Mourners and city officials will gather in Belle Harbor on Friday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Flight 587 plane crash that rocked the New York Dominican community and horrified the residential Queens neighborhood.
The plane, bound for the Dominican Republic, crashed at 9:16 a.m., killing all 260 passengers as well as five people on the ground. Coming just two months after terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, many wondered if they were yet again under another attack.
“A falling plane is a horrific tragedy. You couldn’t imagine such a terrible thing happening,” said Councilman Eric Ulrich, who represents the neighborhood. “It really hit home for us here.”
Around 90 percent of the passengers were of Dominican descent, many from Washington Heights.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg will join the ceremony, which begins at 9 a.m. at the memorial site at Beach 116th Street and Rockaway Boulevard.
'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.
'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.
