It’s been more than two months since the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit New York City — how the city and the Church are helping.
At least 12 lawsuits have been filed against rapper Travis Scott and concert organizer Live Nation Entertainment.
Emotional reunions are taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border now that it has been reopened to those fully vaccinated.
By Jessica Easthope
The floors and walls are dry. It’s been more than two months since Tropical Storm Ida, but Leticia Orta can still feel the water rising.
The basement apartment where she lived for 12 years and nearly everything in it was destroyed.
“It was really sad, seeing all my things thrown away and I couldn’t keep anything from there,” Leticia said.
Currents News first reported on Leticia’s story after the storm when she was forced to start over. But she looks back and knows she was one of the lucky ones.
“The most important thing is that I’m alive and I have a job and my family and that’s going to be my strength to keep going,” she said.
Eleven Queens residents died in basement apartments during the storm. It’s estimated there are around 200,000 basement apartments in New York City – many of them illegal.
Leticia is now staying in a one room basement apartment with her son. It’s half the size of her old place, but she can’t afford anything else. She has close to $50,000 in property loss – and only received $6,000 from FEMA and rents in her area are skyrocketing.
“The rents are tremendously high and I can’t do this, I’m not going to be working just to pay rent,” said Leticia.
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens gave Leticia a table set and her parish, St. Mary’s Winfield also offered help. She says the support of her pastor and fellow parishioners is more than enough – it’s keeping her faith strong at a time when she needs it most.
“It makes me feel like I’m not alone, I always feel like my faith is in God and he’s going to help me, and even if it hurts I know I’m going to be okay,” she said.
Leticia plans to stay put for now until she saves enough money to replace her things, remaining grateful for the things she can’t replace.
By Jessica Easthope
Jeanine Rana and Maria Obiol are back in fourth grade at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy of Bayside with their teacher Miss Colardi, they’re laughing, listening and learning, just like they did all those years ago.
It’s been 43 years, but the girls still can’t call Miss Colardi by her first name.
“She always says you should call me Regina but I say I can’t, you’re Miss Colaridi,” Maria said.
And Regina has the same problem.
“These children, I’m going to keep calling them children because that’s what they were to me,” she said.
They’ve kept in touch here and there, but recently life has come full circle. The girls, needed Regina’s love and support as chatty kids trying to learn their times tables – but now Regina needs theirs.
“We were raised to do what Jesus taught us and we still do and that exemplifies the true value of a Catholic education,” Jeanine said.
Regina has stage-four kidney disease. When the girls found out, Miss Colardi’s fourth grade class got to work, raising money to send her a gift card for meals. But more than that – they gave Regina an inside look at the impact she made on them.
“Everyone reaching out to her, the emails and the messages, just that we were thinking of her,” said Maria.
“You don’t realize the power you do have over children and how you can impact and steer their direction,” Regina said.
Regina’s waiting for a kidney transplant.
“I do believe that God has made this plan for a reason, he knew that I needed their support and I was happy to have given it to them when they needed it,” she said.
The girls by her side all the way.
“It doesn’t matter when or why, we’ll be there in a heartbeat,” Jeanine said.
Showing that the influence of a good teacher can never be erased.
Currents News Staff
Grateful. That’s the word that has come out of the mouths of every person. All of them are stepping foot into the country for the first time in almost two years – something they say they’ll never take for granted.
Andres Vasquez is thankful to God that he and his family is there.
“Gracias a Dios aqui estamos mire,” Andres said.
El Paso in Texas and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico were sister cities divided by the pandemic – now, they’re reunited once again. Lines of people waited to cross into the U.S. since 7 p.m. as the borders opened to non-essential travel at 10 p.m. after loosening of travel restrictions put in place because of the pandemic.
“Siempre brinco y ella es la afectada pues,” Andres said.
Andres works as a semi driver and was able to cross back and forth between both cities for work. His wife, on the other hand, was not considered essential and has been unable to cross since the beginning of the pandemic. She is still in Juarez, Mexico, but is happy that her family got to cross. Most of her family lives in the United States.
“Casi toda la familia de ella esta aqui nadamas. Ella esta en Juarez y se siente pero ahora se siente feliz que ya vienen por ella,” Andres said.
She was forced to rely on her family to be able to come and visit her in Juarez but because of long wait times to cross, those moments were few and far in between.
That’s something Maria Teresa Herrera can relate to.
“Nos visitaban ellos per lamentablemente nosotros no podíamos hacer lo mismo,” Maria said.
She says she was grateful her family could come visit her but says it was still painful knowing she couldn’t do the same.
“Estaba facil nos trataron muy bien, fue rapido,” Maria said.
The both say the journey was quick and easy even though they had to show proof of vaccination. They say this experience has solidified just how the hearts of these two cities beat as one.
Currents News Staff
Sunday, Nov. 14, is the fifth World Day of the Poor.
Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. Some 2,000 poor people will be in attendance. After Mass, the Vatican will distribute lunch to those present.
In past years, there have been many more people, but the pandemic has forced the Vatican to limit attendance. It was Pope Francis’ idea to designate a day dedicated to people in need. The pontiff usually finds support in local businesses that offer concrete aid to the poor.
For example, a chain of Italian supermarkets will donate five tons of pasta, one ton of rice, about 265 gallons of oil and nearly 800 gallons of milk to shelters for families in need.
The fate of a NYC chapel at LaGuardia Airport is still up in the air, but airport chaplain Father Chris Piasta isn’t giving up the fight.
The U.S. is open to international travelers after a 20-month shutdown.
After eight people were killed at the Astroworld music festival in Houston, the community came together in prayer.
Exclusive Story
By Jessica Easthope
Beyond the doors of a quiet chapel at John F. Kennedy International Airport is the flurry and commotion of the fifth busiest airport in the country.
Sixty-one million people travel through here a year. Father Chris Piasta, the airport chaplain, says many of them, whether it be in their travels or in life, are lost and looking for direction.
“They’re looking for signs. They’re looking for something. That is the exact common denominator and in that sens, so much needed,” said Father Piasta.
But if one of those passengers in need flew into LaGuardia Airport instead, those signs are nowhere to be found.
“I have to take it upon myself, the chapel, and put it on my shoulders and walk through the airport because that’s where I’m going to meet people,” said Father Piasta. “Not necessarily in the chapel but it is a significant and important focal point.”
For a long time, Father Piasta, was saying Mass in an unused conference room at LaGuardia, but his last service was years ago. Since then, he’s been asking for an official chapel that all faiths can use, but his plea has fallen on deaf ears.
Father Piasta was told by LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the group in charge of the hub’s $4 billion-dollar redevelopment, that a chapel would not exist in the newly renovated airport. Instead there would be a “meditation room.” The only problem: no religious symbols or services allowed.=
Now Father Piasta refuses to be grounded. He’s bringing his pleas to the top – the CEO of Delta Airlines. It’s not just for Catholics, it’s for all believers.
“We would speak with not just one voice, but several individuals who not only know the need for that. But we know how much of a change it makes in the life of an airport,” he said referring to the group of religious leaders of all faiths who are gathering to make a pitch to the airport.
Both airports fall within the bounds of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Vincent LeVien, Director of External Affairs for DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology arm of the diocese, also reached out about the chapel.
“It’s an attack on religion,” said Vincent. “It’s crazy that we’re having this discussion in 2021 that they don’t think religion, any religion, is important at an airport and that we have to fight for our rights to have a chapel where, again billions of dollars was spent on this airport.”
Despite the obstacles, Vincent spoke with the directors of government affairs from Delta and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and says he’s optimistic about an outcome.
In the meantime, Father Piasta says LaGuardia’s travelers and airport workers are suffering. Everyone from victims of natural disasters to refugees stranded for weeks need faith and right now they’re all doing without it.
“You go to those famous airports all over the world, they have pools, they have golf courses,” said Father Piasta. “And I think that the spiritual level, it’s just as important as anything else.”
Currents News Staff
The crisis in northern Ethiopia shows no signs of improving. On Nov. 2, the government declared a state of emergency after the People’s Liberation Front of Tigray announced the capture of two key cities. The situation on the ground worries the United Nations (U.N.)
“Our humanitarian colleagues there report that access to the northern part of the country remains challenging,” said U.N. Secretary-General Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
“As we’ve been mentioning repeatedly, people there need urgent humanitarian assistance. In Tigray, the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate due to the restrictions imposed on the delivery of humanitarian supplies in the region via the only route, and that is through Afar; and that is the Semera-Abala-Mekelle road.”
The conflict between the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia and the central government worsened toward the end of 2020. The intensity of the violence has not diminished since then, in a country that was already burdened by famine.
It is very difficult for humanitarian aid providers and journalists to reach the area. It is estimated that there are more than five million displaced people, and those who remain trapped in the conflict zone have been abandoned to their fate.
By Currents News Staff and Bill Miller
HOUSTON— A prayer vigil was held Sunday at a Catholic Church in downtown Houston, Texas, for eight fans of rapper Travis Scott who were killed in a crowd surge at his Astroworld Festival concert Friday night, Nov. 5.
A handful of people gathered in the Church of the Annunciation to pray for the victims, who ranged in age from 14 to 27. Some were Texans, but others had traveled from out-of-state to see the show. One was still unidentified Monday morning.
According to The New York Times, seven of the eight victims were:
Although the Sunday-evening prayer vigil was lightly attended, it was promoted on Twitter Saturday by local furniture-store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.
He tweeted: “We pray for those taken away too soon, the injured and the family members who lost someone last night at the Astroworld festival.”
An estimated 50,000 people attended the festival, authorities said. Police and fire department officials expressed concerns leading up to the event because Scott, a Houston native, was known for urging concert audiences to react physically to his performances.
Scott, however, posted a video on Instagram Saturday to express sorrow over the deaths. In a voice laced with anguish, the rapper said he was cooperating with authorities, and he encouraged others to do the same.
“We’re actually working right now to identify the families so we can help assist them through this tough time,” Scott said. “My fans really mean the world to me and (I) always just really want to leave them with a positive experience.”
Scott said that, whenever he’d see things get out of hand at his shows, he’d stop the shop so that fans in peril could “get the help they need.” According to media reports, witnesses said that didn’t happen on Friday.
“I’m honestly just devastated,” Scott continued. “I could never imagine anything like this just happening. We’ve been working closely with everyone to get to the bottom of this — HPD and the Fire Department — you know, everyone to help us figure this out. So if you have any information, please just contact your local authorities.”
With Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s retirement right around the corner, a Brooklyn church is saying goodbye with prayer.
A breakthrough in treating COVID patients — Great Britain has authorized the first “pill” that reduces symptoms and speeds up recovery.
It appears New Yorkers don’t care who their mayor is. Less than a quarter of voters in the Big Apple cast their ballots.