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RT12082016

WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES DECEMBER 8, 2016 3 Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood is once again adorned with holiday lighting BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT Ridgewood‘s Fresh Pond Road shopping strip is lit up for the season aft er a long holiday hiatus. On Nov. 20, 31 strands of lights, ranging from Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue, down to the intersection of Fresh Pond Road and 71st Avenue, were hung, signaling the start of the holiday season. The owners of Ridgewood Offi ce Products Center, Michael Addeo Jr. and Craig Addeo, along with the help of Ridgewood resident Ann Marie Kostner, started a campaign back in August to try and bring the festive lighting back to Fresh Pond Road for the holidays. “It was an eff ort that was started by a longtime Ridgewood resident, Ann Marie Kostner, who went to many stores to discuss if they would participate,” said Michael Addeo. “Once we had a very positive response we formulated a Holiday Light Committee and we were off and running.” Kostner and the Addeos, along with Phil Barrone Sr. of Valentino’s, Michael Conigliaro, and volunteers Michael Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood has holiday lighting once again. Naumowicz and Keith Maas, reached out to every merchant on Fresh Pond Road between Metropolitan Avenue and 71st Avenue and sent them holiday light participation letters, asking them to donate to their cause. Many organizations agreed to help bring the holiday lights to Fresh Pond Road, and Ridgewood Offi ce Products Center will be releasing a full list of all the participating companies, organizations and individuals in the near future. Photo courtesy of Michael Addeo The lights are from Bronx-based New York Christmas Lights, Addeo said. “They are very festive, put everyone in the holiday spirit, reminds people to shop local, and are a nice way of saying thank you to our customers, neighbors and the community who support the local businesses on Fresh Pond Road all year long,” Addeo added. “It lets them know we care.” According to Addeo, the lights will remain over Fresh Pond Road until Jan. 6, 2017, or the following week. ‘Substantial’ heroin bust at a Ridgewood apartment building leads to three arrests: cops BY ROBERT POZARYCKI RPOZARYCKI@QNS.COM @ROBBPOZ Police laid the smack down on a heroin operation at a Ridgewood apartment house during a raid last week, it was announced on Monday, Dec. 5. A “substantial” amount of heroin, much of which was prepackaged in small plastic bags, was recovered from an apartment on Stanhope Street near Cypress Avenue during the Dec. 1 raid. Three people at the premises for the search were taken into custody on drug possession charges. Law enforcement sources said that members of the NYPD Brooklyn North Narcotics Squad conducted the court-authorized raid at 5:35 p.m. last Thursday aft ernoon. The search was the result of an ongoing investigation into drug activity near the Brooklyn/ Queens border. Police did not provide specifi cs regarding the amount of heroin seized, but noted that it was a large quantity. Various drug packaging paraphernalia and a large sum of cash were also recovered by offi cers. Two people who reside at the apartment — Eileen Santiago, 38, and Aaron Pereira, 29 — were taken into custody at the scene along with Manhattan resident William Torres, 49. All three were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Deputy Inspector Mark Wachter, commander of the 104th Precinct, congratulated the squad for the bust in a Twitter post on Sunday night, Dec. 4. “BIG thanks to Brooklyn North Narcotics for taking these drugs off the streets of #Ridgewood. Keep up the great work! #NYPDprotecting,” Wachter tweeted. Wyckoff Heights Hospital resists alliance with Brooklyn hospitals BY ANTHONY GIUDICE AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM @A_GIUDICEREPORT One hospital on the Ridgewood/ Brooklyn border is fi ghting to continue serving the people of the “World’s Borough.” It’s no secret that Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, located at 374 Stockholm St., is in need of additional funding — along with the three other hospitals that serve Brooklyn: Brookdale University Hospital, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, and Interfaith Medical Center. Governor Andrew Cuomo is urging Wyckoff Heights to join together with the other three hospitals to create the “One Brooklyn” medical group. The board members of Wyckoff Heights, however, want the hospital to remain its own separate entity and be able to serve not only patients from Brooklyn, but to continue to serve residents of Queens. “The governor would like us to join the three failing Brooklyn hospitals,” said Vincent Arcuri, covice chair of the board of trustees at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, and chairman of Community Board 5, Queens (CB 5). “Forty percent of our patient population comes from Queens. We are uniquely situated to help both boroughs equally. There are no hospital facilities between Wyckoff Heights and Jamaica Hospital, and Wyckoff and St. John’s Episcopal in the Rockaways. With a little eff ort and funding, we could get that number up to 50 or 60 percent from Queens.” Arcuri also noted that Wyckoff Heights serves a large number of seniors from Queens who need medical services. If the hospital were to join the Brooklyn One group, those patients would be left without the services they desperately need. “On the border is one of the largest grouping of senior citizens in the city of New York,” Arcuri said. “We need to provide geriatric care. We can provide all these services to the seniors in Queens, and all we need is a little help from the governor.” That help would come in the form of a portion of the $700 million that New York state allocated in 2015 to help fi x the four fi nancially strapped Brooklyn hospitals. Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is also waiting to receive $50 million in funding from the governor, Arcuri said, but the medical facility hasn’t received it yet because Cuomo is trying to get Wyckoff Heights to join the Brooklyn One group of hospitals. “There is a vast area of Queens that needs to be served. If the governor gives us the support that he is giving the other Brooklyn hospitals, we can serve all those people,” he added. “They would dump tons of money into the Brooklyn One group. We want them to save a little bit of money for us. Don’t tie us down to the three failing hospitals in Brooklyn; we will be able to help a lot of people in Queens, too.” QNS File photo Wyckoff Heights Medical Center wants to remain in service for Queens residents.


RT12082016
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