8 SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Fallen Glendale fi refi ghter honored with street renaming
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
The corner of 66th Place and
Myrtle Avenue in Glendale
will forever bear the name of
Firefi ghter William N. Tolley aft er
a ceremony was held on Sept. 26 to
honor and remember the fallen hero.
Hundreds of fi refi ghters joined
Tolley’s family inside the fi rehouse
of Engine Company 286/Ladder
Company 135, where Mayor Bill de
Blasio, Fire Commissioner Daniel
Nigro, Councilman Robert Holden
and several other FDNY officials
spoke before unveiling the line of
duty death plaque and street sign in
Tolley’s honor.
On April 20, 2017, while responding
to a two-alarm fi re in Ridgewood,
Tolley fell fi ve stories to his death aft er
riding a bucket ladder up to the roof of
the building.
The ceremony was led by Captain
Rich Blasi, commanding offi cer of the
fi rehouse, who began by thanking
everyone in attendance before addressing
Tolley’s family sitting in the
front row. Tolley spent all 14 years of
his FDNY career in Glendale as part of
the “Myrtle Turtles.”
“We came together as one family,
we shared that pain, but I believe that
sharing that pain is what gave us the
will to endure it,” Blasi said. “We are
always here for all of you.”
As the fi rst speaker, de Blasio took
a moment to commend Blasi for the
strength he has shown in leading his
fi rehouse through such a diffi cult time,
but then the mayor turned his attention
to the family as well. De Blasio
spoke directly to Tolley’s daughter,
Bella, and explained that he, too, lost
his father, a wounded World War II
veteran, at a young age.
“When you know your dad is a hero,
it’s something you carry with you
your whole life,” de Blasio said to Bella.
“Someday there will be a challenge and
you’ll feel the presence of your father
there to cradle you and support you.
You’ll feel his goodness, and that will
give you the strength you need to
carry forward.”
Tolley was described by everyone
who knew him as someone who loved
his job, his family and rock ‘n’ roll. He
was an avid heavy metal drummer in
his band, Internal Bleeding, which
released fi ve albums and was internationally
known. His fellow fi refi ghters
also remembered him as someone
who always tinkered with the rig and
worked on small projects around the
fi rehouse.
As a volunteer fi refi ghter on Long
Island at the time, Tolley rushed into
the city aft er the attacks on Sept. 11,
2001, to search through the rubble for
survivors.
“To say he was talented and special
is a terrible understatement,” said
Nigro. “He had a true passion for his
job because this job was his dream and
he fulfi lled it to the absolute fullest.
He loved knowing that the job made
it possible to make a positive impact
on others.”
Tolley’s wife, Marie, was given a
standing ovation when she was welcomed
up to the podium to speak, and
she thanked everyone for their constant
support over the past 18 months.
Holden also extended his appreciation
for Tolley’s brother, Robert, who created
the Fire & Drums Foundation to
help the families of fi rst responders
killed in the line of duty.
“William Tolley is remembered as a
loving father, devoted fi refi ghter, and
his memory will carry on in the hearts
not only of his family, but in the hearts
of this community,” Holden said.
On Sept. 29, Engine Company 286/
Ladder Company 135 and the Fire &
Drums Foundation will host the fi rst
annual William Tolley Fundraiser
from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at Plattdeutsche
Park in Franklin Square.
Photo by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
A plaque to commemorate William Tolley’s sacrifi ce in the line of duty,
unveiled at a ceremony in the Engine Company 286/Ladder Company 135
fi rehouse in Glendale on Sept. 26.
Another win for Christ the King vs. the Brooklyn Diocese
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Christ the King High School
(CTK) and Middle Village Preparatory
Charter School (MVP)
have tallied yet another win in their
legal battle with the Diocese of Brooklyn
to keep the charter school alive.
On Sept. 19, the New York State
Supreme Court Appellate Division
voted unanimously to reverse a
previous ruling from a lower court
that would have forced MVP to cease
operating on the campus of CTK in
Middle Village.
The decision essentially brings the
lawsuit fi led by the Brooklyn Diocese
against the Catholic high school “back
to square one,” according to Josephine
Lume, chair of the MVP board
of trustees.
“We hope this fresh defeat for the
diocese’s case will fi nally prompt diocesan
leadership to drop the lawsuit
and accept CTK’s invitation to achieve
everyone’s common goals in partnership,”
Lume wrote in a letter to the
school community. “The diocese to
date has not been interested.”
In November of 2013, shortly aft er
CTK began subletting space on its
campus to the newly founded MVP,
the diocese fi led a lawsuit against the
high school claiming that the charter
school’s presence violates the terms
of an agreement between the two parties
signed in 1976. That agreement,
which allowed CTK to form a board
of trustees and manage the school
independently of the diocese, also
reportedly contained a stipulation
that CTK could not use the campus for
any purpose other than the Catholic
school’s functions.
In March of 2017 and again in
September of 2017, a Supreme Court
Justice ruled in favor of the diocese,
but appeals by CTK allowed MVP to
remain open during the proceedings.
In February of 2018, the Appellate
Division denied a motion put forth
by the Diocese that would have prevented
MVP from enrolling a new
class for the 2018-2019 school year.
The most recent ruling by the
Appellate Division on Sept. 19 overturned
that March 2017 ruling.
As Lume explained in her letter,
the ruling could mean that the case
goes back to a lower court for a jury
to decide whether CTK breached its
contract with the diocese. CTK is
arguing that it has become a “customary
and usual practice” for charter
schools to rent space in Catholic
school buildings, and Lume cited the
now-shuttered Bishop Ford Central
Catholic High School a block away
from the diocese headquarters in
Brooklyn as an example.
Serphin Maltese, chair of the CTK
board of trustees, also wrote a letter
to the CTK community in which he
hailed MVP as an “essential part of
our community.”
“We could not be who we are without
you — the parents, teachers, administrators,
staff and students who
have fought to protect and advance
our academic, religious and spiritual
traditions as well as to ensure our
common mission endures long into
the future,” Maltese wrote.
The two school communities have
put up such a fi ght against the Diocese
in large part because MVP has been
one of the top-performing middle
schools in New York since its inception.
Parents of MVP students have organized
several rallies in the past to advocate
on behalf of the successful school.
Despite CTK and MVP seeming to
have the upper hand, the diocese doubled
down on its stance in a statement
sent to QNS on Sept. 25.
“The recent decision of the Appellate
Division merely held that there
are questions of fact requiring a trial
of Christ the King’s claim that public
charter schools are customarily associated
with Catholic high schools,”
said a spokesperson for the diocese.
“The Diocese believes that the facts
will not support that claim.”
File photo/Ridgewood Times
link
link
