______________ VALLEY STREAM _____________
HERALD V.S. Central lights up scoreboard
Gillen talks taxes, tariffs
Remembering Pope Francis
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VOL. 36 NO. 17
APRIL 24 - 30, 2025
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Exit ramps to be redone to tame chaotic traffic, crashes By JUAN LASSO jlasso@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
Two high-risk interchanges in Valley Stream — Exits 13 and 15 on the Southern State Parkway — are undergoing long-awaited redesigns to curb collisions, ease congestion and improve pedestrian safety.
The dizzying traffic flow at the six-road convergence of Exit 13 on the Southern State Parkway in Valley Stream has long been a daily concern for drivers and residents alike. Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, a Democrat representing Elmont, has worked to end the interchange’s bloody saga of traffic deaths, collisions, and near-misses. In 2022, Solages secured $20 million in federal funding for a long-awaited redesign through Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $32.8 billion five-year capital plan for the New York State Department of Transportation. Now the proposed redesign is in a new phase. The DOT will host a public information ConTinuEd on PagE 10
Chris Fiore’s Marvel moment is only the beginning By JUAN LASSO jlasso@liherald.com
Chris Fiore isn’t a household name—yet. But if you’ve been watching “Daredevil: Bor n Again” and thought—Wait, is that the same guy from the blood donation commercial?— you’re not alone. The 23-yearold actor from Valley Stream has recently gone from voice acting to the lead of a nonprofit commercial to dying dramatically in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His on-screen death may have been brief, but it has helped opened the door to a blooming acting career.
Before Daredevil, there was the New York Blood Center c o m m e r c i a l , wh e r e F i o r e played the “hero” of a retrostyle video game world, having the kind of catastrophically b a d d ay t h at o n ly g e t s redeemed when he donates blood. “It was my first true professional gig,” Fiore recalls. “I got really lucky. It was a big production, and I was just kind of thrust into it. But it was a great experience and I am lucky to have it right off the bat.” So how does a kid from the South Shore go from acting on Valley Stream streets to a Marvel set?
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nce I started doing the deep, internal work — really digging into characters — I just couldn’t turn away from it.
ChRIS FIORe Actor “My dad was actually a screenwriter,” Fiore explains. “He used to be NYPD, then retired and started making shor t films around Valley Stream with friends. I’d tag along as a kid and just be
around that creative chaos. That’s really where the spark started for me.” By the time Fiore was 19, he got serious about it, enrolling in the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Manhattan. “I needed to know if I loved the craft or just the idea of acting,” he says. “And once I start-
ed doing the deep, inter nal work—really digging into characters—I just couldn’t tur n away from it.” “He always was articulate and creative,” said Ben, Chris’ father. “When he’d go to the movies, I noticed a vibe from him that said, ‘I can do this. It’s what I want to do.’ And he ConTinuEd on PagE 10