8 MAY 4, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM M train repair focus of next CB 5 meeting The upcoming closure of the M line between Middle Village and Bushwick for renovations will headline the next Community Board 5 meeting scheduled to take place on Wednesday night, May 10. As announced by CB 5 District Manager Gary Giordano, the session will take place 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Christ the King Regional High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave. in Middle Village. Representatives of the MTA will be on hand to discuss the upcoming construction project that involves replacing a rail bridge over the Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk branch near the Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue station; and the Myrtle Viaduct between the Myrtle Avenue-Broadway and Central Avenue stations in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The project is slated to start this July, according to Giordano, and will take 10 months to complete. As previously reported, the entire line Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway will be closed for two months as the rail bridge in Middle Village is replaced; afterward, shuttle service will be provided between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues until the Myrtle Viaduct project is completed. In addition to the M train project, the board’s agenda for May 10 includes a hearing on a Department of Consumer Aff airs application submitted by MIFRA Corp. to operate an unenclosed sidewalk cafe along the Madison Street side of 779 Wyckoff Ave. in Ridgewood. The proposed cafe would have 9 tables and 18 chairs. Following this hearing, the board will proceed with its regular meeting, which includes the public forum; reviews of liquor license applications and demolition notices; reports from Giordano and CB 5 Chair Vincent Arcuri; committee reports; and the nomination of board members to the Executive Committee. For more information or to register to speak in advance, call the CB 5 offi ce in Glendale at 718-366-1834. Thousands attend Glendale fi refi ghter’s funeral Photo by Robert Stridiron Firefi ghters carry the body of Firefi ghter William Tolley out of St. Martin’s of Tours Church as his widow, Marie Tolley, follows. Manholes explode on Middle Village block BY GINA CONTEH EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @RIDGEWOODTIMES A Facebook video captures two manhole explosions that occurred in Middle Village on Tuesday morning. The video, taken by Vincent Dionisi and posted to the Juniper Park Civic Association‘s Facebook page, shows fi refi ghters on the scene as smoke and fl ames emerge from the sewer and an open manhole located in front of a crosswalk on the corner of Eliot Avenue and 76th Place. An FDNY representative said that they received a call of the incident at about 11:13 a.m. on May 2. FDNY says there were no reported injuries. Allen Drury of Con Edison states the explosion occurred at the north side of Eliot Avenue and west of 76th Place. According to Drury, there have been no reports from customers of a loss of service and the cause of the explosion has not been determined. Drury states that a crew responded to make repairs. BY RASHED MIAN LONG ISLAND PRESS SPECIAL TO THE RIDGEWOOD TIMES Thousands of fi refi ghters lined the streets of Bethpage, Long Island on April 27 to pay tribute to FDNY veteran William Tolley, a member of Glendale‘s Ladder Company 135 who plunged to his death last week while battling a fi re in Ridgewood. Fellow firefighters had flooded Tolley’s hometown for a series of memorial services this week and their numbers grew exponentially last Thursday, as more than 10,000 people attended the funeral service. Outside the church, red ribbons abutted utility poles and American fl ags hung high. The steady mist eventually gave way to cloudy skies, punctuating the occasion as a somber mood enveloped the area around St. Martin of Tours Church. “His life was so rich, so rich in fact, that it makes the loss even more raw and painful,” Mayor Bill DeBlasio told mourners. “But let’s take stock and remember a rich life and a full life…a life lived the way we all should live.” Tolley, 42, and about 100 other fi refi ghters were battling a blaze at a fi ve-story building near Putnam and Wyckoff avenues on April 20 when he fell to his death. The circumstances around his fatal fall are currently under investigation. The funeral marked a tragic end to a life of a man whose love for his family, his wife Marie and 8-year-old daughter Bella, was endless. “Bella was his fi rst and foremost priority, the apple of his eye,” Tolley’s colleague Jarrett Kotarski said while also recalling Tolley playing drums in the heavy metal band Internal Bleeding. “Billy lived his life to the fullest, he chased down all his dreams and caught them.” Leading the procession was Tolley’s Ladder Company 135, including one in black and purple bunting carrying his American fl ag-draped casket. Tolley’s widow and daughter followed the casket into the church as hymns blared. The words “In Loving Memory of William N. Tolley” word etched into the truck. “His death leaves so much pain, confusion and crying,” said Father Patrick Woods, recalling the moment of devastating grief when Tolley’s daughter, Bella, learned of her father’s death. “Mommy, why are you gone all day, what happened?” she asked. “Marie a loving mother carrying her own crushing grief, gently tells Bella that billy has gone home to God,” he recalled. “Mommy,” Bella responded, “Daddy is too young to die.” And then she realized. “I have no daddy.” Consoling Bella, Marie reminded her that Tolley loved helping people. “That’s what fi remen do,” she said. Photo: Facebook/Vincent Dionisi
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