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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 28, 2019
9/11 fund
11th Victim Compensation
Act was due to expire next
year just as thousands
more 9/11 responders and
survivors are expected to be
diagnosed with 9/11-related
cancers.
“Today, the Senate
joined with 402 Members
of the House in telling
the 9/11 community that
we meant it when we
vowed to ‘never forget,’”
said Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney. “The
true Twin Towers of
New York are the FDNY
and the NYPD, and fully
funding and permanently
authorizing the 9/11 Victim
Compensation Fund is the
least we can do to honor
their sacrifices.”
Maloney was close
to NYPD Detective Luis
Alvarez, who was raised
and laid to rest in Astoria,
after he died of colorectal
cancer days after testifying
to Congress. On Saturday,
July 20, NYPD Detective
Christopher Cranston,
who rushed to Ground Zero
from his Breezy Point home
and worked on the pile for
three months, died of 9/11-
related cancer.
During the same week,
Kevin Nolan and Richard
Driscoll became the 199th
and 200th members of the
FDNY to die from 9/11-
related illnesses.
“In New York and
across the nation we will
never forget the pain and
suffering caused by the
terrorist attacks on Sept.
11. Our duty is to support
the heroes who ran toward
danger that day and the
weeks that followed who
are still suffering from
the negative health effects
of those horrific events,”
said Governor Andrew
Cuomo. “I applaud the
Senate for passing this
bill, and call on President
Trump to sign it into law
immediately. The health
and safety of these brave
men and women has been
hanging in the balance
for far too long, and it’s
time they are finally given
the peace of mind we owe
them.”
Flushing
provide food and clothing.
She had an obligation to
protect them from harm.
Instead, the baby girl is
dead as a result of profound
physical abuse. The girl’s
twin brother had a long list
of ghastly injuries.”
Officers from the 111th
Precinct and EMS units
responded to the Torabi
home at 10 p.m. on Oct. 3,
2018, after she called 911
to report that Elaina had
lost consciousness. Upon
arriving at their home, first
responders found her five
children — including her
twin babies and three older
siblings — living inside a
dirty basement apartment.
Elaina was pronounced
dead at the scene.
Prosecutors said that an
autopsy determined she
had been dead for at least
24 hours before her mother
called 911 for help. The
baby’s death was ruled
a homicide.
Paramedics rushed
Elaina’s twin brother
to a hospital on Long
Island for treatment of
numerous injuries related
to child abuse, including
multiple rib fractures, lung
contusions, a fractured
pelvis, a visibly healing bite
mark, a tibia fracture and
an adrenal hemorrhage.
The babies’ siblings —
ages 5, 4 and 2 — were
found unattended in the
basement apartment. They
were placed in the custody
of the Administration for
Children’s Services. They
had been removed from
Tina Torabi’s custody
back in 2017 amid a drug
use investigation, but
later returned to their
mother after the probe
proved inconclusive.
Days after the child’s
death, Mohammed Torabi
— Tina’s estranged
husband and the children’s
father — jumped to his
death from a Manhattan
high-rise hotel. According
to published reports, Tina
allegedly told investigators
that he had beaten the
children, and police had
been looking to question
him for his role in the fatal
child abuse.
On July 18, Queens
Supreme Court Justice
Richard Buchter ordered
Tina Torabi to serve
concurrent sentences of
four to 12 years in prison
for the manslaughter
charge and 8 1/2 years
behind bars for the
assault count.
Continued from Page 1
Continued from Page 1
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney join with first responders after the Senate voted
to approve their permanent authorization of the 9/11 VCF
legislation. Courtesy of Maloney’s office
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS, with inset via Facebook