EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Supporting the fi ght against Alzheimer’s
I would like to offer my
sincere thanks once again to
Congressman Tom Suozzi for
his continued support for those
living with Alzheimer’s Disease
and their caregivers. He has
recently agreed to co-sponsor
two very important pieces of
legislation, the More HOPE for
Alzheimer’s Act and the Younger
Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Act.
The HOPE Act would educate
providers and individuals
living with dementia about the
reimbursement under Medicare
for care planning services. It is
important that, after a diagnosis
of Alzheimer’s, patients and their
families are apprised of services
available in the community to
assist them during the long road
that they are about to embark
upon.
This type of care planning
consultation would have been
very helpful when my mother
was diagnosed. Instead, we
were pretty much left to fend for
ourselves.
Over 200,000 people under the
age of 60 have been diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Individuals living with youngeronset
Alzheimer’s primarily
show symptoms of the disease
beginning in their 50s, but some
show signs of the disease as
early as their 30s or 40s. Without
this Younger-Onset Act, these
individuals and their families
are unable to qualify for muchneeded
assistance under the
Older Americans Act.
The nutritional programs, inhome
services, transportation,
legal services and respite care
would have been invaluable to
my mother, who was diagnosed at
age 57, and my father and me, who
were her primary caregivers.
We look forward to continuing
to work with Congressman Suozzi
to make life more bearable for
those suffering with this disease
and their families and to provide
funding for research necessary
to find a cure for this horrible
disease.
Kathy Distler, Jericho,
Alzheimer’s Association
Ambassador to Congressman
Suozzi
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SAY WHAT?
A new chapter has been written in the ongoing
culture war in Queens between safe streets advocates
and anti-bike lane car lovers. At a community board 7
meeting in March, members didn’t seemed convinced
of a proposed Flushing bike lane network presented by
the Department of Transportation that would provide
direct bike routes between major destinations such as
downtown Flushing, parks and greenways, transit.
CB 7 member Kim Ohanian opposed the proposal
arguing that a bike lane would lead to more deaths and
fatalities, and while that argument is not uncommon on
community boards across the borough, Ohanian’s was
more personal.
“I’m sorry but I cannot and will not ever support
this plan, you’re planning on putting a bike lane on my
street in front of my house,” said Ohanian, who lives
on 59th Avenue off of Main Street in Flushing. “You
can’t be serious with all of the tuck traffic and parking
that the hospital needs because they park all over our
neighborhood...how in God’s name do you think this
will work without somebody getting killed?”
Again, community board members have never
shied away from NIMBY, not in my backyard. It was
at a meeting of the Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic
Association on May 20 that Ohanian showed her very
un-civic side.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, Vision Zero’s a joke.
I’ve watched people cross the street while they’re still
talking on their damn phones,” Ohanian said. You
know what, they deserve to get run over.”
It should be noted there was laughter in the room in
reaction to “they deserve to get run over.”
It was Ohanian’s Ann Phoser Darby moment from a
CB 4 meeting in 2017 when a proposed bike lane on 111th
Street divided Corona.
“Once Trump removes all the illegals from Corona,
there won’t be anybody to ride the bike lanes,” the 82-
year-old woman allegedly said. When Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz decided she would not renew
Phoser Darby’s application for reappointment. Her
spokesman said, “Borough President Katz takes
exception to the comment, regardless of the context,
and our office has relayed this to Miss Ohanian.”
When Phoser Darby made her utterance during
a meeting of the CB 4 Transportation Committee it
was quoted on Twitter by a leader of Transportation
Alternatives Queens Committee. When Ohanian said
“they deserve to get run over” it was caught on video
that went viral on Twitter in the last couple of weeks.
While Ohanian did not make her statement at a
community board meeting it is unclear if she will be
penalized by Katz. One thing that is clear is that Ohanian,
who has lived in her Flushing community for more than
50 years, has a low opinion of some of her neighbors.
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TIMESLEDGER,16 JULY 26-AUG. 1, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
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