Talk Bronx New York

Marine Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi, the first U.S. casualty in Iraq in 2009, was laid to rest in the Bronx on Fri., Jan. 9.

 The grief-stricken older brother of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi told a packed Bronx church Friday he blames himself for the battlefield death.

“This is especially hard for me, losing Albert, because he pretty much followed in my footsteps,” said Robert Rivera, a 31-year-old Navy reservist. “We did everything together.”

Francesconi, 21, was killed by a land mine in Afghanistan on New Year’s Day - the first U.S. casualty there this year.

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                                                                                Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi

 A hero marine killed in a New Year’s Day ambush in Afghanistan was mourned Wednesday night as a dedicated soldier whose life ended too soon.

Grim-faced relatives, friends and fellow soldiers of Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi filled a Washington Heights funeral home for his wake.

“He will be missed,” said Marine Cpl. Alfonso Matos, 28, who served in the same battalion with Francesconi in Iraq. “He was motivated, dedicated. He loved what he did. He was a good kid.”

 The 21-year-old Francesconi, who grew up in a tough area of the Bronx, was the first U.S. casualty in Afghanistan this year, killed by a land mine in volatile southern Helmand Province

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Bronx Makes The 2008 News Years Numbers For Times Square

Yes, 2008 is coming, but it’s two weeks early. And it’s arriving by train.

A new 500-pound, 7-foot-tall numeral 8 is traveling by subway from the Bronx factory where it was made to Times Square to complete the 2-0-0-8 sign that will ring in the new year with the dropping of the famous crystal ball.

For the first time, the gigantic New Year’s Eve numerals will be on display at the Times Square information center from Thursday, when the 8 shows up, through Dec. 19, party organizers said.

The 8 sign was to hitch a ride on its good pal the 6 train on Thursday morning and then transfer to the N/R line to Times Square. The main organizers of the New Year’s Eve party, Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins and Countdown Entertainment president Jeffrey Straus, planned to be on hand to add the 8 to its colleagues the 2, the 0 and the other 0.

In keeping with the city’s recent efforts to save energy, the 2-0-0-8 sign will be lit using new bulbs that shine brighter and last longer but are more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs.

This year, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree also has energy-saving bulbs, powered in part by solar panels atop a nearby building.

SOURCE: NewsDay.com

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