Ozone Park Man Struck and Killed

Hit by Driver While Coming Home From Work

A quiet Ozone Park community was saddened over the weekend by the death of local resident Donald Bryan. The 32-year-old was coming home from the Jacob Javits convention center where he worked as a security guard.

Bryan took a cab home after finishing his late shift and had just arrived at his home near Sutter Avenue and 85th Street when he was struck by a late model Lexus shortly after 1 a.m.

As Bryan began walking to his house, witnesses say a car “roared around the corner,” according to publisher reports. The vehicle was driven by 18-year-old Alfred Barcenilla Jr. After Bryan was struck he flew into the air and landed on the rear windshield of the car, shattering it.

A neighbor, Christopher Gianni, tried to perform CPR on Bryan. “I knew he was in really bad shape,” Gianni said. I was holding his hand and he told me he felt really cold. That’s when he started to slip away. A short time later, Bryan was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

Following the impact, the Lexus came to a stop after hitting a gate at the cemetery on 84th Street off Pitkin Avenue. It is there, that friends and family constructed a makeshift memorial to Donald Bryan. His brother John, told reporters that he and his brother were really close. “We always enjoyed laughing together,” said John. My world is turned upside down right now.” John Bryan said he wasn’t angry with Barcenilla, he felt pity for him instead, having taken a life.

The 18-year-old driver was not hurt in the accident. He was tested for alcohol but was not charged. Barcenilla graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School last year. According to published reports his father, Alfred Barcenilla Sr., said “He’s going to have this nightmare for the rest of his life,”

One couple at the scene said they didn’t know the victim or the driver, but they lived across the street. “We were coming home from a wedding and just pulled into the driveway. Everything happened so quickly,” said the neighbors. “Both of these families will be in so much pain.”

Transit Worker Dies after Fall onto Tracks

Firefighters administered CPR to a transit worker from the MTA Tuesday morning, after he fell onto the tracks at the Rockaway Boulevard station of the “A” train.

Scott Baur, a 26-year transit employee, fell off the platform around 10:30 AM and hit the electrified third rail, according to fire department officials.

The 48-year-old father of three was lying on the tracks when the fire department arrived. “He had no pulse when firefighters arrived at the scene,” said FDNY press spokesman Frank Dwyer. Attempts at resuscitation were made on the tracks, again on the platform and on the way down the stairs to a waiting ambulance. Baur was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“The untimely passing of any transit worker is a tragedy but because of my background working on the tracks, the death of a track worker hits me especially hard,” said Department of Subways Senior Vice President Steven Feil. “He will be sorely missed by his co-workers.”

Initial news and web reports indicated that Baur had collapsed before falling onto the tracks. Charles Seaton, a spokesperson for the NYC Transit, said that the cause of death had not yet been determined.

On a website where MTA and NYC Transit workers exchange thoughts online, there were expressions of sympathy and the need for improved conditions with regard to the third rail.

One comment spoke of the need for safety markings. “Me being in OSHA training, having 3rd rails well marked is something that I think needs to be looked at by all agencies. Yes there are some that have the rail better marked than others, but the rail covering should have some form of reflective or very noticeable markings on it”.

Another submission read “One thing that WOULD help would be the contact shoe/rail arrangement. NYC Subways use a 'hot shoe' pickup riding on the 3rd rail's top surface. Somewhere, I can't remember, possibly LIRR, uses a shoe that rides the bottom of the 3rd rail which would allows better fitment of safety guards, plus reduces snow/ice build up problems with the pickup being forced up, off the rail by packed ice, then stalling equipment. I remember a few guys mention some have been hit with the 3rd rail current & live. But just a few.”

Parkway Hospital Claims Failure to Bribe Seminerio Led to Closure

By Conor Greene

New Parkway Hospital is claiming in a lawsuit that it was ordered to shut down by the state after its chief executive officer Robert Aquino refused to pay bribes demanded by former state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Queens Supreme Court, names the state as a defendant and seeks to have its operating license renewed after it was revoked last November based on the findings of the Berger Commission. Despite that group’s recommendation that the state wait two years before closing the Forest Hills facility, it was shut last year – something the lawsuit blames on Seminerio’s inappropriate lobbying activities.

The state Health Department has previously said that the closing of Parkway was because it received the lowest score on criteria used by the commission to rank struggling hospitals. Seminerio recently resigned after 30 years in office and pleaded guilty to fraud charges accusing him of taking illegal consulting fees from Jamaica Hospital. The lawsuit argues that Seminerio’s guilty plea dissolves his right against self incrimination and seeks to have him deposed regarding his alleged extortion attempt of Parkway.

In court documents, Aquino states that Seminerio told him that he would make Aquino’s life “miserable” if he didn’t agree to pay him consulting fees that reportedly would have been between $10,000 and $15,000 per month. “It is self-evident that Seminerio’s criminal conduct had a direct impact on the decision to close Parkway Hospital,” he argues. “As an operating hospital, Parkway’s license could not be revoked absent of due process. Having a license revoked for the refusal to pay a bribe to a public official surely constitutes the denial of due process.”

Aquino also argues that the 251-bed hospital should be considered for reopening since two other local hospitals closed after the Berger Commission made its recommendations. He also questions whether the city is ready to handle a possible new outbreak of Swine Flu this fall, which has hit the Southern Hemisphere hard during the first few weeks of its flu season.

The federal indictment against Seminerio also accused him of attempting to force another hospital, now know to be Parkway, to pay him monthly consulting fees. When Aquino refused his demands, Seminerio lobbied on behalf of Jamaica Hospital.

“There is little doubt that such ‘advocacy’ resulted in the closure of the ‘non-client hospital,’ which as everyone now knows is the New Parkway Hospital. Indeed, the Department of Health essentially overrode the initial recommendation of the so-called Berger Commissioner that a wait-and-see approach be taken with respect to Parkway and directed its closure,” wrote Aquino in a letter to Gov. David Paterson and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Cyclist Killed While Riding for Charity

By Patricia Adams

A 40-year-old cyclist, raising money for charity, was killed after he collided with a 10-wheel-truck owned by the Metropolitan Lumber Company at Lefferts Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue.

Stephen Hodnett, a native of Dublin, was peddling around the globe to raise money for a project from the Lion’s Club of Canada. The goal of the fund raising - to facilitate the pairing of seeing-eye dogs with the blind.

Hodnett had cycled through other world cities on his mission. Among them were Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, and a host of others. According to published reports, one of Hodnett’s fellow “charity riders”, Gavin White of Newfoundland, told reporters that Hodnett “loved cycling” and that the bicycle he was riding had “been all over the world.”

The pair of athletes picked charities and rode along subway routes to promote it. Back in their hometowns they had enlisted the aid of family, friends and other contacts to sponsor their ride. They secured donations based on the number of subway stops they covered on the tour.

They had put off coming to New York in anticipation of how rewarding it would be. Their goal was to go to places that tourists would not likely frequent. Among their stops was Richmond Hill. Hodnett was rushed to Jamaica Hospital. He was pronounced dead, minutes after the crash.

Police say the driver is not facing any charges.

The Forum Newsgroup/photo by MICHAEL O’KANE