10 The Courier sun • APRIL 24, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com Astoria Park gets green for bike tour BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/@aaltamirano28 More than 30,000 bicyclists will pedal into a greener Astoria Park this May. Volunteers from nonprofits Bike New York, the New York Restoration Project and other organizations, as well as local and city officials came together on Earth Day to plant 64 trees at the park, which will be one of the major rest areas for the 37th TD Five Boro Bike Tour. “It’s our way of giving back to the environment and to the park,” said Beth Heyde, senior events manager for Bike NY. Out of the 64 trees, which included 12 different species, 20 were placed on the route bicyclists have taken throughout the park for years during the bike tour. “It feels so good to give back to this park that has been giving us so much for 37 years,” said Kenneth J. Podziba, president and CEO of Bike New York, who was born in Howard Beach. “We love Astoria Park so much, we love Queens so much.” The Five Boro Bike Tour is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 4, and begin in Lower Manhattan. This year Bike NY’s bike tour, which allows 32,000 cyclists to wheel through all five boroughs on streets free of traffic, will be the city’s first sporting event and the nation’s second cycling event to be certified as sustainable by the Council for Responsible Sport after making the tour environmentally THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano On Earth Day, over 60 trees were planted in Astoria Park, which has been one of the major rest areas for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour for the past 37 years. FDNY probing ambulance dispatch delay in deadly Far Rockaway fire BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA AND ANGY ALTAMIRANO editorial@queenscourier.com An investigation has been launched into how long it took for an ambulance to be dispatched to a Far Rockaway fire that left two 4-year-old siblings dead early Easter morning. Firefighters responded to the blaze in the basement of a Bay 30th Street home at about 11:56 p.m. Saturday, April 19, and the fire was under control by 1:17 a.m., officials said. The cause of the blaze has been determined to be accidental due to a child playing with fire, according to the FDNY. Based on evidence found at the scene the child is believed to have been playing with a lighter, a spokeswoman said. Five people were removed from the two-story home, including 4-year-olds Jai’Luni Tinglin and Aniya Tinglin, who were taken to St. John’s Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, police said. The two toddlers were half siblings, according to the NYPD. Another 4-year old girl, Jai’Luni’s twin sister, was taken to St. John’s Hospital in stable condition. A 55-year-old woman was transported to Jamaica Hospital and a 63-year-old man, identified by police as a grandfather, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in stable condition, cops said. An FDNY officer was also taken to a nearby hospital with minor and non-life-threatening injuries, fire officials said. Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano is launching an investigation into whether there was a delay in the dispatch of an ambulance to the scene of the fire and what may have caused the delay, an FDNY spokeswoman said. The probe will include an examination of the timeline, which according to the New York Daily News, shows that after a 9-1-1 call was made about the blaze at about 11:51 p.m., firefighters arrived at 11:56 p.m. Ambulances were dispatched at 12:05 a.m. and were at scene at 12:12 a.m. “When you have what we call a working fire, an ambulance should be dispatched,” Cassano said, according to the publication. “It wasn’t dispatched at that time.” Councilman Donovan Richards, State Senator James Sanders Jr. and community leaders will rally on the steps of City Hall Thursday to call for hearings on an improved emergency response system after the deadly fire and a “series of major EMS delays throughout the city exposed deep flaws in the current system,” as well as for a permanent FDNY commissioner. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that Cassano “has been in an interim role.” Sanders recently visited the parents of the two children killed in the blaze, and said those who want to help with funeral service costs can send donations to the Jai’Launi Tinglin & Ayina Tinglin Fund c/o RDRC INC, 1920 Mott Avenue, Far Rockaway, New York 11691, or by phone at 718-327-5300. green. The nonprofit has partnered with the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to provide riders with fresh city drinking water, eliminating the use of plastic bottles during the bike tour. Riders will also receive a kit that includes a compostable bike ID plate, recyclable bibs and a reusable helmet cover. “Today is the first step in the right direction,” Podziba said during the April 22 tree planting. “We’re improving Astoria Park. We don’t just want it to be one year; we want to do this every year.”
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