Mayor Visits Queens to Honor Citys Best

Mayor Visits Queens to Honor Citys Best
Mayor Michael Bloomberg made three stops in Queens last week to fulfill campaign promises, honor scientists and remember heroes.
On Monday, firefighters and their families welcomed Bloomberg and other public officials to Engine Company 325, Ladder 163 in Woodside to rename a nearby park in honor of firefighter John Downing, who perished in the line of duty on Fathers Day 2001. Downing and Rescue Company 4 firefighters Brian Fahey and Harry Ford died fighting a fire in a hardware store at 12-22 Astoria Blvd. last June 17.
During the ceremony, Bloomberg thanked firefighters everywhere for making the ultimate sacrifice. "I am here representing eight million people to tell you how deeply we feel, remembering your husband," he told Anne Downing, John Downings widow. "I dont know how to say thank you other than to build a better world."
The Mayor then presented her with a plaque bearing her late husbands name, which will hang at the park located on 51 St. and 43 Ave.
"It was a beautiful tribute," Downing said through tears after the ceremony. "Its very sad, very emotional…[John] is very close to my heart."
Last Thursday evening, the Mayor visited the Juniper Park Civic Assoc. in Middle Village to fulfill his campaign promise to return to the Association once he was elected. At the Our Lady of Hope Church School, a crowd of about 300 people met the Mayors arrival at the Juniper Park Civic Assoc. meeting with loud applause. Bloomberg praised the police for their good work in lowering crime and murder rates this year before discussing the Citys ailing school system. "We need the 80,000 teachers to do as good a job for our kids as the police do for all of us," the Mayor said. He added that the newly instituted mayoral control of the school system "isnt a solution to the problem, but it gives us an opportunity to direct the resources."
Earlier that same evening, he stopped at the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park to announce the winners of the annual Mayors Awards For Excellence In Science And Technology. The Mayors Awards are given to area scientists based on a lifes work or special achievements in applied sciences.
"The scientific and technological research applications that are discovered in New York City constitute not only some of our greatest commercial exports, but some of our greatest contributions to humanity," Bloomberg said.
The winners of the science awards are: Eugene Fasullo of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for his achievement in engineering; Kenneth Perlin of the Courant Institute, for achievement in computer science; Thomas Jessell of Howard Hughs Medical Institute and Columbias Center for Neurobiology, for achievement in biology and medical sciences; Joel Cohen of Rockefeller University for Mathematical, Physical and engineering sciences; and Brian Greene of Columbia University and Martin Weiss of Rockefeller University for fostering public understanding of the sciences. Three younger scientists who recently received doctorates also received awards. They are Ramzi Khuri of Baruch College, Anna Marie Pyle and Raphael Yuste of Columbia.