7 On Your Side: Not so special newspaper delivery for 91-year-old man from Queens
WOODSIDE, Queens (WABC) -- It was a small problem with big consequences: All one elderly gentleman from Queens wanted was his newspaper delivered to his doorstep.
But instead, the papers were thrown on the sidewalk, in a garden, or not delivered at all -- leaving the 91-year-old man frustrated even depressed.
Luckily, his worried family called 7 On Your Side's Nina Pineda for a special delivery.
Eddie Hernandez's daily routine hasn't changed much since 1944. Every day, he enjoys his morning papers in his chair.
"He remembers when the newspaper cost 3 cents," daughter Judy Speranzi said. "They're like twins, the (Daily) News and the Post."
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And nothing keeps Hernandez from his papers, not even a brain bleed that landed him in the hospital.
"He said he had a hematoma," Speranzi said. "A big hematoma."
The injury was from from a concussion sustained after he fell down the stairs while retrieving his beloved paper.
"He had to bend to get it, and one of his knees gave," Speranzi said.
Ever since the accident, his daughters worried he may fall again and requested from both Post and the Daily News to deliver outside his front door, not the sidewalk.
Speranzi then began documenting where the newspapers ended up. Many times the papers were tossed at the bottom of his stairs, or even further and near the street. Then, it got worse. One was thrown over a fence into a garden, but the most terrible toss landed in between the houses.
"The latest one I couldn't believe," Speranzi said. "We found it out there."
Sometimes, she says delivery doesn't come at all.
"It wasn't there for six days," she said. "Six days we had no paper."
She said that left her dad lonely and depressed.
"He doesn't have much; he has a routine," she said. "He sits down and reads the papers, and sits there for a couple hours. For him, it's a big deal. It's one of those things that hasn't changed since my mom died...We pay for service to have the paper delivered. I'm not going to go get it."
So the family made one more call
"We are going to contact 7 On Your Side and tell them our story," Speranzi said.
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We contacted both the Daily News and the Post, and they both apologized profusely, saying this kind of service falls short of what this family should expect.
The Daily News gave Hernandez a month free for his trouble, while the Post required the delivery person take pictures each morning of where the papers were left.
Speranzi took pictures too.
Now, each morning, they're giving Hernandez a special delivery -- folded carefully and put into his mail slot.
"What you do is tremendous for people," Speranzi said. "Honestly, you guys are great."
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