6 times • APRIL 9, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.timesnewsweekly.com Detectives talk woman out of jumping off Kosciuszko Bridge BY cristabelle tumula [email protected] @ridgewoodtimes A pair of NYPD detectives spent around two hours on April 6 talking a suicidal woman off the edge of the Kosciuszko Bridge, according to police. That morning, police arrived about 11:30 a.m. to find the 45-year-old Brooklyn resident on top of a pipe on the outside of the bridge, which connects Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with Queens. Two detectives—Meghan Kinsella, a 14-year veteran who works as a domestic violence officer, and Steven Stefanakos, a 24-year veteran who has spent 20 of those years with the Emergency Service Unit—moved into action to try to talk the woman out of taking her life. At first, according to police, the woman wasn’t responsive to either of the detectives as they took turns engaging her in conversation. “I tried to convince her that no matter what, we would be with her every step of the way,” Kinsella said. “He would talk and I would talk. I didn’t even realize I was there for two hours. I was completely focused on her.” When Stefanakos, who is an instructor with the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and teaches officers how to interact with emotionally disturbed people in crisis, mentioned the possibility of the woman having a family or children, she grabbed back onto the wire, authorities said. “I told her, ‘I don’t know what is going on and what is happening with you, but give us a chance to talk to you,’” he said. Kinsella also told the woman, who is a mother of one, that she was strong enough to get through the situation, This picture, taken from an NYPD helicopter, shows officers rescuing a suicidal woman on the Kosciuszko Bridge on Monday. and the detectives were finally able to convince her to come off the edge of the bridge. As video footage of the rescue released by police shows, officers were able to pull the woman to safety, and EMS took her to Elmhurst Hospital for treatment. “It’s a huge relief. It actually is euphoric because you made a difference Screenshot via NYPD in somebody’s life, right there and then,” Stefanakos said. “I’m a mom so I just wanted to get her home safe with her family,” Kinsella added. Community Board 5 appoints new members BY ANTHONY GIUDICE [email protected] @a_GiudiceReport Nine new members were appointed to Community Board 5 this week. The board, which includes Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, Maspeth and Liberty Park, received five new members from City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley’s 30th District and four new members in Councilman Antonio Reynoso’s 34th District. The new members in Crowley’s district are Tobias Sheppard Bloch of Glendale, Karamjit Dawali of Glendale, Sarah Feldman of Ridgewood, David Sands of Glendale and Alex Maureau of Glendale. In Reynoso’s district, the new members are Ridgewood’s Raquel Namuche, Cathleen Knight, Tom C. Dowd and Carmen Santana. Richard Huber of Glendale was not reappointed this year. Community board members are appointed by the Queens borough president largely based on the recommendation of the City Council member(s) within the board’s jurisdiction. High-speed crash in Forest Hills injures three One person was critically injured and two others suffered injuries after a pair of cars collided on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills on Sunday morning, Fire Department sources said. The accident occurred at about 6:47 a.m. on the boulevard’s main road at 71st Avenue. Firefighters on the scene used the Hurst tool — commonly known as the “jaws of life” — to tear into one of the damaged vehicles and free two trapped victims. All three victims were transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. Photo by Allen Epstein
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