14 JULY 18, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Edsall Ave. in Glendale fi nally gets fi xed
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Justin Mclennan, who lives about
eight blocks away from 73rd Street
and Edsall Avenue, got back from
an eight-day trip this week to discover
a parking miracle had happened in
his absence.
When he went to park his van for
street cleaning on the stretch Edsall
Avenue known for swampy puddles
caused by poor street drainage, he
found it to be freshly paved, neatly
landscaped and dry.
“They did it really fast and it looks
really great. I love how they put
the stones down. It was just a mess
with garbage everywhere,” said
Mclennan. He added that with the
pools of water gone, there are more
parking spots up for grabs.
Residents are starting to reap
the benefits of the Department of
Transportation and Department
of Environmental Protection’s
collaborative project to install a catch
basin and repave the road surface
and put down a curb with a stone
embankment along the train-facing
side of the street.
The improvements stretch over
three blocks of Edsall between 71st
and 73rd Place.
Though the major changes seem to
have been completed, according to
Glendale resident Justin Mclennan parks his van on the newly improved Edsall Avenue. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
the DOT, the project is still ongoing.
“DOT and DEP are collaborating
on a project that is still underway.
We expect to have an update in the
coming weeks,” said a spokesperson.
While the changes seemed to
Mclennan to have happened quickly,
local electeds have been advocating
for this outcome for years according
to Councilman Robert Holden.
Holden stopped by the stretch late
last week to check out the completed
work, and said he was very pleased
with it.
“I’m very happy to have contributed
to solving this decades-old problem
that caused so many headaches
for the residents of Edsall Avenue,”
Holden said. “I’d like to thank the
Department of Environmental
Protection and the Department of
Transportation for collaborating on
this project, and my fellow elected
officials, Assemblyman Mike Miller
and Senator Joe Addabbo, for their
advocacy on this issue over the past
several years.”
House passes extension of 9/11 compensation act
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
A week after NYPD Detective
Luis Alvarez was laid to rest
at Immaculate Conception
Church in Astoria, in the Ditmars
neighborhood where he was raised,
the House of Representatives
overwhelmingly passed the 9/11
Victims Compensation bill, the
legislation Alvarez lobbied so hard
for before his death.
Representatives voted 402-12 to
advance H.R. 1327, now known as
the Never Forget the Heroes: James
Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer and Luis
Alvarez Permanent Authorization
of the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund, which is due
to run out of funding next year.
“After 9/11, we vowed to never
forget. With that promise, we
committed to making sure these
heroes never have to go without
the support they need and never
have to wonder if support will be
there for them and their families,”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney
said. “The true Twin Towers in
New York are the FDNY and the
NYPD. And I will not rest until this
program is made permanent and
this bill is signed into law.”
Alvarez, 53, succumbed to
colorectal and liver cancer he had
battled for the last three years, and
his death came just weeks after his
emotional testimony in Congress
urging them to extend funding
to cover health benefits to first
responders and survivors.
He spent three months on the
pile at Ground Zero searching
for survivors and remains while
breathing in the toxic dust that
has claimed the lives of nearly
400 first responders who battled
9/11-related cancers and other
respiratory diseases.
More than 2,000 active FDNY
personnel and nearly 1,000
members of the NYPD have been
forced into early retirement.
Following his own retirement
in 2012, Alvarez joined the Feel
Good Foundation with other first
responders who travelled to Capitol
Hill often over the years to fight for
the funding.
“This is no longer about a CBO
score, or passing legislation,” 9/11
First Responder and Advocate John
Feal said. “This 15-year journey
is about cementing the legacies
of James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer &
Luis Alvarez, It is finally time for
Congress and the Senate to stand
united and ease the pain of a fragile
community who have endured too
much pain and suffering.”
After the VCF passed in the
House, Senator Charles Schumer
called on McConnell to hold that
vote in the Senate.
First responder and NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez was laid to rest in Astoria
and a week later the House passed the legislation he lobbied fountil his
dying days. AP Photo/Richard Drew
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