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Police and Fire Radios Are Talking to Each Other
NY Times 7/31/2008
Emergency
medical workers can now contact the police
directly via radio. Fire officials use
information beamed down from police
helicopters. Law enforcement officers and
emergency service agencies hold joint drills
at high-rise buildings, jails and the city’s
tunnels.
Seven years
after the harsh lessons of the Sept. 11
attacks, New York City has improved the
ability of its Police and Fire Departments
to operate together. On Wednesday, these and
other advances were enumerated before the
Federal Communications Commission at a
public hearing in Brooklyn on improving
public safety through better communications
among government and emergency agencies.
Speakers at the hearing focused on the lack
of a national broadband public safety
network, noting that some cities, including
New York, Washington and Philadelphia, had
improved agencies’ ability to talk to one
another on their local networks, while
others had lagged behind. “It is well past
time for us to try to remedy this,” Kevin J.
Martin, the commission chairman, said at the
start of the hearing.
“We have a
significant amount of work left to do,” he
said in a brief interview during a break.
“Some cities and regions have been on the
forefront of trying to solve this problem
themselves. But the problem is, it has not
been solved nationwide. I think New York
City is actually on the forefront of having
its Police and Fire Departments fully
interoperable,” Mr. Martin said. But he
added, “even if New York is fully
interoperable, other cities and other states
in the region that provide support in an
emergency aren’t.”...more>
related...
First Responders to FCC: Give Up National D
Block Pipe Dream
Ars Technica 7/31/2008
Nesconset Widow Tells True Story of
Firefighter's Tahoe Drowning
Times Beacon Record 7/31/2008
 Nesconset
this week mourned the loss of a man of
service and bravery.
New York City firefighter Martin Simmons,
whose family lives in Nesconset, drowned
July 21 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada after diving
in to aid his 10-year-old son, Kevin, who
had developed a leg cramp while swimming.
While many news reports have indicated that
Simmons drowned during a failed attempt to
rescue his drowning son, these reports have
been "written largely from hearsay and
conjecture," said Simmons' wife, Judi
Simmons, who offered her first-hand account
of the tragedy in a written statement.
At noon last Monday, the Simmons family set
sail on a 28-foot boat with Beth and Bill
King, Judi's sister and brother-in-law, and
their children. At approximately 4:30 pm,
Kevin and his 8-year-old cousins swam out to
a large marking buoy. His cousins returned
quickly, but Kevin developed a leg cramp and
stayed behind. Being concerned, Simmons dove
in to accompany his son.
Upon arriving at the buoy, Simmons told
Kevin that he was having trouble breathing
and that he would be unable to help him back
to the boat, Judi wrote in her statement.
Her husband managed to start swimming to
shore and noticed that Kevin was right
behind him. He then "raised himself to a
position with full shoulders out of the
water and yelled to the boat the he could
not breathe," his wife said. "Immediately a
flotation device was thrown to the pair."
Leaving the boat in his 15-year-old son's
hands, Bill King swam to the pair while his
wife called 911, and the boat horn was
sounded for the lifeguards on the beach.
Upon reaching Simmons and Kevin, King
realized that Kevin was "capably treading
water" and Simmons, who appeared lifeless,
was "on the bottom in approximately 10 feet
of water," Judi noted. "His eyes were
closed, his arms folded on his chest, and
his lips pursed in a comfortably peaceful
pose."...more>
Katie Holmes Creates FDNY Frenzy
Just Jared 7/31/2008
Accompanied by a
bodyguard,
Katie Holmes stops to chat with some
firemen (3 Truck) outside an FDNY fire house in New
York City on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old
actress made some people’s days by taking pictures
with some of New York’s Bravest!
Back in November,
Katie wore her support for the New York
City Fire Department by wearing one of FDNY’s
baseball caps during the New York City Marathon.
Gas Blast - Hunt Cause in Flushing Building Explosion
Queens Courier 7/30/2008
 Five
days later, Fire Marshals are still investigating the cause of the
gas explosion that left a Flushing man clinging to life in a
hospital burn unit, his 23-month-old daughter severely burned - and
37 families unable to return to their homes.
Edgar Zaldumbide remains in an induced coma in the Weill Cornell
burn unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital, with severe burns over
75 percent of his body, as his wife Yvonne keeps vigil. Their
daughter Melissa is in stable condition at the same hospital.
Zaldumbide and the infant were the most serious casualties of the
blast, which turned a summer Friday afternoon into chaos for the
residents of Fairmont Hall, a 90-unit apartment building at 147th
Street and Sanford Avenue.
“We heard the explosion and the baby crying,” said Janet Figueroa,
who was visiting a cousin, Leslie Portillo, in apartment 2F.
Portillo and the Zaldumbides regularly attended services at a nearby
church.
“We were leaving, but Leslie went back
for her papers. Edgar was screaming ‘Leslie help the baby!’ ”
Figueroa continued. “She gave her to me and we all went down the
stairs.”
A police source confirmed that a Hispanic woman brought the burned
child to a police officer, who drove them to the New York Hospital
Queens Emergency Room.
Robert Browne, a division commander for the Fire Department of New
York (FDNY) at the scene on July 25 confirmed that of the other 15
people injured, six firefighters suffered only minor injuries...more>
9/11 Aid May $ick It To Us
NY Post 7/31/2008
Federal legislation to help those
suffering health problems from the World Trade Center terrorist
attacks could cost taxpayers up to $13 billion, The Post has
learned.
The bill, which will go before a House
hearing today and is strongly backed by Mayor Bloomberg, would
reopen the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and would provide funding
for medical care for downtown residents and for firefighters, cops,
EMTs and construction workers who worked at Ground Zero.
The preliminary estimate of the cost of
the measure by the Congressional Budget Office ranged from $8
billion to $13 billion, congressional sources said.
The staggering cost figure hasn't been
publicly disclosed yet but was revealed to The Post by sources.
Under the bill, roughly 35,000 people
living within 1.5 miles of Ground Zero would be eligible for medical
benefits at a projected cost of $3.1 billion. Thousands of
first-responders would also receive medical aid at a cost of $2
billion.
As many as 85,000 first-responders
could be eligible for medical aid. But the overall cost for their
care is less than for residents because most of the first-responders
have health insurance that covers a large share of their medical
bills, sources said. ..more>
Blaze Destroys Stapleton House
Staten Island Advance 7/30/2008
A ferocious fire consumed a two-story
Stapleton building last night, home to a family of
seven. No one was seriously hurt; 14 firefighters
suffered minor injuries in the blaze.
Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores.
This two-story Stapleton home was destroyed during a
blaze on Gordon Street last night.
The Red Cross placed the family in an
Island motel. The fire at 246 Gordon St. began at
7:06 p.m. and quickly went to two alarms. It was
declared under control at 8:20 p.m. The blaze was so
intense, the first firefighters who responded to the
scene had to retreat from the first floor and pour
water on the house from outside, said Deputy Chief
Rocco Rinaldi of Division 8.
Gray smoke billowed above Gordon
Street and through the neighborhood, bringing
residents of Warren Street and Laurel Avenue on the
run. "I thought the kids were in there. I was coming
to help but then the fire trucks showed up," said
Lisa Mercado, 37, of Laurel Avenue...more>
MVFD Receives Three Thermal Imaging Cameras
Mid Hudson News 7/30/2008
Mount Vernon city officials Tuesday
had expected to receive two $11,000 a piece thermal
imaging cameras from the Terry Farrell Firefighters
Fund, but were surprised when they were given three
units. The Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund was
established in memory of Terry Farrell, a decorated
member of Rescue 4/FDNY and chief of the Dix Hills
Volunteer Fire Department. Terry, along with 342 of
his brothers, perished on September 11, 2001 in the
World Trade Center attack. The Fund is set up to
assist firefighters and their families with
educational, medical and equipment needs. We support
the firefighters who serve our communities. “Today
isn’t just about receiving equipment,” Mayor Clinton
Young told the 30 firefighters present during a
presentation ceremony. “We celebrate the heroism,
patriotism, and courage of Terry Farrell and the
great work that continues to be done in his honor
through the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund. These
cameras will make your work environment much safer,
and possibly one day, save one of your lives.” “The
Fund exists for you guys, the firefighters…that is
why we’re here,” said Brian Farrell, Terry’s
brother. “Whatever firefighters need, we are going
to try to help, and Mount Vernon is no exception.”
Fire Chief Al Everett said that the cameras “would
be put to work immediately,” and that personnel had
already been trained in their use.
Parisi Pleads Guilty to Charges in 9/11 Scam
South Bergenite 7/30/2008
A Former Lyndhurst resident pleaded guilty to
Federal, state and local charges for his role in
multiple scams that include him posing as a U.S.
Secret Service agent and as a disabled Sept. 11,
2001 rescue worker to donors of a "9/11 Rescue
Workers Foundation" he founded. In March, Fredrick
Parisi was arrested during a benefit at the
Waterfront Café in Carlstadt. On June 25, Parisi,
40, now a Jefferson resident pleaded guilty in U.S.
District Court in Newark to impersonating a U.S.
Secret Service agent and to using counterfeit U.S.
Secret Service letterhead paper to deceive employers
and others into believing that U.S. Auto Task Force,
a vehicle recovery company he owned, was endorsed by
the Secret Services. Parisi faces sentencing on
Sept. 30 on the federal charges, according to the
U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark. Parisi also faces
charges for stealing $235,000 from his employer, Roy
Jensen, of Berkshire Valley Custom Wood Design,
where he worked as a salesman and bookkeeper. A
Jefferson police report said that bank records for
the business showed that Parisi was making cash
withdrawals for personal expenditures from the
business accounts. On March 29, 2008 Parisi’s welter
of lies and deception caught up with him at the
Waterfront Café in Carlstadt when a cordon of police
from Jefferson Township, Carlstadt, Lyndhurst, and
the Port Authority converged upon him and arrested
him on outstanding warrants, a Jefferson Township
police report said. On May 30, 2007, Jefferson
police also had arrested Parisi for stealing $81,500
from one of Berkshire Valley Wood Design’s customers
by billing for work he never delivered. Jefferson
Police Spokesman Lt. Eric Wilsusen said that the
arrest was the result of a 15-month investigation by
Jefferson Detective Joseph Kratzel, assisted by
Detective Thomas McHale of the Port Authority NJ/NY
Police. New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram has
ordered the State Division of Consumer Affairs to
revoke the registration of the 9/11 Rescue Workers
Foundation, which Parisi founded supposedly to raise
money to help rescue workers who suffered health
problems after working at Ground Zero.
The foundation must be shut down within 30 days... more>
Freedom Tower Construction Soars Skyward
The Arizona Daily Star 7/30/2008
Below: A steel column rises at
the Freedom Tower construction site at the World
Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
Below: Workers discuss the
installation of prefabricated arches next to the
Freedom Tower site. The arches will form an
underground pedestrian corridor connecting Battery
Park City and the World Financial Center with the
World Trade Center's transportation hub. The
corridor and transportation hub were designed by
architect Santiago Calatrava.
Port Authority to Intensify Its Ground Zero Role
NY Times 7/29/2008
Under
renewed criticism and
pressure to advance the
redevelopment of the
World Trade Center site,
the chairman of the Port
Authority of New York
and New Jersey told his
fellow commissioners on
Monday that special
monthly board meetings
will begin in September
to consider nothing but
the issues posed at
ground zero. “I believe
a project with this
singular importance for
the agency and region
warrants even stronger
and more regular
engagement at the board
level,” the chairman,
Anthony R. Coscia, said
in an e-mail message to
the other commissioners.
He continued: The
special meetings will
create an opportunity
for the board to give
staff more policy
direction regarding the
rebuilding effort,
provide an additional
layer of board
oversight, and ensure
that the board is able
to take action on W.T.C.-related
items at a pace
consistent with the
desire for an
accelerated construction
schedule. The World
Trade Center board
meetings will be held
closer to the site than
regular monthly
meetings, which are
conducted at the
authority’s headquarters
on Park Avenue South.
Stephen Sigmund, a
spokesman for the
authority, said the
meetings would be open
to the public and that
information on time and
whereabouts would be
posted on the Port
Authority Web site...more>
September 11 Memorial Grows
NJ.com 7/30/2008
Gordon M. Aamoth Jr. Edelmiro Abad. Maria Rose Abad.
Andrew Anthony Abate. Heinrich Bernhard Ackermann. They didn't live
in Morris County. It's unknown if they ever passed through. But
their names, along with more than 2,968 others, are etched in the
bricks of a special walkway being created in Parsippany, at the
county's 9/11 memorial. The memorial, dedicated in 2003, has a
railing embedded with 64 plaques to commemorate each county resident
who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But some of those
residents' survivors wanted to incorporate a remembrance of all who
were killed on 9/11. They said many county residents lost friends,
family and co-workers from elsewhere that Tuesday in New York and
wanted to see them honored. The bricks were delivered from an
engraver in Denver Monday night and brought to the county memorial,
near the county public safety academy on West Hanover Avenue. In
alphabetical order of the deceased, from Aamoth to Igor Zukelman,
the bricks will encircle the site. "I was fortunate. My husband's
body was recovered. Others got nothing," said Elizabeth Mattson of
Rockaway Township, whose husband, Robert, died at the World Trade
Center. "More than half the people who lost someone were not able to
recover a body. "Now at least they have this, a place to go and hold
onto. They have a place to come and remember," she said yesterday as
she looked over the pile of engraved bricks waiting to be installed
by workers creating the new walk. The walkway is due to be completed
before the county's next 9/11 anniversary remembrance, scheduled for
Sunday, Sept. 7. The land containing the county's memorial was
donated by the county government to the private foundation that
manages the site. The plot includes 5 tons of twisted, rusted steel
from the World Trade Center, soil from the Pentagon, and pieces of
the plane that crashed in Shanksville, Pa. It also features a
circular aspect that represents the continuity of life, a ring of
water for rebirth and flowers planted amid the steel. Mattson and
county officials credited Loretta Viglione of Parsippany as the
prime mover of the effort to expand the memorial. Viglione's
brother, Thomas Sabella, was a fireman from Staten Island who died
at the World Trade Center. "I take this issue very personally,"
Viglione said last year in an interview. "The county took the steel
from the World Trade Center for this memorial. It represents all of
the people who died, like my brother. They should all be
honored."...more>
Firemen Save Obese Man From Queens Fire
NY1 News 7/29/2008
 A
quick-thinking firefighter helped rescue an obese man from a fire in
Queens earlier this week. Firefighters responded to the call Sunday
night on 97th Street in Rego Park. The first three on the scene say
they realized a chain was on one of the apartment doors, meaning
that someone was likely trapped. The firefighters then broke into
the smoked-out apartment without a hose and found a 400-plus pound
man lying in the hallway. One of the firefighters chose to strap a
web-like harness around the victim’s chest to pull him out -- a task
complicated by the man's weight. "Finagled the webbing underneath
his chest, the three of us,” said Ron Soltysick of the FDNY. “Then
the three of us on the count of three kept pulling him to the front
door. We used the webbing and were pulling him by his feet." The
victim was taken to the hospital and later regained consciousness.
NY1 News Video
Firefighters Save Man's Life
Heart Attack Victim Recovering
Times Herald Record 7/29/2008
Lt. Col. Sean Giery, a New York City
firefighter and nurse with the Army Air National Guard, was
wearing a cowboy hat and trying to dance. He scanned the
crowd and saw someone on the ground by the food table. When
he hurried over, Lt. John Nokland, a City of Newburgh
firefighter, was already putting Horst Schaffner, 63, of
Hyde Park, on his side. Schaffner couldn't have hand-picked
a better place to suffer a heart attack. Four firefighters
from three agencies were within 50 feet of him, enjoying the
annual pig roast hosted by Chambers Tractor Sales, about 200
feet from the Montgomery Firehouse. Past Montgomery fire
Chief Greg Kaufmann ran to the firehouse to bring down the
rescue truck, with its life-saving equipment inside.
Meanwhile, volunteer Charlie Wallace helped clear a path in
the field of cars so Kaufmann could drive down to the
victim. Schaffner had no pulse and wasn't breathing. He had
seemed fine during the celebration, eating and dancing, then
suddenly collapsed, friend Angelo Belmonte said. Schaffner's
neck swelled — a bad sign, according to Giery. But the team
managed to revive him before the ambulance came. "He was in
the right place at the right time — that's what saved his
life," Kaufmann said...more>
Firemen Salute Comrade Who Drowned Trying to Save His Son
Newsday 7/29/2008
 Hundreds
of uniformed city firefighters saluted in formation as the coffin of
fellow fireman Martin Simmons entered Holy Cross Roman Catholic
Church in Nesconset Monday. They joined hundreds of other mourners
who came to say goodbye to the man known as a brave firefighter, a
loving husband and father, and a well-respected youth coach. As the
procession arrived, the Emerald Society's drums-and-bagpipes
ensemble mournfully played "Amazing Grace." American flags hung from
ladder trucks of local Long Island volunteer departments. Inside the
church, his wife, Judi, sat in the front pew dabbing her eyes as her
middle son, Kevin, 10, leaned against her. Their other two sons,
Joseph, 13, and Ryan, 8, also were by her side. A large photo of
Simmons, and his FDNY helmet, were placed in front of the altar. The
helmet was later given to his wife and sons.Among the mourners were
dozen of boys in sports jerseys -- the children "Coach Marty"
compassionately shepherded through the past few years. "He
encouraged us to keep going," said Marc Laurenti, 10, who was on
Simmons' Smithtown youth football team. "He would say, 'Don't stop
now Marc, keep going.'" Simmons also coached baseball, basketball
and lacrosse...more>
related...
Remarks by FDNY Captain Steven Berube
Remembering the Lessons of 9/11 By Helping Communities in Need
Actually, he said, “what we do is not about 9/11 —
it’s about 9/12.”
NY Times 7/29/2008
Jeff Parness describes
himself as addicted to the Weather Channel.
But he doesn’t watch it to see if he should
take his umbrella when he leaves his
apartment on the Upper West Side. He’s
looking for disasters. That’s how he learned
about Groesbeck, Tex. Groesbeck is a pencil
point on the map, about 35 miles east of
Waco. In late December 2006, a tornado
ripped through the town, killing a man and
injuring dozens of people. A mention of the
storm on the Weather Channel got Mr. Parness
to Google Groesbeck. He came across a news
story. One line caught his eye. It said that
an assisted-living center for disabled
veterans, run by James and Eva Vincent out
of their house, had been destroyed. “I was,
like, bingo!” Mr. Parness said. He wound up
last September leading a few hundred
volunteers from across the country,
including scores of firefighters and others
from New York, to Groesbeck to construct a
new home for the Vincents. “In two days we
built a 2,400-square-foot house from the
ground up,” he said. “They were this classic
prideful Texas family,” he said. “They’d
never ask anybody for help.”..more>
Firefighter Admired By Colleagues, Little Leagues
Newsday 7/28/2008
 His
colleagues admired him, and his players looked up to him. That's
the picture painted by people who attended a wake yesterday for
Martin Simmons, the New York City firefighter and Nesconset
Little League coach who drowned earlier this week attempting to
rescue his 10-year-old son who was swimming in Lake Tahoe.
Firefighters in dress uniforms ushered visitors who came to say
goodbye to the man they knew as Marty at Branch Funeral Home in
Smithtown. "He was one of the coaches that kids gravitated to,"
said Mark Behrje, 41, of Nesconset. Behrje said his son,
Nicholas, played for Simmons.
"It didn't matter if they were winning or
losing," Behrje said. "They all would just have a great time."
Behrje said he was shocked to hear about the death of Simmons,
41, an ex-police officer who became a firefighter, stationed at
Ladder 111 in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. "The
whole community - everybody - is in disbelief," he said...more
related...
Funeral Held for Drowned Firefighter
7onlline 7/28/2008
Judge Alvin Hellerstein Does Right By 9/11 Families and Rescue
Workers
NY Daily News 7/27/2008
Isn't it nice when a
judge strikes a blow for justice?
Congratulations go to Judge Alvin
Hellerstein of Manhattan Federal Court,
who is shielding 9/11 victims' families
from lawyers with dollar signs in their
eyes. Bonus: Hellerstein's act could
likewise shield thousands of sick rescue
and recovery workers now seeking fair
compensation for their suffering.
The judge, who is
overseeing all the 9/11-related
litigation, rejected a settlement for
the families of four Pentagon victims
who chose to sue the airlines rather
than join the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund. While he had
previously approved payments to the
plaintiffs of $5.5 million, $7 million
and two for $8 million, he stopped the
clock when told the Maryland law firm of
Azrael, Gann & Franz was going to
collect 25%, or $7.125 million.
While a 25% fee for legal
work is typical, the judge ruled that
this is "not an ordinary case." The
obvious obviously needed to be stated.
Hellerstein
believes that 15% is enough and should
be the limit in any 9/11 case. Repeat:
Any 9/11 case...more>
Cause Sought in Blast at Queens Building That Followed Gas Work
NY Times 7/28/2008
A day after an explosion
rocked a Queens apartment building,
leaving two people critically injured,
15 others hurt and dozens of families
without a home, investigators were
trying to determine the cause but
focused on work that had been completed
on the building’s gas lines moments
before the blast. Con Edison employees
had signed off on the safety of the gas
lines a mere 11 minutes before the
explosion, and an employee of a plumbing
company had finished inspecting the line
believed to be the source of the blast
only five minutes before it occurred. As
officials from the Fire Department,
Department of Environmental Protection
and Con Edison pored over the scene,
many residents milled around outside the
building, at 147-25 Sanford Avenue in
Flushing, hoping to collect some of
their belongings and find out when it
would be safe to return. Debris littered
the street, and blown-out windows and
charred red brick testified to the
strength of the blast.Residents on the
second floor, which suffered the most
damage, were not allowed into the
building at all. Others could go in,
with a police escort, to retrieve
belongings. Two men struggled not to
spill the water from an aquarium filled
with fish as they left the building on
Saturday morning. Others walked out with
laundry bags slung over their shoulders.
One woman complained that items were
missing from her jewelry box.
Residents whose
apartments had been gutted by
contractors hired to clean out debris
were told by the building’s managers
that they could scour the Dumpster for
their belongings.The devastation came
after a bitter dispute between the
building’s owners and the tenants, who
were upset that they had been without
gas or hot water for more than a month.
The problems began on June 11, when a
small fire broke out on a fifth-floor
apartment, which led to a decision to
cut off all gas to the building,
according to Con Edison officials...more>
War Court Told Bin Laden Happy with 9/11 Toll
Reuters UK 7/23/2008
Osama bin Laden's driver overheard the al
Qaeda leader saying he was happy about the
death toll in the September 11 attacks and
thought the hijacked plane that crashed in
Pennsylvania was shot down, according to one
of the driver's interrogators.
The evidence by Ali Soufan, a former FBI
agent, was meant to support the case by
prosecutors at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes
tribunal that the driver, Salim Hamdan, was
close to al Qaeda's leadership.
Hamdan, a Yemeni father of two with a
fourth-grade education, is the first
Guantanamo prisoner to face trial before the
controversial tribunal at the remote base on
Cuba. He faces life in prison if
convicted...more>
City, U.N. Navigate Fire Safety Issues
NY Sun 7/28/2008
Part of the trip that had made the United Nations
building one of New York City's most visited tourist attractions
will be taken off the itinerary at the end of this week. So if you
always wanted to see where international bureaucrats confer — or if
you are a diplomacy fan eager to take a final lap around the
building, just as Yankees loyalists do at the Stadium this year — do
it by Thursday. Then again, if you are concerned about your safety
but still want to see The House That Dag Built before it is gutted
to the core and rebuilt to fit 21st-century standards, perhaps you
best wait until August 1. The shortening of U.N. tours — as well as
ugly, costly, and seemingly redundant construction work at Turtle
Bay — emanates from a titanic fight between City Hall and the United
Nations. Both sides have good arguments, but the end result is work
that, at an approximate cost of $3 million, is akin to dusting your
room just before a professional cleaner comes to thoroughly polish
the whole house.Come Friday, tourists will be shortchanged of some
exhibits the United Nations has erected to glorify itself, skipping
also conference areas where tour guides have for decades ushered
visitors from all over the world. The U.N. decided that after
bringing some parts of its second and third floors to par with city
fire regulations, applying a similar treatment to other areas — on
the eve of its ambitious reconstruction project — would be too
expensive. Instead, the untreated areas will simply be closed to
outsiders after Friday...more>
Suit: Hospital a Firetrap
NY Post 7/28/2008
Brooklyn's Maimonides Medical Center regularly
flaunts fire-safety regulations and permits revolting accumulations
of sewage and mold, according to a lawsuit filed by a former
executive. Patricia Abrams, the one-time assistant vice president
for human resources at Maimonides, says she was fired after she blew
the whistle on illegal, dangerous and nauseating conditions at the
hospital, according to the suit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
"They're very complacent," Abrams, 40, told The Post.
"I got the sense that they didn't want anything to upset the apple
cart. 'Don't rock the boat' kind of a message." According to the
suit, Abrams, a registered nurse, spearheaded an effort in 2006 to
improve sanitary conditions at the hospital, but encountered fierce
resistance when she tried to improve practices and procedures. She
alleges she e-mailed hospital bosses, expressing concerns that fire
extinguishers weren't being inspected, workers had no idea how to
evacuate in the event of a fire, and fire doors were kept locked -
with no keys available. Worse, she said mandatory fire-watch patrols
were not being performed, but hospital workers were writing up
official records as if they were...more>
Mourners Throng Church to Laud Bravest Who Drowned While Saving His
Son
"He was an absolute model firefighter," said
Captain Berube. "Everything Marty did was top notch."
NY Daily News 7/27/2008
The sad farewell began
Saturday for New York Bravest Martin
Simmons, who gave his life to save his son
from drowning.
Mourners filled The Branch
Funeral Home in Smithtown, L.I., for the
wake of a man described as a model father
and valiant firefighter. "This was a man who
defined what fatherhood was all about," said
Lt. Fred Saporito, who worked with Simmons
for 12 years at Ladder 111 in
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
"He was always focused on his
family and, of course, he was an excellent
firefighter." Simmons, 41, of Nesconset, L.I.,
gave his life to save his son from drowning
in Lake Tahoe on Monday while on a family
vacation. He dived into the water after his
10-year-old started struggling to stay
afloat; his own leg cramped up and he
drowned. Firefighters arrived in dress blue
to pay their respects to their colleague,
his widow and the couple's three young
children. "This is going to be a very
difficult weekend; this is a young family,"
said Saporito, who said Simmons also would
help coach his son's baseball team and
started his career as a police officer
before switching to the FDNY...more>
related...
Wake Continues for Firefighter Who Died Saving Son
NY1 News 7/27/2008
Firefighter's Family Struggles With Tragic Loss
Newsday 7/22/2008
4 Dead, 3 Missing Off LI, Brooklyn Beaches
Firefighters were able to rescue her son's
23-year-old pal, Brandon Brian, about 9:30 p.m...
NY Daily News 7/27/2008
A 10-year-old girl was lost
in the choppy waters off Coney Island
Saturday even as her young cousin narrowly
escaped the same tragic fate, authorities
said. The girl was one of seven presumed
drownings in rough surf at beaches across
the city and Long Island in the past two
days. Akira Johnson and her cousin Tyriek,
also 10, were swimming about 5:30 p.m.
Saturday when they were pulled under by the
currents. Lifeguards responded, but were
able to rescue only the boy, who did not
suffer any serious injuries. "She's 10 years
old. She's a bright child," teary-eyed
Charles German said of his granddaughter, a
student at Public School 188 in Bayside,
Queens. "I can hardly think of anything to
say. I'm praying." Relatives of the children
held a beachside vigil off W. 23rd St. as
NYPD, FDNY and Coast Guard units combed the
Atlantic Ocean with boats and helicopters
for the little girl...more>
related...
Little Girl is 7th Person Feared Drowned
7online.com 7/27/2008
7 Drown In Deadly Summer For Beachgoers
WNBC4 7/27/2008
4 Dead, 3 Missing Off LI, Brooklyn Beaches
1010 WINS 7/27/2008
New Beach Victims - The Vigils Continue...
NY Post 7/27/2008
9/11 Rescue Workers Bike To Benefit Families
NY1 News 7/26/2008
More than 400 World Trade Center rescue and recovery
workers revved up their motorcycles Saturday morning to help
families of the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The
seventh annual Independence Ride kicked off at the corner of Church
and Vesey Streets in Lower Manhattan after a blessing of the bikes.
The ride wrapped up with a barbecue in Rockland County. The event
benefits Tuesday's Children, an organization providing services and
programs to the families of 9/11 victims. The group's president says
he expects about $10,000 to be raised. "But, it's more than the
money. It's the camaraderie that exists here," said Tuesday's
Children President Carmine Calzonetti. "It's a good feeling. It's a
great time and it's a way for these people here to give back to us
and it's a way for us to demonstrate we really appreciate it." ...more>
Residents Want Answers After Building Explosion
"We had fire on two floors," said FDNY Chief
Steven Kubler. "We had fire involving five apartments on the second
floor and two apartments on the third floor."
WCBSTV.com 7/26/2008
 A
massive building explosion in Flushing, Queens has left dozens of
people homeless. While inspectors and clean-up crews arrive
residents try to find out when they'll be allowed back home. "It's
depressing," Pauline Durden told CBS 2 HD. Rei Kim's grandparents
live in building. She said they had no gas or hot water for over a
month and just when it was restored the explosion happened in the
apartment below them. Glass was blown out of windows and brick walls
crumbled while flames traveled from one apartment to another - the
result of a blast that destroyed apartment 2P and seriously burned
the two people inside. The explosion on Sanford Avenue was so
intense it toppled walls, buckled floors and ceilings. Residents
inside the large apartment building were forced to run for their
lives. "We heard a big bang, like a bomb," said Mahedura Bajachara
of the explosion. "It felt like a wind, like a strong tsunami like
hitting us in my face," added another resident. The most seriously
injured were inside apartment 2P. Mir Sarbriy saw the man and
two-year-old girl who were horribly burned. "One guy's all fire on
his body, his skin out and a little kid inside screamed," he told
CBS 2 HD. Most of the building's residents got out without serious
injury although the sheer terror of all was simply too much for
some. "The ceiling collapsed the windows exploded. It was horrible,"
said Margarita Bayro. The blast did most of the damage but it also
sparked fires in seven apartments which left 17 people injured. "We
had fire on two floors," said FDNY Chief Steven Kubler. "We had fire
involving five apartments on the second floor and two apartments on
the third floor."..more>
related...
Victims Of Queens Explosion Left Homeless in 'Storm of Glass'
NY Daily News 7/27/2008
Bravest Saves Brooklyn Man From Burning Apartment
"I feel like I did my job, that's all," said the
five-year veteran...
NY Daily News 7/25/2008
One of New York's bravest
heroically saved a Brooklyn man's life after
a blaze engulfed his sub-basement apartment
early Friday morning. Dominic Brando, who
lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was face down
in his studio apartment, semi-conscious and
gasping for air when Ladder 109's Vincent
Trotter ran into his smoke-filled home and
pulled him to safety. "As we pulled up, we
saw fire blowing out from about three
windows," said Trotter who had to blindly
feel his way through a dark maze of
sub-basement apartments to find Brando. "He
was gasping for air. ... I had to get him
out of there as quickly as possible," added
Trotter who dragged Brando to the courtyard
with the help of other firefighters where
EMS administered CPR. Trotter, 31, took his
heroics in stride. "I feel like I did my
job, that's all." Trotter, a fireman for
five years who lives on Staten Island, said
he was inspired to join the FDNY by his
uncles who are also members of New York's
bravest...more>
Profile In Courage
"We do that for strangers. Of course he'd do that
for his own son."
NY Daily News 7/25/2008
Like all members of the FDNY,
like all firefighters everywhere, Martin
Simmons knew that when he went off to the
job, there was no guarantee he'd return. The
possibility of death was part of his
everyday working life.
And now, Martin Simmons has
died a hero. But it wasn't on the job. It
was on holiday. With his family. During an
escape to Nevada, where they could bask in
the sun and gaze at blue skies and put all
the workaday travails on hold for awhile.
And simply enjoy life. Life unthreatened. Or
so it should have been. The family was
boating on Lake Tahoe on Monday. Simmons'
10-year-old son Kevin dove in for a swim -
and then developed leg cramps. The boy was
in serious trouble, and the father did what
fathers do - instantly went to his child's
rescue. As Joe Honan, Simmons' fellow
firefighter at Ladder 111 in Bed-Stuy, put
it: "We do that for strangers. Of course
he'd do that for his own son." And then
Simmons got into trouble, too. The waters of
Lake Tahoe, even in late July, are frigid.
Unexpectedly so for many visitors. Drownings,
said Nevada officials, are not uncommon. As
one explained: "The lake is made of snow.
It's very cold. People who jump in can
succumb to the water very quickly." Simmons'
brother-in-law, William King of Nevada,
managed to get to Kevin. And both of them
were helped by lifeguards from a nearby park
and other swimmers. Simmons' lifeless body
was found beneath the waves. Despite 30
minutes of CPR, he could not be revived.
Simmons - 41, a 17-year veteran of the Fire
Department and also a former NYPD officer
who lived in Nesconset, L.I. - came home in
a flag-draped coffin. He leaves his widow,
Judi, and their three boys - Kevin, and
13-year-old Joseph and 8-year-old Ryan. The
funeral will be Monday. When you hear the
pipes play "Amazing Grace," think of grace
and courage in the face of flames. And in
the waters of a lake made of snow.
related...
A Delay Doomed Bravest
NY Post 7/26/2008
Lake Tahoe Drowning Victim Gets Police, Fire Escort
NY Newsday 7/25/2008
New York's Bravest Mourn Lost Brooklyn Firefighter
NY1 News 7/26/2008
Parent's of Martin Simmons Struggle To Accept His Death
NY Newsday 7/26/2008
Dead Firefighter Mourned in Brooklyn
MyFoxNY 7/25/2008
Days After Firefighter Pays Ultimate Price, Bravest Makes Daring
Rescue
NY Daily News 7/26/2008
It didn't matter if it was a
roiling, freezing lake or a furnace of
blinding, choking smoke. Two New York City
firefighters reacted this week to deadly
danger with the kind of selfless courage
that surprised no one who knew them. FDNY
vet Martin Simmons, 41, gave his life to
save his son from drowning in Lake Tahoe on
a family vacation. Four days later and
closer to home, Firefighter Vincent Trotter,
31, charged into a fiery Brooklyn basement
and pulled a man from certain death. With
humility that would be a cliché if it
weren't so genuine, Trotter shrugged off any
attempt to pin the label "hero" on him after
Friday's rescue. "I feel like I did my job,
that's all," said the five-year veteran, who
had followed his uncles into the Fire
Department. His commanding officer at Ladder
109 in Bay Ridge, Lt. Mike Mulligan, said
Trotter and his comrades were at "extreme
risk" because there were no water lines on
the fire...more>
Gas Explosion Injures 17 in a Queens Building
NY Times 7/25/2008
A gas explosion roared
through an apartment in a Queens building on
Friday, sending flames shooting into
surrounding apartments, leaving 17 people
injured — two of them critically — and
prompting the authorities to evacuate scores
of residents. The explosion, at 147-25
Sanford Avenue, a seven-story building in
Flushing, came amid a dispute between the
building’s landlord and occupants that had
been playing out for weeks. Residents had
complained since last month that they lacked
gas and hot water and had pressured the
landlord to act. According to Fire
Department officials, the gas was restored
to some apartments on Thursday, which they
said might have helped set off the
accidental blast on Friday in a second-floor
apartment. The specific cause of the
explosion on a warm, sunny afternoon was
unclear, but fire officials said it might
have been sparked when a resident in
Apartment 2P tried to turn on a stove. The
explosion, at 4:24 p.m., and ensuing fire
turned the 90-unit building into a scene of
panic, devastated apartments, wailing sirens
and frenzied searches on several charred
floors. “It felt like the whole building was
coming down,” said Arabely Carcamo, 55, a
resident on the ground floor. “It was all
coming down inside. I feel like I lived
through a nightmare.”..more>
related...
17 Hurt in Queens Apartment Explosion
7online.com 7/25/2008
More Than A Dozen Hurt in Queens Fire, Blast
MyFoxNY 7/25/2008
Queens Explosion Leaves Dozens Homeless
WNBC 7/25/2008
Dozens Homeless After Queens Building Explosion
WCBS 7/25/2008
Two Clinging To Life Following Queens Building Explosion
NY1 News 7/26/2008
Focus Of Queens Building Explosion on Con Ed
WCBS 7/25/2008
Dad Dies A Hero
He Saves Son In Bravest Last Act - Firefighter
Dies in Icy Lake Tahoe
NY Daily News 7/25/2008
One of New York's Bravest
gave his life to save his young son from
drowning in the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe,
officials said Thursday. Martin Simmons, 41,
described by a colleague as a "premier
firefighter," dove from a boat into the
choppy 50-degree lake Monday evening and
rescued his 10-year-old boy, Kevin, who had
developed a leg cramp while swimming, Nevada
officials said. "We do that for strangers.
Of course he'd do that for his own son,"
said Joe Honan, Simmons' shaken partner at
Ladder 111 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Simmons, a 17-year FDNY veteran from
Nesconset, L.I., reached his struggling son,
but had a hard time staying above water. As
Simmons' frantic wife, Judi, watched
helplessly from the boat, his brother-in-law
jumped into the lake to help, officials
said. Two lifeguards at nearby Sand Harbor
State Park and two recreational swimmers,
brothers ages 18 and 13, on a personal
watercraft also rushed to the family's aid.
Lifeguard Jex Lawrence reached the
unconscious boy and his barely conscious
uncle first. "By the time I got there, he
[the uncle] looked about done," Lawrence
told the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspaper.
"I think he had about 30 seconds left before
he went under, too. He had a bloody nose and
was just holding the kid." They then found
Simmons, who was just below the surface in
9-foot-deep water. He did not have a pulse,
and 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary
resuscitation failed to revive him. Kevin
was flown to a hospital, where he was
treated and released. His uncle was treated
at the scene. Simmons' family, who had been
vacationing at the 191-square-mile lake,
accompanied his body from Nevada to Kennedy
Airport last night, where his flag-draped
coffin was met by an FDNY honor guard and
several Port Authority Police officers who
saluted as it passed...more>
related...
Man with 22 Suspensions Arrested for Driving Past
Procession NY Newsday
7/25/2008
Chico Brothers Help in Rescue of Near-Drowning Victims
ChicoER.com 7/25/2008
Colleagues, Friends Recall Drowned FDNY Firefighter
NY Newsday 7/25/2008
Tragic FDNY Dad
NY Post 7/25/2008
FDNY Firefighters and EMS Members Save Woman in Cardiac Arrest
FDNY Insider 7/23/2008
FDNY firefighters, paramedics and EMTs worked
together on July 18 to save the life of a 31-year old woman
in cardiac arrest. “It’s great for all of us to have the
chance to save someone so young,” said Fire Lt. Andrew Serra
of Engine 231. A call was received at 1:44 p.m. for a woman
in cardiac arrest at 1709 East New York Ave. Firefighters
from Engine 231 were the first to arrive on the scene and
were met by nervous neighbors who said the victim was
diabetic and had suffered a seizure in their second-floor
apartment. They quickly rushed to her aid and found her face
down on the living room floor, without a pulse. Firefighter
Chris Corbett, a former paramedic, immediately started
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Firefighters Ryan
McNamara and James Denn (detailed from Engine 332) assisted
with chest compressions and rescue breathing as Firefighter
Brendan Mooney hooked up the automated external
defibrillator (AED). The firefighters gave her two shocks
with the AED to restore her heart rhythm and continued
administering CPR...more>
Two Firefighters Accompany Visually-Impaired Athletes During the NYC
Triathlon
FDNY Insider 7/24/2008
It may have been 93 degrees with 60 percent
humidity on July 20, but Firefighters Kevin White and Jeff
Pellis never noticed … they were more concerned with
jellyfish, potholes and tandem bicycles. The firefighters
each led a visually-impaired athlete in the 2008 New York
City Triathlon. “It was one of the most rewarding things
I’ve ever done,” said Firefighter White, who works at the
Fitness Unit at the Fire Academy. Firefighter White led
Charles Plaskon, 65, from Moriches, Long Island, and
Firefighter Pellis accompanied 15-year-old Jacob Goldberg
from Boca Raton, Fl., in the challenging competition. Each
found their partner through the C Different Foundation,
which creates opportunities for visually-impaired athletes
to participate in sporting events. “I wasn’t sure to expect,
but it worked out really well,” said Firefighter Pellis from
Ladder 25. “[Jacob] was a great kid.” The race began at W.
98th St. in Manhattan at the Hudson River, with the 1,500
meter swim...more>
Seven Community Emergency Response Teams Graduate
FDNY Insider 7/24/2008
Seven Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs),
including 159 volunteers hailing from all five boroughs,
graduated during a ceremony at FDNY Headquarters on July 24.
The federal program trains community members to prepare for,
respond to and recover from emergencies in their
neighborhoods. “I know the excellent work you do, because I
have seen you out there responding to real emergencies,”
said Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, who noted he has seen CERTs
assisting at the Upper East Side crane collapse and the
blackout in Queens. Numerous fire and EMS officers serve as
instructors for the 11-week program, which teaches
volunteers about disaster preparedness for hazards that may
impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response
skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team
organization and disaster medical operations...more>
FDNY Members Volunteer to Teach Emergency Safety Day
FDNY Insider 7/23/2008
Twenty paramedics, EMTs and firefighters
descended upon PS 177 on July 23, but they were not there to
tend to an injured student or extinguish a dangerous fire.
In fact, there was no emergency at all. The FDNY members
were there as volunteers for Emergency Safety Day, a
fun-filled educational event designed to teach blind,
visually-impaired, deaf or hearing-impaired children what to
do in case of a medical or fire emergency. “This was
something we needed to do,” said EMS Lt. Maria Garcia of
Station 20, the event organizer who also serves as President
of Parents of Blind Children of New York. “This population
of children was being overlooked.” More than 150 children
visited five educational stations during the all-day event
in Fresh Meadows, Queens. They learned about the work of
paramedics, EMTs and firefighters and the equipment they
use; toured an ambulance, fire truck and an EMS Major
Emergency Response Vehicle; practiced fire evacuation
techniques in the FDNY’s Fire Safety House; and learned what
to do when there was any emergency in their home - including
how to call 9-1-1. The event was the brainchild of Lt.
Garcia, a 17-year veteran of the EMS Command, who said she
realized her 12-year-old, legally-blind daughter, Elora, had
never been taught what to do in an emergency...more>
Photo Gallery
Church Surrenders Lot Near Ground Zero for $20M
AP 7/24/2008
The World Trade Center site's owner has
offered $20 million to acquire the 1,200-square-foot lot
of a church destroyed on Sept. 11, freeing one more
piece of land needed to rebuild every inch of ground
zero. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's
board was to consider a complicated land deal with the
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at a board meeting
Thursday. The leaders of the 300-member congregation
have been negotiating with the Port Authority for years
over a price for the site where the church stood before
the trade center's south tower collapsed onto it on
Sept. 11, 2001. The church agreed to rebuild on a
smaller lot a few blocks east. The stalled negotiations
for the church land were listed among more than a dozen
obstacles to rebuilding the trade center site in a June
30 report written by the Port Authority's executive
director, Christopher Ward...more>
Sneak Peak: FDNY Beefcake Calendar
AM New York 7/24/2008
The official
autograph signing session for
the FDNY's annual calendar of
firefighting hunks doesn't
happen until Sept. 18, but it
looks like one of the
bikini-clad gals at the Hawaiian
Tropic Zone lounge may have
sweet-talked the city's bravest
into a sneak peak of the
beefcake photos.
The firefighters
will be on hand to autograph
their 2009 calendar tonight from
7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Times
Square Hawaiian Tropic Zone (729
Seventh Ave., at 49th St.)
Commack Road Being Renamed for 9/11 Firefighter
NY Newsday 7/22/2008
The Town of Huntington has announced
plans to rename Ramita Lane in Commack after Dennis Scauso, a
firefighter who grew up on the quarter-mile-long road in the 1960s
and died during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on
Sept. 11, 2001. Scauso, 46, graduated from Commack South High School
and became a pilot for Ozark Airlines and TWA before returning to
Long Island to become a firefighter in 1989. He was a 12-year
veteran of the New York Fire Department and served with Engine 319
in Forest Hills before joining the Maspeth-based Hazardous Materials
Unit #1 in 1991. He also earned three citations for valor before
perishing with 342 other firefighters. "Renaming a street after one
of our fallen heroes is a somber and proud town event," said
Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone. "It is one small way that we,
as elected town officials, can offer something of solace to the
families who have lost a loved one. It is also a way to pay tribute
to the courage and ultimate sacrifice demonstrated by heroes like
Dennis Scauso." Scauso was killed when the response crew of Haz Mat
1 rushed into the north tower to evacuate people and try to fight
the fires after the first plane struck. He never came out. He was
survived by his wife Janlyn and children Darcie, Donny, Gabrielle
and Juliette...more>
Lt. Christopher DiBiase Honored for His Charity Work
FDNY Insider 7/22/2008
Who says good guys always finish
last? One big-hearted FDNY hero was honored for his charity
work on July 22 by Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain and
representatives from Dunkin Donuts. Lt. Christopher DiBiase
of Battalion 19 was awarded two tickets to the final game at
Yankee Stadium and free Dunkin Donuts iced coffee for a year
for his dedicated service to the Leary Firefighters
Foundation.For several years he has helped the organization
raise millions of dollars through various fundraising
events. “This is a little surprising and a real honor,” said
a smiling Lt. DiBiase during the event at Engine 16/Ladder
7, noting that he once worked at Ladder 55, located 10
blocks from Yankee Stadium...more>
related...
Yankees' Chamberlain Honors Firefighter
NJ.com 7/22/2008
Unions Decry a New Rush To Fight Fires
Oppose New Dispatch System That
Improves Citywide Response Times
NY Sun 7/23/2008
 The
fire department's citywide response time has improved significantly
since it implemented a new dispatch system a month ago, but union
officials are opposing the change, saying the rush to fires is
actually jeopardizing public safety. The new program has exposed a
sharp division between the fire commissioner and local leaders, who
exchanged barbs yesterday following an announcement that average
response times have plummeted to their lowest level in years. In the
first indication of the program's effectiveness since it was
launched across the city, fire officials told The New York Sun that
the department responded to structural fires 18 seconds faster
between June 16 and July 15 versus the same period last year.
Emergency dispatchers now send out trucks as soon as they determine
the address and nature of the fire, rather than waiting to gather
more information first, as they did in the past. Commissioner
Nicholas Scoppetta said this relatively simple change has led to the
department's sharpest improvement in response time since he took
office in 2002. It currently takes firefighters an average of four
minutes and nine seconds to arrive at structural fires after
dispatchers receive a call. "Every second counts, and fires can
develop and double in size in a matter of seconds depending on the
circumstances," Mr. Scoppetta said. "These are remarkable reductions
in response times. They are lifesaving."...more>
City To See Increased Terror Funds
NY Sun 7/23/2008
New York City is slated for an increase
in federal antiterrorism grant money when the Department of Homeland
Security announces its annual allocations later this week, sources
who have been briefed on the decision told the New York Sun. The
city and Long Island will receive more than $144 million through a
program aimed at protecting urban centers from attack, the sources
said. That represents a $10 million, or 7%, hike from 2007. The
state is also getting an additional $10 million through a separate
security grant program for a total of $76 million. Lawmakers and
city officials have sparred with the Bush administration over
funding for antiterrorism initiatives after its slice of the
national pie was slashed in 2006. The ranking Republican on the
House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King of Long Island,
said federal officials have responded to the city's concerns. "It's
a very big shift by the department," he said yesterday...more>
9/11 Search Dog From Utah Dying Of Cancer
KUTV 7/22/2008
 A
9/11 hero is fighting cancer that may be the result of his work at
ground zero. He is the last of four Utah dogs, who went to New York
and searched for survivors in smoking debris after the terrorist
attacks. Fields Moseley has his story. At eleven years old, Kenji
still likes to go for a walk through Dimple Dell Park. Despite
having rebuilt knees and some gray fur, he still has plenty of
energy for a game of hide-and-seek. Finding people is what Kenji was
trained to do. It is what his owner and partner Dave Perks says he's
always been good at it. “We’ve been proud of Kenji. He's been a
really fine search dog. Learns quick and doesn't forget,” said
Perks. That's why this well-trained lab was one of four dogs who got
the call when terror struck. “We belong to Utah Task Force One,”
Perks said.
When the World Trade Center towers were brought down by terrorists
in 2001, this elite group searched the debris for survivors. “There
was a lot going on there: sirens, noise, smoke, fire. Never feared
he couldn't do the job,” Perks said. Kenji worked the site with
other Rocky Mountain rescue dogs: Jake, Ivey and Cowboy. They've all
since died of various forms of cancer. “I think all dogs who do this
could be called heroes,” said Perks...more>
Raging Bronx Fire Injures Three Kids
NY Daily News 7/18/2008
Towering flames exploded from
the roof of a Bronx apartment
building early Thursday in a
four-alarm blaze that injured
three children and left more
than 200 people homeless. The
raging fire engulfed the top
floor of 1998 Newbold Ave., and
smoke filled the six-story
structure, forcing tenants to
race outside just after 1 a.m.
"I saw a stampede coming down
the stairs and didn't know what
was going on," said Walter Calle,
who lives in the Parkchester
building. "Things were really
crazy, really dramatic."
Firefighters and a few
courageous residents ran through
the building to alert sleeping
neighbors and pull people away
from the flames and choking
smoke. "The flames were rolling
over our heads," said
Firefighter Bill Horel of Ladder
47. "I found three children
huddled under a window trying to
get air." Investigators believe
the fire, which was ruled
accidental, ignited in an
overloaded surge protector in
the hurt children's apartment,
an FDNY source said. The Red
Cross provided temporary shelter
for the building's residents.
Vic Nicastro Photo
related...
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WABC
7/17/2008
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7/17/2008
Massive Fire Injures Firefighters And Displaces
Residents
MyFox New York 7/17/2008
Bronx Apartment Fire Leaves Dozens Homeless
NY1 News 7/17/2008
NY1 News Report/Video
NY1 News 7/17/2008
Parkchester Fire Leaves Dozens Homeless
WCBSTV 7/17/2008
Beach Tragedy - Search for Teen Lost In Surf at Rockaway
NY Post 7/19/2008
Rescuers were frantically searching last
night for a high-school basketball star who disappeared in the rough
surf off Rockaway Beach as her friend was miraculously plucked from
the water. Just before 4 p.m., lifeguards noticed a swimmer in
distress near Beach 116th Street and sprang into action. The
rescuers plunged into the water and were able to save 16-year-old
Carla Armaza, of Queens, who witnesses said was clobbered by a huge
swell. "When the big wave came they both went down," witness
Christina Hernandez told WABC/Channel 7. "One of the girls came back
up and [the other] never came back up." Only when rescuers returned
to the beach with Armaza were they told another swimmer - identified
by family as Tiara Coaxum, 16 - was still missing. Armaza was rushed
to Peninsula Hospital where she was treated and released. Meanwhile,
fire and police squads searched desperately for Coaxum along the
shore. At 6:45 p.m. police rescue teams were pulled off the search
because they were losing light, but planned to resume the search
this morning. The
Coast Guard continued to comb a five-mile section
of the water for the missing girl well into the night, a spokeswoman
said...more>
WATCH THE VIDEO!!!!
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WCBS 7/19/2008
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WNBC 7/19/2008
September 11 Families To Pay Respects At WTC Site
NY1 News 7/19/2008
 Families
of those killed on September 11th will be allowed to mourn their
loved ones at the World Trade Center site this year. Port Authority
Executive Director Chris Ward said Friday that 9/11 victims’
relatives will be able to take a ramp to briefly descend into the
construction pit. City officials had originally said it would be too
dangerous because of the construction. The change of heart is
welcome news for family members. "They're going to make a space
available for us. They said the ramp would be available for us to
use," said Charles Wolf, who lost his wife on 9/11. "We don't have
any more details than that because they are working all the
logistics out with the city, but I think it's really great."
Last September, a ceremony was held in a nearby park and the
families were allowed to use a ramp to visit the site. They were
told then it would be their last visit into the pit. Ward said that
further construction would probably prevent such a ceremony in 2009...more>
Engine 65 Receives Grant for New Equipment
FDNY Insider 7/18/2008
Members of Engine 65 received a
$25,000 grant on July 17 from Kornreich-NIA and Fireman’s
Fund Insurance Company for the purchase of new firefighting,
training and exercise equipment. “We have an obligation to
our friends and family to return home with our health after
every tour,” Lt. Thomas Byrne of Engine 65 said during the
announcement at his firehouse. “This [grant] will help us
achieve that goal. It will help us do our job.”The money is
earmarked for the purchase of tools that will help keep the
firefighters safe, including a technology training package
that will enable them to study high-profile locations in
their area and an elliptical exercise machine that will keep
them healthy.Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the
firehouse responds to more than 5,000 calls each year, often
to landmarks like Times Square...more>
A Time To Say 'Thanks'
Burlington County Times 7/18/2008
More than 100 volunteers flooded the 600
block of East Fifth Street yesterday to say 'thank you' in a very
special way. Homes For Our Troops, a nonprofit organization from
Massachusetts that builds specially adapted homes for injured
veterans, began building a house for retired Marine Staff Sgt.
Andrew Robinson and his wife, Sara. Robinson, a native of North
Hanover, was severely injured when his vehicle was attacked while
serving in Iraq in June 2006. He sustained compound fractures to his
lower legs, collapsed lungs and fractured vertebra that left him
paralyzed from the chest down with partial paralysis in his arms.
“It's not a repayment; it's just a thank you,” said Kurt Rebello,
the chief projects officer from Homes For Our Troops. “It's really
the least we could do. Andrew sacrificed so much and he will never
be the same. There is no way he could live in a regular house that
isn't adapted to fit his needs. We're just happy we can give him
one.” Robinson has been renting a house in Southern California near
where he was stationed before deployment to Iraq. He returned this
week for a glimpse of his home being built. On a day more fit for
going to the beach than construction work, the volunteers endured
the hot and sunny weather to help build the handicapped-accessible
home. By noon, several walls were standing and a few hours later,
most of the framework had been completed. “It's one thing for people
in the community to send cards or make a phone call,” said Robinson,
25, “but to see people come out and work for a full day and take off
from their jobs to come down here. It's really amazing to see the
outpouring of support.”...more>
related...
Team Builds Future for Veteran
Courier-Post Online 7/18/2008
Photo Gallery
Courier-Post Online 7/18/2008
Mayor Announces Changes to Strengthen Safety at Hazardous Worksites
FDNY Insider 7/17/2008
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire
Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, along with Chief of
Department Salvatore Cassano, acting Buildings Commissioner
Robert LiMandri and Department of Environmental Protection
Deputy Commissioner Robert C. Avaltroni, today announced a
series of changes in the way demolition and abatement
operations are regulated and carried out in New York City.
The changes are outlined in a report, Strengthening the
Safety, Oversight and Regulation of Demolition and Abatement
Operations, which is available online at
www.nyc.gov.
The report details 33 specific recommendations to
strengthen the practices of many City agencies, improve
notifications between agencies, add new oversight, and
ensure that the inspection and permitting process make fire
safety a priority. In the wake of the tragic loss of
Lt. Joseph Graffagnino and Firefighter Robert Beddia at the
Deutche Bank fire last August, a workgroup was appointed by
the Mayor to conduct a comprehensive review of city
policies, inspections requirements and procedures relating
to oversight and responsibility at sites where construction
demolition and abatement work were being done...more>
related...
Changes Come Year After Deutsche Bank Blaze
WNBC 7/17/2008
Deutsche Bank Fire Slideshow
WNBC 7/17/2008
Bloomberg Offers Measures to Help Agencies Share Information on
Building Sites
NY Times 7/17/2008
Hero Saves Gal in Subway Fall
NY Post 7/16/2008
A hero straphanger leaped onto the
subway tracks last night to help a woman who'd suffered a seizure
and fallen from the platform, authorities said. The Good Samaritan
was giving the passenger first aid on the tracks with the power to
the deadly third rail still on when emergency medical technicians
arrived at the Myrtle-Willoughby avenues station on the G line in
Brooklyn shortly after the 6:18 p.m. fall, a Fire Department
spokesman said. "This guy was still on the tracks with her - he
disappeared when we showed up." the spokesman said. The woman was
removed from the station at 6:40 p.m. and taken to Elmhurst Hospital
in Queens.
Woman Falls on Subway Tracks
Fox5News 7/16/2008
A straphanger
suffered a seizure and fell on the subway tracks in Bed-Stuy,
Brooklyn. Luckily an off-duty firefighter happened to be on the
platform and jumped down after her. He kept her neck and body steady
as emergency workers responded. They pulled her to safety and rushed
her to the hospital.
Watch Fox5News
report
Smoke II Retires from FDNY Marine Fleet
FDNY Insider 7/16/2008
A 50-year-old
member of the FDNY retired on July 15, to start a new career
... as an artificial reef off the coast of New Jersey. The
Smoke II, an FDNY Marine Unit fireboat, was towed from the
Brooklyn Navy Yard to great fanfare as members of the unit
remembered the boat’s rich history. “This was a great boat
and served the division well,” said Chief of Marine
Operations James Dalton. “Now it will serve the public well
in its new resting ground.” The Smoke II was built in New
Orleans, Louisiana, in 1958. It was 52 feet in length,
pumped 2,000 gallons per minute and was equipped with two
monitors (water nozzles). The fireboat was commissioned to
be used as the chief’s tender for all marine operations and
served as a command post. Later it was used as a backup for
Marine Unit 6, the Kevin Kane...more>
'Wounded Warrior Project': The Road To Recovery
A Special Program To
'Rediscover The Athlete Within'
WCBS 7/15/2008
 For
many service members home from Afghanistan and Iraq, a new battle
begins to adjust to life with severe injuries. Fifty such heroes
were here recently as guests of the Wounded Warrior Project, in a
special program to rediscover the athlete within.They may be
wounded, but they are not limited. That's the driving lesson of the
Wounded Warrior Sports Festival. Paul Yarbourough lost his arms
while serving the army in Afghanistan. "It's just another thing I
can do. It's one more accomplishment. I always wanted to go skiing
and now I finally have," said Yarbourough. There's also scuba
instruction, sailing and kayaking. Many participants are still being
treated at Walter Reed Hospital, where just the possibility of going
to the event in the Rockaways is motivating patients.
"The therapists at Walter Reed tell me they're working harder at
their therapy because the folks that were here last year said not to
miss that trip to the Rockaways...Everyone's working really hard so
they can make the trip," said Flip Mullen of Wounded Warriors. The
4-day festival is encouraging not only for the soldiers, but to
their families as well. Sandra Acosta's husband lost his arm
dismantling an I.E.D. in Iraq. "When you first get hurt you think
life is over - and loot at him now - He goes to shows...he can do
anything he did before," said Acosta. Many of the Wounded Warriors
counselors, who are retired NYPD and FDNY members, teach the sports.
Others in the Rockaways open their homes to some 150 soldiers, their
families and medical personnel. Some are floored by the generosity.
"I think it's pretty amazing the whole community coming together -
it's something I've never seen before," said Daniel Acosta. Those
with the project say they are honored to be part of the road back
for these service members, who will always have a place to call
home. It was the Fourth Annual Water Sports Festival. The group also
runs a winter festival in the Catskills.
NYPD, FDNY in Battle of Badges After Accident at Bronx Zoo
NY Daily News
7/14/2008
 Cops
and firefighters got into a Battle of the
Badges at the Bronx Zoo last week when the
Skyfari tram ride got knocked out, with 37
people dangling over the lions and
baboons.The ride went out about 5 p.m., and
Emergency Service cops were quickly called.
Firefighters are griping they weren't called
until a full hour later - and only after a
battalion chief saw it on the 6 o'clock TV
news in the firehouse kitchen and called
fire dispatch. Then, a cop with orders
stopped them from entering, slamming the
gate shut in their faces. Okay, here's the
real skinny, straight from a high-ranking
horse's mouth at 1 Police Plaza: The NYPD
zoo detail called 911 at 5:19, which sent
ESU cops at 5:22. It notified the FDNY at
5:29, which sent EMS ambulances at 5:45 -
but not fire units. And a zoo source said
the fire rigs were kept out to keep narrow
paths clear for a rescue crane, and because
their ladders couldn't reach the tram cars.
Firefighters eventually joined ESU cops, but
the incident has left some bruised egos,
especially since the motto of local Engine
88 on nearby Belmont Ave. is "First Due at
the Zoo."
Another Setback For 9/11 Hero
Staten Island Advance 7/14/2008
 The
building was going to come down at any moment. Roy
Chelsen knew this as he and his fellow firefighters
inched along the lobby wall of the World Trade Center's
Tower 1, trying to decide what to do. Chelsen's
lieutenant thought they should stay where they were. But
Chelsen, known for following his instincts, said he
wasn't going to chance it. They got out of there, and
seconds later, the building started to collapse. Chelsen
ran up West Street, surrounded by a dust cloud from the
debris. He didn't know where he was but he kept running
anyway. Then someone handed him a mask to cover his
mouth and nose and pulled him away. He had so much
trouble breathing that day he knew Sept. 11 would take a
toll on his body. In late 2005, he was diagnosed with a
form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma. It's been
a rough battle for the Dongan Hills native, one of
thousands of rescue workers who said they have suffered
from illnesses as a result of 9/11. A class action
lawsuit involving more than 9,000 plaintiffs is pending
in federal court. Chelsen, 48, recently learned that he
needs a second stem cell transplant. "It hasn't been
easy," said his sister, Joan Chelsen. "I happened to be
there the day he got the news. My brother's a big guy --
he just has this presence about him that makes him seem
larger than life. And to see him sitting on the kitchen
table with his head in his arms and his shoulders
shaking because he was sobbing, it was just hard." ..more>
|
Eight Injured in West Side Blaze
NY Sun 7/14/2008
 A
fast-moving fire devastated the top floor of
an Upper West Side residential building
yesterday, injuring eight firefighters and
one resident before it was controlled. The
fire department responded to a call made
just after noon from 254 W. 73rd St., a
four-story brownstone between Broadway and
West End Ave. The fire was extinguished
relatively quickly; it was considered under
control by 1:06 p.m., officials said, but
not before the blaze had escalated to a
two-alarm fire from a single alarm, and not
before the flames had spread onto the roof
of the building. A sudden strong wind helped
the blaze to spread. A tenant at 258 W. 73rd
St., Rena Glickman, said the effects of the
fire had reached her fourth-floor apartment.
At 5 p.m. yesterday, she was dealing with
water damage and two decorative windows that
were blown out by fire hoses. Ms. Glickman
said she was asleep when the fire started
but ran out into the street as the alarm
spread. "There was just fire pouring out" of
the top floor of the building two doors
down, she said. "My understanding is that
the whole floor is gone." Although the
flames were confined to the fourth floor and
roof of the complex, Ms. Glickman said that,
from what she had seen, "I have to imagine
that every apartment in that building has
some damage...more>
related...
5 Firefighters Injured In West Side
Townhouse Blaze
WNBC 7/13/2008
Upper West Side Brownstone Fire Injures 5
NY Daily News 7/13/2008
NYC Doorman Rescues Woman From Burning
Building
CBS2Chicago 7/13/2008
|
|
FDNY
Marine Wins Hearts and Minds In Iraq Using His New Arabic Skills
NY
Daily News 7/12/2008
 The
generals have ways of measuring progress in Iraq. But for Marine Lance
Cpl. Chris Ford, a firefighter with Ladder 56 in the Bronx when he's
not fighting wars, it comes down to talking. Ford finds himself doing
more of that with the locals in his rudimentary Arabic now than when
he arrived in western Anbar Province in March.
"They're
a lot more open, willing to talk," Ford said by phone last week
from his desert outpost near Ash Sharqat.
"My
Arabic is horrible, but I'm working on it," he said with a laugh.
Ford said that the Iraqis he encounters, particularly the kids, are
also more willing to accept the small U.S. flags he hands out on
patrols. Back in the Bronx, Fire
Capt. Bill Connolly of Engine 48 was stunned and pleased to learn the
flags he gave Ford were helping in the hearts-and-minds effort...more>
The
Bravest Meet Some Heroes
Wounded
War Vets Get Warm Reception at HQ of FDNY's Rescue 5
Staten
Island Advance 7/11/2008
 Injured
war veterans got a heroes' reception yesterday at the Concord
headquarters of FDNY Rescue Co. 5. Firefighters
gave soldiers -- including Army Capt. Ryan Miller of Elm Park -- a
tour of their equipment and rigs and the company's Sept. 11 Memorial
dedicated to its 12 brothers killed at Ground Zero.
Miller's
body was riddled with shrapnel in Baghdad last year and he has
undergone intensive rehabilitation. He
was previously the honorary starter for the 28th annual Memorial Day
Run in South Beach. Refreshments
were served to the military personnel, who also got to meet Tony
Sirico, the actor better known as Paulie (Walnuts) Gualtieri on HBO's
"The Sopranos." The vets
-- with a few British military members joining them -- then hitched
rides on fire trucks to Breezy Point in Queens, where the Wounded
Warrior Project (WWP) and Disabled Sports USA are hosting a weekend of
fun-filled, adaptive water activities for the troops...more>
Accused
9/11 Plotter Tells Guantanamo Judge He Would Be Proud to Attack US
Fox
News /10/2008
A
man facing trial at Guantanamo for allegedly running a training camp
for Sept. 11 hijackers said Thursday he would be "proud" to
have participated in an attack on the U.S.
 "Any
attack I undertook against America, or even participated or helped in,
I am proud about it, and I am happy," Waleed bin Attash told a
military judge. The judge, Marine
Col. Ralph Kohlmann, cut Attash off before he could say anything
further that could incriminate him at his upcoming trial on charges
that include murder. Bin Attash is
one of five Guantanamo prisoners charged with war crimes for their
alleged roles in the Sept. 11 attacks. They could get the death
penalty if convicted. Bin Attash,
who is from Yemen, spoke during a pretrial hearing to determine
whether he had willingly chosen to represent himself.
Military
defense lawyers had said the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, may have intimidated the others into refusing
Pentagon-appointed lawyers. Bin Attash said he had not been pressured
into representing himself. At a
separate hearing later, Mohammed denied pressuring any of his
co-defendants. "I don't think anyone can threaten me or I can
threaten them," he told the judge. "We are not gangs in the
USA jails. ... Everyone respects his own view."...more>
Sept
11 Suspects Want Classified Documents
Reuters
7/10/2008
 Accused
Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed complained loudly on
Thursday about the U.S. war court system that could lead to his
execution, saying his mail had been opened, he lacked writing paper
and didn't understand why he could not see secret evidence.
"We
are in hell," Mohammed, the highest ranking al Qaeda leader in
U.S. custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court at the remote U.S.
naval base in Cuba. Mohammed, an
alleged military commander for al Qaeda who has said he planned the
2001 commercial airliner attacks on the United States, made his second
appearance in the controversial court and was granted permission to
act as his own lawyer. Asked if he
understood that the case could result in a death sentence, Mohammed
recited from the Koran in Arabic: "Every soul tests death."
He said at his previous hearing on June 5 that he wanted to be
martyred. The judge, Marine Col.
Ralph Kohlmann, ordered the five men accused in the September 11
attacks to appear in court separately this week to question them about
allegations that they might have been bullied into forsaking military
lawyers...more>
Deal
on Church Could Speed Ground Zero Rebuilding
NY
Sun 7/11/2008
The
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is in the final stages of
striking a deal for the construction of a Greek Orthodox Church at
ground zero, one of the key hurdles that has impeded development at
the site. The executive
director of the Port Authority, Christopher Ward, told the local
Community Board 1 last night that an agreement with the leaders of St.
Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church for an exchange of land needed to
provide the congregation with a new home near ground zero had been
reached. The church was destroyed after the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center's South Tower
collapsed and obliterated the building.
Mr.
Ward later clarified his comments to reporters, saying, "We are
finalizing an agreement and I would expect it to be done soon."
The inability to strike a deal with the
church has impeded the Port Authority from building the 16-acre site's
southern foundation wall and finalizing designs for an underground
security screening center. Negotiations stalled over the funding for
and exact location of the new church...more>
Put
WTC Memorial First
NY
Daily News 7/11/2008
 The
families of several 9/11 victims have written
a letter to Port Authority chief Chris Ward asking that the World
Trade Center memorial be ready and open by Sept. 11, 2011. It's a
request that is more than reasonable, and Ward, who is rejiggering the
timetables of all the Ground Zero pieces, should make it happen. The
memorial to the 2,981 people murdered downtown, at the Pentagon,
aboard Flight 93 and in the 1993 WTC bombing is the most important
component of the new trade center. The other elements, the skyscrapers
and the vastly over lavish PATH hub, are secondary.
After
scrapping the PA's meaningless promises of deadlines at the direction
of Gov. Paterson, Ward is spending the summer evaluating every aspect
of the rebuilding. He has already said that none of the previous
target dates or costs will be met. The worst case is the PATH hub. A
perfectly serviceable station, which the PA built for a
quarter-billion bucks, is to be replaced by a virtual cathedral - 50%
bigger than Grand Central. Budgeted at $2.2 billion, it has already
gone $1 billion above that and is running years behind schedule.
Because the memorial sits above part of PATH, the later the PATH
station, the later the memorial. The
families are right. The centerpiece of Ground Zero is, and should be,
the memorial. Half the 16-acre site is devoted to what is basically a
broad park surrounding two huge squares where the towers stood.
In place of the 110-story buildings will
be water-filled voids fed by waterfalls on all four sides. Around the
rims will be the names of the fallen. Ward
says that though it will be "very difficult," he thinks most
of the memorial can be in place by the 10th anniversary. Sounds good.
But only if he's not envisioning just a one-day ceremonial arrangement
open for 9/11/11 and taken down 9/12/11...more>
Family
Recalls Harrowing Hours Stuck Above Bronx Zoo in Gondola
The
Journal News 7/11/2008
 What
started as a pleasant sightseeing excursion for members of a Rockland
family entertaining relatives from abroad turned into a harrowing
ordeal as they were stranded in a cable car above the Bronx Zoo for
hours. "I was scared, the kids were scared, but I kept telling
them, 'They'll get us down, we'll be OK,' " New City resident
Olga Perez said yesterday. She went to the zoo Wednesday morning
with her two children, Joanna, 14, who just graduated from Felix Festa
Middle School in West Nyack, and Kevin, 9, a student at Link
Elementary School in New City. Olga Perez's cousin Sandra Prieto, who
was visiting from Colombia, joined the family with her husband,
Ricardo Sanchez, and their two sons, Juan David, 17, and Ricardo
Andres, 14. Just before they were set to leave the zoo, all seven
decided to go on the Skyfari cable car ride. They split into two
groups in separate cars, boarding about 4:50 p.m. Perez, her daughter
and cousin were in one car. Her son, Kevin, his two cousins and
Prieto's husband were in the other. The three females were enjoying
the ride when the weather suddenly turned threatening, with storm
clouds and a big burst of wind...more>
Bronx
9/11 Mural Repainted, Put Under Surveillance
NY1
News 7/10/2008
 A
defaced mural that honors a Bronx firefighter lost during the 9/11
attacks was repainted Thursday, as police installed nearby
surveillance cameras.
Police officers installed the cameras on both sides of the mural
Thursday afternoon. The mural depicts fallen firefighter Peter
Bielfeld, and is located on the side of a bodega on Thwaite Avenue
near Pelham Parkway, close to where he lived. Neighbors say Bielfeld
was an upstanding man and firefighter. Even though Bielfield was off
duty on September 11th, he still jumped into action to try to save
lives at the World Trade Center, only to lose his own life. “I feel
honored that everybody’s giving me this praise, how well I’m doing
the work,” said artist Eddie Gonzalez. “I wanted to do this,
it’s just a good feeling.” Police and firefighters contributed
money to help repaint the mural.
This is a team effort,” said Victor DiPierro of the 49th Precinct
Community Affairs. “It’s something that we’re trying to keep
clean, and hopefully not have a reoccurrence of what happened with the
graffiti before. And hopefully, we won’t have that problem.”...more>
Safety
First at FDNY Fire Zone
Brooklyn
Eagle 7/10/2008
 Looking
for something different to do with the kids this summer? The FDNY Fire
Zone, in midtown-Manhattan, is a fire-safety learning center that is
packed with interesting activities, hands-on exhibits and multi-media
presentations. Kids will explore a
real fire engine and equipment and enter a re-created fire scene. They
will also learn what it takes to be one of New York City’s Bravest
and be part of a Fire Prevention Team.
Through
real life testimonies, children will learn how easily fires can start,
how easily they can spread, and most importantly, how an escape plan
can get them to safety. After the lesson children get to run through a
practice fire drill and exit through a darkened, smoke-filled hallway
to a predetermined meeting place. The
FDNY Fire Zone is not only a great place for school trips and day
camps, but also a unique location to celebrate your child’s next
birthday party. Kids will enjoy a guided tour of the facility and an
FDNY Fire Zone goodie bag that includes a helmet, key chain, sticker
booklet, an FDNY coloring book and the official FDNY Fire Zone Billy
Blazes Fire Safety Kit...more>
3
Chased From Staten Island Home After Morning Fire
Staten
Island Advance 7/9/2008
Three
Port Richmond residents fled their home yesterday morning after fire
erupted, injuring three firefighters and leaving the family out on the
street. Brenda-Martin Barnes went
into the bedroom of her two-story Heberton Avenue residence about 11
a.m. and found the air conditioner ablaze. As the flames spread
throughout the second floor, Ms. Barnes, her daughter, Tawana, and
Tawana's 9-year-old niece, Zhane Barnes, ran into the street and
called 911. Next-door
neighbor Telesforo Guzman was the first to notice the flames pouring
from Ms. Barnes' second-story window. "We
smelled the smoke from the attic," said Elias Martinez, Guzman's
roommate. "[Guzman] grabbed the garden hose and started spraying
[the air conditioner]." Firefighters
from Battalion 22 in West Brighton responded and extinguished the
blaze, which was contained to the second floor. Three firefighters
suffered minor injuries...more>
CB2
Approves New FDNY Storage Facility
Staten
Island Advance 7/10/2008
A
new FDNY storage facility will give Concord's Rescue Co. 5, one of the
city's most elite firefighting companies, ready access to the
equipment it needs to save lives. The
essential project was overwhelmingly supported by Community Board 2
last night during a full board meeting hosted in the board's
headquarters, in Sea View. "It's long overdue," said Ed
Salek, second vice chair. "The money has been bounced around
since 2002. "Rescue 5 is in
the forefront of fire operations on Staten Island and in the city. In
fact, they lost the most members [of any city firehouse] in 9/11, and
I say the board has to approve this project."
Members
applauded his statement and the project was approved by a vote of
18-1. The one-story,
5,166-square-foot storage facility is to be constructed on the
12,700-square-foot lot directly in front of Engine Co. 160/ Rescue 5
in Concord. The site is currently vacant and is used by the FDNY for
vehicular parking as well as an outside storage bin for equipment.
The facility will enclose vehicles and
emergency equipment such as vehicle extrication and collapse
equipment, hazardous materials, remediation items and additional
firefighting equipment. The project
will cost $4.5 million...more>
Sept
11 Memorial Being Held During 45th Annual Maine State Federation FFs
Convention
Boothbay
Register 7/10/2008
 In
just nine short weeks, the Boothbay Region will be hosting the 45 th
Annual Maine State Federation Firefighters' Convention September 11
through 14. Firefighters from the 400 fire departments statewide, and
their families, will arrive to celebrate and acknowledge those who
dedicate their lives to protect our homes and families. The first
public event, a 9-1-1 Memorial Service, will be held on Friday,
September 12 at 8:30 a.m. on Perkins Field (at Boothbay Region High
School). Representatives of all first responders will be present, as
will the Lincoln County Sheriff's Honor Guard, Forestry Honor Guard,
Coast Guard Honor Guard and the Boothbay Fire Department Honor Guard.
The City of Bath's Fire Department 9-11 Memorial will be on display on
the field. The section of steel from one of the World Trade Center
(WTC) towers is the focus of the memorial. It measures approximately
two-feet long, is 16" tall and weighs almost 300 pounds. The
original drawings for the memorial were created by Bath firefighter
Mike Clarke. These initial drawings and input from firefighter
Lawrence "Buddy" Renaud led to artist John Gable's rendering
of the final concept...more>
Local
Firefighters Support Recent Efforts to Save Lives with Signs
The
Warwick Advertiser 7/12/2008
Within
the past few years several states, including New York, have enacted
legislation designed to save firefighters’ lives when responding to
a burning building. But according to local firefighters, there is much
more that can be done. Warwick resident Joseph Berry, a former
lieutenant and 32-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department,
said that current laws require certain commercial, industrial and
multi-unit residential structures that have lightweight roof or floor
trusses to be clearly marked. But private homes and buildings
constructed before the legislation are not included.Berry,
a well-recognized expert, gives professional fire safety lectures
throughout the country and currently writes for Firehouse Magazine. He
explained that modern roof and floor trusses are designed and
manufactured to comply with American National Standards Institute
building codes and industry consensus standards, which do not take
into consideration exposure to real fire conditions and the impact of
fire on structural performance. “My concern is the safety of
firefighters who enter a burning building where, because of the latest
lightweight construction, the roof or the floor might collapse in a
short time,” said Berry. “Firefighters will risk their lives to
save people but if the building is unoccupied they should know what
they are getting into.”...more>
High-Wire
Ordeal Above Bronx Zoo
NY
Post 7/10/2008
Dozens
of people on the Bronx Zoo's Skyfari ride were stranded more than 100
feet in the air for about five hours last night when the tram broke
down. "My son was really,
really frightened," said Olga Perez, of New City, who was on the
ride. "I said, 'Everything's
going to be OK.' "One of my
nephews got scared. He was screaming, 'I can't take this anymore!'
" The nephews and son were in
another car, and Perez had to talk to them by cell phone.
The
cars, which glide along cables 112 feet in the air, ground to a halt
at 5:27 p.m., with 30 adults and seven children on board, police said.
The last passengers got off at 10:20 p.m.
There were no injuries, but a pregnant woman was taken to Jacobi
Hospital for observation. The
shutdown was caused by a wheel on top of one of the 14 cars slipping
off the cable. Then a safety mechanism tripped, causing the power to
shut down. The ride, which dates
back to 1973, passes over several zoo attractions - including an area
where lions roam free and a baboon reserve.
Members
of the FDNY's Rescue 3 and the NYPD's Emergency Services Unit used a
special bucket-equipped crane brought in from Queens to pluck the
riders off the crippled car....more>
related...
Gondola
Breaks Down for Hours at Bronx Zoo WABC
7/10/2008
Bronx
Zoo Cable Car System Repaired - Malfunction Stranded 37 People In 14
Cars for Hours WCBS
7/10/2008
Perilous
'Guests'
NY
Post 7/10/2008
Here's
some scary news: Hundreds of terrorists nabbed overseas had spent time
in America - and even com piled criminal records while here.
What
were they doing here? Do they have brothers-in-arms still hanging
around? Did they provide intel about targets here to their bosses
abroad? The Washington Post reports
that an effort begun in '01 to fingerprint al Qaeda and Taliban
fighters captured in Afghanistan (and in Iraq and North Africa, too)
led to a stunning discovery: Many of the captured thugs' prints were already
in the FBI's database. Meaning that
they had lived on American soil - and had even been arrested, for
whatever reason - before joining in jihad overseas.
The
likelihood that some of their fellow terrorists are still
here is fresh cause for Americans to redouble their vigilance on the
homefront. (Yesterday's Senate passage of a bill letting officials
keep tabs on terrorists under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act is a good start. It's not exactly clear why the terrorists who
were here left. But it's a fair guess that the US military campaigns
in the Middle East lured them...more>
A
Man and Boy, Close in Life, Perish Together
NY
Times 7/10/2008
The
71-year-old man in Apartment 68 and his 5-year-old godson, who spent
most days there, were close, relatives say. The man, home from his
shift as a taxi driver, would take the boy to a nearby park and watch
as he gleefully rode his bicycle. So when a fire broke out in
the man’s Hamilton Heights building on Tuesday night and his
apartment started filling with smoke, it was not a surprise that the
man, Andre St. Victor, tried to protect the boy, Emmanuel Casimir,
breaking a window and crying out for Emmanuel. There would be no
rescue. Both Mr. St. Victor and Emmanuel died after falling from the
apartment’s sixth-floor window. Mr. St. Victor’s wife told a
relative that the boy slipped from her husband’s grasp, but it was
not clear whether the man accidentally fell or jumped...more>
FDNY
Fire Safety Education Unit Discusses the Danger of Candles
FDNY
Insider
 Following
a tragic fire in Manhattan that killed two people on July 8, the
FDNY’s Fire Safety Education Unit visited the Harlem neighborhood to
educate residents about keeping their homes fire safe.
Candle
fires are preventable. If you choose to use candles, the FDNY urges
you to exercise extreme caution and follow candle safety guidelines.
Members of the Fire Safety Education Unit
handed out informational materials in the upper Manhattan neighborhood
and spoke with passersby about fire safety. They also spoke of the
dangers of candles, giving away safe ‘candles’ that are lit by an
LED bulb...more>
Delayed
Improvements Could Threaten Subway Safety
WCBS
7/9/2008
Officials
Say Proposed Cutbacks May Hamper Rescue Efforts in a Terror Attack
Could
there be new dangers for New York City subway passengers? City
Comptroller William Thompson Jr. and the head of the firefighters'
union, Steve Cassidy, charged Wednesday that proposed cutbacks could
hamper rescue efforts in the event of a fire or a terrorist attack.
They say the new delays in subway improvements could mean riders might
not get home safely. "These delays directly affect and threaten
public safety," said Thompson. What Thompson, Cassidy, and
transit advocate Gene Russianoff are concerned about is the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority's recent decision to postpone
$366 million in projects to install special fans in subway tunnels
that clear out smoke during a fire or contaminated air in case of a
post-9/11 biological or chemical attack. "In the case of a fire
or a terrorist attack, ventilation is the key. If you don't get fresh
air, people are going to die," said Cassidy...more>
CB2
Approves New FDNY Storage Facility
Staten
Island Advance 7/10/2008
Concord's
Rescue 5 Will Have Ready Access to the Equipment It Needs to Save
Lives
A
new FDNY storage facility will give Concord's Rescue Co. 5, one of the
city's most elite firefighting companies, ready access to the
equipment it needs to save lives. The
essential project was overwhelmingly supported by Community Board 2
last night during a full board meeting hosted in the board's
headquarters, in Sea View. It's
long overdue," said Ed Salek, second vice chair. "The money
has been bounced around since 2002. "Rescue
5 is in the forefront of fire operations on Staten Island and in the
city. In fact, they lost the most members [of any city firehouse] in
9/11, and I say the board has to approve this project."
Members
applauded his statement and the project was approved by a vote of
18-1...more>
WTC
Builders to Field Questions
NY
Daily News 7/10/2008
New
Yorkers will get a chance to grill the officials responsible for the
much-delayed World Trade Center reconstruction at an emergency meeting
on Thursday night. Community Board
1 called the surprise sit-down a week after the Port Authority finally
admitted the multibuilding project at Ground Zero is way behind
schedule and over budget. The
meeting will mark the first time the public gets a chance to question
all the players responsible for rebuilding the World Trade Center in
one place. "We're talking
about taxpayer dollars here," said CB1 Chairwoman Julie Menin.
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. in the
19th-floor state Assembly hearing room at 250 Broadway...more>
Bloomberg
Wants 9/11 Health Chief Rehired
WNYC
7/10/2008
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg today joined the chorus of local leaders protesting
last week's firing of Washington's point man on World Trade Center
health issues. Bloomberg praised
John Howard for having a thorough knowledge of the situation - and for
being an advocate for federal funding of screening and treatment
programs. And Bloomberg, speaking at Staten Island’s St. George
Ferry Terminal, says the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
should not have terminated Howard's position...more>
Two
Jump to Death Trying to Flee Fire
NY
Times 7/9/2008
 A
man and a young boy jumped to their deaths from a sixth-floor
apartment window in Upper Manhattan on Tuesday night as they tried to
escape the smoke and flames from a fire raging a floor below them, a
Fire Department official said. The fire began in a fifth-floor
apartment of a six-story building at 611 West 148th Street near
Broadway, in Hamilton Heights, around 8:45 p.m. Eight other people,
including two firefighters, suffered minor injuries, according to
Deputy Chief John Sudnik. A Fire
Department spokesman said the dead man was 45 years old, and the dead
boy was 5 or 6. The man, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was the
child’s godfather, fire officials said. The child was taken to New
York-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital in Washington Heights, where he
was pronounced dead...more>
 related...
Candles,
Rubbing Alcohol To Blame For Deadly Fire NY1News
7/9/2008
Man
and Boy Die After Jumping From NY Building
eFluxMedia
7/9/2008
Two
Fall to Their Death In Blaze
NY
Daily News 7/9/2008
Two
Dead in Hamilton Heights Fire Fox5News
7/9/2008
2
Plunge To Death To Escape Fire Caused By Candles WCBSTV
7/9/2008
Bring
On The Feds To Probe Ground Zero Fiasco
NY
Post 7/9/2008
 THE
Port Authority's bungling at Ground Zero has already wasted billions
of dollars and years, if not decades. It is, in the words of Wall
Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger, perhaps "the greatest
political and bureaucratic fiasco in the history of the world.
"Yet the New York political establishment has reacted with a
giant ho-hum. Sure, state
pols have expressed perfunctory outrage - but then moved on
to campaigning to keep their jobs. Why
so lackadaisical? Well, neither party can exploit the mess for
partisan advantage: Republican and Democratic administrations share
blame for the fiasco, leavened by Port Authority incompetence.
Yet
the amount of taxpayer money and time wasted, and the project's
national importance, both argue for a serious, independent probe. The
US attorney for the Southern District should empanel a grand jury to
investigate what happened and why. Start
with the massive lies. Just three months ago, then-PA Executive
Director Anthony Shorris was still saying that by 2012 the
project would be all over but for the shouting. Well, there will be
shouting - but largely due to the waste of billions of public money.
Indeed, new Executive Director Chris Ward
has revealed so many problems on so many parts of the project, that it
is almost inconceivable that malfeasance didn't occur somewhere along
the line. The PA has had to sign
off on countless legal documents to qualify the project for a myriad
of financing streams - federal transportation, homeland-security and
housing funds, plus a host of state and Port Authority sources. Surely
some of those documents included representations that were untrue when
made. Throw in the involvement in
the project of politically connected hacks in the last two
administrations, and there's a clear need for a grand jury to
determine whether laws were broken. Then,
too, an outside review is likely needed if the project's ever
to finish. The Port Authority is
vastly overcommitted. The latest limit on its financial options came
last week, with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's announcement he won't
let previously authorized PA capital funds be diverted to fixing the
Ground Zero fiasco.
Local
Representatives Criticize Replacement of WTC Health Czar
NY1
News 7/9/2008
 Local
leaders blasted Tuesday the decision made by President George Bush's
administration to replace its World Trade Center health czar.
Democratic Manhattan-Queens Representative Carolyn Maloney and
Democratic Manhattan-Brooklyn Representative Jerrold Nadler joined
September 11th responders to protest the firing of Dr. John Howard.
The director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health was told last week that he will be replaced when his six-year
term expires this coming Monday. The local representatives demanded
that Bush reverse the decision. "Dr. Howard was, as far as I can
tell, the only official in the Bush administration who honestly tried
to help the victims," said Nadler. "[Howard] was effective,
he was scientific, he was professional, he had the credentials, he was
truly a star,” said Maloney. “And we are outraged that he was
dismissed and fired on the eve of July 4th." Howard was the
president's point man on 9/11 health issues, but was often at odds
with the White House over monitoring and treatment programs for
workers who became ill at the site.
'Only
Dust Remains'
NY
Post 7/9/2008
Judge
Alvin Hellerstein obviously wasn't happy about his decision. But he
was entirely right to dismiss a 3-year-old lawsuit in a Manhattan
federal court that would've forced the city to re-sift long-buried
debris at the former Fresh Kills landfill in search of human remains
from 9/11. "Not every wrong
can be addressed through the judicial process," the judge wrote
in his 23-page decision, adding that "the jurisdiction of a court
is limited." A group of 17
families sought to force the city to resume searching the landfill,
where World Trade Center debris was taken. The plaintiffs cited a 2003
letter in which the city's chief medical examiner wrote he was
"virtually certain" some remains were mixed in with the
rubble. But City Hall rightly noted
that 10 months of repeated sifting yielded thousands of remains larger
than a quarter-inch - which, as Hellerstein noted, is "the space
between the concentric circles of a small paper clip."
To
move the ash and resume the sifting, the city said, would cost $450
million, and almost certainly yield no further body parts.
"Only
dust remains," wrote the judge. The
city has proposed building a 2,200-acre park on the landfill, with two
embankments that would contain a memorial to the victims and a tribute
to the rescue and recovery teams. That's
both appropriate and sensitive - but the families, represented by
serial litigant Norman Siegel, aren't buying it.
Too
bad. The city has behaved both honorably and respectfully throughout
this process, combining its civic responsibility with sensitivity to
the families. But now, nearly seven
years since 9/11, it's past time to be moving on.
Games
Called On Account of Safety
FDNY
determines 'weak' utility pole posed threat to girls in 2 all-star
softball games
Staten
Island Advance 7/9/2008
A
utility pole that was groaning dangerously under its 13,000 volts of
electricity short-circuited two All-Star Girls softball games being
played at the Great Kills Little League complex last night.
The
Fire Department ordered the games -- Mid-Island vs. South Shore and
West Shore vs. Great Kills in the 14-year-old division -- suspended
for safety reasons. The two Little League District 24 games, which
each began at 7:30 p.m., were in the fifth inning when the fields were
cleared. The problem pole, in front of the field's entrance on
Kennington Street between Greaves and Corbin avenues, was first
noticed by Mid-Island manager Joe DiPaolo. He approached the scorer's
box and said he and his team "could hear the pole cracking"
and asked that someone be called...more>
Nederman
Signs Contract With City of New York
Business
Wire 7/9/2008
Nederman
USA (STO:NMAN) has signed a five year contract with the Fire
Department of the City of New York for the repair, upgrade, relocation
and installation service of exhaust extraction equipment in fire
stations. The contract is valued at MSEK 25.
New
York City chose Nederman USA as the supplier of the installation
service and upgrade since they could provide the most cost effective
solution for the fire stations. Sven
Kristensson, Nederman’s CEO says: “The
City of New York awarded Nederman this contract after a sealed bid
process where each bidder had to undergo a strict evaluation,
providing proof of fiscal responsibility, organization strength and
ability to perform to contract terms.”
The Fire Department of the City of New
York has around 250 fire stations through out the city responding to
over 1 million registered emergency calls per year.
History
Lines Up 9/11, WWII Docs
C2Media.net
7/9/2008
US
cable network History has greenlit a 102-minute special about the
September 11 terrorist attacks and a 10-part series following US
soldiers in the Second World War. 102 Minutes That Changed America
plays out in real time, using amateur and profession footage shot on
the day of the attacks. The one-off show will premiere on the
anniversary of the attacks later this year. WWII HD, set for a 2009
debut, will trace the experiences of a group of US soldiers, using
3,000 hours of colour archive footage, diary and journal entries. The
network will incorporate original Library of Congress audio recordings
from the war into the series as part of their recently formed
multimedia partnership. The goal is to present the events of the war
"not as detached historical facts but rather as profound
experiences on the level of a great Hollywood epic," the network
said.
Fire
Lieutenant Rescues Child From Brooklyn Fire
FDNY
Insider 7/8/2008
 Lt.
Mike Kelly, detailed to Ladder 112 from Engine 277, rescued a young
boy from a fire in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on July 7.
The
call was received at 3:09 p.m. for a fire in a three-story
multiple-dwelling at 708 Knickerbocker Ave. When firefighters arrived
on the scene, they said they saw smoke seeping from around the frames
of the first floor windows. A
grandmother had escaped already, but neighbors told firefighters a
child was still inside the fire apartment.
Firefighters
entered the fire apartment and headed toward the front, where they
were told the child would be, but Lt. Kelly said, “Thick smoke was
down to the floor, and six to eight feet into the apartment the heat
stopped me in my tracks.” Fortunately,
members from Engine 230 and Squad 252 were able to immediately get
water on the fire, enabling him and other firefighters to reach the
child. “I heard him gasp for air
twice,” he said, finding the boy face down on a bed.
He
pulled the boy outside and Firefighter Brian Sammon from Engine 230
began doing CPR. The boy was transported to New York
Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical condition.
“When I see this I just think of my own
two kids and hope for the best,” Lt. Kelly said.
Another
victim was transported to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in serious
condition and a firefighter was taken to Kings County Hospital.
The fire was placed under control by 3:46
p.m.
related...
Boy
Sets Home On Fire As Revenge On Grandmother
MyFoxNY 7/8/08
Brooklyn
Boy, 5, Severely Burned In Fire
WCBSTV 7/8/08
Boy
Rushed To Hospital In Cardiac Arrest
7online 7/8/08
Police
Commissioner: Injured Boy Started Fire
NY1News 7/8/08
'Revenge'
Boy Hurt in Brooklyn Fire
NY Post 7/8/2008
9/11
Families' Lose Bid To Search For Remains
NY
Times 7/8/08
 Saying
that his powers were too limited to rectify what he referred to as a
“grave harm,” a federal judge on Monday dismissed a request from
several families of 9/11 victims to sift through tons of debris at the
Fresh Kills landfill to search for human remains from the attack on
the World Trade Center. The judge,
Alvin K. Hellerstein of Federal District Court in Manhattan, had
hinted strongly at an emotional hearing in February that he would deny
the request, praising the city for undertaking the “herculean job of
repairing the gaping hole in our society,” and saying that nothing
— not even the upheaval of 1.8 million tons of landfill debris —
would ever return the dead to their families.
In
his ruling on Monday, which he said he was making reluctantly, Judge
Hellerstein wrote: “Not every wrong can be addressed through the
judicial process. The grave harm suffered by the plaintiffs in this
case is undeniable. But the jurisdiction of a court is limited.”
In August 2005, 17 families that had
organized as the World Trade Center Families for Proper Burial Inc.
filed a lawsuit claiming that the remains of their relatives still lay
at Fresh Kills on Staten Island, where debris from the trade center
collapse was carted. In court papers, the plaintiffs referred to a
letter written in 2003 by Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, the city’s chief
medical examiner, who stated that he was “virtually certain” that
at least some human tissue was mixed with the dirt at Fresh Kills...more>
Ex-Port
Authority Chief Sees Possible Ground Zero Crimes
NY
Sun 7/8/08
The
construction delays and cost overruns at ground zero may have
constituted fraud or other crimes, according to a former executive
director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, George
Marlin, who is seeking a federal investigation into the redevelopment
of the site. Mr. Marlin said
yesterday that the Port Authority may have misled investors about the
costs and schedules for the five towers, the memorial, the performing
arts center, and the PATH transit station.
He
said he plans to ask the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of
New York, Michael Garcia, to open an investigation into whether there
was any criminal wrongdoing. "We
need to determine whether there was waste, fraud, abuse, or any
wrongdoing that might be called criminal. Things were said that were
blatantly not true," Mr. Marlin said in an interview yesterday.
"I think it's time for some outside, independent investigators to
get to the truth of why this mess had occurred, and whether there was
any wrongdoing."...more>
NYC
Codes Require New Safety Measures For Construction Sites
Occupational
Health & Safety 7/7/08
On
July 1, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other New York City officials
announced the launch of the new City of New York Construction Codes,
the first modernization of the Building Code since 1968.
Written
with the supporting expertise of more than 400 dedicated professionals
from the construction industry, real estate, labor, government and
academia, the NYC Construction Codes are in line with national
standards and will enhance building and construction safety through
expanded requirements for fire protection, structural integrity, and
job site accountability on all new construction projects. In addition,
the new NYC Construction Codes expand the framework for the Buildings
Department's enforcement and administrative actions by re-classifying
violations to focus enforcement resources on buildings and job sites
that pose the most serious safety hazards to construction workers and
the public. "These codes are
more user-friendly for the building professionals and incorporate
critical safety measures that better protect millions of New Yorkers
at work and at home," Bloomberg said...more>
New
Twin Towers? It May Not Be Too Late
City
Journal 7/6/08
Since
al-Qaida demolished the World Trade Center nearly seven years ago, New
York’s naked emperors—Governors George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer
and architect Daniel Libeskind—have viewed an historic rebuilding
challenge as an opportunity to invent a square wheel and then deny for
years that it can’t roll. This week, the Port Authority, which runs
the site, released a report admitting that little progress had been
made there—still more evidence that the government has responded to
an external attack with a self-inflicted disaster. But all the
dillydallying may provide an unlikely opportunity for Governor David
Paterson and World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, who
should examine an entirely different approach: building new twin
towers at Ground Zero...more>
Iraqis
In Last Push vs. Dying Al Qaeda
Times
of London 7/6/08
 American
and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt
in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most
spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After
being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in
the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a
defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.
A
huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a
terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.
Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the
Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry
Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the
Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects. The
group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that
killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed
at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.
Last
Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in
a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed
to a large explosion today. Even in
the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was
possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of
breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were
searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of
explosives. American and Iraqi
leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda
in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in
Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside
to the south...more>
Deutsche
Bank's Deadly Dimes
NY
Post 7/7/2008
 The
infuriatingly slow effort to demolish the former Deutsche Bank building hit yet another speed bump last week as decontamination inspectors
found discolorations on the floors of stories 18 and 19 of the
9/11-scarred structure - the first to be cleaned since a fire at the
site halted work nearly a year ago. Their
verdict: Not good enough. Their
order: Do it over. And so it was.
Bureaucrats from the federal Environmental
Protection Agency, the state Department of Labor and the city's
Department of Environmental Protection have determined that the
presence of a smudge of dirt the size of a dime is sufficient
to flunk an entire floor. Never
mind that the space-age air-monitoring system outside the building has
never registered anything close to dangerous pollution
levels. Never mind that the
building itself poses a profound threat to public safety - having already
killed two firefighters in that blaze last August.
And
certainly never mind that the ugly hulk's presence is
severely complicating Ground Zero reconstruction plans.
The
weenies from Washington, Albany and City Hall have decreed that every
floor in the building must be scrubbed with toothbrushes - and so they
shall be. Will no one free
New York City from these meddlesome bureaucrats?
Mayor
Mike: Do your duty!
Put
the Memorial First
NY
Daily News 7/6/2008
The
WTC Project Needs To Be More Than Just A Real Estate Deal
New
York is usually one tough town, but it's hard to imagine a softer
civic touch than the one that greeted the admission last week that
Ground Zero is a mess. When, after nearly seven years of false starts
and promises, officials finally admitted that everything is hopelessly
behind schedule and over budget, New Yorkers' general reaction was to
applaud the honesty and turn the channel.
Don't
get me wrong, I like honesty from my government as much as the next
sucker. But we shouldn't confuse the seven-year-itch for confession
with a solution for what ails Ground Zero. And therein lies the real
outrage of the downtown disaster - officials still don't have a real
plan to fix it. Even worse, they
don't seem to know what's wrong. Or maybe they can't bring themselves
to be quite that honest. If they
did, they'd have to confess to original sin. They'd have to admit
they've forgotten the fundamental meaning of 9/11 and that the
memorial to those who died in the worst attack ever carried out on
American soil should have been the first thing built...more>
Post
9/11 Dragnet Turns Up Surprise
Bradenton
Herald 7/7/2008
 In
the 6½ years that the U.S. government has been fingerprinting
insurgents, detainees and ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn
of Africa, hundreds have turned out to share an unexpected background,
FBI and military officials said. They have criminal arrest records in
the United States. There was the
suspected militant fleeing Somalia who had been arrested on a minor
drug charge in New Jersey. And the man stopped at a checkpoint in
Tikrit, Iraq, who claimed to be a poor dirt farmer but had 11 felony
charges in the United States, including assault with a deadly weapon.
The fingerprinting of detainees overseas
began as ad-hoc FBI and U.S. military efforts shortly after the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has since grown into a government-wide
push to build the world's largest database of known or suspected
terrorist fingerprints. The effort is being boosted by a presidential
directive signed June 5, which gave the U.S. attorney general and
other cabinet officials 90 days to come up with a plan to expand the
use of biometrics by, among other things, recommending...more>
Scrap
The Plan
NY
Post 7/7/08
Newbie
Port Authority boss Christopher Ward wants 'til September to draft yet
another scheme for re building Ground Zero.
Spare
yourself, Chris. The job can't be
done. True enough, Ground Zero's
grandiose projects - apart from Larry Silverstein's planned office
buildings, it's important to note - need to be identified for exactly
what they are. That is, unworkable,
unmanageable, unaffordable distractions from the main task - which is
to replace the office space destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, sometime
before, say, Sept. 11, 2021. Will another
three months of planning save the boondoggle?
Please...more>
Christopher
Ward Aims To Bring 'Clarity' To Ground Zero
NY
Sun 7/7/2008
 Christopher
Ward has been in the executive offices of the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey less than 50 days, but his honeymoon period — if
it could be called that — was over before it started.
The
man in charge of the 16-acre site where the World Trade Center was
situated did buy himself some time last week, when he delivered an
assessment of progress at the site without providing a detailed
schedule or budget. Mr. Ward now has until the end of the summer to
provide Governor Paterson and the public with a clearly defined and
reliable road map of how and when the reconstruction effort will be
completed and whether the price tag will top the $15 billion estimate,
a challenge his predecessors have been unable to meet. Mr. Ward does
not appear intimidated. "One
of the things I am good at is bringing clarity to a complicated
situation," Mr. Ward said in an interview with The New York Sun,
following a whirlwind of press conferences and scrutiny last week.
"That's not to say that there aren't other really smart people
that have been dealing with downtown. But having been in government
and seen complex problems, I think the one thing I hopefully can bring
is a sense of clarity and a determination to get answers."...more>
Feds
Fault WTC Fund
7/6/2008
Federal
officials say the city has not broken the law by fighting the illness
claims of thousands of Ground Zero workers, but they cite a lack of
oversight of the millions being drained from a $1 billion insurance
fund, The Post has learned. A draft
report by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland
Security says that "while delaying possible relief to those with
health problems arising from the debris removal work," the city
has the right to use the 9/11 fund to defend itself and its
contractors against lawsuits. However,
the report calls for tighter scrutiny of mounting legal and
administrative expenditures by the city-governed WTC Captive Insurance
Co., which manages the $1 billion fund. In a stunning admission,
officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency who are charged
with reviewing the fund said they had little experience with
insurance. They also found financial reports "difficult to
understand" and barely gave the balance sheets "a really
good glance." The report was
"inadvertently posted" on the inspector general's Web site
last week - and quickly yanked after The Post obtained a copy, a
spokeswoman said...more>
Bravest
Save 5 In Daring Rescue From Coney Island Cruise Nightmare
NY
Daily News 7/6/2008
 A
Fourth of July fireworks cruise nearly turned into a disaster when a
24-foot pleasure boat crashed into a jetty off Coney
Island, Brooklyn.
With waves crashing over them in a driving
rain, the five panicked passengers - including a young boy - were
plucked one-by-one from the sinking ship by a fast-acting pair of city
firefighters. "We had a good
evening and we were just coming back," said Marat
Neakhyaz, 28, of Sheepshead
Bay, who was on the boat with his son, Daniel, 4. "All of a
sudden, I heard a loud bang like a car crash ... Everyone was quite
scared." As the boat rocked
from side to side, Neakhyaz said he called the police from his cell
phone and tried to calm his son and the other passengers.
Firefighter
Robert Senatore, 44, sped over to the crash in an FDNY
vessel and saw the boat stuck on the rocky pier with a gash in its
hull. "As we pulled up, we
heard the people screaming," he said. "It was raining. It
was pretty horrendous." The
Bravest got there just in time. "I
knew that if we didn't do this quick this boat was going to
flip," Senatore added. "The boat was being tossed around
like a toy."...more>
WTC
Science...
NY
Post 7/6/2008
The
NYS September 11th Workers' Protection Taskforce and its rigorous and
balanced efforts are mischaracterized by Jeff Stier ("Exploiting
9/11," PostOpinion, June 26). Contrary
to Stier's assertions, the Taskforce used gold-standard science in
coming to its conclusions. FDNY has complete medical findings on
virtually every firefighter, before and after 9/11 - demonstrating
real, new and serious increases in respiratory, gastrointestinal and
psychological disorders with clear-cut correlation with exposure.
The Taskforce made several modest
recommendations to align legislation with the lawmakers' intent, all
reflecting best available science. It
should be understood that eligibility for presumption of WTC-causation
of disability does not automatically result in pension benefits.
Workers must show not just that a WTC-related physical or
psychological condition exists, but that disability results...more>
Building
Safety Problems Threaten Everyone, Not Just My Fiancé
Downtown
Express 7/4/2008
 On
Saturday I attended a rally organized by Joseph Graffagnino Sr., the
father of one of two firefighters killed in the Deutsche Bank blaze
last summer. Over 100 demonstrators at the condemned bank tower urged
city officials to establish and enforce strict safety guidelines for
New York City buildings to prevent further disasters. As a longtime
resident of Lower Manhattan and the fiancée of a firefighter in
Engine 24/ Ladder 5, the house which lost two men in the fatal August
2007 blaze, I have a personal stake in the issue, but media reports
which characterized the gathering as a demonstration solely for
firefighters and construction workers have missed the point. It was
really a call for improved building safety standards to protect all
New Yorkers. It has been seven years since the Deutsche Bank
skyscraper was first damaged in the Trade Center attacks and nearly a
full year since the inferno in the empty tower blindsided firefighters
and claimed Joey Graffagnino and Bobby Beddia’s lives. Mind-blowingly,
the structure still stands, shrouded in black netting – a testament
to corruption, incompetence, and unnecessary loss. Federal regulators
have accused contractors, who were dismantling the building, of
blatantly ignoring safety risks. A grand jury investigation is now
underway. Yet, since the Deutsche Bank disaster, 16 more people have
lost their lives in building catastrophes across the city. It’s true
that firefighters and construction workers are on the frontlines in
these accidents and are most often the ones injured or killed, but
faulty cranes, weak building foundations, and raging fires in
complexes which fail to meet code endanger everyone. On Saturday
Joseph Graffagnino Sr. and his family — including his wife,
Rosemarie, and Joey’s widow, Linda — took action. They put their
grief to the side and returned to the doomed site for the first time
since the fatal fire in order to call for change...more>
Irish
Tenor Ronan Tynan Kicks Off Belleayre Concerts
Daily
Freeman 7/4/2008
 Ronan
Tynan, a former member of the famous Three Irish Tenors, sang last
month at the funeral of NBC News icon Tim Russert and later that day
at the White House. Saturday he will kick off the summer season at the
Belleayre Mountain Music Festival in Highmount.
Tynan
won both the hearts and musical admiration of Public Television
viewers as a member of the Three Irish Tenors, which also comprised
Anthony Kearns, John McDermott and later Finbar Wright. Tynan's solos
like "The Town I Loved So Well," rendered with his trademark
passionate delivery, grabbed his listeners and held onto them.
Then,
in 2004, he ventured out on his own, and he intends to stay the
course, he said. "I had given
five years to the tenors and decided it was time to move on and do
something different. That was it," he said in a telephone
interview from New York City. Doing
something different is nothing new for Tynan. Despite a congenital
deformity of the lower legs and later amputations, he rode a
motorcycle, jumped horses, broke world records at the Paralympics,
became a physician and began an international singing career...more>
Boy,
14, Rescued in Brooklyn Fire Dies From Burns
NY
Times 7/3/2008
A
14-year-old boy who was rescued with seven members of his family from
an apartment fire in Brooklyn early Tuesday died in the hospital on
Wednesday, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The
boy, Misael Fuentes, was pronounced dead at 3:35 p.m. at Staten Island
University Hospital, officials said. Misael,
described as “a chubby little guy” who liked to “joke around
with everybody,” suffered burns over 85 percent of his body,
relatives said. The fire, at the
corner of Newkirk and Ocean Avenues in Flatbush, broke out about 2
a.m. Tuesday. Firefighters crawled through flames and thick black
smoke to rescue those still inside...more>
Sept.
11 Memorial Head Wants to Open by 9/11/11
AP
7/2/2008
 The
head of the foundation building the Sept. 11 memorial told supporters
Tuesday it's "essential" to open the memorial by the 10th
anniversary of the terrorist attacks, disputing a report that the
project couldn't be finished on time. The
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's executive director, Chris
Ward, announced Monday that nearly every project under construction at
the World Trade Center site is behind schedule and that the memorial
would not be able to open by its target of Sept. 11, 2011.
On
Tuesday, Ward said the public might have access to the cobblestone,
tree-covered memorial plaza by the attacks' 10th anniversary, but
construction would still need to continue after that...more>
9/11
Health Official is Ousted
NY
Times 7/4/2008
The
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided not to
reappoint the official who has coordinated health programs for ground
zero workers, Congressional aides who spoke with him said on Thursday.
The official, Dr. John Howard, has been the director of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health since 2002. Since 2006,
he has also overseen health programs for 9/11 workers and sometimes
clashed with the Bush administration over monitoring and treatment
plans...more>
Sunshine
State Offers Solace to 9/11 Families
Miami
Herald 7/5/2008
Florida
Has Become the Destination of Choice for New York-Area Families of
Victims Killed in the Sept. 11 Terrorist Attacks.
Dominic
Puopolo Jr. of Miami Beach lost his mother on Sept. 11, 2001, when her
plane, American Airlines Flight 11, was hijacked and flown into the
north tower of the World Trade Center.
Joshua
Rosenblum, whose mother, Sue Rosenblum, lives in Coral Springs, was
killed after the same plane crashed a few stories below where he was
working. And David McCourt, of Palm
Beach, lost his entire family -- his wife, Ruth, and his little
daughter, Julianna, when their plane, United Airlines Flight 175, was
hijacked and crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
In the aftermath of one of America's worst
tragedies, the families of 9/11 victims have all sought to heal the
scars of a horrific day. Many
remained in the New York area, but a significant number have left,
choosing one particular part of the country to rebuild and resume
their lives -- Florida. Florida is
the No. 1 spot where New York-area families who lost spouses, parents,
children or siblings in the 9/11 terrorist attacks have relocated.
Tennessee and Texas are second and third, respectively.
In
all, about 120 Sept. 11 families from New York, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and the Boston area moved
to the Sunshine State between early 2002 and late 2005, according to
the Coalition of 9/11 Families, which maintains the exclusive national
database that is used by the government...more>
Vandalized
Bronx Mural to Firefighter Who Died on 9/11 is Restored
NY
Daily News 7/4/2008
A Bronx
mural that honored a fallen 9/11 hero before it was defaced by a
vandal will have a new and more patriotic look by the end of the
holiday weekend. "It's just a good feeling to look at it and see
it restored again," said Victor DiPierro, community affairs
officer of the 49th Precinct, who was instrumental in the restoration
of the mural in memory of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld. "It's been
a good way to end this," DiPierro said. Bielfeld died running
into the World
Trade Center on 9/11, a day he was supposed to have off. Artist
Eddie Gonzalez painted two murals in his memory in 2001, one near
Bielfeld's house at Olinville
Ave. and Thwaites Place and the other near his firehouse, Ladder 42 in
the South
Bronx...more>
In
Memory of 9/11, NY Group Helps Greensburg
Kansas.com
7/5/2008
The
New York Says Thank You Foundation, a group of New York City
firefighters and other volunteers, is making Greensburg its major
Sept. 11 project this year. The
foundation visited Greensburg in December. Founded by Jeff Parness,
the group visits communities ravaged by natural disasters such as
wildfires and tornadoes and helps them rebuild.
Parness
got the idea for the group when his son decided to donate his extra
toys to other children after seeing footage of California wildfires.
The motto of the foundation, which
commemorates the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is "From one day of
terror, 10 years of kindness."...more>
Freedom
Tower Cornerstone is Rocked by Betrayal
NY
Daily News 7/2/2008
 This
Fourth of July, 20 tons of beautifully polished national disgrace will
be sitting in the work lot of a Long Island stone company.
"TO
HONOR AND REMEMBER THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001,
AND AS A TRIBUTE TO THE ENDURING SPIRIT OF FREEDOM. - JULY FOURTH
2004," the inscription reads. The
second date marks the day this block of granite was laid with great
ceremony as the cornerstone of the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.
"Today, we, the heirs of that
revolutionary spirit of defiance, lay this cornerstone and
unmistakably signal to the world the unwavering strength of this
nation and our resolve to fight for freedom," then-Gov. George
Pataki solemnly declared that day. "Today, we build the Freedom
Tower." What ensued was
senseless squabbling, near-criminal incompetence and bald-faced lies,
all of which constituted a betrayal of the murdered innocents the
stone purported to honor. After two
years, the stone was deemed to be in the way of the changing plans for
the site. Early on the morning of June 23, 2006, it was loaded onto a
flatbed truck, reveiled with a tarp and driven 45 miles back to
Innovative Stone in Hauppauge, L.I. The
company had donated the garnet-flecked stone and done the polishing
and inscribing free, another example of the spirit of true goodness
that filled so many Americans in the aftermath of the monstrous
attack. No doubt more than one
suburban homeowner who came to Innovative Stone for a counter for a
kitchen or a bathroom was surprised to behold the inscribed
cornerstone sitting in a corner of the company's work lot.
Many
of the scoundrels who betrayed the murdered innocents are gone, but
the stone still sits at Innovative. And the new people in charge of
Ground Zero do not seem entirely sure when we really will build the
Freedom Tower. When we truly are
ready to commence construction, we should contract the good people at
Innovative to build a new, equally exquisite stone.
However
beautiful the original stone may be, it has been dishonored by the
shameless grandstanding by Pataki and his ilk...more>
Church's
Troubles Typify Ground Zero Delays
NY
Times 7/3/2008
 The
story of the tiny St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and its efforts
to rebuild after the collapse of the World Trade Center is one of
well-intentioned promises that led to endless negotiations, design
disputes, delays and mounting costs.
It
is, in other words, a microcosm of the seven-year, $16 billion,
problem-plagued effort to reconstruct the entire trade center site.
Within a month of the attack on the trade
center, Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in
America, pledged that the four-story church would rise “on the same
sacred spot as a symbol of determined faith.” Gov. George E. Pataki
agreed. But today, the church
exists only on blueprints. The Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, the agency overseeing reconstruction, has not finalized the
exchange of land needed to provide the congregation with a new home
near ground zero. Until that deal is completed, the authority cannot
proceed with building the southern foundation wall for the entire
site, and cannot draw up designs for a bomb screening center for buses
and trucks that would go under the new church.
And
because security is crucial, delays in the vehicle security center
mean delays in other parts of the site.
On
Monday, the Port Authority acknowledged that many parts of the
sprawling reconstruction project — including the new PATH station, a
9/11 memorial and several office towers — faced delays of a year or
more and cost overruns into the billions. With 26 interrelated
projects squeezed onto 16 acres in Lower Manhattan, a delay or dispute
at one project is almost certain to create problems at adjoining
projects, the report concluded...more>
Pit
Bull Attacks Firefighters
MyFoxNY
7/3/2008
 A
pit bull attacked two firefighters in The Bronx sending them to the
hospital. New York's Bravest were on Fieldstone Road at around 8 p.m.
on Wednesday when the animal pounced. The firefighters were taken to
Jacobi Hospital and are expected to recover. This attack is the third,
vicious attack by a pit bull in New York City in less than a week.
9/11
Workers Refute City's Allegation of Discovery Abuse and Malingering
WebWire
7/2/2008
Attorneys
representing more than ten thousand ground zero workers including
Police, Firefighters and other rescue, recovery and debris clean-up
personnel who became ill after working in the “toxic soup” at the
World Trade Center site following the collapse of the World Trade
Center Towers One and Two on 9/11 have informed the federal judge
responsible for the litigation of those cases that the great majority
of their clients are getting sicker as time goes by. According to an
in-depth analysis of the medical records reviewed thus far by the
Plaintiffs’ attorneys, the ground zero workers suffer from numerous
ailments. A typical rescue and recovery worker, on average, suffers
from three different diseases. The analysis demonstrates that 38.8% of
the workers suffer from asthma; 67% and 57.21% have upper and/or lower
respiratory ailments, respectively; 19.88% suffer from sleep apnea;
45.89% have GERD; 5.9% experience interstitial lung disease; and 37.5%
have cardiac conditions...more>
Fire
in Staten Island's Oakwood Neighborhood
Staten
Island Advance 7/2/2008
Fire
officials responded to an all-hands blaze in the Oakwood section of
Staten Island this evening. The
fire, which was reported at 5 p.m., broke out on an isolated patch of
land near the Department of Environmental Protection's Oakwood Beach
Sewage Treatment Plant, which borders Gateway National Recreation
Area. There were
no injuries reported and the fire was put out by 5:40 p.m.
The
cause of the blaze is under investigation.
What
the Doctor Ordered
NY
Daily News 7/3/2008
Top
federal health officials are soon to decide whether to extend the
service of a remarkably capable straight-shooter as the head of the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. They should be
begging Dr. John Howard to stay on the job.
An
expert in environmental and occupational medicine, Howard
distinguished himself after he was assigned to coordinate the
government's response to lung diseases suffered by 9/11 rescue and
recovery workers. He was among the
first officials to recognize that the illnesses were epidemic and to
advocate for treatment programs. His science-based findings were not
always well received among higher-ups at the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, which is putting it mildly.
Now,
those same bosses, including Dr. Julie Gerberding, leader of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are deciding whether to
keep Howard on. This isn't a close call. In fact, it's a no-brainer,
because Howard has performed superbly.
Lawyer
Accused in 9/11 Scam Resigns from State Bar
NY
Newsday 7/3/2008
A
Long Island lawyer accused of scamming a Sept. 11 widow out of nearly
$1 million has resigned from the state bar, according to court
records. Gregory Ronan, 58, recently sought from the state appellate
court, and was granted, permission to resign, though he is now legally
disbarred, according to the court records. Ronan had been the subject
of three financial fraud lawsuits. Two of them resulted in judgments
against him that likely would have led to his disbarment had he not
resigned. "Mr. Ronan acknowledges his inability to defend himself
on the merits of any disciplinary charges that may be initiated
against him by the Grievance Committee," the appellate division
wrote, referring to the body that disciplines lawyers...more>
Dogs
Involved in September 11th Tragedy Did Not Suffer Ill Effects
Dog
Magazine
A
new study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
Association reveals that New York Police Department dogs deployed to
the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001, have not experienced any long-term health effects.
The
study focuses on 27 dogs that assisted in relief efforts at the site,
many of which remained deployed throughout the 37-week cleanup
operation. Both short-term and long-term health assessments were
conducted..more>
Let's
Recognize the Real American Heroes
The
Bi-College News Online 7/2/2008
As
a United States citizen as well as a product of the public school
system, I have a deeply ingrained definition of “America.” It
includes phrases like “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness,” the First Amendment, “freedom,” and an explanation
of “the American Dream”—a somewhat amorphous but nonetheless
golden goal that everyone, from my immigrant ancestors to Willy Loman
to today’s Americans, have strived for every day. America stands for
many concepts that even a dangerously dimwitted president and a
history of discrimination, which is far from over, have been unable to
obscure. Heroism is another facet
of my understanding of the United States. For years, I have studied
history and learned of the Americans who fought for freedom in the
Revolutionary War and those who rescued men and women during World War
II. I have been taught to respect those who fight for our country even
when I detest the war, to treat police and firemen with courtesy, and
to honor those who serve America, whether they work in the fields of
medicine, law, or fire. Heroism defines these people who serve others.
And if American children are taught anything, it is that heroism
merits respect and gratitude...more>
9/11
Illnesses 'Get Worse'
NY
Post 7/2/2008
Of
10,000 Ground Zero workers suing the city, medical records show 67
percent suffer respiratory ailments and 45 percent have a
gastrointestinal disease, their lawyers claim. The numbers, filed in
court last night, aim to rebut the city's argument that 30 percent
have "only nominal injuries" and that serious claims are not
proven. The lawyers say they're still collecting records from Mount
Sinai Hospital, which has treated thousands of 9/11 responders.
"As information continues to be received, there is a clear
picture that these plaintiffs' conditions are tending to get worse,
not better," the lawyers say...more>
NY
Gov Urges Reappointment of WTC Health Overseer
NY
Newsday 7/2/2008
New
York's governor is asking President Bush to reappoint Dr. John Howard
as director of the institute that oversees ground zero health
programs. Saturday is the expiration of Howard's appointment as
director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Gov. David Paterson says there are no plans to appoint a replacement
for Howard before the end of President Bush's term. Paterson says that
could jeopardize important advances Howard has made for ground zero
workers. Howard has been in the post since July 15, 2002.
A
Post 9/11 Low for Terror Concerns
NY
Times Blogs 7/2/2008
Since
9/11, CNN pollsters have been asking Americans whether they thought a
terrorist attack was likely in the next several weeks. Until 2006, a
majority responded in the affirmative, though the group has been
shrinking over time. In its latest poll, released today, 35 percent
remained — the lowest number since the attacks that killed thousands
in New York and Washington. Is it
the end of 9/11 as a defining issue? James Fallows is making the
argument in the latest issue of The Atlantic, citing shifts in the way
foreign leaders, U.S. policymakers, academics and the electorate are
thinking about terrorism. A Gallup poll showing voters considering the
next president see the economy as a higher priority than terrorism
backed him up...more>
Weiner
Eyes Federal Cash for Soldiers
NY
Metro 7/1/2008
City
municipal employees have missed nearly 700,000 days of work on
military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, a report released
yesterday said. Since Sept. 11,
2001, 1,191 police officers and 251 firefighters
have been called from their posts to serve in National Guard and
Reserve units overseas. The report, released by the office of
Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D – Brooklyn & Queens), noted
that 488 city workers are currently on military leave, including 288
employees from the NYPD and 59 from the FDNY...more>
Freedom
Heroes Honored in Stone
Naples
News 7/1/2008
Collier
officials will never forget the tragic events of September 11, 2001
and they hope that sentiment is shared by local residents.
Freedom
Park is currently coming out of the ground at the intersection of
Golden Gate Parkway and Goodlette-Frank Road and by September,
officials hope to begin construction on the Freedom Memorial, a
monument to fallen war heroes and those who lost their lives to the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The
cost of the memorial is $1.8 million, of which more than $100,000 has
been raised to date. If approved by county commissioners, the project
will receive a much-needed $125,000 boost, thanks to funding from the
Tourist Development Council...more>
Fletcher
Thompson Awarded FDNY Project
CoStar
Group 6/30/2008
The
New York Fire Department (FDNY) has chosen design firm Fletcher
Thompson to provide architectural services for renovation and
rehabilitation projects to fire houses in all five New York boroughs.
Under the five-year contract, Fletcher Thompson will assist in
restoring the exterior facades and interior spaces of selected
buildings owned, leased or operated by FDNY. The specific work
includes upgrades to kitchen areas, bathrooms and showers, electrical
systems, HVAC systems and plumbing, and hot water heater replacements.
The firm will also help develop a Drop Tower facility, which will
replace the existing rope testing facility in Brooklyn, for FDNY
material testing and research. The Drop Tower is planned to have an
open, steel framed structured platform with permanent roof covering.
The tower is proposed to be 30 feet high and include an opened
stairway to rope testing platform level.
Firefighters
Save Family from Brooklyn Fire
FDNY
Insider 7/1/2008
 It
was the FDNY at its best. Firefighters rescued six people from a
second-alarm apartment fire in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, on July 1. This
is an outstanding job we couldnt have done better, Lt. Victor Spadaro
of Ladder 157 said. Dispatchers began receiving calls at 2:19 a.m. for
a fire at 1001 Ocean Ave., with multiple callers indicating people
were trapped. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found a heavy
volume of fire coming from a second floor apartment of the four-story,
brick building. They saw a man hanging off a child gate and were told
a woman had already jumped out a window. The firefighters also learned
more people were trapped in the apartment, so they quickly grabbed
their tools and entered the building...more>
Watch
the video
related...
Firefighters
Recount Flatbush Fire WABC - VIDEO
WABC 7/1/2008
Brooklyn
Fire Victims Speak After Dramatic Escape WCBSTV
7/1/2008
Six
People Injured in Brooklyn Fire MyFoxNY
7/1/2008
Brooklyn
Fire Injures Six NY Daily
News 7/1/2008
Off-Duty
FDNY Firefighter Performs L.I. Highway Rescue
1010
WINS 7/1/2008
 An
off-duty New York City firefighter rescued a man trapped inside a
burning vehicle early Tuesday morning, fire officials said.
Firefighter Edward Bohan, of Engine 44 in Manhattan, was traveling
eastbound on the Grand Central Parkway and Northern State Parkway near
New Hyde Park on his way to play golf at about 4:45 a.m., fire
officials said. He came upon a sports utility vehicle engulfed in
flames, fire officials said. The vehicle had crashed into the woods on
the side of the road, officials said. Bohan, a six-year New York
firefighter, saw the victim inside the car being burned by the flames
and possibly with a broken arm from the impact of the crash, officials
said. The victim could not get his seat belt off or the car door open,
officials said...more>
Exclusive:
Inside the FDNY Special Operations Command (video)
Fox News 7/1/2008
Often
the heroism of New York's Bravest -- the FDNY -- goes unseen because
they do their duty hidden under debris and rubble or inside burning
buildings. But now a Fox 5 crew has captured video of the department's
life-saving techniques. Linda Schmidt has this report on the
firefighters of Special Ops...video>
Port
Authority: Forget About 9/11 Memorial in 2011
NY
Daily News 7/1/2008
 After
years of delays, squabbles and turf wars, officials formally
acknowledged the obvious on Monday: Ground Zero construction is way
over budget and years behind schedule - including its emotional
centerpiece, the 9/11 memorial. "The memorial will not be fully
completed and available for the public in 2011," Port Authority
Executive Director Chris Ward said as he delivered a sober assessment
of the $16 billion project. The memorial - estimated to cost $530
million and then revised to $650 million - was slated to open on the
10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center terror
attacks that killed 2,750 people. An earlier 2009 target date was
scrapped when it became clear that was too optimistic.
Ward
blamed skyrocketing budgets, planning delays, a dismal lack of
coordination and rosy projection dates for the mess.
"The
schedule and cost estimates of the rebuilding effort that have been
communicated to the public are not realistic," Ward told the
bistate agency's board of commissioners.
The
thrust of Ward's comments means the psychic trauma of rebuilding the
complex won't end until the middle of the next decade.
The
Daily News reported Sunday that the Port Authority ignored a secret
state report completed a year ago that said its timetable was
unrealistic and driven by political concerns.
Ward
did not address the issue of the PA's refusal to heed the warnings,
but said: "It is not surprising that others have shared our
concerns in terms of delivery dates, but the important thing we have
to recognize is that it's about what we do going forward."...more>
related...
Don't
Send in the Clowns - They're Already Here NY
Post 7/1/2008
Towering
Incompetence NY Daily News
7/1/2008
Shame
on the Port Authority Glick
Report 7/1/2008
Port
Authority Scraps Deadlines for World Trade Center Ground Zero NY
Post 7/1/2008
Port
Authority: 9/11 Memorial Won't Be Ready for 10th Anniversary NY1
News 7/1/2008
FDNY
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