[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22500]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF VIRGINIA GRANATO AND HER DECADE OF SERVICE AS 
         PRESIDENT OF THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND DISABLED ASSOCIATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 23, 2009

  Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Virginia 
Granato, an outstanding New Yorker who has distinguished herself 
through her dedication and service to her community and to our nation. 
Virginia Granato is being honored this month by the membership of the 
Roosevelt Island Disabled Association (RIDA) on the occasion of her 
retirement from its presidency, a post in which she served with 
distinction for a decade.
  Virginia Granato is a revered figure among the residents of the very 
special Roosevelt Island community, a unique enclave in the most 
densely populated county in the nation. She delivered extraordinary and 
effective leadership to the large population of people with 
disabilities on the Island. In addition to her devoted and effective 
service as President of RIDA, Virginia served on the Board of Directors 
of Wheelchair Charities and on the Community Advisory Board of Coler-
Goldwater Hospital.
  Virginia Granato was one of the original pioneers of Roosevelt 
Island, first moving into the Island's Eastwood housing development in 
1976. She became a powerful and respected voice for Roosevelt Island 
residents with disabilities, pressing to make the Island's 
transportation more accessible, counseling planners on the design and 
layout of apartment complexes, and facilitating a lending program for 
residents in need of wheelchairs and walkers.
  In leading the Roosevelt Island Disabled Association for a decade, 
Virginia Granato carried out RIDA's vital mission of improving the 
quality of life of Roosevelt Islanders with disabilities. As RIDA 
President, she helped organize and secure funding for regular field 
trips by Association members to athletic contests, cultural 
institutions, musical performances and recitals, amusement parks and 
other recreational venues.
  For more than a third of a century, Virginia Granato has been a 
leader of the Roosevelt Island community that she loves. She has 
volunteered for various worthwhile civic causes and selflessly devoted 
thousands of hours of her time. Virginia Granato offers an example of 
the finest impulses of the human spirit, and through her dedication and 
compassion, thousands of lives have been affected for the better.
  Madam Speaker, for her leadership, dedication and volunteer service 
over the years, I ask that my distinguished colleagues join me in 
recognizing the enormous contributions to the civic life of her 
community and our nation made by Virginia Granato.

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