Firefighter Rescues Two From Queens Apartment Fire

FDNY Insider 6/30/2008

Firefighter Michael Cunningham from Ladder 150 may not want to call himself a hero, but two women from Queens most certainly do. He rescued both of them from an all-hands fire at 196-03 Jamaica Avenue on June 28. “I was able to rely on my training and what I have learned from [other firefighters’] experience, and without panicking, carry out the job,” said Firefighter Cunningham, a four-year veteran of the FDNY. “I’m just happy it all worked out OK.” At 6:47 p.m., firefighters were called to a fire in a first floor apartment of a two-story multiple dwelling in Hollis, Queens. Within two minutes firefighters from Ladder 150 arrived on the scene, finding a heavy fire and smoke condition. Firefighter Cunningham said he went through an alley and cut the lock off a gate to reach the rear of the building, where he found fire blowing out the windows of a first floor apartment. He also noticed a woman on the second floor who was threatening to jump. “I told her to stay at the window and I’d be right back with the ladder, and thank God she did,” said Firefighter Cunningham...more>

4th Annual Adaptive Water Sports Festival Offers 

Wounded Soldiers Opportunities to Water Ski, Scuba and Sail

News Blaze 6/30/2008

As part of the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project, a partnership between Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA, severely wounded soldiers from the ongoing war on terror will have the opportunity to learn adaptive water skiing, scuba diving and other water sports as guests at the 2008 Adaptive Water Sports Festival. Specially trained volunteers from the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) will be on hand to teach these sporting skills to those with amputations and other severe injuries. Activities for this year include water-skiing, scuba diving, sailing and fishing. The Adaptive Water Sports Festival will take place in Rockaway Point (QUEENS), New York from July 10-13, 2008. The Rockaway community was one of the hardest hit on Sept. 11, 2001 and ravaged again by the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 just two months later. Yet, the community proved resilient and responded with a surge of empathy, and charitable endeavors. Most notably, the Graybeards were formed, a non-profit dedicated to helping those in need. It is through the Graybeards, Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA, that this event is again possible. "Each year I am amazed to see these wounded soldiers water-skiing and scuba diving," stated Wounded Warrior Project Executive Director John Melia . "Many able-bodied people are not brave enough to take on this challenge and I am filled with pride to see our wounded service men and women once again acting courageously and pushing their bodies to the limit."" A real camaraderie has built up between our wounded warriors and the members of the Fire Department of New York. Both know, first hand, what it is like to put their lives on the line for their country and community. We are honored to be working with the New York communities as they help us rebuild the lives of our brave wounded warriors through sports" said Kirk Bauer , Executive Director of Disabled Sports USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran...more>

Trade Center Rebuilding Faces Big Setback

WSJ Online 6/30/2008

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center, destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, won't be completed until the middle of the next decade, and will cost as much as $3 billion more than planned, according to people familiar with the matter. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16-acre site in Lower Manhattan, is expected to release a report Monday detailing significant delays and cost overruns on construction there. The report won't specify new completion dates or budget figures, but people familiar with the project say major components of it will be delayed one to three years and will cost $1 billion to $3 billion more than the current estimate of $15 billion. They caution that those estimates are preliminary and could shrink. "The executive director will give a candid assessment of where we are and where we need to go to get the site rebuilt," said Port Authority spokesman Stephen Sigmund. He dismissed the estimates as overly pessimistic. "Anyone giving you dates and budgets today would have to have a crystal ball."...more>

Fire Department Gets 276 New Members

Staten Island Advance 6/30/2008

The FDNY expanded its ranks during a graduation ceremony this morning, as 276 "probies" became full-fledged firefighters. Mayor Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta presided over the affair, which took place at the Colden Center at Queens College. The new graduates include 35 members of the military -- including Probationary Firefighter Christopher Little, who is currently serving his second mission with the Marines in Iraq. His family attended graduation ceremony in his absence. Other graduates include Matthew Sweeney. His brother, Firefighter Brian Sweeney of Rescue 1, died in the line of duty on 9/11. The new firefighters recently completed an expanded, more rigorous 23-week training program at the department's Randalls Island academy. "Today is a proud day for New York City as we welcome 276 probationary firefighters into the ranks of the FDNY," Bloomberg said. "You are one of the first classes to receive the exceptional 23 weeks of training at the academy, and I know it has prepared you for any type of emergency you may encounter."

9/11 Junk Science

NY Post 6/29/2008

All the rhetoric about health crises affecting Ground Zero workers post-9/11 has finally been put to a fact test. And the data tell a different story.

For years, this page has been warning that the no-questions-asked benefits demanded by such as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler for anyone claiming a 9/11-related illness were an invitation to fraud. Sure enough, that's the case. And the cost to taxpayers could run into the billions. Lawyers defending the city against a mass lawsuit say that a detailed review of medical records for nearly 10,000 litigants (of the 40,000 people who worked at Ground Zero) shows that 30 percent only have nominal health issues. And 306 have admitted openly that they have no past or current health problems...more>

Some Lawyerly Advice on 9/11 Workers Case for Judge Alvin Hellerstein

NY Daily News 6/29/2008

The legal action seeking compensation for 9/11 rescue and recovery workers who were sickened by their service at Ground Zero reaches a critical milestone Monday: A federal judge has ordered the lawyers who are waging the case to start putting up or shutting up. Specifically, Judge Alvin Hellerstein has set this as the deadline by which the attorneys must produce the medical records of 10,800 claimants. This, so the process of evaluating how many of them are ill, and how seriously, can begin. The information has been too long delayed, and Hellerstein is rightly impatient. Should the attorneys, led by Paul Napoli and David Worby, fail to deliver, Hellerstein would be fully justified in imposing sanctions. One that comes to mind would be a cap on the size of their legal fees...more>

Belgian Recreates NYPD and FDNY in Miniature

Gothamist 6/29/2008

For some unknown reason, many Europeans are smitten with the NYPD. There are more than a few replica NYPD cars over the pond (ranging from quite accurate to comically inaccurate) some available for rental. So it is no surprise to find on flickr a Belgian named Marc who makes incredibly accurate HO scale models of NYPD and FDNY vehicles and photographs them on a miniature version of New York City streets complete with a precinct house and fire house. It is even more amazing that he has never even been to the city. The models, which are almost all custom made or modified, aren’t for sale and represent both departments from the present day back to the mid 1970s. They are used in recreations of police and fire scenes that are incredibly detailed...more photos>

Heat's On Bronx Pol for Fire Funds

NY Post 6/29/2008

A nonprofit group with ties to Bronx City Councilman Larry Seabrook received more than $300,000 in city money to improve firefighter diversity - a program that did little beyond burn cash, sources said. The "Firefighter Advocacy Program" - run by the Northeast Bronx Redevelopment Corp. - was supposed to "produce up to 25 members of the NY Fire Department each year," increase "the number of minority applicants and firefighters" and provide "information and services . . . [for] minority recruitment," according to the organization's proposal. In 2006 the group received $310,000 for the effort - with $205,000 earmarked for staff salaries. Two years later, the FDNY says its only contact with the group was a request to provide free posters and recruitment materials - which it was asked to leave in Seabrook's office. A source affiliated with the group said it did print recruitment materials and do community outreach, but steered most applicants into already established training programs run by the Vulcans, the FDNY's association of black firefighters, and John Jay College. The group also gave about $15,000 to the Vulcans for study materials...more>

A Walking Miracle: 47-Story Plunge Man Thanks Saviors

NY Post 6/28/2008

When window washer Alcides Moreno visited FDNY Engine Co. 39 on the Upper East Side, the sight of him walking, slowly but steadily, brought tears to the eyes of four men. Moreno smiled broadly and embraced the firefighters and paramedics who six months ago found him sitting in 10 feet of mangled railings and cables, miraculously alive after a terrifying 47-story fall. "Thank you, thank you," Moreno told his rescuers. And they thanked him. "To have you stand here today is a great gift for us," paramedic Gary Smiley told him. "You are always going to have a place in our hearts," said firefighter Dale McLoughlin. During last month's gathering at the firehouse, they recalled the cold Dec. 7 morning when the scaffold on the roof of Solow Tower at 265 E. 66th St. collapsed. Moreno's brother Edgar, 30, a fellow window washer, toppled off and died when he hit the ground. But Alcides, 37, stuck to the 16-foot-wide scaffold like a surfboard, which may have slowed his descent as he hurtled 500 feet onto the concrete below. The rescuers recounted how they found him crouched in a sitting position - still clutching the scaffold controls. They were shocked to see that he was trying to breathe. "We're going to take care of you," firefighter Patrick Connolly promised him. They hooked him up to an electrocardiogram and moved him - ever so carefully - "like a fragile egg."...more>

Remnants Await Return to WTC Site

Tribeca Trib 6/27/2008

It will be another three years before the National September 11 Memorial and Museum opens at the World Trade Center site. But for the museum’s curators, the monumental task of composing the 9/11 story is now. Chief curator Jan Ramirez and associate curator Amy Weinstein are gathering the photos, films, oral histories and personal mementos for the permanent collection. But it is the massive artifacts —the rusted and twisted tonnage of World Trade Center steel and the wreckage of emergency vehicles, for example—that will influence design and engineering decisions before the museum is built. Those objects, including a pair of  structural steel “tridents” from the towers and the 65-ton “Last Column,” are among a thousand World Trade Center remnants cleaned and stored neatly in Hangar 17 at JFK Airport. Within two weeks after the disaster, the former Tower Air hangar had become a repository of massive Trade Center rubble, some of which will be selected for posterity. Last month, a Trib reporter accompanied Ramirez on a tour of the 80,000- square-foot hangar, where she talked about objects being considered for the museum—decisions that will influence how generations of visitors try to comprehend the enormity of physical loss on Sept. 11. Only a few of the mangled vehicles in the collection can return to the site. Among those might be Engine 21, which had been parked at Church and Vesey Streets when the towers came down. Ramirez said that the truck’s cab, a burned-out wreckage, and its rear section nearly intact, is a potent symbol of the “quirk of fate” that day. “If you turned left you might have lived, if you turned right you might have died,” she said. Ramirez and Weinstein are on a quest to find the people and stories behind the objects.

For Engine 21, it is the last hours of William Burke, the revered fire captain who drove the truck to the scene that day. He perished on the 24th floor of the north tower after choosing to stay with two workers—one a paraplegic—though he knew the south tower had collapsed and the north tower was next. 

A Ladder 3 truck that had been parked on West Street, its cab missing, also is likely to be displayed in the museum, Ramirez said. One of Ladder 3’s men was the highly decorated fire captain, Patrick J. “Paddy” Brown. “We actually have recordings of his voice. We know he got up as high as probably the 43rd floor of the north tower,” said Ramirez. “He heard the evacuation order but stayed to make sure all the civilians were out. He was killed when the building came down.” “You have to be careful how you use the word hero,” Ramirez noted, “and we probably will not use that word. But there were incredible choices that were made that day.”...more>

Report Paints Bleak Forecast for 9/11 Memorial

 The Star-Ledger-NJ.com 6/28/2008

The $16 billion Ground Zero project is bogged down by cost overruns and slow construction and its most symbolic piece, the 9/11 Memorial, will likely not be ready for its planned opening on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, according to a Port Authority status report. The downbeat forecast is expected to be presented by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to New York Gov. David Paterson and made public on Monday at the agency's monthly meeting, according to officials familiar with the information. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information early. Agency officials say the report will not provide a revised timetable or estimate of how much the complete cost of rebuilding will grow at the sprawling site on the west side of Lower Manhattan. But one official said preliminary estimates - which will not be referenced in the report - see the cost rising anywhere from roughly $500 million to several billion dollars for the entire redevelopment...more>

With Wireless Network, City Agencies Have More Eyes in More Places

NY Times 6/28/2008

The idea is for city agencies to use network-connected hand-held devices and tablet computers to increase efficiency and flexibility: Soon, police officers will be able to view photographs of suspects from their cars, fire chiefs will be able to watch live video of fires taken from traffic helicopters above, and housing inspectors will be capable of looking up building plans while on location. “This extends the office to the field,” said Paul J. Cosgrave, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, which has overseen the construction of the network. “We traditionally grew in silos, but this network allows us to grow together.” The need for a shared and secure network has been a priority since at least Sept. 11, 2001, when police and fire officials could not communicate at the World Trade Center because their radios operated on different frequencies. Though Nycwin does not yet handle voice calls, it sends data about 50 times faster than the networks now used by emergency workers and lets all city departments share information more easily. Oklahoma City, Tucson and Washington are among a handful of cities that are building similar networks, analysts said, and many others nationwide are considering following suit. The secure networks for municipal workers come after numerous emergencies during which commercial cellular networks operated by wireless phone companies quickly got overloaded. Over time, Mr. Cosgrave said, the network could also save money, as the city cuts the number of wireless cards and data lines it buys or leases from phone companies. Satellite tracking services like the one the Sanitation Department is using could help supervisors devise more efficient routes, eventually cutting fuel costs. And city officials and analysts said other benefits, like helping fire chiefs see different angles of the fires they are fighting, are invaluable. “It’s not just a tangible return, but an intangible one,” said Craig Settles, a consultant who advises municipalities on how to build wireless networks. “When you put these networks in place, it changes the way cities do business.”...more>

Chief of 9/11 Health Programs Gains Support

NY Times 6/28/2008

Labor leaders, business executives and members of New York’s Congressional delegation say they fear that the federal government’s health programs for ground zero workers will be endangered if Dr. John Howard, who has coordinated those programs since 2006, ends his term as scheduled on July 5. Dr. Howard’s strong support of screening, monitoring and treatment programs for ground zero workers has sometimes put him at odds with the Bush administration, which has been reluctant to provide long-term financing. The ground zero health programs have recently expanded nationally. Congress has appropriated about $108 million this year and proposed a similar amount for next year, but has made no commitment beyond that...more>

Deutsche Bank Tower Cleanup at WTC Forges Ahead; Removal to Follow

Commercial Property News 6/27/2008

After a nearly 10-month delay that followed a fatal fire last summer, cleanup of the contaminated Deutsche Bank building at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is proceeding full speed ahead, a top Downtown official said yesterday. At a meeting of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., board chairman Avi Shick said that contractors should finish cleanup of the contaminated dust in the former Deutsche Bank by the end of the year. Work resumed last month on the deconstruction of the tower at the southern end of the World Trade Center, which was damaged beyond repair in the 2001 terrorist attacks. The deaths of two firefighters in a fire last August caused LMDC to terminate the contract of John Galt Co., the original subcontractor for the demolition, and institute a host of new safety features. When new contractor LVI Environmental Services Inc. will be able to finish the unusual and extraordinarily complex removal of the building--also known as 130 Liberty Street--may be less certain. Instead of attempting to clean the structure and taking it apart at the same time, as John Galt was doing, LVI Environmental will complete the cleanup before resuming deconstruction. But LMDC’s goal for taking the tower down continues to be the end of 2008, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed...more>

Exploiting 9/11 - Lawyers, Unions, 'Scientists'

NY Post 6/26/2008

IT'S right to take pride in treat ing our heroes well. We should certainly compensate first responders who were actually injured as a result of exposure to the air on 9/11 and the following few days. But we shouldn't be suckers for every claim. And a quickly growing group of workers - many of them not even sick - are trying to collect "9/11 money." These people aren't heroes. To be fair, many aren't villains, either: They sincerely believe they're entitled to benefits - because lawyers, unions or politicians have talked them into it. These advocates want to discard the entire scientific discipline of epidemiology (the study of the causes of human disease) to promote their own narrow interests - at huge cost to the rest of us The lawyers' effort made headlines yesterday, in reports on a review of medical claims made in the name of nearly 10,000 workers suing the city in federal court for compensation for alleged 9/11-related illnesses. A review done on the city's behalf found that more than 300 of the plaintiffs actually don't even claim to be sick: They just fear they might fall ill sometime in the future...more>

Jacques Paultre, Firefighter at Ground Zero, Dies of Cancer at 52

Sun-Sentinel.com 6/27/2008

New York City firefighter Jacques William Paultre was on the street outside the World Trade Center when the second tower collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. A 22-year veteran, he had already filed the paperwork for his retirement, said his wife, Chantal. But that day changed everything, and he stayed on another year to help at Ground Zero. "If I make it another five years, then I know I'm indestructible," he told his wife, who believes her husband knew his time was short. On Tuesday, Firefighter Paultre died of stomach cancer at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. He was 52.Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he grew up in New York City. Known as a happy-go-lucky practical joker, he was a great cook and totally dedicated to his job, friends said. Assigned to Engine 50, Ladder 19 in the South Bronx, Firefighter Paultre was heading to the command center about a block away when the North Tower fell. "The whole command center came down. All of the chiefs [at that spot] were killed," said retired New York City firefighter Tom Lynch, who worked with Firefighter Paultre for 22 years...more>

Where's City Hall?
NY Post 6/272008

It's been seven years since 9/11 and two city firefighters have died needlessly - yet still no one can say when exactly the deadly Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero will be gone. Even as costs to remove it are put at more than a quarter billion dollars. This stunning news emerged yesterday from a meeting of the board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., a city-state entity that owns the tower and (supposedly) oversees Downtown rebuilding. It's mind-boggling. And outrageous. And yet, it seems, the one top official who's been around for more of the project's life than anyone - Mayor Bloomberg - couldn't care less...more>

Ground Zero Redevelopment Progresses, Without Time Line

NY Sun 6/27/2008

A highly anticipated progress report on construction at ground zero is expected to focus on a scaled-back redesign of the PATH transit hub, demolition of the Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St., and difficulties involving work on the no. 1 subway line, according to sources familiar with the report. To be presented at a board meeting of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Monday, the report will not include something that had been sought by Governor Paterson: a detailed construction schedule with time lines for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site. A construction official involved in the project said there was no purpose in the Port Authority providing unrealistic dates, especially with so many structural questions still unanswered...more>

Deutsche Bank Demolition Will Cost More, Take Longer Than Expected

NY Daily News 6/26/2008

Taxpayers will have to cough up an extra $37.5 million to demolish the deadly Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. board Thursday approved spending the additional money, boosting the state agency's cost to acquire and demolish the toxic tower at 130 Liberty St. to $274 million. LMDC Chairman Avi Schick declined to set a firm date for when the building will be torn down. He has previously said the goal was by the end of the year. Thursday, Schick said he was "confident" 130 Liberty St. would at least be decontaminated by that deadline...more>

Firefighter Ellis Williams Bravely Battles Brooklyn Fire

FDNY Insider 6/27/2008

There’s no doubt, firefighting is a dangerous job. But on June 25, Firefighter Ellis Williams of Engine 202 proved it to be true as he battled an intense fire in Red Hook, Brooklyn. “It was a punishing fire, but everyone working there did a great job,” said Firefighter Williams, who became a firefighter in 2006 after serving as an FDNY EMT for five years. Dispatchers received a call at 3:42 a.m. reporting smoke in a fourth floor apartment on 774 Henry St. Within minutes, multiple calls were received for smoke conditions, fire and people trapped at the address. As they responded, Firefighter Williams said he could smell the smoke from two blocks away. “My adrenaline started pumping at that point,” he said. “Your training starts to kick in and you rely on what you’ve learned at the firehouse.”...more>

Apartment Fire Leaves 1 Dead in Midtown

NY Times 6/26/2008

An apartment fire in Midtown Manhattan left an 83-year-old man dead on Wednesday evening, officials said. The fire began shortly before 8 p.m. in Apartment 2Q of The Capital apartments at 840 Eighth Avenue near 51st Street, officials said. The victim was identified by emergency medical workers and the building’s superintendent as Oliver Bernard, 83, the lone resident of Apartment 2Q. Fire Chief Stephen Moro said the victim suffered smoke inhalation and then went into cardiac arrest. The victim was taken to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead, a spokesman for the Fire Department said. Chief Moro said the victim was found inside the apartment, a few feet from the front door, which firefighters had to break through. Fire officials said the cause of the blaze was unknown on Wednesday and that the investigation was ongoing...more>

FDNY High School Celebrates First Ever Graduation Ceremony

FDNY Insider 6/26/2008

Four years after opening its doors, the FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety celebrated its first ever graduation ceremony on June 26. As “Pomp and Circumstance” played, 35 students walked across the stage at FDNY Headquarters to receive their diplomas. “This is the final part of your four year journey through high school, but it is part of your bigger journey through life,” said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, the ceremony’s keynote speaker. The FDNY High School, which is part of the City’s small schools initiative, is housed in Thomas Jefferson High School in East New York, Brooklyn. It provides a rigorous academic program with a special emphasis on the academic, physical and moral rigors of emergency response...more>

Death Trap' Demolition Costs $280M

NY Sun 6/26/2008

Demolishing the Deutsche Bank building is going to cost at least four times as much as constructing it, sources with knowledge of the project said. After a series of delays, the 25-story building at 130 Liberty St. was supposed to be brought down by the end of 2008 to make way for the construction of Tower 5 at the World Trade Center site. But at a meeting today, the board of directors of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that owns the building and is in charge of its demolition, will not receive a firm deadline for completion.Instead, the board will be presented with about $40 million in additional costs for decontaminating the building, which was coated with toxic dust and debris during the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. The additional sum pushes the total cost of preparing the building for demolition to almost $280 million...more>

Ground Zero Workers and Attorneys Decry Times Article

WebWire 6/25/2008

Workers who became sick from exposure to toxic substances during the rescue and clean up process at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 attacks, as well as their attorneys, reacted with disgust Wednesday to a NEW YORK TIMES article questioning whether, in fact, their clients were actually injured. “Contrasted against the Pulitzer Prize awarded to the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Editorial staff for their moving series of editorials about the plight of the Ground Zero workers, the TIMES article seems nothing less than a sad attempt to garner publicity for the paper and the author of the article by attacking the workers’ integrity and that of the dedicated medical professionals who treat them,” said John Walcott, a retired New York City Police Detective who suffers from leukemia his physicians have tied to Ground Zero exposure...more>

Engine 303/Ladder 126 Celebrates Its Centennial

FDNY Insider 6/25/2008

It was a day to honor the past and look forward to the future on June 25 as the members of Engine 303/Ladder 126 celebrated 100 years of service to the community of South Jamaica, Queens. During the ceremony on the companys apparatus floor, the firefighters also dedicated plaques to two firefighters from Engine 303 who have died in the line of duty. To risk your lives to save others almost always perfect strangers that was the essence of what it took to be a firefighter 100 years ago, and that is the essence of what it takes to be a firefighter today, said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Lt. Albert E. Donovan, who died on January 24, 1924, and Firefighter Robert Pettit, who died on December 15, 1944, each received a plaque during the ceremony. Lt. Donovan died of a heart attack while operating at a three-alarm fire in Ozone Park...more>

First Responders Memorial Planned

Queens Gazette 6/25/2008

St. Michael's Cemetery, East Elmhurst, has dedicated memorials to the 76 Queens Firefighters of 9/11 and the men and women of the New York Police Department and Port Authority Police Department who sacrificed their lives saving others at the World Trade Center. On Saturday, September 6 at 1 p.m., the memorial service for the heroes of the attack will be joined by the families of First Responders who died in the line of duty. Members of the New York Police Department, Fire Department of New York and Port Authority Police Department will be honored. With the aid of the community and directors, St. Michael's plans to dedicate a First Responders' Monument honoring the fallen of the FDNY, PAPD and NYPD who died in the line of duty from 1995 to date...more>

Brave Reporter Tackles Training Test, But FDNY Scores Newfound Respect

NY Daily News 6/26/2008

Could I take the heat? That was my challenge at the FDNY Training Academy on Randalls Island, where I was invited to check out the department's new course for would-be Bravest. The academy offers a free 12-week course for anyone who needs help getting ready for the rigorous physical test that's required of anyone who wants to become a probationary firefighter. The program, which includes free access to New York Sports Club gyms, aims to increase the success rate for people who might not have the resources to properly train for the exam. So I put on a 75-pound vest and hopped on the Stairmaster, which is when reality started to sink in. This is hard...more>

City Pension Funds Lose Billions - Taxpayers Could Be on the Hook

NY Sun 6/26/2008

New York City officials are bracing for increased pressure on the budget as the city's pension funds are reeling from the credit crisis and posting billions of dollars in losses. In the nine months leading up to March 31, the city's five pension funds lost a total of nearly $5 billion, or 4.4%, according to data from the city comptroller's office. This is a far cry from projections published as recently as last month, when budget planners assumed the pension system would post no losses. If those losses are not recovered by the end of the fiscal year, which ends Monday, the city will have to pay out several billion dollars through 2015, with the first payment of $190 million set for 2010...more>

Cops Arrest 6 in Nassau, Suffolk for Illegal Fireworks

NY Newsday 6/25/2008

The Selden couple was caught up in a surveillance operation run by the New York City Fire Department that targets buyers of fireworks from out of state who return to New York where it is illegal to possess fireworks. The 23-year-old man and his 21-year-old girlfriend were charged with misdemeanor fireworks possession. "It's not a harmless act to transport this stuff," Asst. Chief Fire Marshal Alex Lynn said. Authorities do surveillance on various fireworks sellers in states where they are legal, write down the license plates of buyers and track them returning to New York...more>

Audit Says Follow-Up on Buildings is Lacking

NY Times 6/25/2008

The city’s Department of Buildings, which has already been the object of intense scrutiny over fatal construction accidents and accusations of corruption, is facing more criticism.On Tuesday, City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. released an audit finding that the department had repeatedly failed to make sure that hazardous conditions were fixed...more>

Suspects in Kennedy Plot Extradited From Trinidad

NY Times 6/25/2008

Three men who face terrorism-related charges in connection with a plot to blow up fuel tanks at Kennedy International Airport were extradited from Trinidad on Tuesday night. The men were expected to arrive at Kennedy Airport at 3 a.m. Wednesday via Puerto Rico and were scheduled to be arraigned in United States District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, according a person who had been briefed on the case. The men, Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur, were charged in the summer of 2007 by the United States attorney in Brooklyn of conspiring with a former airport cargo worker, Russell M. Defreitas, to attack fuel storage tanks and fuel lines at Kennedy...more>

Bell To Be Rung as Names of 9/11 Victims are Read During Church Ceremony

The Village Daily Sun 6/25/2008

The FDNY 343 Memorial Club needs volunteers for its upcoming Sept. 11 memorial ceremony. The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 11 at St. Timothy Catholic Community. After a mass, the names of every New York Police Department, Port Authority, Fire Department of New York and Emergency Medical Services worker who died during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, will be read. “We’re going to have a bell, and the bell will be rung for each name of emergency service workers who were killed on 9/11,” said Bob Kane, the president of the memorial club...more>

1st Year of H.E.A.R.T.-felt Thank You from 9/11 First Responders

NY Daily News 6/24/2008

In a heart-rending flash, Fire Department Capt. John Viola lost 14 of his men the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He spent the next nine months sifting through the smoldering rubble, seeking out the remains of his comrades in Ladder 15. Viola maintained his sanity, reading cards that poured in from children across the country, as he toiled night after night inside the grim pit of Ground Zero. "Now it is time to start giving back," said Viola, 56, who retired in 2002 and lives in Wantagh, L.I. On Thursday, Viola stood with the dozens of men - most of them now retired police commanders, firemen and construction workers - who combed the ruins of the World Trade Center as a team. Together again, they celebrated the first year of their thank you to the world. They are part of H.E.A.R.T 9/11 (Healing Emergency Alert Response Team), a growing nonprofit comprised of Sept. 11 first responders whose aim is to travel the country as an alliance of relief...more>

FDNY: Cable Caused Smoke at Historic Post Office

AP 6/25/2008

A New York City fire official says insulation on an electrical cable caught fire, leading to the evacuation of a historic post office in midtown Manhattan. Deputy Fire Chief John Bley says the fire at the sprawling national landmark building, across from Madison Square Garden, was extinguished when the insulation burned up on the cable. Firefighters responded about 11 p.m. Tuesday to reports of heavy smoke pouring from the James A. Farley U.S. Post Office, which is open 24 hours a day. Eight employees and about 20 customers were evacuated. One firefighter suffered minor injuries. A spokeswoman for Consolidated Edison, which owns the cable, says crews are investigating what happened.

City Questions 9/11 Workers' Claims of Illness

NY Times 6/25/2008

The first detailed review of the medical records of nearly 10,000 ground zero workers who are suing New York City and its contractors suggests that many are not as sick as their lawyers have claimed, attorneys for the city say. The city’s review, based on medical records submitted in federal court by the workers and their lawyers, found that as many as 30 percent of the workers reported nothing more than common symptoms like runny nose or cough. Their records, according to the review, did not indicate that doctors had ever diagnosed a specific disease. In fact, more than 300 workers admitted in court documents that they were not ill at all...more>

Former Firefighters' Influence Prompts Upcoming Memorial Training Classes

Owasso Reporter 6/25/2008

The tentative schedule has several speakers on Saturday, Sept. 13 - including DeMauro, chief Bradd Clark and assistant chief Chris Garrett. The schedule for Sunday, Sept. 14 has plenty of hands on activities/training sessions for the firefighters. The two-day training class with also feature a special guest - New York City firefighter Lt. Ray McCormack. McCormack helped with recovery and cleanup at the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Ross said McCormack has written a diary about Sept. 11. McCormack also does several speeches around the country. McCormack is a family friend of Ross and it didn't take too much convincing to get McCormack to come to Owasso...more>

FDNY Busts Six With Fireworks Haul

NY Daily News 6/25/2008

FDNY investigators busted six people hauling $2,000 worth of illegal fireworks into the city after following them from stores in Pennsylvania, officials said Tuesday. Fire marshals observed the suspects with New York license plates leaving Phantom Fireworks in eastern Pennsylvania with the recreational explosives and tailed them until they crossed the George Washington Bridge, the FDNY said. Four men were stopped with about $1,000 in firecrackers, sparklers and bottle rockets, and their 1998 Plymouth Concord was seized, Chief Fire Marshal Robert Byrnes said...more>

Tax Preparer With Staten Island-Based Business Gets Prison, Fine In Tax Scheme

Staten Island Advance 6/24/2008

A retired New York City firefighter and Staten Island-based tax preparer will pay the price for cheating on his own taxes and drafting false returns for others: 27 months in a federal prison and a $50,000 fine. Thomas Keeley, 49, who now lives in New Jersey, was sentenced today in Brooklyn federal court following his guilty plea in November to one count of tax evasion and one count of preparing a false report for a client.
Starting in 1990, Keeley, a former Fire Department lieutenant, ran a tax preparation business out of a home on Clarke Avenue. According to statements made today in court, he typically prepared 5,000 to 7,000 returns per tax season, including many Staten Islanders and firefighters. He charged about $100 per return...more>

FDNY Explains Mask Safety Precautions and Training

Chief-Leader 6/27/2008

In the wake of three firefighter deaths in the past year related to suffocation and smoke inhalation, Fire Department officials June 17 clarified details regarding the self-contained breathing apparatus firefighters use during a City Council hearing. Battalion Chief William Mundy, the FDNY Mask Service Unit head, told the Council's Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee that enrollees at the Fire Academy go through nearly 200 hours of training with the SCBAs. "We also require biweekly air quality testing; the national standard for this testing is quarterly," said Battalion Chief Mundy. "This is in addition to each firefighter's inspection of his or her own SCBA, which takes place at the beginning of each tour and immediately after the SCBA is used."...more (subscription)>

Cop Rallies Nabe After Death of Boy, 2; Just Wanted to Help His Family

NY Daily News 6/24/2008

Cortez and McGuckin visited all three firehouses in the precinct. The firefighters were just as quick to kick in. The wake was on Friday, and a fire lieutenant presented the grieving family with envelopes containing $750 in addition to what the cops raised to help them through the bleak days ahead. The boy lay in his coffin clad in a white suit and shoes that Cortez had bought at Angel's clothing store. "All my son would talk about is cops and firemen," the mother told Cortez in Spanish. Five of the fire rigs that once thrilled the boy parked outside La Paz as firefighters knelt two at a time before the tiny coffin. The cops did the same and the 40th Precinct provided a floral arrangement in addition to those donated by a local florist. The legendary battle of the badges seemed just so much bunk...more>

Feds Give City $8M To Upgrade Radios of First Responders

Chief-Leader 6/27/2008

The city will receive $7.8 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to upgrade its emergency radio system. "Finally the Federal Government will award dedicated interoperability funds to New York, which I proposed in the aftermath of September 11th," Congresswoman Nita Lowey said in a statement. "This is a great victory for first-responders to help ensure they are not left to the same communication tactics used by Paul Revere. Runners relaying messages should never be the method to direct personnel in an emergency due to equipment failures, especially in this time of advanced technology. And we can never again let failed communications devices put our first responders in danger as on September 11th."...more (subscription)>

Crane Probe Zeroing In On Unlicensed Operators

NY Post 6/22/2008

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is examining dozens of instances of unlicensed workers operating cranes at city construction sites as part of its probe into two fatal crane collapses this year, The Post has learned. The investigation has expanded to include the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the agency that licenses the hardhats who run the biggest and most dangerous rigs, said a law-enforcement source involved in the probe...more>

At Least 14 Crane Operators Work On 

Construction Site Despite Failing Test

NY Daily News 6/22/2008

At least 14 crane operators who failed a state test of their skills running the monster machines are operating cranes in the city like those involved in two deadly collapses this year, a Daily News probe has found. They are among 21 city-licensed crane operators who obtained state licenses despite failing the hands-on exam, a review of state and city records revealed. Ten of the operators' state licenses were revoked after they failed or refused to take a retest. Four others failed but will be allowed a do-over this fall...more>

Health Department Finds Half of NYC's Child Fire Deaths in Brooklyn

NY Daily News 6/24/2008

They were the youngest victims of the city's worst fires - and half of them were from Brooklyn. Playing with matches or lighters, left home alone or torched by arsonists, 33 kids under the age of 12 perished in Brooklyn fires from 2001 to 2006 - half of the city's total - a recent Health Department study reported. "These deaths were preventable," said Health Department Deputy Commissioner Lorna Thorpe. "Most of them were due to someone leaving a candle unattended, having overloaded outlets, smoking or not having a smoke detector. "These are increasingly tragic, every single one of them," she said. Of the 20 fires, 17 were in poor north and central Brooklyn neighborhoods, such as East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant...more>

FDNY Honors Hero Firefighter

NY Daily News 6/22/2008

FDNY Capt. Jerry Horton's voice cracked Sunday as he fought in vain to hold back tears as he spoke of Firefighter Daniel Pujdak at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the young hero's death. Pujdak's fire company, Ladder 146 in Brooklyn, has not stopped grieving for the 23-year-old, who plummeted from the roof of a burning Williamsburg building last June 21, Horton said. "But at the same time, I hope we can always remember to celebrate his life," he said. And that's just what they did. More than 100 relatives and friends crowded into Pujdak's former Greenpoint firehouse to join Mayor Bloomberg and top FDNY brass, who unveiled a memorial plaque honoring Pujdak. "The city and this community will always remember Daniel with gratitude and pride," said Bloomberg. "May God bless his memory, and may God bless the FDNY."...more>

related...

Plaque Dedication Ceremony for Pudjak (watch video)...7online...6/22/2008

Marchers Remember NYC Firefighter Who Perished

Record Online 6/21/2008

The father of a New York City firefighter killed last year in a skyscraper blaze led a downtown rally Saturday to promote better safety standards for firefighters and construction workers. "The fire codes and building codes should be much stricter and more enforceable," said Joseph Graffagnino Sr., whose son, also named Joseph, was one of two firefighters who died battling a blaze at the former Deutsche Bank tower. The building was heavily damaged on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it, leaving a trail of toxic debris....more>

related...

Hundreds Rally In Manhattan for Building, Fire Safety...NY1 News...6/21/2008

9/11 Families Donate Mementos to September 11th Museum

NY Daily News 6/22/2008

An antique cherry wood chair scorched to its springs by a fireball inside a Battery Park City apartment. Family letters and wedding invitations miraculously recovered from the rubble. A $2 bill pulled from a victim's bruised wallet that finally convinced his wife he was never coming home. These are the everyday objects of Sept. 11, 2001, all of which will end up in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Item by emotional item, the museum's curators are assembling a collection that will bring back all the emotions of the day - fear, rage, heartbreak. The museum, set to open in 2011, will feature well-known items: a pair of five-story tridents from the towers, the fabled Last Beam, the twisted remains of police and fire trucks. There will also be simple objects - a key, an ID card, a photo - that carry an emotional wallop as they relate the horrors, and the miracles, of 9/11. "When people see these everyday items ... that really makes the story hit home," Museum President Joseph Daniels said...more>

My Rides Home Have Never Been the Same

NY Daily News 6/22/2008

I watched one person after another leap from the burning towers that September morning. I must have been even more shaken than I knew, for I felt an electric-like jolt when I took a pastoral drive on another sunny day five years later and suddenly saw some road kill up ahead. I know exactly how shaken I was when I scattered a gritty handful of a dear friend's cremated remains on a moonlit night in Central Park after he was killed in the north tower. And I figured no artifact could ever move me more profoundly than when I held three coins that were recovered from the ruins and found to have traces of his DNA. But I still felt everything stop this week when I gazed upon a complete stranger's wallet among the 9/11 artifacts being collected for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum...more>

Inside A 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation

NY Times 6/22/2008

In a makeshift prison in the north of Poland, Al Qaeda’s engineer of mass murder faced off against his Central Intelligence Agency interrogator. It was 18 months after the 9/11 attacks, and the invasion of Iraq was giving Muslim extremists new motives for havoc. If anyone knew about the next plot, it was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. The interrogator, Deuce Martinez, a soft-spoken analyst who spoke no Arabic, had turned down a C.I.A. offer to be trained in waterboarding. He chose to leave the infliction of pain and panic to others, the gung-ho paramilitary types whom the more cerebral interrogators called “knuckledraggers.” Mr. Martinez came in after the rough stuff, the ultimate good cop with the classic skills: an unimposing presence, inexhaustible patience and a willingness to listen to the gripes and musings of a pitiless killer in rambling, imperfect English. He achieved a rapport with Mr. Mohammed that astonished his fellow C.I.A. officers...more>

Concrete Testing at Yankee Stadium and Freedom Tower Is Scrutinized

NY Times 6/21/2008

Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others, officials involved in the inquiry said on Friday. The investigation has uncovered problems with tests the company conducted on concrete poured over the last two years at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and the foundation of the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, along with as many as a dozen other projects, said several of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing...more>

Hundreds Greet NFL Star As He Completes 9-11 Walk

News8 6/23/2008

Former professional football player George Martin
completed a 3,003-mile cross-country walk Saturday in Embarcadero Marina Park. The walk raised money for emergency workers who've suffered health problems since responding to the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Martin, 55, raised $2 million and a matching amount of medical services in the walk that ended at Embarcadero Marina Park. The former defensive lineman for the New York Giants began his journey last September 16...more>

Billions More Needed to Secure US Embassies

Forbes 6/22/2008

Since Sept. 11, the Bush administration has pumped $4.1 billion into embassy and consulate construction, building 57 facilities that do meet the security specifications. On top of that, the State Department spends about $100 million a year in security upgrades for the more that 16,100 properties it manages around the world. But the officials say even that major effort has not been enough to ensure the safety of U.S. diplomats abroad, especially as construction costs have risen and the dollar has declined against foreign currencies. "It really has not yet put us where we have to be," Richard Shinnick, director of the department's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, said in an interview. "We have important protective responsibilities." In many cases, that means embassies must be relocated from downtown locations in capitals to outlying areas, even suburbs. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her predecessors have all made the physical security of State Department personnel, particularly in their work places, a priority. But the department's current plans for new construction are unprecedented in scope in both the private and public sectors, with the possible exception of the military. "Nobody else is building at this rate," said Shinnick, a former New York City firefighter and senior diplomatic manager who was brought out of retirement this year to run the department's $14 billion real estate empire...more>

Year after young Bravest's death, parents, FDNY still united by grief

NY Daily News 6/20/2008

They lost a son one year ago Saturday but they have gained a new family. Firefighter Daniel Pujdak fell to his death from a Brooklyn roof while battling a fire last June 21, devastating his parents who had watched with pride as their son achieved his dream of joining the FDNY just two years before. While their grief remains sometimes overwhelming, Pujdak's parents have been comforted by a tremendous outpouring of support from the Greenpoint community in which they have lived for decades and from their son's colleagues in Ladder 146. "We've learned that 'family' goes well beyond blood," said Leo Pujdak, Daniel's father. "The firefighters, especially the men in his house, have an open door for us and they're always checking to see how we're doing." "They have been absolutely wonderful," he said. "My words are so trivial - you'd need a poet to describe how wonderful they've been." ...more>

Car Chaos Hurts 18 - Manhattan Mow-Downs

NY Post 06/21/2008

June 21, 2008 -- Chaos reigned on the streets of Manhattan as out-of-control cars hurtled curbs and smashed into unsuspecting crowds yesterday in three terrifying incidents that left 18 people injured, including one in critical condition. In Midtown, an unlicensed driver who tried to move a friend's double-parked SUV roared onto the sidewalk into a throng of passers-by during rush hour, injuring 10 people, including a 5-year-old boy. "I saw three people under the car," said witness Ralph Hasbani, 23 of the 5 p.m. crash on Seventh Avenue near West 36th Street. "They pulled one woman out right away. She was bleeding from the forehead." At least four onlookers rushed to lift the hulking 2002 Ford Explorer, which was still in drive, to free the trapped people. The driver, Estebannie Sanchez, 23, who had been waiting in the car for a friend shopping in a nearby store, bolted from the scene, but returned about 25 minutes later. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and was issued a summons for driving without a license, cops said. 

Governor: World Trade Center Site behind Schedule

New York AP 06/20/2008

New York Gov. David Paterson says the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is over budget and behind schedule. He's ordered the site's owner to come up with a realistic plan by the end of the month to rebuild it. Paterson has asked the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to determine by June 30 if the latest schedules and budgets "are reliable and achievable." The agency owns the lower Manhattan site. Paterson is the third governor to demand a quicker pace for the project. It has been slowed by political wrangling and passionate arguments about the site's symbolism. Other issues include rising construction costs and the logistics of building so much at once on such a small space.

NY gives benefits to more 9/11 first responders

Gov. David Paterson and state legislators are announcing an agreement to cover additional public workers who were involved in the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks, embracing the unanimous findings of the bipartisan September 11th Worker Protection Task Force. Here’s a report of the findings. Under the agreed-upon legislation, submitted to the Legislature by the Governor, the “presumptive accidental disability retirement benefit” now available to some 9/11 first responders will be extended to additional first responders. ...more>

Tragic FDNY Hero Promoted

NY Post 6/20/2008

A firefighter killed in last August's blaze at the Deutsche Bank building was posthumously promoted yesterday. Joseph Graffagnino's widow, Linda, was presented with a lieutenant's badge at the FDNY promotion ceremony yesterday at Randalls Island and got a standing ovation from the crowd, including fellow firefighters. "We can't erase the pain," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told her. "We hope to ease the pain. Today, you're surrounded by friends and your second family." Graffagnino, 33, and firefighter Robert Beddia, 53, died when they got trapped on the upper floors of the building being dismantled because of damage from the 9/11 terror attacks.

related...

35 Fire Department Members Promoted...FDNY Insider 6/19/2008

Memphis Fire Department Honors FDNY Captain Al Fuentes

Commercial Appeal 6/19/2008

FDNY firefighter Jim Korzeniewski jokingly salutes friend and fellow New York firefighter Captain Al Fuentes as Memphis Fire Department Deputy Chief Don Kuhn looks on during a dedication ceremony at the Memphis Yacht Club for the Memphis Fire Department's new boat. Fuentes, who was the last firefighter pulled out of the World Trade Center rubble alive on September 11th, was instrumental in getting the fire boat donated to Memphis by FDNY. The boat was named after Fuentes and he was also made an honorary MFD Chief.

Solution Could Be At Hand for Those Seeking a Way to Find Firefighters

CQ Politics 6/18/2008

Just about every flashy piece of high-tech piece first-responder gear the Department of Homeland Security is working on was packed into a Dirksen Senate Office Building room Wednesday. There was the radio that can communicate with just about all emergency frequencies, the flashlight that can temporarily blind and nauseate suspects and the air supply tank that weighs one-third of those on the market now. One Massachusetts state trooper walked around in mock-ups of next-generation body armor. And, dangling from a tripod in one corner of the room was a small backpack, looking like the kind mountain bikers might keep a water supply in, with a series of circuit boards and wires protruding from its top. Among the other displays at the event, a congressionally sponsored demonstration of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s first responder initiatives, the backpack didn’t exactly stand out. But its developers say the device, the Advanced 3-D Locator, is something fire and emergency squads have wanted for years: a way to keep track of rescuers inside a building and quickly find them if they are hurt or incapacitated...more>

Staten Island's 'Firefighter of the Year' Feted at Ceremony

Staten Island Advance 6/18/2008

Michael Murphy of Ladder 85 in Staten Island's New Dorp neighborhood was honored as the Firefighter of the Year at the annual luncheon today for his heroics in rescuing a man from a blaze. "It feels good to be honored and know that the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce acknowledges us for what we do," said Murphy, a 23-year veteran. Staten Island FDNY Chief Thomas Haring was on hand to present Murphy his award as well as to honor the various firefighters of the month for all of their brave work. "There is one thing that they (firefighters) are not good at, and that is being singled out and accepting praise or accolades for their actions," said Haring in his speech...more>

NY Building Owner Faces Manslaughter Charge in Worker Death

Daily Commercial News and Construction Record 6/19/2008

A Brooklyn construction site owner who hired US$100-a-day labourers to build a laundromat has been charged with manslaughter for the death of a worker who was crushed by a crumbling wall. Authorities said the indictment of William Lattarulo should serve as a warning to contractors performing shoddy construction work in a building boom that has caused dozens of construction accidents and 16 deaths this year. “Owners and developers, contractors, engineers and architects are on notice,” acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said. “Criminal prosecution is possible and it will happen when it needs to.” Prosecutors have several criminal probes ongoing into construction accidents, including two deadly crane collapses that killed nine people. Two city crane inspectors have been arrested on corruption charges since March. A grand jury has been meeting for months to consider criminal charges in the August blaze at a ground zero skyscraper that killed two firefighters. “I suspect you will see more of this,” LiMandri said at a news conference announcing Lattarulo’s indictment...more>

A Real Schedule for Ground Zero

NY Times 6/18/2008

When former Gov. George Pataki was under intense criticism for slow progress at ground zero, he created an aggressive schedule for rebuilding the World Trade Center area. Now, when it appears that not all of those deadlines can be met, New York’s newest governor, David Paterson, is setting the stage for adopting a less rigorous timetable...more>

Con Ed Urged to Improve Its Response to Gas Leaks

NY Times 6/19/2008

State investigators looking into a fatal gas explosion in November in Queens suggested on Wednesday ways that Consolidated Edison and the New York City Fire Department can better coordinate their response to gas leaks. After a seven-month investigation, the Public Service Commission is recommending that the utility ask firefighters to remain until safe conditions are restored, improve the way information about gas leaks is shared and set parameters for ordering evacuations...more>

Queens Father's Day Arson Fire Claims Fourth Victim

NY Post 6/19/2008

A fourth victim of the Queens Father's Day arson fire died yesterday, relatives said. "I'm never going to be OK," said David Salazar, who lost his 32-year-old brother, William. Cops believe the fire was started by flammable liquid poured at the door to Salazar's apartment. Sources said cops think the motive involved an argument between a man and a woman. They did not identify the couple. Salazar's ex-girlfriend was badly burned in the blaze...more>

New Clues In Queens Father's Day Arson

NY Post 6/18/2008

Cops believe they've traced the origins of the fatal Father's Day arson in Queens: a pool of flammable liquid - likely a carpet cleaner - spread on the floor of an apartment in the building, a source said yesterday. The source added that investigators believe they also have a witness who heard a woman inside the apartment yell, "Just kill me!" before the blaze, although that could not be confirmed...more>

Yankees Never Forget Heroes or Old Yankee Stadium

Gothamist 6/18/2008

While ticket prices at the new Yankees Stadium prices are high, the last season at Yankee Stadium is also proving lucrative with all sorts of memorabilia to remember the house that Ruth built. Yesterday, pitcher Joba Chamberlain unveiled a special All-Star Game T-shirt at Modell's in Times Square. Since the game is being held at Yankee Stadium, the shirt features the phrase, "Heroes Made. Legends Remembered, with images of Yankee Stadium, the Statue of Liberty and the All-Star Game logo on the back. With each sale, $1 each will be given to FDNY Foundation and the New York City Police Foundation...more>

The Flanagans: Following in Their Father's Footsteps

ABC News 6/15/2008

For four generations, the Flanagan men have followed in each others' footsteps -- the sons pursing the same passions as their fathers and grandfathers before them. It began more than 100 years ago when John Flanagan joined the New York City Fire Department. The torch was passed when the profession immediately ignited a passion in his son, Thomas Flanagan's, heart. "Every time I went to the firehouse to visit my Dad, I hated to leave," the 91-year-old said. When he told his father that he, too, would become a firefighter, he said John was "very happy." Since then, the pattern has repeated twice more...watch video>

GAO: Feds Need Better Plan to Help First Responders

workday Minnesota 6/17/2008

Almost seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that destroyed New York's World Trade Center and unleashed a cloud of toxic fumes and debris that sickened first responders, the federal government still has no coordinated plan for counting those workers, much less treating their illnesses, a new report says. Instead, treatment has been left to states or cities, with haphazard results, the Government Accountability Office says in a report released earlier this month. The report details five lessons drawn from the health impact on the 71,000 first responders — Fire Fighters, police, emergency medical technicians and others — who toiled first at the WTC site and later at transferring its ruins to New York's Staten Island landfill...more>

Joba, Modell's Team Up for 'Heroes' Shirt 

Some Proceeds Will Benefit Emergency Services

NY Yankees Website 6/17/2008

Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain was on hand Tuesday afternoon at Modell's Sporting Goods in Times Square to unveil a special All-Star Game T-shirt. The shirt includes NYPD and FDNY patches on its sleeves, and Modell's will donate $1 to both the FDNY Foundation and the New York City Police Foundation for each shirt sold. "It's an honor for myself -- and I can speak for some of my teammates -- to have this year be the last All-Star Game [at Yankee Stadium]," Chamberlain said. "And we're going to have the best players here. We have the best police and fire [fighters], so we want to support them and definitely give back to them for everything they do for us."...more>

2 Found Dead in Staten Island Blaze

Staten Island Advance 6/17/2008

Two men were discovered dead inside a burned-out Tompkinsville building early this morning following a suspicious two-alarm blaze that raged for two hours. The gruesome discovery was made by firefighters searching 132 Central Ave. after they extinguished the inferno that gutted what was thought to have been an empty house. The three-story building is behind the small, triangular parking lot at the corner of Bay Street and Victory Boulevard...more>

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Officials Investigate Suspicious Fire...NY1 News...video>

2 Found Dead Inside Burned Out SI Building...WCBS 2...video>

Deadly Fire On Staten Island...MyFoxNY...video>

Two People Killed in Fire on Staten Island...7online...video>

Slay Probe in Queens Fire - 'Lovers' Tiff' Eyed in Killer Inferno

NY Post 6/17/2008

Investigators believe that the horrific Queens fire that killed three members of a family, including a noted movie makeup artist, and injured five other people was started by one of the victims battling with a lover, law-enforcement sources told The Post yesterday. "This has turned into a homicide investigation," Fire Marshal Commander William Law said at the scene in Middle Village at 69th Street and Metropolitan Avenue...more>

7th Annual Blessing of the FDNY Marine Fleet

FDNY Insider 6/17/2008

The FDNY celebrated its Marine Unit on Flag Day, June 14, during the annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony at the South Street Seaport. “Today is a happy day for the FDNY,” said Deputy Assistant Chief Ronald Spadafora. “The Marine Fleet is a tremendously important and proud division of the FDNY.” FDNY Chaplains Monsignor John Delendick and Reverend Stephen Harding blessed seven fireboats (and one Coast Guard vessel), saying, “May you always have calm seas and fair winds.” The FDNY’s Marine Division protects New York City’s 560 miles of waterfront...more>    Watch Video>

Back from Southwest Asia

The Zephyr 6/17/2008

...But I went ahead with a plan anyway. April 12, 2008 would be the 6-year anniversary of the recovery of the remains of the firefighters who died from Ladder 4/Engine 54. I put together a ceremony to pay tribute to them and also redesignate our Engine 10 to Engine 54. I contacted FDNY, sent a letter, asked for support and they came through big time. They sent FDNY hats, badges and a letter from their Fire Chief. I asked for volunteers to help out with the ceremony and 24 firefighters answered the call. It came off without a hitch. I couldn’t get a bagpiper (we had to use taped music) but I got everything else and we conducted it at the Circle of Honor which paid tribute to all the victims of the attacks on September 11^th. It lasted 30 minutes and I was ordered to invite the entire Base after I got permission to do it. They had never seen anything like it. It was rich in fire service tradition and it was there that our Commander presented the FDNY hats to the guys who worked at Station 2...more>

Curbing the Madness - Let's Get Real

NY Daily News 6/17/2008

Gov. Paterson has ordered up a status report on the Ground Zero redevelopment. People are about to learn what a mess the project is again. Take our word for it. The 9/11 Memorial will not be completed by 2011, as was promised, and the cost will be far higher than projected. The overly magnificent PATH station won't be ready until, maybe, 2013, with the tab now running over by as much as $1 billion. The story behind that cost overrun is emblematic of the grandiose, unrealistic nature of so many of the commitments made regarding the development...more>

West Side Story

Waldo County Citizen 6/17/2008

I’m an outsider looking in. No experience as a firefighter or rescue worker myself, neither do I have any close friends or relatives who have any such history. I’m a writer and consultant, and sometimes I write about firefighters, yet these stories are based on telephone interviews for the most part, not on firsthand knowledge. These days the firefighters I keep remembering are from the years I lived and worked in New York City. Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9. Brick firehouse, not large, on the corner of Eighth Avenue and 48th Street. It was said to be the busiest firehouse in the city and perhaps the most visible. Next to Manhattan’s Theater District (the “Great White Way”), the station whose motto is “Never Missed A Performance” is also renowned as the “Pride of Midtown.”...more>

Brave Deli Owner Saves Two, But Three Die in Queens Fire

NY Daily News 6/15/2008

A hero Queens deli owner frantically poured gallons of bottled water over a couple engulfed in flames on Sunday after an apartment fire that killed three members of another family. Mohammed Al Matari used gallon after gallon of cold water in a brave effort to douse William Salazar and Agnes Bermudez as they screamed in anguish outside his store in Middle Village, witnesses and fire officials said. "It's not easy to see someone on fire," said Al Matari, 45. "I did the best I could."...more>

related...

Family Killed in Queens Inferno - NY Post

3 Dead and 5 Hurt in Queens Blaze That Forces Victims to Jump - NY Times

NYC Fire Marshals Blame Queens Fire on Arson - 1010 WINS

Fire Wrecks New Brighton House - 5 FFs Hurt

Staten Island Advance 6/16/2008

Dozens of firefighters were needed to extinguish a house fire in New Brighton yesterday morning that left the brick duplex little more than an empty shell, officials said. The blaze at 132-134 Scribner Ave. , which went to a second-alarm, meaning the FDNY sent 25 trucks and 106 personnel, was first reported at 6:40 a.m. No one was at home at the time of the blaze, which left five firefighters with minor injuries. Firefighters spent almost 45 minutes knocking down the two-alarm fire, which could only be attacked from the outside because the interior collapsed, according to FDNY officials...more>

9/11 Victims Target Bin Laden $$

NY Post 6/16/2008

As the United States continues its hunt for Osama bin Laden, Sept. 11 victims are pursuing the bin Laden family's vast fortune.

Survivors and insurance companies say members of the bin Laden family failed to cut off ties with their infamous relative and should be liable for damages. Victims' lawyers argued that bin Laden family members are getting off easy for turning a blind eye after learning of the terror lord's monstrous inclinations. The lawyers asked a US District Court judge in Manhattan Thursday to let them seek information to prove their claim. They suffered a setback last month when US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas turned down many of the requests for information about financial ties between bin Laden and his family, saying, in essence, that the plaintiffs' requests had become petty.

Critically Injured Cop Spends Father's Day in Intensive Care

Gothamist 6/15/2008

Today, a 6-year-old boy will finally see his father, a Nassau County cop who was critically injured when a drunk driver rammed into his cruiser a month ago. Newsday reports little Christopher Baribault, who has been "plead[ing] to see his dad," will go to the hospital today. His father, Kenneth Baribault, had returned to his patrol car after pulling over a drunk driver on the Long Island Expressway when another drunk driver slammed into his car (one description: "The back of that patrol car almost meets where the driver was sitting"). An off-duty FDNY firefighter ran across six lanes of traffic to attend to Baribault, who later underwent surgery to relieve massive swelling in his brain...more>

Legislation Extends More Aid to 9/11 Workers

North Country Gazette 6/14/2008

Governor David A. Paterson will submit legislation to cover additional public workers who risked their health and safety in the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at the World Trade Center after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The legislation embraces the unanimous recommendations of the bi-partisan September 11th Worker Protection Task Force. Under the Governor’s legislation, the “presumptive accidental disability retirement benefit” now available to some 9/11 first responders will be extended to additional first responders. A committee of doctors on the Task Force found that additional workers were exposed to the same toxins and psychological trauma as those originally covered...more>

Jerseyan Gets Prison Time for 9/11 Fund Scam

Admits Cheating, Illegally Taking More Than $1M

The Times 6/14/2008

A New Jersey painter who admitted defrauding the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of more than $1 million was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in federal prison. Mario Mastellone, 42, of East Windsor, who pleaded guilty in February to one count of illegally obtaining public money, was also ordered by federal Judge Victor Marrero to pay $100,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine in connection to what prosecutors called the largest-ever fraud against the 9/11 fund...more>

Flag Day: Four Personal Perspectives

Small Gov Times 6/13/2008

Army Capt. Joe Minning - 9/11 Terror Attacks

Few Americans will forget the image of three firefighters raising an American flag over the World Trade Center ruins in New York just hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But for Army Capt. Joe Minning and his fellow New York National Guard soldiers, many of them New York City firemen and police officers, the Ground Zero flag took on a very personal significance as they desperately sifted through the rubble looking for survivors.
“Seeing the flag raised above all of the rubble and ruins of the World Trade Center instilled a new sense of pride in me for our country,” he said. “No matter what happens to the United States -- on foreign ground, on U.S. soil -- we, the American people, will always continue to move forward, rebuild and face any challenges that lie ahead” Three years later, Minning and the “Fighting 69th” Brigade Combat Team would take that inspiration with them to Iraq, where they lost 19 soldiers securing Route Irish and its surrounding Baghdad neighborhoods during their year-long deployment. Among those killed was Army Staff Sgt. Christian Engledrum, a New York firefighter who, like Minning, worked amid the dust and smoke immediately following the World Trade Center attack. Engledrum, the first New York City employee to die serving in Iraq, became a symbol of the unit that went from Ground Zero to Iraq's Sunni Triangle, and after his death, to the mountains of Afghanistan...more>

Fundraiser for Fallen FF Inspires Family and Friends

The Journal News 6/14/2008

When the family of John Bellew organized the first golf outing in the fallen firefighter's name, they got a lot of interest from the public and it sold out right away. Bellew's widow, Eileen, said she was amazed that the event has continued to grow and raise thousands of dollars over the years. Above all, she said, she and her family have gotten back more than they could have imagined. The John Bellew Memorial Fund's fund-raising events have become inspirations for her and John's children, ages 3, 5, 7 and 9, she said...more>

'Collapse Slay' Rap on Builder

NY Post 6/12/2008

A Brooklyn developer was slapped with manslaughter charges yesterday for alleged shoddy construction practices that led to a fatal collapse. William Lattarulo, 63, was released on $25,000 bail following his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court for allegedly failing to properly secure the exposed foundation for a building in East New York...more>

Smooth Step as 9/11 Thief Keeps $1 Million

NY Post 6/14/2008

The "severely injured" 9/11 con man caught on a wedding video doing the limbo will be dancing all the way to the bank. Port Authority painter Mario Mastellone will be able to keep $1 million in Victim Compensation Fund money as part of a sweetheart deal he struck with Manhattan...more>

Fake FF Sicko Braunstein Likes Prison, Warns of 'Rampage' If Released

NY Daily News 6/13/2008

Crazed phony fireman Peter Braunstein doesn't want to leave prison - which is a good thing because new charges in Ohio could keep him behind bars for an extra two decades. "I think I'm the only guy [incarcerated] who wouldn't want to get out," an engaged and chatty Braunstein told the Daily News at a Cincinnati jail, where he is awaiting charges on armed robbery and kidnapping...more>

Firefighters Reunite with Woman They Saved from Fire

FDNY Insider 6/12/2008

Racquel Margary heard a knock on her door in the evening of March 27, alerting her that there was a fire in her building. Fire was blowing out the windows of the third floor of her 26-floor apartment building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and even though Ms. Margary lives on the 25th floor, thick smoke was traveling up the elevator shafts and stairwells, settling in the upper floors. She said doesn’t remember much more of that evening, but Firefighters Kevin McCormick and Keith Johnson of Ladder 6 filled in the details...more>

Supreme Arrogance

NY Daily News 6/12/2008

The U.S. Supreme Court was profoundly - dangerously - wrong in granting prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay the right to challenge their detentions in America's civil courts. Five justices, the slimmest majority, took the unprecedented, unwarranted, unworkable step of ruling that foreigners captured in Afghanistan and on other battlefields have rights under the U.S. Constitution. And, worse, can file lawsuits to enforce them...more>

WTC Memorial Foundation $100,000 Donation from Universal Coin 

PR Web 6/13/2008

Universal Coin and Bullion recognizes that building a lasting memorial at the World Trade Center site is about contributing to our nation's history. After the events of September 11th shook America, a group was started to design and build a fitting memorial to all of those who lost their lives...more>

9/11 Faker in Real 'Limbo' - Dancin' Fool Puts Lie to Injury

NY Post 6/13/2008

Mario Mastellone said he was injured so badly on 9/11 that he could never work again - but a secret video showed he still had plenty of hustle left in him. The East Windsor, NJ, union painter - who pleaded guilty to bilking $1 million in victim's cash with bogus injury claims - was captured on tape dancing the limbo, the hustle and several other party favorites at a wedding just weeks after the attacks, newly released evidence shows...more>

Exposure to Asbestos a Growing Concern

Lawyers and Settlements 6/13/2008

Eddie B. has polyps and scarring on his lungs and so does his mother. Eddie's father was Captain of a New York fire department in the 70s: he received a small settlement years ago due to asbestos exposure. Another firefighter and friend of the family wasn't so fortunate: he died from mesothelioma before receiving a dime from the settlement...more>

Another Stealth Giveaway

NY Post 6/13/2008

When it comes to locking in lucrative taxpayer-paid health perks, Leave No Government Retiree Behind. That seems to be the thinking behind yet another labor-driven bill, introduced in Albany this week. It would ban state and local governments from curbing benefits for retired cops and firefighters - no matter how desperate the need. Another bill to do likewise for other retirees left out uniformed officers. Oops...more>

Work at Ground Zero is Behind Schedule

NY Times 6/12/2008

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on Wednesday that it was running more than a month behind schedule in delivering the site of Tower 2 at the new World Trade Center to the developer, Silverstein Properties. The authority will pay Silverstein a $300,000 daily penalty, beginning July 1, until the site can be turned over fully excavated in August...more>

Paterson Wants to Expand 9/11 Disability Benefit

NY Newsday 6/13/2008

Gov. David Paterson wants to expand disability benefits for more workers who helped in the rescue and recovery efforts after Sept. 11. Paterson plans to introduce a bill that would extend disability retirement benefits to more first responders who worked at Ground Zero in the months after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The bill would eliminate a requirement that workers have had a physical before they were hired, as long as they offer some pre-9/11 medical records...more>

FDNY Pipes & Drums Take 3rd Place At Scottish Competition

FDNY Pipes & Drums News  6/12/2007

The FDNY Pipes and Drums grade 4 competition unit took 3rd place at the 

Bonnie Brae Scottish games on Saturday June 7th. The weather was extreme as it was in the area of 97 degrees but the band went out and put on a great show in spite of this...video>

The Truth About Delay of DA Land

NY Post 6/12/2008

SO, Gov. Paterson has directed his newly appointed Port Authority executive director, Chris Ward, to "audit" the state of Ground Zero construction. Having followed the story for more than six years, I think I can save Ward a lot of time and trouble. If he's honest, he'll level with the public about what's really been accomplished at the World Trade Center site: next to nothing...more>

Trade Center Progress Study is Called For

Wall Street Journal 6/12/2008

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center is encountering headwinds as New York's governor called for a major review of the closely watched project on the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. New York Gov. David Paterson said in a statement that it "has become clear that the overall project faces likely delays and cost overruns." He called on the agency that owns the site to create a "comprehensive assessment to determine whether the current schedules and cost estimates for reconstruction are reliable and achievable."...more>

Olympic Dream Ahead of Schedule

While this Olympic dream is a relative new one for the Eltingville teen, it's been on the mind of John Bassano -- owner and operator of the New York Dojo Institute in Grasmere -- for the majority of the 35-plus years he's been training and teaching the sport. "I've produced national and international champions and Pan Am gold medalists," said the ex-U.S. Navy boxing champ and former 40-year member of the FDNY. "But my goal is to develop a Staten Island Olympian. This is the closest I've come. "This is my love; this is what I do. Having someone compete in the Olympics is what it's all about," said Bassano, whose no-nonsense veneer does not mask his excitement. "It's what I want."...more>

Dad Lost Son to Deutsche Bank Fire, But Will Go There for Safety Rally

NY Daily News 6/11/2008

Joseph Graffagnino Sr. has been to the old Deutsche Bank building just once since it took his son from him. Next week he'll return - leading a march in hopes no other father loses a son to a building gone to hell. "I'm dreading it a lot," Graffagnino said, tears welling in his eyes. "But you've got to look at the overall picture. And the overall picture is, you've got to do it for somebody else. I don't want this tragedy to be wasted." Graffagnino's 33-year-old fireman son Joseph Jr. died last August, fighting a fire in the condemned building that had been turned into a toxic maze. Exits were sealed. Plywood barriers blocked each level. Safety inspections were ignored. And, in the basement, a missing 42-foot standpipe made the firefighters' efforts useless...more>

NY Fireman Serves with Distinction

Marine Corps News 6/10/2008

During the dark aftermath of the September 11 attacks in New York City, firefighters from around the country were working tirelessly digging through ground zero in search of survivors. Through all of the emotion and terror, one firefighter accepted a challenge to join a team in search for the ones responsible. Lance Cpl. Christopher E. Ford, a scout with Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd LAR Bn., Regimental Combat Team 5, volunteered to take time away from his normal job, being a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department, to be a Marine infantryman fighting on the front lines...more>

Crane Big Was Warned - Nixed Alert on Old Equipment

NY Post 6/11/2008

A top Department of Buildings inspector overrode a subordinate's worries that the crane on East 91st Street was unsafe before its fatal collapse, law-enforcement sources told The Post. Investigators want to know why the high-ranking inspector, Michael Carbone, let the Kodiak crane operate despite the subordinate's worry that the equipment, manufactured nearly 20 years ago, was too old and had undergone too much significant repair work, one source said...more>

Window Washer Who Fell 47 Stories Meets Firefighter/Medic Rescuers

FDNY Insider 6/11/2008

Do you believe in miracles? If you have met Alcides Moreno, you absolutely do. On December 7, 2007, Mr. Moreno was working as a window washer for a building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, when his 16-foot-wide scaffolding gave way and he plunged 47 stories alongside his brother, Edgar. Although Edgar Moreno died in the accident, Alcides Moreno inexplicably survived the plunge. And this spring, he and his wife, Rosario, walked into Engine 39/Ladder 16 to meet the firefighters and rescue paramedics who saved his life. “Thank you, thank you,” Mr. Moreno said as he slowly walked across the apparatus floor to greet the FDNY members...more>

Fire Erupts in Medical Center

SI Advance 6/10/2008

Blazing flames added to the blazing heat in a two-story medical center yesterday afternoon, closing off the top of New Dorp Lane for several hours. The fire, which started around 4:05 p.m., was detected by the basement tenants of Life's Bounty Medical Care...more>

911 Foulup Left Woman in Street for Hour

NY Daily News 6/10/2008

An 88-year-old woman who collapsed on a busy midtown street had to wait nearly an hour for an FDNY ambulanceto arrive because it had been mistakenly dispatched from Staten Island, the Daily News has learned. The elderly woman was jostled as she tried to cross at E. 55th St. and Lexington Ave. last Thursday and toppled to the hard concrete, injuring her head and back. A pair of police officers were flagged down and stood with the woman, who was in excruciating pain, as she lay in the intersection while traffic whizzed by her. The cops called 911 at 3:24p.m. The ambulance did not arrive until 4:15 p.m., according to the FDNY...more>

11 Marshals Complete Training

The Chief 6/10/2008

The Fire Department May 30 graduated 11 new Fire Marshals in a ceremony at its downtown Brooklyn headquarters. "There are many bureaus in the FDNY that make this department great," Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano said during the ceremony...more (subscription)>

FDNY Medal-Winners Don't Mind Sharing Spotlight

The Chief 6/10/2008

After Paramedics Jacob Dutton and Joseph B. Fraiman were shot at last July while responding to a routine car accident in Brooklyn, a number of changes were implemented for Emergency Medical Service responders, including giving them access to the same radio frequency as police officers...more (subscription)>

EMS Officers Union, FDNY Snapping Over Beaching 'Gators'

The Chief 6/10/2008

An Emergency Medical Service union leader has charged that the Fire Department's decision to end the use of smaller response vehicles for beach operations this summer will hamper medical rescue efforts...more (subscription)>

104 Arrested in NYC for Fire Code Violations

SI Advance 6/10/2008

City investigators and fire marshals have arrested more than 100 people in a massive sweep targeting business owners, employees and building owners who failed to appear in court on fire code violation summonses. "We are going to keep going with these, and we are not going to stop making these arrests," Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said. "Ignoring these means we are going to slap the handcuffs on you." Hearn said this latest batch of arrests began about a week ago. It's part of a joint effort by the DOI and the Fire Department to crack down on people who ignore criminal summonses for fire code violations, she said...more>

No Mercy

NY Daily News 6/8/2008

So Khalid Shaikh Mohammed wants be a martyr. Great. Put him and the rest of his gang in a hole and let the 9/11 families each throw one shovel of dirt on top. They'll see how it feels to be buried alive like my brother and the other 10 men of Rescue 5 were. Hopefully, they will die a slow and agonizing death, and it won't cost a dime. -Anthony Modafferi (brother of BC Louis Modafferi)

Nine Injured in Manhattan Fire

NY 1 News 6/8/2008

Two firefighters are in serious condition and seven others were injured battling a fire in Manhattan yesterday. Flames broke out on the first floor of an apartment building at the intersection of East 35th Street and Lexington Avenue Saturday afternoon. It took crews about an hour to control the fire. Investigators spent Saturday night trying to determine a cause.

Firefighters Cope with Heavy Heat to Put Out Blaze

WNBC 6/8/2008

If you think it's hot outside, imagine wearing 75-pound gear while trying to put out a fire. Firefighters had to cope with heavy temperatures while trying to put out a fire that broke out at a single-family home in Queens on Sunday.

The gear firefighters wear weighs about 75 pounds, according to fire authorities, but the equipment feels even heavier in heat...more>

'I Know Who to Pay Off' Crane 'Bribe Boasts'

NY Post 6/9/2008

The crane-company owner linked to a bribery scandal that led to the arrest of the Buildings Department's top inspector bragged to co-workers about his sordid relationship with the agency, telling them he was "above the law," a source close to the investigation told The Post. "He's very manipulative. He used to say, 'Mike knows who to pay,' " the source said of Michael Sackaris, whose Nu-Way Crane Service allegedly paid $10,000 in bribes to Assistant Chief Inspector James Delayo...more>

Brooklyn Manhole Fires Cause Subway Problems

Gothamist 6/9/2008

Yesterday afternoon, a few manhole fires caused a load of problems for Brooklyn residents in the middle of a sweltering weekend...more>

Man Charged with Torching Midland Beach Homes Over Neighbor Dispute

SI Advance 6/7/2008

A dispute over a $375 car repair led a Midland Beach man to burn down his neighbor's home in revenge, authorities said. Admitted firebug Stephen Udvari, 25, of 168 Baden Pl., was arrested early this morning by fire marshals almost exactly 24 hours after he set the 4 a.m. Friday blaze that gutted 164 Baden Pl., authorities said...more>

FDNY Evacuates 1,500 at Dance Recital

SI Advance 6/9/2008

As furnace-like temperatures gripped the city yesterday, the rising mercury gave way to rising tempers at the College of Staten Island, where a power outage at a packed dance recital left the 1,500 people in attendance stewing for nearly two hours until the event was finally postponed. The FDNY, which was called in to investigate reports of an outage and overcrowding at the college's Center for Performing Arts, ordered the evacuation of the building. No one suffered any heat-related injuries, but a number of people had reached their boiling point by the time firefighters had arrived...more>

10 Years Later: FDNY Remembers Atlantic Avenue Fire

FDNY Insider 6/7/2008

A decade after the tragic Atlantic Avenue fire, which took the lives of Capt. Scott LaPiedra of Ladder 176 and Lt. James Blackmore of Engine 332, more than a hundred FDNY members gathered at the site of the blaze on June 5 to remember the tragic day. “Ten years ago this was an ugly place,” said Monsignor John Delendick, who gave the evening mass at 2530 Atlantic Avenue. “But now it is beautiful, it is sacred, because it holds the souls of Scott LaPiedra and James Blackmore.” Four wood-frame homes on Atlantic Avenue were destroyed by the fire on June 5, 1998. Today, the lot remains empty, with a small monument created in honor of the two brave men that was unveiled during the ceremony...more>

Blaze Guts Midland Beach Building, Damages 5 Others

Staten Island Advance 6/7/2008

No civilians injured by second fire in the area this week; fire marshals investigating cause. Midland Beach residents were on edge yesterday after a fast-moving fire -- the second in the area in four days -- roared through a vacant building, gutting it and damaging five other structures, two of them severely...more>

NYC Crane Inspector Charged with Taking Bribes

The city's top crane inspector was charged Friday for taking thousands of dollars in bribes to falsify inspection reports and overlook unqualified operators. The arrest of Assistant Chief Inspector James Delayo came amid citywide outrage over the death of two workers in a crane collapse on E. 91st St. last week...more>

Deutsche Suit Challenged as DA Asks Court to Put Criminal Charges First

Manhattan prosecutors want a civil suit filed by the widow of a firefighter killed in the Deutsche Bank fire delayed for fear it will "compromise" their criminal probe. The Manhattan district attorney's office wants a judge to put a halt to Linda Graffagnino's suit until a grand jury finishes its investigation of the Aug. 18, 2007, fire that killed firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia...more>

Sheik-ing His Baby Rattle

NY Post 6/6/2008

WAAAAHHHH! That's the sound of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, unrepentant terrorist, merciless killer, whining and stamping his feet in court. Butchers used to be made of sterner stuff. But Wittle Baby Khaweed was lucky enough to hit the murderers' jackpot as the guest of Americans, who host him at that relative country club in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Foam or feather, Mr. Mohammed? Chicken or shrimp? Perhaps you'd prefer to be tucked into your comfy cot by the virgin of your choice, sir...more>

I'm Sorry My Son Ruined 9/11 Mural

NY Post 6/5/2008

Two fathers - one who lost his son on 9/11 and the other whose son spray-painted over a mural in the slain man's memory - came together Wednesday to try to make sense of the senseless. The phone conversation between Ernest Bielfeld, father of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld, and Curtis Rushing, father of Avery Prince, the 17-year-old who scrawled his tag "SIPS" over Bielfeld's face on the mural, lasted five minutes - but will stay with them for a long time...more>

Mayor Dismisses Idea of DC Help on Construction Safety

Congress should stay out of New York City's hair when it comes to safeguarding construction sites, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. Mr. Bloomberg's remarks came in response to a question from a reporter regarding a letter Rep. Carolyn Maloney, whose district includes the site of the most recent crane collapse, sent to the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Washington, D.C. In it, Ms. Maloney requested that OSHA investigate safety standards at sites where cranes are used...more>

Occupational Health Impact of the WTC Disaster: Lessons Learned

Occupational Hazards 6/5/2008

Featured general session speaker Robin Herbert, M.D., director, World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring Program Data and Coordination Center, Mount Sinai-Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, discussed her experiences with WTC terrorist attack responders to illustrate lessons learned to help prevent occupational health problems in similar, future events...more>

Toddler Falls Safely Into Garbage from 2nd Story Window

Fox News 6/5/2008

A Manhattan toddler who fell from her second-floor bedroom window has survived with just bumps and bruises after landing on a plastic garbage can. Firefighters who work next to the 2-year-old girl's Harlem apartment building said she apparently was leaning on a guard rail in the window before she fell Wednesday evening. The girl fell almost 20 feet into an alleyway. Firefighters said they heard the thud when she landed in the garbage. They said it was a miracle she landed there...more>

A Day of Reckoning for 9/11 Plotters

NY Daily News 6/5/2008

Nearly seven years after the 9/11 attacks, the monsters who hatched the worst terror plot in history make their first public appearance Thursday in a military court. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who has bragged he executed the operation "from A to Z;" facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh, hijack trainer Whalid Ba Attash and two other Al Qaeda thugs will be charged with arranging the mass murder of 2,974 Americans. The Bush administration is seeking the death penalty for all...more>

Insurer Says City OK'd Return of Repaired Crane

Gothamist 6/4/2008

An insurance company executive, whose client owned the crane had once been repaired before collapsing on East 91st Street last Friday, said the Department of Buildings knew the crane's history. NationalBuilders Insurance Services executive vice president Kevin Cunningham said, "The DOB inspector certified that it was OK to go back to work."...more>

Wrong Number - Death Crane Wasn't Meant To Be At Site

NY Post 6/5/2008

Hardhats at the site of last week's deadly Upper East Side crane collapse say that piece of machinery wasn't even supposed to be there. New York Crane, owner of the crane that broke apart 200 feet Friday, killing two workers, was supposed to supply the construction crew on 335 E. 91st St. with crane No. 053, sources said. Instead, they received No. 052 - the very same Kodiak crane that suffered a cracked turntable on another job on West 46th Street more than a year ago, according to sources. Ali Bacchus, a supervising crane operator with Sorbara Construction, the subcontractors that operated the cranes on both the West 46th Street project and East 91st Street, told The Post that New York Crane assured his team that they would not receive the same turntable. His crew, however, got the very same troubled turntable and erected it on April 20. ..more>

Bravest Gets Medal for Saving Five in Bronx

NY Post 6/5/2008

A Bronx firefighter was honored yesterday with the FDNY's top award for his heroism in battling smoke and heat to save five people trapped in a burning building last year. Lt. James Congema won the James Gordon Bennett Medal at the department's annual Medal Day Ceremony outside City Hall...more>

Truck Carrying Crane Sinks Into Brooklyn Street Hole

AM New York 6/5/2008

A truck transporting a small construction crane has sunk into the ground in Brooklyn. Firefighters say the flatbed truck was carrying the crane in the Flatbush neighborhood on Wednesday when it fell several inches into a sink hole. They worried the crane would sink deeper and damage gas pipes...more>

FDNY Medal Day 2008

FDNY Insider 6/4/2008

It was hero appreciation day on June 4 as the FDNY celebrated Medal Day, awarding 44 medals to FDNY members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, saving lives under extreme conditions. And this year’s event was the first combined fire and EMS ceremony in the Department’s history. “Time after time the men and women of the FDNY put themselves in nightmarish danger for one reason – to save the life of another,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. As the sun peaked through the clouds, 15 fire officers, one EMS officer, one fire marshal, 21 firefighters, five paramedics, five emergency medical technicians (EMTs), one EMS fellow and two fire companies received medals during the annual ceremony on the steps of City Hall. “Every medal represents a life saved,” said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta to the crowd of thousands. “To New Yorkers, these are stories of uncommon valor, but to our [members], this is simply what they do day after day.”...more>

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Fire Department Adds Boat to Emergency Arsenal

CommercialAppeal.com 6/3/2008

For the first time, Memphis firefighters can now battle fires from the Mississippi River. The New York Fire Department donated the 24-foot boat that also can be used in rescue operations or river disasters. "We are being pro-active with this boat, getting our feet wet, if you will, being able to provide fire and emergency services on the river," MFD battalion chief Terry Norris said. "We have the capability of putting out fire, getting you out of the water and providing emergency medical services if you need it." The boat, which was decommissioned by the NYFD, was refurbished at a cost of about $20,000. It's being docked at the Memphis Yacht Club on Mud Island. Norris said it can be launched within five minutes...more>

Teen Arrested for Defacing 9/11 Mural

A Bronx teen was arrested Tuesday on charges of scrawling graffiti over a Bronx mural honoring a fallen 9/11 hero - and promptly told cops he was sorry he'd done it. Avery Prince, 17, put his tag, "SIPS," over the face of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld on a mural near the Bravest's former home in Olinville, cops said. Prince's father, Curtis Rushing, a city sanitation worker, reiterated his son's apology and added one of his own. "He said he was deeply sorry. He didn't know that it represented 9/11 and meant so much to so many people," Rushing said. "I always told him when you do things they will always come back to you. You have to be careful."...more>

I Ripped Off 9/11 Widow

NY Post 6/4/2008

A shady stockbroker who ripped off a 9/11 widow's share of the federal Victim Compensation Fund in order to renovate his New Jersey home and buy a time-share in Florida pleaded guilty to fraud yesterday. "I explained to a client that she could deposit checks and I would take care of them for her," Kevin Dunn, 29, told a Brooklyn federal judge. "Instead of putting them into her account, I put them into my own."...more>

NYC Deputy Assistant Chief Receives Master's Degree from Harvard

Wicked Local 6/5/2008

On Thursday June 5, Deputy Assistant Chief Joseph Pfeifer of the New York City Fire Department will receive a master’s degree in public administration from The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Chief Pfeifer who heads the FDNY Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness enrolled in the program in August 2007. The item in the photo is a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center in New York City. Chief Pfeiffer, at the time working in Battalion 1 in lower Manhattan was the first Chief Officer on the scene of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001...more>

WTC Responder's Health Problems Not Abating

Occupational Health & Safety 6/4/2008

"The surprise is that people are not getting better despite persistent and intensive, long-term treatment," said Dr. Robin Herbert, director of the Mount Sinai Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine's screening and treatment program for World Trade Center responders who are not enrolled in the New York City fire and police screening program. Almost seven years after the 9/11 attacks, medical professionals screening and treating these responders consistently find they are still experiencing shortness of breath, dry cough, panic and anxiety attacks, substance abuse, and other problems that were predicted immediately after the attacks and began showing up only a month after they occurred...more>

Firehouse Drama-Free When 'Real World' Shoots

NY Daily News 6/3/2008

One place the young cast of next season's "The Real World" will not be living is the abandoned People's Firehouse. The fabled Williamsburg building, shuttered after a heavily-contested citywide round of firehouse closings in 2003, was one of more than two dozen sites inspected by producers of the long-running show on MTV before they settled on a penthouse in the Belltel Lofts on Bridge St. in downtown Brooklyn...more>

Firefighters Contain 3-Alarm Blaze at Travis Paper Plant

SI Advance 6/3/2008

A three-alarm blaze broke out in a Travis paper plant this afternoon, sending smoke across the North Shore. It took an estimated 33 FDNY units and 138 firefighters 3 1/2 hours to extinguish the stubborn blaze at Pratt Industries, 4435 Victory Blvd. Five people reportedly suffered minor injuries, three of whom were transported to area hospitals, a fire spokesman said. The inferno began at about 5:40 p.m. in stacked bales of paper, measuring 400 feet by 400 feet, according to fire officials...more>

9/11 Kin Barred from Gitmo Trial

NY Daily News 6/3/2008

When the architects of the 9/11 attacks are charged this week at Guantanamo Bay for killing nearly 3,000 Americans, the victims' families won't be allowed to witness it. The Defense Department outraged 9/11 families by belatedly disclosing that just one victim's relative - GOP loyalist Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles died in the attacks - was secretly invited to attend. "This government cannot be upfront and honest," said Rosemary Dillard of Detroit, whose husband, Eddie, died aboard the hijacked jet that struck the Pentagon. "It was very underhanded."...more>

Chief Robert Byrnes Promoted to Chief Fire Marshal

FDNY Insider 6/2/2008

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Chief Robert Byrnes, as Chief Fire Marshal. Chief Byrnes succeeds Chief Louis Garcia, who retired last month. Robert G. Byrnes is a 26-year veteran of the NYC Fire Department. He served for eight years as a Firefighter in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Chief Byrnes was promoted to fire marshal in 1989 and has been a member of the Bureau of Fire Investigation for nearly 19 years. In 1997, Chief Byrnes was awarded the Deputy Commissioner Christine R. Godek Medal for his work on the Firefighter Louis Valentino fatality.  Chief Byrnes was promoted to supervisor in 1999 and worked in every command within the Bureau of Fire Investigation. He was assigned to the Special Investigations Unit and was responsible for many high-profile investigations, including fatal fires involving members of service...more>

World Master Watercolor Artist Hepner Helps Millions With Her Peaceful Art

eMediaWire 6/3/2008

"Unspoken Courage" has become the official 9/11 tribute painting. It now hangs in over 35 Fire Stations in New York City and Manhattan.

Pomm traveled to New York and presented her masterpiece, "Unspoken Courage" to the New York City Fire Department. One print of "Unspoken Courage" now hangs at the NYFD headquarters and another hangs at the training academy on the three-story Memorial Wall which is a tribute to the 9/11 NYFD fallen heroes. Plaques of the deceased firefighters surround "Unspoken Courage". As Pomm's painting is the only piece selected for this memorial, "Unspoken Courage" has become the official 9/11 tribute painting...more>

Pinning the Blame for 9/11

Philly.com 5/31/2008 - Part 1 of 2

Special Report: A Phila. law firm wages an epic legal battle to win billions from Saudi Arabia.

Less than a mile from the mournful place in Lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center came crashing to the ground, in a hushed federal courthouse, a small band of Philadelphia lawyers is prying loose secrets of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. It is here that the Cozen O'Connor law firm has filed an 812-page lawsuit on behalf of U.S. and global insurance companies alleging that Saudi Arabia and Saudi-backed Islamist charities nurtured and financed al-Qaeda, the author of those deadly attacks...more>

How Cozen Took on Kingdom for 9/11 Liability

Philly.com 6/2/2008 - Part 2 of 2

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Stephen Cozen huddled with expert witnesses in a seventh-floor conference room of his Center City law firm preparing for what promised to be a bare-knuckle trial over a string of soured movie deals. Hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake in a dispute over proceeds from Hollywood films including The Truman Show, Runaway Bride, and The General's Daughter. But Cozen's attention was soon diverted by a call from his wife, Sandy...more>

Bravest Top NYPD, 16-15

NY Post 6/2/2008

The Bravest were at their finest yesterday, beating the NYPD, 16-15, with a field goal in the final two minutes of their annual gridiron grudge match. The Fire Department took an early 14-0 lead, but the cops fought back to pull ahead, 15-14. With a minute and 20 seconds to go, firefighter George Oostemeyer kicked the winning field goal from 25 yards out. A crowd of 5,000 watched the game at Hofstra University. Proceeds go to the two agencies' widows and children's funds. In the 36 years of the contest, the NYPD has won 24 times and the FDNY 12.

Fair and Balanced II

NY Daily News 6/2/2008

Bronx: At the WTC site, where my brother, FDNY Capt. William Burke Jr., gave his life, we are getting a $500 million "memorial" whose first purpose is to remake the site so that it does not acknowledge the 9/11 attacks. And the head of the jury that dictated this design, Vartan Gregorian, is a man who has written that the failure of the Muslim Middle East to modernize and join the democratic world is due to the creation of the state of Israel. We're not getting a respectful commemoration at the WTC site, we're getting indoctrination.  Michael Burke

Eight Hurt as Bus Hits Abandoned Building in Queens

NY Newsday 6/1/2008

Authorities say a public bus has crashed into an abandoned building in Queens after the driver swerved to avoid a child in the street. Firefighters say eight people have suffered minor injuries. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority driver told police the child darted in front of the moving bus Sunday evening in the Rockaway Park area. Police say the driver veered away from the child and into the building off Beach Channel Drive shortly before 8 p.m...more>

Groom-To-Be's Terrible Fate

NY Post 5/31/2008

Just three weeks before his wedding day, Donald Leo, 30, died in the cab of the doomed Upper East Side crane because the usual morning operator was running late, his stunned colleagues told The Post. "Don was supposed to be up there in the afternoon, but he went up in the morning, unfortunately for him," one co-worker said. In the final seconds before the crane toppled and smashed a building, Leo was trying to wheel around to move a fresh load up the side of the planned luxury high-rise. Then disaster struck...more>

related...

New York is Built by Men Such as Those Who Died

Crane Probe to Look At Metal Fatigue, Human Error

AM New York 5/30/2008

Metal fatigue and possible operational error are key areas that investigators will focus on to find out what caused Friday's fatal crane collapse in Manhattan, construction experts and city officials said. "Forensic experts will be focusing on a particular weld that failed and will be fully examining the crane model, Kodiak, which is no longer in production," acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said. Officials received six complaints about the crane in the five weeks the equipment was being used at 91st Street and First Avenue. Twenty-two complaints have been investigated at the site, the Buildings Department said...more>

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Weld May Have Led to East Side Disaster

Investigation Begins in Upper East Side Crane Collapse

Red Cross Opens Center for Evacuees

New York Crane Collapse: Officials Hold Safety Summit

Crane Collapses Prompt Questions on the Mayor's Oversight

NY Times 6/1/2008

...But the deadly crane collapse that killed two people and injured another on the Upper East Side on Friday morning is now threatening to tarnish that legacy. It was the latest in a series of construction-related accidents — including a crane collapse in March that killed seven people — that have left New Yorkers uneasy, with a growing concern that Mr. Bloomberg may have let high-rise construction proliferate without adequate oversight...more>

After NYC Collapse, Experts Say Cranes Aren't Tested Enough

NY Sun 5/31/2008

The towering cranes that build America's skyscrapers are often not properly inspected for wear, fatigue and other potentially dangerous structural problems, several construction safety experts said following a deadly accident in New York...more>

Hundreds Say Goodbye to Firefighter Sean McCarthy

NY Newsday 6/1/2208

The skies opened up as they gathered at firefighter Sean Michael McCarthy's final resting place yesterday, drenching more than 300 mourners, many sharing umbrellas.
As loved ones began to lay red roses one by one on his coffin at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, the rain stopped, the air warmed and traces of sun peeked through the gray sky. "When the rain came, I think he was laughing at us a little bit," said firefighter Matt Adee, McCarthy's friend and Engine Co. 280 mate. Ever the jokester, McCarthy's carefree spirit and likable disposition drew many to him. Those qualities also made it more difficult for them to comprehend his untimely death...more>

6 Are Recognized as Firefighters for the Month

SI Advance 5/30/2008

When Fire Lt. Richard Doody arrived at the scene of a grisly car crash one cold January night, he was certain the driver, whose car had slammed into a utility pole, would die. Jonathan Adone's face was ashen gray, one eye was fixed open and the other was closed. The odds seemed stacked against him. Making matters worse, the 260-pound Kean University football player from Arden Heights was pinned so tightly in his car that getting him out, even after the door was pried open, was a very difficult challenge. But Doody -- joined by Firefighters Michael Banovich, Fred Wenig, Robert Castelli, Daniel Castellano and Vincent D'Ovidio -- managed to pull Adone out by sliding him onto a wooden board and passing him off to ambulance personnel, in only two minutes...more>

Wildlife Rescuer Horvath Saves Astoria's Red-Tailed Hawk from Poison

NY Daily News 6/1/2008

Athena "was helpless," said Bobby Horvath, a firefighter at Engine 264 in Far Rockaway who was called in to care for the hawk after lab tests confirmed she was poisoned by an unknown toxin. Horvath, 45, moonlights as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. He has cared for hundreds of hawks, falcons and owls out of his Long Island home. He fed Athena, and gave her antibiotics and fluids. Though it is "very uncommon" for birds to survive poisoning, Horvath said, the plucky Athena perked up eight days later. "That bird was very lucky, very fortunate, that it received care in a quick manner," said the FDNY veteran, who has spent more than 14 years fighting fires...more>

Con Ed Sues City for Steampipe Explosion

Gothamist 5/31/2008

Figuring that the best legal defense is to be offensive, Con Ed is suing NYC for the 2007 midtown Manhattan steam pipe explosion that killed one woman and horribly burned two other people. Dozens more were injured in the blast that made 41st and Lexington Ave. look like an erupting volcano, as a plume of steam shot high into the air. ConEd is on the receiving end of dozens of lawsuits related to the explosion, many from businesses that were financially affected, as the blocks around the blast site were a no-go zone for about a week while people labored around the clock to repair the steam pipe and clean up debris. Now ConEd is getting in on the action by suing NYC, and in effect its taxpayers for improperly maintaining the 83-year-old pipe...more>

Fire Claims Fewer Victims Here

SI Advance 5/30/2008

Staten Island has a notably low rate of child fire fatalities -- but even those few could easily have been prevented, according to a study released by the city yesterday. Citywide, 43 fires -- four of them on the Island -- killed children between 2001 and 2006...more>

Fire Widow to Shun Insanity Defense

SI Advance 5/31/2008

The Oakwood woman accused of slaying her fire marshal husband as he slept in his bed last year will not present an insanity defense and expects to be vindicated at trial, her lawyer said yesterday. "She didn't do it, and they can't prove she did it," said Mario F. Gallucci, the attorney for Janet Redmond-Mercereau...more>

Counselors Continue to Help Charleston Pick Up the Pieces Following Tragedy

Firehouse.com 5/30/2008

Memories of the Charleston 9 will live forever. They were husbands, fathers, brothers, best friends, neighbors, colleagues. In addition to being firefighters, they made unique marks on their communities...more>

New York City to Suspend Crane Construction, Add Safety Experts

Bloomberg News 5/31/2008

New York City will suspend all crane construction until June 2, and hire 20 new safety engineers to monitor hundreds of construction sites after two fatal crane accidents since March, the latest yesterday. Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri said he ordered the suspensions even though the city hasn't found any similarities between the cause of yesterday's accident and a March 15 collapse that killed seven. In addition, the city plans to spend $4 million to hire about 20 ``highly specialized engineers'' who will have the authority to change practices on ``high-risk'' jobs involving cranes, concrete pouring and excavation, LiMandri said...more>

Crane Collapses In Upper Manhattan

NY Times 5/30/2008

At a news conference led by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. David A. Paterson, the acting commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, Robert LiMandri, gave a summary of the inspection history involving the crane. The news conference ended around 11:45 a.m. A meeting was held on April 17 with the developer, the construction company, the crane operator and city officials, Mr. LiMandri said. On April 20 and 21, the crane was erected, with Buildings Department inspectors on the scene to inspect the process. The crane was then jumped – lengthened – twice, on May 22 and May 27. Each time, Buildings Department engineers were present...more>

Report: Fires 2nd Leading Cause of Preventable Child Deaths

All American Patriots 5/30/2008

One in Four Deaths Caused by Children Playing with Matches or Lighters

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta today released the second annual Child Fatality Report, a review of preventable fatalities among children ages one to 12 years that found that fires are the second leading cause of child deaths from injuries in New York City after motor vehicle accidents...more>

Sean McCarthy, FDNY Firefighter, Dies at 35

NY Newsday 5/30/2008

Sean Michael McCarthy, one of five brothers who followed their father into the New York City Fire Department, died Tuesday of complications related to cancer. He was 35 years old and a lifelong resident of Bellmore. One of McCarthy's 11 siblings, FDNY Lt. James McCarthy, remembered his brother yesterday as a natural teacher in his passions: cooking and fishing. "He loved to be in the kitchen and be able to provide a great meal for his fellow firefighters," he said. "He didn't ask for a lot, but he gave a lot."...more>

Lawyers Want 9/11 Trial Dismissed

AP 5/30/2008

Defense lawyers accused the government of rushing the Sept. 11 defendants to trial at Guantanamo to influence the U.S. presidential elections, and asked the military judge to dismiss the case in a court filing obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The filing also shows that the former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, who resigned in October over alleged political interference, was sanctioned by the military on May 23 after testifying for the defense in a Guantanamo hearing...more>

Con Ed Blames City for Blast

NY Daily News 5/30/2008

Con Ed has some people shocked. The utility is blaming the city and a subcontractor for last year's deadly steam explosion in midtown. The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, claims the city's aging and crumbling streets were big factors in the fatal blast. The utility said city inspectors failed to notice sewer water had accumulated outside the steam pipe. Con Ed also sued Team Industrial Services, Inc., saying the company mistakenly injected sealant into the steam system while repairing a leak in the 83-year-old pipe, clogging it before the accident. City lawyer Christopher Murdoch rejected Con Ed's argument...more>

W vs. Terror: Something's Working

NY Post 5/30/2008

IT'S an article of faith on the left that the Bush administration has done nothing that has enhanced our security - rather, its alleged blunders have only contributed to the number of jihadists who want to attack us. Empirically, however, something clearly has made us safer since 2001. Successful attacks on the United States and its interests overseas have not increased, as had been widely predicted, but instead dwindled to virtually nothing...more>

9/11 Battle 'Engaged'

NY Post 5/30/2008

The grieving mother of a 9/11 firefighter took the stand yesterday in a bid to snatch her son's pension benefits from his one-time fiancée, telling a Brooklyn judge how she and her husband treated the woman like their own daughter. "Both our families were looking forward to a wedding, and we were very much aware that this was a tragedy for Doreen as well as for us," said Marian Prior, whose son Kevin died in the North Tower 10 months before his planned marriage to Doreen Noone...more>

9/11 Con Man Mario Mastellone Filmed Doing Limbo

NY Daily News 5/30/2008

A 2002 wedding reception video captured Mario Mastellone - 9/11's biggest con artist - dancing the limbo at a time when he claimed he'd been permanently disabled fleeing the collapse of the World Trade Center's north tower, federal prosecutors say. "During the wedding reception, Mastellone can be seen vigorously dancing with the other guests," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Dabbs wrote in papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court...more>

Cops Up Bounty for Vandal of Bronx 9/11 Mural

NY Daily News 5/30/2008

Cops outraged over the destruction of a 9/11 memorial mural for Firefighter Peter Bielfeld in the Bronx have opened their own checkbooks to boost the reward for catching the heartless vandal. Officer John Telesky and another veteran cop from Brooklyn's 76th Precinct were joined by Deputy Inspector Kevin Collins of the 49th Precinct in the Bronx and the precinct's community council to pump the reward pot up to $6,000. The Daily News already contributed $5,000 to the fund...more>

Dear Idiot

NY Daily News 5/29/2008

In case you have not been reading the Daily News (assuming you can read), you should know that New York is aware of and disgusted by your desecration of the Bronx mural honoring fallen Firefighter Peter Bielfeld. By "tagging" the artwork with your graffiti, you have won not fame, but infamy (ask someone what that means). And The News has upped by $5,000 the reward for nabbing you. You cannot claim ignorance of what you defaced. It had a portrait of a hero who died on 9/11, it had an American flag, it had the twin towers. Your act was malicious and cowardly. The man who had created the mural, Eddie Rodriguez (a real artist), will restore it, with Peter Bielfeld's colleagues at Ladder 42/Engine 73 and police from the 49th Precinct chipping in for supplies. That's because Peter Bielfeld meant something invaluable to them, to the neighborhood and to the city. If you feel insulted, know that we don't really think you're an idiot. We'd use a more fitting term, but this is a family newspaper.

FDNY Response Times Plummet in Queens

Queens Courier 5/28/2008

After the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) implemented a system aimed at reducing response times in Queens, data for the last three months confirm response times are plummeting, but some local leaders believe more must occur. In February of 2008, the FDNY started a pilot program in which they sent emergency personnel to the scene immediately after the dispatcher received the call - a difference in policy when the department waited to send units until they confirmed the location and emergency...more>

City Overhauls Fire Code

SI Advance 5/29/2008

Steamships transporting cotton to Staten Island piers no longer will be required to cover their stacks with wire mesh. Residents no longer will be prohibited from flying kites near telegraph wires. And then there are the rules that address the docking of zeppelins and horse-drawn wagons near city structures. Those are just a few of the antiquated regulations in the New York City Fire Code soon to be made null and void, after the City Council yesterday approved the first comprehensive revision of its fire safety standards in nearly a century...more>

Man Falls Through Floor at Ruby's on Coney Island

Gothamist 5/28/2008

A patron of the Coney Island boardwalk bar Ruby’s got sent on a shocking detour during a trip to the men’s room over Memorial Day Weekend. It so happened that Observer Reporter Chris Shott was having a beer at the bar around 5:30 Saturday when the owner abruptly pulled the plug on the jukebox and threw everyone out...more>

Financing Woes Could Doom Lower Manhattan Agency

NY Sun 5/29/2008

The agency responsible for overseeing more than $20 billion of construction in Lower Manhattan is in danger of being disbanded because financing from the state, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not been forthcoming, according to several sources...more>

Additions Planned for City's Fire/Police Park

Rome Sentinel 5/29/2008

Firefighters and police are planning additions for the city’s Fire and Police Memorial Park, located on the corner of Black River Boulevard and the southwest corner of East Court Street. The Fire and Police Memorial Park Wall with the names of local heroes will have another 10 to 11 plaques going up during the course of the summer, Deputy Chief James Kehoe said. Police Sgt. Dominick Corigliano is leading an effort to have a statue of a police dog erected at the park dedicated to the working canines of law enforcement who lost their lives on 9/11. The department is currently raising the money for the statue, Kehoe said. It will also contain the names of lost K-9s who served in Rome...more>

Crime-Fighter Focuses on Capital

Baltimore Sun 5/29/2008

He stood in the shadows of one of the country's best-known politicians, dutifully chipping away at crime in New York City while largely steering credit to his boss. Howard C. Safir, the grim-faced police commissioner under former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani whose exceptional crime-cutting record was stained by a series of police misconduct scandals, is resuming his role as loyal team player, this time, helping Annapolis' police chief attack crime...more>

The News Puts Up $5G to Catch Vandal Who Desecrated 9/11 Mural

NY Daily News 5/30/2008

Recovering the remains of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld in the ruins of the World Trade Center took nearly a year. Desecrating his memory took only a callous vandal and a can of spray paint. The Daily News revealed the disgusting act of disrespect Tuesday - and is adding $5,000 to the NYPD's reward for the arrest and conviction of the graffiti vandal who defaced the memorial mural to the FDNY hero...more>

Vandals Can't Uproot Parents' Memory of Hero Son

NY Daily News 5/27/2008

When the family of Firefighter Michael Lynch planted a tree in his memory in Ferry Point Park, they never expected to see its roots again. But a few weeks later, last November, vandals ripped up 15 trees in the park's Sept. 11 memorial grove, including the one the Lynches planted. Three of the trees were found in the woods nearby. The others are missing. The Lynch family returned to replant the tree...more>

US Terror Attack Seen Apt to Follow '08 Vote

The Washington Times 5/26/2008

When the next president takes office in January, he or she will likely receive an intelligence brief warning that Islamic terrorists will attempt to exploit the transition in power by planning an attack on America, intelligence experts say. After all, that is what happened to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush at a time when their national security teams and their counterterrorism plans were in flux...more>

KEEP ON QUITTIN', AVI

NY Post 5/27/2008

Here's some potentially good news for Lower Manhattan: Avi Schick is on his way out. Sort of, anyway. The embattled state economic-development czar - who's overseen Downtown's bureaucracy-induced paralysis since the early days of the Spitzer administration - told The New York Times that he was stepping down as president of the Empire State Development Corp., effective this September. It's about time. As ESDC president and, concurrently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., Schick is officially responsible for the inexcusable lack of progress at Ground Zero and surrounding sites - not to mention the collapse of such big state projects as the Javits Convention Center expansion...more>

Man Avoids Subway Wheels by Staying Between Tracks

NY Daily News 5/27/2008

A straphanger who fell from a Manhattan subway platform dodged the wheels of a train by laying in the sunken space between the tracks as the subway moved over him. The man apparently stumbled and fell off the northbound platform of the F train at the Delancey St. station at 1:34 p.m., FDNY officials said...more>

Bronx Neighborhood Shocked by Graffiti on 9/11 Mural

NY Daily News 5/27/2008

Over several nights this month, a graffiti vandal stared into the face of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld, who lost his life rushing into the World Trade Center - and coldly spray-painted right over it. Now the Olinville community where Bielfeld lived, the South Bronx community where he worked and Bielfeld's family are raging, and out to punish whoever defaced the memorial wall mural of Bielfeld. "It's ridiculous. It is very personal," said Bielfeld's father, Ernest, 73, who held memorial services at the mural in memory of his son on Olinville Ave., before his son's remains were found. "It's such an emotional thing for us. Angry? I'm pissed off."...more>

Honored Firefighter Left Business Behind

CT Post 5/27/2008

Jeffrey Hilliard tried sitting in a cubicle and didn't like it. Now, he sits in a firetruck and his grin is as bright as the shiny red vehicle. One of four new Milford firefighters who graduated last Thursday from training school, Hilliard, 31, had good reason to grin: He was chosen from among 49 recruits for an award based on work ethic, dedication and outstanding performance during 15 weeks of training. He was stunned when his name was announced as the winner of the Michael C. Reilly Memorial "Hard Charger" Award at his graduation from the Connecticut Fire Academy — and he wasn't the only one. Just as surprised was Monica Reilly, who lost her 25-year-old son, Michael, a former Stratford and New York City firefighter nicknamed "Hard Charger," in a Bronx fire two years ago. She now presents the prestigious award twice a year in his name...more>

UFA to Use Reopener to Match PBA Hikes - Seeking 3.5%

Chief-Leader 5/27/2008

The Uniformed Firefighters Association May 20 announced it would exercise the reopener clause in its last wage pact to pursue the raises under the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association arbitration award handed down last week that exceeded by 3.5 percent those it negotiated...more> (subscription)

Naked Man Rescued from Hudson River

NY Sun 5/27/2008

Firefighters rescued a naked man as he was floating down the Hudson River on a log yesterday afternoon, officials said. A TriBeCa resident looking out of his apartment window noticed the man as he was bobbing past a pier near Harrison Street at around 3 p.m., officials said. The man did not appear to be moving, so the TriBeCa resident called 911. Firefighters in a boat responded seven minutes later, and were able to safely pluck the man from the water. He was not identified by police or fire officials, who said he had been taken to New York Downtown Hospital for evaluation.

Sept 11 Fire Chief to Visit Marco

Marco News 5/27/2008

A New York Fire Department Division commander who directed rescue and recovery operations after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, will visit Marco on Sept. 10 this year as a guest of the Marco Island Fire Rescue Foundation. This was revealed by Foundation Chairman Jim Curran at a function held recently at Marco Community Bank to honor foundation members. Hayden, now retired, will speak at a luncheon Sept. 10 at the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Curran said...more>

Time Ebbs for the Heroes Who Saved the Harbor 

NY Times 5/27/2008

His best day? For Seymour Wittek, it was the day he met the girl he would marry. There have been other significant days over his 87 years — when children were born and new jobs were begun, when grandchildren came along. One October day last year, death claimed Anne Wittek, his wife of 64 years. That was a most important day. But for altering his life, April 24, 1943, stands out. That was the day in World War II when a fire aboard an ammunition ship in New York Harbor threatened to cause a gigantic explosion that could have cost thousands of lives and destroyed swaths of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the New Jersey ports of Jersey City and Bayonne...more>

Monticello FD Wins National Award

Catskills News 5/27/2008

The Monticello Joint Fire District has awarded for the first time in the nation the Code Fearless Award. This award was given by The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. Monticello received this award for demonstration and support of the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives. Over the last 1 ½ years we have put into place these initiatives to stop firefighter fatalities and reduces the possible injuries. Last year, Monticello FD was awarded the Seal of Excellence which was also the first time ever in the nation from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. This year the award went to the FDNY...photo>

City's 9/11 Protector Back for Fleet Week

NY Daily News 5/23/2008

The last time the warship Leyte Gulf was sent to New York, it was to defend the city. The twin towers were still burning and the nation feared another attack. But now the guided missile cruiser has returned to celebrate Fleet Week and show off to the public. "We really have a lot of fun with this stuff," said Boatswain's Mate Troy Riddick, 36, of Centerville, Iowa. The battleship can launch Tomahawk missiles and has advanced radar that can detect anything in the air or sea from more than 200 miles away...more>

FDNY Honors Memorial Day as Members Prepare to Deploy with Marines

FDNY Insider 5/24/2008

Members of the 25th Marine Regiment, including 17 FDNY members, received a touching send-off at the 1st Marine Corps District in Garden City on May 20, as they prepared to begin their deployment on Memorial Day. The unit will be first sent to Twentynine Palms, California, for three months of desert and urban operations training, before going to Iraq this winter. The FDNY would like to thank all its members currently serving in the armed services and hope for their safe return...more>

Ground Zero is Beckoning

NY Post 5/25/2008

WHAT hath Mike wrought? More than is immediately apparent, but much less than he would have liked. But all is not lost. His mayoralty maintains for 585 more days, enough time (though barely) to forge a legacy worthy of the intelligence, energy and imagination of Michael R. Bloomberg. As it stands, he'll be remembered for rezoning reform (huh?), the congestion-pricing debacle and a naive reliance on Albany to keep its word regarding mayoral control of the public schools. And, yes, he's been a competent keeper of the city's books. But they don't build monuments to accountants - and, besides, posterity is beckoning from Ground Zero...more>

In a Democratic District, A Former Firefighter Raises Republican Hopes

NY Times 5/26/2008

Tim Brown believes a Republican can win in the 26th State Senate District, which stretches from Gramercy Park to the Upper East Side. “It’s a district where people vote for the person, not along party lines,” Mr. Brown says. He had better hope so. Mr. Brown, a 45-year-old retired firefighter and sometime actor, is taking on the Democratic incumbent, Senator Liz Krueger, in a district where there are 2.54 Democrats for every Republican, according to enrollment records. Yet before Senator Krueger was elected in 2002, the district was represented for three decades by Roy Goodman, a Republican...more>

Firefighters at Pentagon Get Their Due

The Modesto Bee 5/26/2008

Remember the Pentagon. It burned, too, dismembered by the same terrorists who brought down the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. Circumstances, though, have rendered the Pentagon a Sept. 11 afterthought. It's the place that survived. At the World Trade Center, 343 New York City firefighters died. At the Pentagon, every firefighter returned home. But not all came back safe and sound. The Arlington County Fire Department subsequently lost 9 percent of its force to health-related retirements...more>

Construction Halted At Goldman Sachs NYC Site

WCBS-TV 5/26/2008

Goldman Sachs said it will not resume construction at its new lower Manhattan headquarters until new safety measures are in place. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced Sunday that Goldman has promised safety provisions beyond what the city building code requires. The stepped-up safety efforts come after a piece of metal fell 18 stories off the building May 17. The chunk of steel landed on a field where Little League games were being played. Goldman Sachs and contractor Tishman Construction Corp. said there won't be any more weekend work on the 43-story tower during Little League season...more>

Sept. 11 License Plate Could Be Well-Designed

Times-Union 5/25/2008

I'm writing in response to the Capitol Confidential article "State: Not everything is plate material." This is in regard to the state Department of Motor Vehicles' refusal to issue World Trade Center or 9/11 memorial license plates, or vanity plates relating to 9/11 or the WTC. Instead of a stubborn refusal to produce a 9/11 memorial plate, the state should be thinking of a beautiful design to place on such a plate. It would only honor the victims of the tragic event, not adversely refer to it in any way. Such a plate could also be a fundraiser for the WTC memorial at ground zero...more>

Mohammed Prepares for 9/11 Trial

UPI 5/25/2008

The case of the self-described leader of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States could shape the rules of the U.S. war on terrorism, his lawyer says. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a U.S. educated engineer is held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has spent the last five years fielding questions from U.S. security forces and other officials, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. Navy Reserve Judge Advocate General Prescott Prince has been named to lead the defense team for Mohammed, who is charged with murder in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in the 2001 attacks...more>

Petraeus's Next Job: Finish Hunt for Bin Laden

NY Sun 5/23/2008

The general whose successful counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq reshaped the Republican primary, David Petraeus, will now turn his attention to hunting down Osama Bin Laden in the mountains of Pakistan. General Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee here that is weighing President Bush's proposal to promote him to head of the Central Command that one of his first actions would be to visit Pakistan and meet with leaders there to discuss strategies for taking back control of the tribal border provinces where Osama bin Laden and his deputies lurk...more>

Cruise Ship Strikes Manhattan Pier; No Injuries Reported

NY Newsday 5/25/2008

Firefighters say a cruise ship has hit a column at a Manhattan pier, but no one has been hurt. The Fire Department says the accident happened shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday at a Hudson River pier near West 50th Street. The passenger ship's name isn't immediately available. Inspectors are checking on the pier, and the city Buildings Department has no immediate information on their findings.

Manhattan Water Pipe Breaks, Floods Streets

NY Newsday 5/25/2008

A ruptured water pipe has flooded streets in Manhattan and has led to the evacuation of several buildings. Firefighters say the 20-inch-wide water main in the West Village neighborhood broke around 11 o'clock Saturday night. They say the water flooded  basements and was a few inches deep on sidewalks...more>

Docs at City Hospital Using New Techniques to Save Veteran's Foot

NY Daily News 5/25/2008

...Last autumn he found the Wounded Warrior Project and met retired FDNY Firefighter Flip Mullen, whose compassion and tireless care for veterans is legendary. Mullen contacted Kennedy, and Guerin came down in January for surgery. Kennedy created little canals in the ankle bone to hold stem cells, which came from bone marrow he took from Guerin's hip...more>

Trial Process to Begin for Accused 9-11 Plotters

AFP 5/25/2008

In the first step towards trying the alleged plotters behind the devastating September 11, 2001 attacks, five men including the accused mastermind will be arraigned June 5 before a US military judge in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nearly seven years after the attacks and at least five years after their capture, Pakistan-born Kuwaiti Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the purported key 9/11 planner, and four others will formally be charged with murder, terrorism and other war crimes, launching the process of trying them under special military commissions at the US naval prison at Guantanamo...more>

US Military Judge Denies Request to Delay Trial of Accused 9/11 Conspirators

Jurist 5/23/2008

US military judge Col Ralph Kohlmann Thursday denied a request by military-appointed defense lawyers to postpone the arraignment of the five Guantanamo Bay detainees charged with plotting the Sept. 11 attacks. The lawyers had asked for more time to mount defenses for their clients, but the arraignments are still scheduled for June 5. If convicted, the five men, including the alleged lead conspirator behind the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, could be sentenced to death...more>

'The Bin Ladens'

NY Times 5/25/2008

Is Osama Bin Laden a rebel against the Saudi Arabian ruling class or a model member of it? That question lurks behind “The Bin Ladens,” by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New Yorker writer Steve Coll. The world’s most famous terrorist owes his fortune and his standing to a family business that Coll calls “the kingdom’s Halliburton.” Like Halliburton, the Saudi Binladin Group specializes in gigantic infrastructure projects. Government connections are the key to the family’s wealth. So you would assume they would react with unmixed horror to a radical son, like the duchess in the Noel Coward song:..more>

FDNY: No Beach Patrols for NYC Beaches

Gothamist 5/24/2008

In a startling coincidence with the unofficial beginning of summer and the official opening of NYC beaches on Memorial Day weekend, the FDNY says that it can no longer affored to have special patrols by emergency medical technicians to come to the aid of the ailing and injured at the beach. Budget cuts apparently necessitated the curtailment. The EMT union told WCBS news that the FDNY is cutting patrols on city beaches on the days when they're most likely needed and that the department's special sand-roving beach vehicles will be a rare, if not nonexistent, sight this summer...more>

Big Apples Team Signs Up for 08 Firefighter Games

Liverpool Daily Post 5/23/2008

THE World Firefighter Games being held this year in Liverpool have been given another boost with the announcement that the New York Fire Department is sending a squad. The games are taking place as part of the city’s Capital of Culture celebrations and this week a crew of 25 from the Big Apple has signed up...more>

Firemen Go It Alone in Unofficial Calendar After the FDNY Scrubs Its Own

NY Daily News 5/24/2008

Ladies, no need to call 911: You've got another way to bring a scorching hot firefighter into your home. Though the FDNY will not be releasing a new firefighter calendar after the scandal that erupted last year when it was revealed the cover boy had appeared in an erotic video, another calendar featuring buff Bravest has hit stores. The New York Firefighters Calendar - its cover featuring a smiling, shirtless firefighter posed in front of the Empire State Building - could see a surge in sales now that the official version won't be printed...more>

Hi-Rise Building Fire Causes Problems for FDNY

WCBS-TV 5/23/2008

A fire led to some intense moments Friday morning for residents on an Upper West Side hi-rise. The 33-story building was evacuated, but the conditions were tough for firefighters...video>

Cheers: You Do Know Jack

TV Guide 5/22/2008

Cheers to Jack McGee for resuscitating his career post-Rescue Me. The fireplug character actor killed himself as Chief Jerry Reilly on FX's drama — then committed potential career suicide by publicly trashing costar-cocreator Denis Leary for the plot twist. Yet McGee has continued working steadily with guest shots on CSI, CSI: Miami and now Criminal Minds' season finale. As a hard-nosed NYPD detective, the real-life FDNY vet proved he's equally adept at playing New York's Finest as well as New York's Bravest. He's truly a Jack of all trades...more>

Hot to Indict In Deutsche Fire

Prosecutors are pushing to indict those responsible for the Deutsche Bank fire before the anniversary of the tragic August blaze, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said yesterday. Morgenthau stayed mum on who might face charges in the case, but indicated the indictment would be a lengthy one, with multiple defendants and numerous charges...more>

Delay Refused for Alleged September 11 Plotters

A U.S. military judge refused on Thursday to delay the June 5 arraignment of five Guantanamo prisoners who could face execution if convicted of plotting the September 11 attacks. The ruling cleared the way to begin hearings in the first Guantanamo war crimes court case alleging a direct link to the hijacked plane attacks that triggered the Bush administration's war on terrorism...more>

Beacon Author Honors 'Bravest'

Beacon author and artist Sharon Watts will participate in Poughkeepsie Barnes & Noble's Local Author Weekend event Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. She will sign copies of "Miss You, Pat: Collected Memories of NY's Bravest of the Brave, Captain Patrick J. Brown." Brown, captain of FDNY's Ladder 3, died on Sept. 11, 2001, surrounded by dozens of severely burned victims he hoped to evacuate from Tower One of the World Trade Center. His last recorded words to the dispatcher were, "OK, 3 Truck and we're still heading up. OK? Thank you."...more>

Hello, Sailor, You're No. 500,000!

No matter whether he was technically visitor No. 499,999 or No. 500,001 to the Tribute WTC Visitor Center opposite ground zero, Lt. Jeremy E. Vellón, an assistant air officer on the USS Kearsarge was officially designated this morning as the half-millionth person to attend the center since it opened in September 2006...more>

Colleagues Call Firefighter's Efforts to Help Typical

Around his Brooklyn firehouse, Philip Scarfi is known for being late to work because he stops for anyone who needs help. So when his colleagues learned a New York City firefighter had run across the highway to rescue a Nassau police officer crushed in his cruiser Sunday, they weren't surprised it was Scarfi...more>

Port Authority to Spend $5 Million on WTC Security Center

The new office towers and Sept. 11 memorial being built at ground zero should get a state-of-the-art security center and a radio system that would open up 20 radio frequencies to police, firefighters and other officials during an emergency, officials said Thursday. Planners are still deciding whether to locate the World Trade Center operation command center on the site, or above or below ground, said Steve Plate, director of World Trade Center construction for the site's owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...more>

Nation's Longest Continuously Run Memorial Day Parade in Bay Ridge

...The grand marshal is chief of department Salvatore Cassano, FDNY. Chief Cassano has been with the FDNY for over 39 years. He is an Army veteran and served a tour of duty in Vietnam from 1966-67. The Honorary Grand Marshals are Borough President Marty Markowitz and state Senator Marty Golden. “Wounded Warriors” from Walter Reed Army Medical Center are the honored guests. The reviewing officer is Lt. Col. Paul Cook, commander of the US Army New York City Recruiting Battalion; and the Memorial Day speaker is Lee Burch, a member of the Brooklyn “Key” Chapter American ex-prisoners of War, the lead organization this year...more>

Fest Fire Alarm

SoHo fire companies would not have the necessary manpower if a blaze were to break out on a block obstructed by a street festival, FDNY sources warned yesterday. Mulberry Street, between Broome and Spring, is blocked by food carts for the Feast of St. Anthony, creating the need for an extra man to operate longer hoses, the sources said...more>

Construction Debris Tumbles onto Harlem Market

Firefighters say construction debris from a luxury condominium building has plummeted onto a Harlem market. The Fire Department says no one was hurt in the mishap Thursday afternoon at the Kalahari Harlem, an environmentally conscious condo building under construction on West 116th Street...more>

9/11 Families Sue for Right to Religious Burials

After the memorial Mass on Oct. 26, 2001, for her son Christian, a probationary firefighter who died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Sally Regenhard didn't proceed to a cemetery. There was no cemetery because there was no body. Christian's remains were never found. Now, more than six years later, Regenhard is part of a civil lawsuit against New York City by the group World Trade Center Families for Proper Burial, which was founded in 2003 to retrieve the remains of family members in hopes of providing a proper burial...more>

Firefighter Touts Leadership - Salka a 9/11 Veteran

Was it more difficult for the firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001, to climb the stairs into the World Trade Center than it was for others to climb into a Bronx house fire earlier that morning. Not a lick, New York Fire Department Battalion Chief John Salka told firefighters gathered Wednesday in an auditorium at Brescia University. The 28-year veteran officer, who led firefighters through the catastrophic rescues in 2001, talked about the importance leadership training can have on all levels of fire department responses, from small house fires to large-scale attacks...more>

I Want the Truth

The heartbroken parents of a firefighter killed on 9/11 yesterday defended the lawsuit they've filed to stop their son's fiancée from collecting a share of his pension. Marian Prior, the mother of fallen Bravest Kevin Prior, denied that the dispute with fiancée Doreen Noone was about money - but instead insisted it was about setting the record straight about her young son's relationship...more>

Seeking Raise, Firefighters Will Reopen Contract

Now the firefighters want their retroactive raise of nearly 10 percent, too. One day after an arbitration panel awarded New York City’s police officers a raise amounting to 9.7 percent over two years, the Uniformed Firefighters Association said on Tuesday that it would exercise its option to reopen its contract covering the same two years — 2004 to 2006. The firefighters received raises of less than 3 percent the first year and 3.15 percent the second year in that now-expired contract...more>

Ex-Firefighter Receives Honor for Fundraising

A transplanted New York firefighter instrumental in one of the largest golf tournaments on the Grand Strand each year received one of the city's highest honors Wednesday night. City spokesman Mark Kruea - standing in for Mayor John Rhodes, whose meetings with legislators in Columbia on Wednesday ran late - surprised retired New York Fire Department member Kevin O'Brien with a key to the city to thank him for the work he puts in organizing the annual FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing...more>

Tragic $plit of 9/11 Kin and Bride

The grieving parents of a 9/11 firefighter are battling to stop the woman they expected to call their daughter- in-law from collecting the hero's pension benefits, and will try today to convince a Brooklyn judge to freeze the annual payout. "Before this happened, we were very, very, very close, to the point where I called them mom and dad," said the fianc�e, 36-year-old Doreen Noone, who only three years later married the firefighter's close friend and best man...more>

Building Where Crane Killed 7 May Have to Come Down

An East Side real-estate developer has until June 4 to convince city officials to allow him to continue construction of the 40-story residential tower where a crane collapse killed seven people in March. Department of Buildings officials yesterday listed 28 ways in which James Kennelly's project at 303 E. 51st St. violates zoning rules...more>

Finding Space and Quiet in SI's Westerly

Anthony Wolk, 91, moved to Westerleigh in 1971 after he was carjacked in his neighborhood of East Flatbush. "It was very bad in that neighborhood so I came here," said Wolk, a member of the American Legion from Canarsie and VFW post 7172. "It's better for veterans and good for families here. It's nice, what can I say?"...more>

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