FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com JULY 30, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 23 for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com JULY 30, 2015 • times 13 oped A LOOK BACK letters OFFERING GRATITUDE FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH FUNDING On behalf of my board and staff, as well as the thousands of cancer survivors and community members served each year by Astoria/Queens SHAREing & CAREing Inc. (dba SHAREing & CAREing), I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, cochair of the NYC Council’s Women’s Caucus, for her tenacious leadership on behalf of restoring funding for women’s health services in the recently adopted budget, including funding for family planning, perinatal care, cancer screening and support services. As result of Crowley’s efforts, as well as those of Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Health Committee Chair Cory Johnson, SHAREing & CAREing was once again awarded funding under the Council’s Cancer Initiative, an initiative created to assist community based health organizations providing screenings, education and support services to women with breast and ovarian cancer. This funding will allow us to continue to provide thousands of cancer survivors and their families with counseling, benefit and medical information, education and hope. As a 21-year cancer survivor, I am not only blessed to still be alive but blessed to be part of an organization that not only educates and empowers but actively helps to save lives. Day in and day out, cancer survivors, family members and community members contact our office seeking help, be it counseling, direct services, linkages to screenings or treatment, or just a shoulder to cry on and be comforted. My staff and I are always there for whoever calls or walks through our doors. No one is ever turned away. Anna Kril, founder and president, Astoria/ Queens SHAREing & CAREing Inc. ‘TENANTS’ OF EARTH MUST KEEP UP APPEARANCES Pope Francis’ latest Encyclical called “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” delivers a strong message to the nations of the world and our leaders that we have to take better care of our planet. Our air is polluted, the ozone layer is depleted, sea levels are rising because of melting of glaciers. These are truly sad facts affecting our world today. This planet we call Earth is our home and we need to be concerned for its welfare. This planet provides us with sunshine, water, food and everything vital to our existence. Pope Francis speaks of human ecology, the dignity of a human being and how it needs to be respected, and its relationship to the world we live in. Our environment is in danger of being destroyed and every living human being and animal forced into extinction will be the result of inaction. We need to take responsibility to not further harm all we have been given by God. We also need to not be wasteful and conserve, for the responsibility of caring for this planet is not only for nations but every living being here on Earth. The pollution of this planet must stop. On this planet we call Earth, we are just tenants and must someday have to answer to the landlord who is our creator on how we took care of his property. Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Glen Oaks Village SMALL SURPLUS CAN’T MAKE DENT IN MTA BUDGET WOES The MTA finding $1 billion is not a budget surplus. Seventeen percent, or $2.5 billion, of the MTA budget is spent on interest payments for $35 billion in long-term debt. The MTA, thanks to inadequate city and state support, is still $13.7 billion short on the proposed $32 billion 2015 - 2019 Capital Program Budget Plan. The $1 billion in unanticipated new funding should be used to pay off some long-term debt reducing interest payments. In the long run, this would free up more funds for capital projects and service improvements. Larry Penner, Great Neck Never forget those A Look Back who sacrificed in the 9/11 recovery By ED HORN It is shameful that so many Americans demand closure from the 9/11 attacks believing it is time to “get past it,” yet the deaths caused by the attack increase every day. Americans are proud to recall the heroics of the Greatest Generation and their sacrifices. On Memorial Day, we wave the flag. We are enraged when anyone has the audacity of setting fire to our flag. We are quick to threaten war when we feel threatened, insulted or are dismissed. We arrange displays at the sites of tragedies. Tears fall and hugs are exchanged believing that the moment will address the losses that will continue to the harm of families for generations. We share the sadness and loss of those who gather at the World Trade Center site every September 11. Those who were blessed not to have sustained a death pause for a moment and move on without another consideration. Other memorials and dedications, however, have fewer and fewer people attending, leaving only the stricken to recall those who died saving others or those who cleaned up the rubble left behind. Congress continues to debate funding health care for those made ill by the pile. St. Michael’s Cemetery will not forget those who sacrificed in the days after 9/11. On Sept. 12, St. Michael’s, with the support of the Christopher Santora Scholarship Fund and the community mayors, will hold the annual Remember Me Run honoring the first responders who saved thousands offering their lives in exchange. We will also memorialize 19 first responders who recently died from illnesses related to their work at Ground Zero. I wonder who will find the time or the respect to attend. This is the list of deceased FDNY members we plan to add to the World Trade Center Memorial Wall this September: Firefighter Joseph T. Callahan, Engine Co. 245, died on Oct. 1, 2005; Battalion Chief Richard E. McGuire, Battalion 51, died on Dec. 9, 2012; EMT Luis de Peña, EMS Station 13, died on Nov. 7, 2013; EMS Lt. Michael F. Cavanagh, EMS Station 16, died on Dec. 2, 2013; Deputy Chief Inspector James W. Mandelkow, Bureau of Fire Prevention, died on Dec. 10, 2013; Fire Lt. John J. Halpin, Ladder Co. 33, died on May 29, 2014; EMS Capt. William C. Olsen, EMS Station 23, died on June 1, 2014; Fire Lt. Keith M. Loughlin, Ladder Co. 109, died on July 31, 2014; Fire Lt. John K. Gremse, Engine Co. 302, died on Sept. 16, 2014; Fire Lt. Howard J. Bischoff, Ladder Co. 149, died on Sept. 22, 2014; Firefighter Daniel E. Heglund, Rescue 4, died on Sept. 22, 2014; Firefighter Robert E. Leaver, Division 3, died on Sept. 22, 2014; Firefighter Cornell L. Horne, Ladder Co. 176, died on Oct. 5, 2014; EMS Lt. Thomas Giammarino, EMS Station 31, died on Oct. 7, 2014; Firefighter Eugene J. McCarey, Ladder Co. 36, died on Nov. 13, 2014; Firefighter James J. Marshall, Ladder Co. 78, died on Nov. 30, 2014; Firefighter Charles S. Szoke, Ladder Co. 21, died on Dec. 1, 2014; Battalion Chief John J. Cassidy, Battalion 40, died on Jan. 21, 2015; and Fire Capt. John R. Graziano, Ladder Co. 78, died on March 13, 2015. Ed Horn is president of St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst. Far from the chain drug stores scattered across Queens today, the pharmacies of yesteryear in Queens offered more than prescription medication or discounted items. Many of them, including the Normandia Pharmacy formerly located in Maspeth, had soda fountains where children of all ages gathered for egg creams, ice cream floats and other cool, sweet treats, especially on hot summer days. This 1926 photo shows the interior of Normandia Pharmacy, which was located at 60-82 Fresh Pond Rd., during its grand opening. The drug store was a neighborhood institution until 1986, when it closed with the retirement of pharmacist Alphonse Normandia. Have a historic picture of Queens that you’d like to share with us? Email it to [email protected] and it may be featured in a future edition of A Look Back.
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