Nassau park renamed for NYPD's Luis Alvarez, hero of Ground Zero

NYPD Bomb Squad detective Luis Alvarez would often tell his three sons: "Finish what you start and always be a good man."

It was a motto Alvarez would follow throughout his life, from his service in the Marines to his time on the pile at Ground Zero, desperately searching for remains — work that would leave him struggling with colorectal cancer — to his selfless advocacy in the weeks before his death ensuring that other Sept. 11 first responders were not denied health care benefits.

On Tuesday, Terrell Avenue Park, located less than a mile from Alvarez's Oceanside home, was renamed for the fallen 9/11 hero.

"He's with us today," said Alaine Parker Alvarez, Luis' widow, who spearheaded the park's design. "I can just feel it."

Detective Luis G. Alvarez Memorial Park features Nassau's first meditation labyrinth where users travel a single winding path from the outer edge in a circuitous way to the center. In the middle is a granite stone etched with a five-edged star bearing Alvarez's name, his badge number — 1361 — and the phrase "Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost" in the center.

A clock tower just outside the labyrinth replaced the 12 numerals with the word "Now," as an encouragement for visitors to live in the moment.

Parker Alvarez described the park as a place where "one can come to reflect about life, to find a sense of peace, clarity, connection with nature, each other and most importantly with themselves."

Work on the $350,000 county-funded facility began in October and was completed last week.

"It means so much that we are able to dedicate this park … to a fallen American hero whose altruism ranged from his bravery on the job during his 9/11 to his dying day," said County Executive Laura Curran, who filed legislation renaming the park.

Alvarez spent two decades with the NYPD, serving undercover in the Narcotics Bureau and later as a Bomb Squad detective.

After the 9/11 attacks, Alvarez spent three months at Ground Zero searching for remains in the smoldering rubble. Alvarez, who retired in 2010, would pay a stiff price for his efforts, contracting cancer linked to the toxic dust floating in the air of lower Manhattan.

After 70 rounds of chemotherapy, and with doctors telling him there was nothing more they could do — the cancer had spread to his liver — Alvarez turned his attention to others struggling with 9/11-related illnesses.

"He knew 9/11 wasn't over," said Phil Alvarez, Luis' brother. "He knew people would continue to get sick. He had brothers that he fought for."

His face gaunt and his frame frail, Alvarez joined with activist and comedian Jon Stewart during a televised appearance in June 2019 urging Congress to extend the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

"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 testified to lawmakers.

Just weeks later, Alvarez died on June 29, 2019. He was 53. Congress eventually passed the extension, which provides assistance to individuals who developed serious medical ailments stemming from the terror attacks. The money is due to last through 2092.

"That's really an incredible legacy for an incredible man who stepped forward because it was the right thing to do," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Robert Ganley.

Aida Alvarez said while she misses her son, she is proud of his legacy.

"Once you see what he able to accomplish," she said, "and how many people have been able to have what they need, and to have an example of what humanity is all about, I am at peace."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.