���������������������� ����������������������������������������������������
����������������������������
����������������������������
MILITARY
Collections Wanted
Swords, K nives,
Helmets, etc.
ANTIQUES AND ESTATE BUYERS
We buy anything old. One piece or house full.
WILL TRAVEL. WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS.
����������������������������������������������������������������������������
FREE
Estimate
WILL TRAVEL
ENTIRE TRI-STATE
Father of boy killed in Queens
hit-and-run calls for safety laws
BY MARK HALLUM
The father of 9-yearold
Giovanni Ampuero
led a vigil walk through
Jackson Heights on the
one-year anniversary of his
son’s death at the Northern
Boulevard intersection
where the boy was fatally
struck by an elderly driver.
From I.S. 140 to the
corner 70th Street and
Northern Boulevard,
Raul Ampuero along
with family and activists
commemorated Giovanni’s
life while they renewed a
call for greater prosecution
for reckless drivers and
a review of laws allowing
long-in-tooth New Yorkers
access to driver’s licenses.
“No matter what,
our children need to be
protected. That’s my goal,”
Raul Ampuero said. “I
turned this sadness into
a great victory. Because
my son Giovanni is not
here is no reason for me
whatsoever. It shouldn’t
happen to any other child
… People come first. Kids
don’t need to die.”
Ampuero believes there
should be more legal action
against reckless drivers and
believes traffic incidents
could be prevented by
not renewing the driver’s
licenses of elderly people
who may be on medication
that inhibit their ability
to drive.
According to
Juan Restrepo, a
Queens organizer
for Transportation
Alternatives, the push for
more serious convictions
against reckless drivers
may seem contrary to the
overall social movement
to decrease incarceration
rates across the country.
But if a driver stays at
the scene and is cooperative
with law enforcement,
more often than not, the
criminal justice system
proves too easy on them,
Restrepo said.
According to Ampuero,
the 81-year-old man who
hit his son was never
detained or handed any
serious convictions.
“Where is the justice?”
Ampuero asked.
Raul Ampuero hangs a sign memorializing his son on
the anniversary of his death on Northern Boulevard.
Ampuero’s calls for
justice and reform were
not lost on other parts of
the borough.
Giovanni’s death on
May 2 was followed in
June by that of Madeline
Sershen, 17, who was
killed when an 88-year-old
woman allegedly ran a red
light in Whitestone and
hit the Flushing teen. A
group of advocates began to
urge the DMV to changed
its license renewal policy
for seniors.
Cristina Furlong is a
founder of Make Queens
Safer which took action
against unsafe road
conditions after three
children were killed on
Northern Boulevard in a
10-month period in 2013.
Since then, four children
have been killed.
Although the
city Department of
Transportation announced
major redesigns of Northern
Boulevard last autumn
that would feature calming
measures, Furlong does not
Photo : Mark Hallum/QNS
believe this is happening
fast enough.
“It seems like we always
have to bring people out
to march in the streets
for something that should
be part of city planning,”
Furlong said.
Since Giovanni’s death,
Ampuero said he has found
a new home in Families for
Safe Streets, an advocacy
group formed by people
who have lost loves on
city streets.
A spokesman for DOT
said the agency has held
community meetings on
the redesigns and some
work is set to begin in the
near future.
With the number of
traffic deaths in retreat
along Queens Boulevard,
Northern has begun to earn
the title “the new boulevard
of death.”
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4564.
/www.AntiqueAndEstateBuyers.com
link
