25 Years After 9/11, The Effort To Honor An Oceanside Hero Reaches Its ‘Final Push'

OCEANSIDE, NY — As the United States approaches the 25th anniversary of one of its darkest days, an effort to honor a hero of Sept. 11 in Oceanside is nearing its finish line.

Former Oceanside resident Luis Alvarez died in 2019 after a three-year bout with colorectal cancer that resulted from his time spent at ground zero as a first responder. He was a former U.S. Marine, a former NYPD detective, and one of the scores of first responders who had rushed down to ground zero after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to help clean up debris and search for any sign of the people who had died that day. He spent three months following Sept. 11 searching through the rubble for survivors and remains

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In the years after Sept. 11, he became known to many Americans as an advocate, seeking to make sure that the first responders like him who had rushed into the scene of a tragedy got the medical care they deserved.

"I will not stand by and watch as my friends with cancer from 9/11, like me, are valued less than anyone else because when they get sick, they die," Alvarez said, in testimony delivered before congress on June 11, 2019. "I've been lucky enough to have had 68 rounds of chemo. You heard me right, 68 rounds. Many others haven't had the opportunity to have five, and some have had none. Their families would love to have time with them, and may mine have time with me, because I have been lucky enough to have the pain and suffering of 69 rounds of chemo and countless other treatments and surgeries. It is my goal, it is my legacy, to see that you do the right thing for all 9/11 responders."

Alvarez died 18 days later, on June 29, 2019, at the age of 53. A month after his passing, President Donald Trump signed the "Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund," which guaranteed funding for 9/11 victims and their families.

In the years after his passing, a park in Alvarez's' home town of Oceanside was named after him. Now, another effort to honor the hometown hero is in its final push: naming the Oceanside Post Office after him.

"On behalf of the family, we'd be extremely proud to have a United States Post Office named after Lou. And, specifically, the Oceanside Post Office; he was very proud to live in that community," Alvarez's brother, Phil, said. "It was a community that he cared about. And really, it was a community that cared about him, especially when he got sick. We know a lot of neighbors, one of his sons is in the fire department. And it's really a community that has come together many times for Lou Alvarez before he passed away and after. To have a park there in Oceanside named after him, and now a post office, would be a great honor that we would really relish."

In a conversation Wednesday, Phil Alvarez recalled the way Oceanside came together as a community not only during his brother's fight with cancer, but after. That community, Phil said, gave his brother the chance to keep helping people even as he underwent 68 rounds of chemotherapy.

"There were times in his three-year fight with cancer where — he ended up having 68 chemo treatments, which gets you down at times — but there were always members of a community there to come hold him up, and support him, and they did so in a great way," Phil said. "For instance, they grabbed him, the first year he was sick, and they brought him to give out Thanksgiving meals with my nephews. So, even though he was sick, he felt that he was doing some kind of service to the community, and he absolutely loved that."

Taking care of those around him, Phil said, was his brother's mission not only as an advocate for 9/11 first responders, but as a member of the Oceanside community.

"Those are the kind of things that, you know, they got him out of the house, but not to feel sorry for him, but to put him to work and do what he enjoyed doing, which was serving the public," Phil said. "I remember that Thanksgiving, he went down with his sons and gave out Thanksgiving meals to those less fortunate, and he felt he was still, you know, accomplishing his mission to take care of people."

While Alvarez loved and was loved by the community in Oceanside, the effort to have the post office outfitted with his name required sponsorship on a legislative level.

In this case, that sponsorship effort was picked up by Laura Gillen, the fourth-district congresswoman from New York who attended Alvarez's wake when she was Town of Hempstead Supervisor.

For Gillen, the push to honor Alvarez could only have started with one call.

"I reached out to Detective Alvarez's wife, Lainie, when I first thought, 'maybe this would be a nice way to pay tribute to him.' I wouldn't want to do that or introduce the bill without the support of the family," Gillen said. "I spoke to her, she's very receptive to the idea. I think it meant a lot to her. And so, with their support, then that is what made me reach out and draft the legislation, and then reach out to my colleagues and say that the family is behind this. That gives us all the push to get this done. This is a bipartisan issue, honoring our country's heroes, and certainly a 9/11 hero."

In a statement made earlier this summer, Lainie Alvarez said she was moved by the effort to honor her husband.

"Oceanside is our home and where we raised our kids. Renaming our local post office after Lou will ensure his courage and bravery on 9/11 and fighting for the WTCHP in the decades that followed is never forgotten," Lainie Alvarez said. "I am thankful to Congresswoman Gillen for introducing this legislation and helping preserve his legacy."

Gillen said she hadn't met Alvarez during his life, but became aware of him, as many Americans did, when he testified before congress in 2019. When asked what her first impressions of the Oceanside resident were upon seeing his testimony, Gillen had three words.

"Courageous, strong, hero, those were some of the words I thought of. You could see how sick he was, but he still, even in his debilitated state, he still brought such passion to his testimony, to speak on behalf of the 9/11 families and just [be] really inspiring. A true hero, an example for all of us to follow," Gillen said. "Advocating to make sure that everybody who was impacted that day would get the health care that they deserve — and that they needed — without having to worry about financial burden on themselves or their family. He's just a true American patriot and hero."

While his brother has been called a hero countless times over, Phil Alvarez said it was never about his own accolades. Instead, his advocacy was about the people who needed care.

"Luis's motivation was always those people that responded, but in general, residents of New York City that were exposed so many years prior. Their mission down there was to recover recover the lost for the families that waited desperately for words of their loved ones," Phil said.

In a conversation Wednesday, Gillen said every congressional representative from New York has signed on to support the bill that would see the post office named after Alvarez. The hope, the congresswoman said, is that it can be brought to the congress floor for a suspension vote next week.

"Usually those kind of votes get overwhelming support, and I do expect that this bill will receive overwhelming support when it is brought to a vote, so we are making the final push," Gillen said.

Once passed, the U.S. Postal Service would rename the facility at 80 Atlantic Ave. in Oceanside, making it the "Detective Luis G. Alvarez Post Office" on all official listings.

As for what it would mean to her to get to honor an Oceanside hero like this, Gillen said the most important thing was what it would mean to the Alvarez family.

"It would mean so much to me, but mostly because I think it would mean a lot to his family. And I think it would mean a lot to our community," Gillen said. "His name will be on the building. There will be a plaque talking about the work that he did, so he can always be remembered by everybody who comes in and uses that post office…I think it's really important that we have that there for him. And I'd be thrilled to have made that possible."

For his part, Phil said he was thinking of many people as the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 approached: Not only the families of first responders for whom Luis advocated, but the families who never got to say goodbye to someone they loved.

"25 years later, it is not lost on me or the Alvarez family that we got to be with Lou for another 16 years, and we got to spend time with him, and say goodbye to him, and also witness all these incredible things that he did to remember those that we lost and those that were sick," Phil said. "We think of all the people that Lou was able to help with his advocacy, but also, it is not lost on us, the original families who didn't get to say goodbye."