Ladder Co. 27 fi refi ghter killed in Afghanistan
Continued on page 75
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 12-18, 2019 3
Biaggi, Senate Transportation
chair tour Westchester Square
Station, discuss district’s needs
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Stand clear of the chipping
paint.
In an effort to raise awareness
of her district’s dire
transportation needs, Senator
Alessandra Biaggi gave Senator
Tim Kennedy, chairman
of the Senate Transportation
Committee. a fi rst-hand look
at the decrepit condition of the
Westchester Square IRT #6
station on Thursday, April 4.
The elevated station was
as usual, bustling during evening
rush hour as commuters
passed narrowly by walls
with dripping rust stains, others
that are missing chunks of
plaster, and what seemed to be
more paint coming off the ceilings
and trestles rather than
what was staying on.
Westchester Square station
is one of the most run down
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority properties in the
34th Senate District according
to Biaggi.
As a matter of fact, the MTA
provided her a price point of
‘hundreds of millions’ for the
station’s necessary rehabilitation,
she said.
That’s just the fi rst car of
an entire train of transit issues
that Biaggi’s east Bronx
district is currently facing,
though.
Out of 45 train stations
in the 34th SD, only fi ve currently
meet the handicap accessibility
standards of the
Americans with Disabilities
Act.
Train stations in her district
are also located in the
west Bronx, serving Riverdale
and Kingsbridge, as well as
Woodlawn and Pelham Parkway.
“That means there’s a literal
limit of where residents
with disabilities can travel to,”
Biaggi said prior to the tour,
specially mentioning subway
stations like Middletown Road
that aren’t yet ADA-accessible
Biaggi (c) and Kennedy (r) address transportation needs around the state
and specifi cally the Bronx. Photo by Veronica Feliciano
and how Pelham Bay station’s
handicap accessibilities are
constantly out of order.
Biaggi also met with community
stakeholders from
across the Bronx portion
of her district in her offi ce
prior to the walkthrough of
Westchester Square station,
hearing what improvements
Bronxites wanted as far as
transportation goes.
Kennedy was planning to
sit in on the earlier meeting as
well; but ironically, he was delayed
by terrible traffi c condi-
BY ALEX MITCHELL
One of New York and even America’s
‘Bravest’ was tragically taken
from us while serving overseas on
Monday, April 10.
Christopher Slutman, a 15-year
FDNY member and United States Ma-
rine Corps Staff Sergeant was among
the three Marines killed by a Talliban
bombing near Bagrim Airfi eld in
Afghanistan.
Stateside, the 43-year old Slutman
was stationed out of Ladder 27, which
sits just beneath the Cross Bronx Ex-
Ladder Company 27’s Christopher A. Slutman
was a 15-year-old FDNY veteran.
Photo courtesy of FDNY
pressway in Claremont.
Ladder 27 shares its command
post with Engine Company 46, where
FDNY Lieutenant Jack Meara refl
ected on what it was like to be around
Slutman during an operation.
“He was the type of fi reman everyone
wanted to have in their fi rehouse,”
Meara said. “Chris always
did the right thing, Chris always
stepped up to the plate, Chris was always
there when you needed him,”
the Lieutenant continued, sharings
some of Slutman’s contributions to
the other members of the house.
One of Slutman’s most notable acts
of stepping up to the plate came in the
very early hours of Tuesday, July 23,
2013 when he successfully rescued a
woman who was trapped inside her
bedroom in a 7th fl oor unit at 320
Morris Avenue in Mott Haven.
“Something is burning on the seventh
fl oor,” was the only heads up he
received prior to valiantly crawling
beneath thick black smoke and fl ames
to make the incredible rescue.
Slutman was awarded the Fire
Chiefs Association Memorial Medal
the following year on behalf of his
brevity.
Since Slutman was a child in Delaware,
he had dreamed of being a fi refi
ghter, following in the footsteps of
his own father, Fletcher Slutman.
Later in life, Christopher become
a father and hero to three girls that
he had raised with his wife Shannon.
Upon the news of Slutman’s ultimate
sacrifi ce, the Stephen Siller Tunnel
To Towers Foundation pledged to
raise the necessary funds to pay off
his family’s home mortgage.
Lieutenant Jack Meara (c) speaks to the press about his experience serving with Slutman.
Photo by Fernando Justiniano
Continued on page 75
In an effort to
raise awareness of
her district’s dire
transportation
needs, Senator
Alessandra Biaggi
gave Senator Tim
Kennedy, chairman
of the Senate
Transportation
Committee, a fi rsthand
look at the
descrepit condition
of the Westchester
Square train station.