The War Years
“STANDING FAST “
RETIRED BUT STILL THE BRAVEST
Welcome to “Standing Fast” The official newsletter of the Gene Okane Division of “FDNY Retired., the first & oldest FDNY retirees organization ever organized. We have been chartered in the state of Florida since 1979.
Email: okanefdny@verizon.net Postal Address: FDNY Retired, Box 76 P.O. Box 76, Port Richey, Fl 34673-0076
Presidents Report
October 2023
Upcoming Events:
10-17 Monthly Meeting
10-22 Fall Picnic
11-21 Monthly meeting
11-23 Thanksgiving
12-19 Christmas Dinner Party
OKANE PICNIC
Von Essen Leads 2023 Steuben Day Parade As Grand Marshall
Inside the Forgotten Third World Trade Bldg. Occupied by the CIA that Burned Down on 9/11
by Mary K. Jacob – NY Post – 9.11.23
In the annals of history, the vivid and horrifying images of the Twin Towers collapsing on that fateful Sept. 11, 2001, are etched into the collective memory of Americans. But amid the chaos and devastation of that day, there’s one building that often remains shrouded in obscurity, its significance relegated to the shadows — World Trade Center 7.
On that same day, as the sun dipped below the horizon at 5:20 p.m., Building 7 crumbled to the ground.
Astonishingly, this skyscraper had not been struck by an airplane, and fires raged on only a few of its floors. The reason behind its collapse has long been a subject of contention, with many questioning the official narrative.
The collapse of Building 7 at the World Trade Center often goes unnoticed, but it’s a topic that continues to ignite debate and intrigue more than two decades on.
The occupants of this nearby skyscraper had already evacuated, mirroring the evacuation efforts in most buildings surrounding the Twin Towers.
A shot of the WTC7 building in proximity to the Twin Towers.
The 7 World Trade building collapsed hours after the Twin Towers fell.
Exterior of 7 World Trade Center.
Before that day, the World Trade Center was a sprawling complex, boasting seven buildings in the heart of Lower Manhattan’s Financial District.
Specifically, the Twin Towers, the North Tower standing tall at 1,368 feet and its counterpart, the South Tower at 1,362 feet, held the distinction of being the tallest buildings in the world.
But there was more to the complex than just the iconic twins. Among the ensemble were buildings like the Marriott World Trade Center (3 World Trade Center), 4 World Trade Center, 5 World Trade Center, 6 World Trade Center, and, of course, 7 World Trade Center.
Building 7 was a 47-story structure, enveloped in striking red granite masonry, occupying an unconventional trapezoidal footprint.
Building 7 Weakened by WTC Attack Collapses
https://youtu.be/7ZiMG84hws0?si=dOY1qM9HPHQAVRsY
Unidentified construction workers survey the wreckage at
7 World Trade Center, Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001.
An elevated walkway gracefully spanned Vesey Street, linking the building to the World Trade Center plaza. What made Building 7 even more unique was its position above a ConEd power substation, demanding innovative structural design.
When the building first opened its doors in 1987, it struggled to lure tenants. However, luck changed in 1988 when investment bank Salomon Brothers inked a long-term lease, becoming the anchor tenant.
The secretive world of intelligence agencies also found their home within these walls. Floors 9 and 10 housed the Secret Service, while the 25th floor was home to CIA offices.
On the condition of anonymity, sources told CBS, that intelligence officials had lost a trove of secret documents and crucial intelligence reports stored at the station — either on paper or in computers.
In this Sept. 18, 2001 file photo, a red crane looms over
the smoldering wreckage of Building 7 in New York.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment on the existence of the office, which was first reported by the New York Times back in 2001.
The New York office was a base of operations to spy on and recruit foreign diplomats stationed at the United Nations, while debriefing selected American business executives and others willing to talk to the CIA after returning from overseas.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s 2008 Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 unveiled that floor 14 remained vacant, shedding new light on leasing arrangements from 2001, with Salomon Smith Barney holding floors 15 to 17.
World Trade Center, second from left, is under construction in this Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 file photo of Ground Zero from the nearby Deutsche Bank building in New York.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a report in August 2008, stating that the collapse of Building 7 was no longer a mystery.
According to their findings, the building succumbed to the intense heat of fires ignited by debris from the nearby North Tower collapse. This explanation, however, failed to satisfy a group of engineers and architects who have sought the truth.
Enter the Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911T), a coalition of over 3,000 professionals, including scientists, engineers, and architects, who have dedicated themselves to uncovering the facts.
In 2020, they filed a formal Request for Correction with NIST, backed by a comprehensive 4-year analysis conducted by a team at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
The UAF study challenges NIST’s conclusions, suggesting that the collapse of Building 7 was a “near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building.” This contradicts NIST’s assertion that fire weakened the steel supports, causing them to fail and the building to collapse.
Ted Walter, spokesperson for AE911T, said, “We have filed a request for correction because the NIST report is wrong.” The group believes that understanding the precise reasons behind the building’s collapse is essential from an engineering perspective.
7 World Trade Center, center, the last building to collapse as a result of the World Trade Center attacks Sept. 11, 2001, and the first to be permanently rebuilt, rises above Ground Zero and the World Trade Center station at dusk, Monday, May 22, 2006, in New York.
The UAF study identified fundamental errors in how engineers estimated the rigidity of the building’s outside frame and challenged the idea that the heat from the fires triggered critical structural movements. Moreover, AE911T, including families of the victims, insists that the investigation must be grounded in “science and engineering” and should not dismiss the possibility of controlled demolition as a plausible cause.
The debate intensifies as the UAF study contends that the outside frame was more flexible than the inside structure, making the NIST’s claim of a 6.25-inch displacement untenable. As of today, the mystery surrounding the collapse of World Trade Center 7 remains unresolved, and questions continue to linger.
While the controversy persists, the construction of a new 7 World Trade Center began in 2002 and was completed in 2006.
And though much remains unanswered, one thing is certain: the legacy of Building 7’s collapse will remain an enigmatic and contentious chapter in the history of that tragic day.
Retiree Info Fax #13 of 2023
September 25th
Proof of Life Affidavit
Retirees are advised that the New York City Fire Pension Fund has recently mailed out a Proof of Life Affidavit. The affidavit is mailed to around 3,500 members each year, and it is just to confirm ongoing pension eligibility.
Retirees that receive this letter are asked to complete the affidavit and send it back to the NYC Fire Pension Fund at your earliest convenience to avoid any disruption to your pension. You only need to complete the affidavit if you receive the letter in the mail.
Please contact the NYC Fire Pension Fund at (929) 436-0099 with any questions.
The affidavit request and form can be found by clicking the link below.
NYC Fire Pension Fund Proof of Life Affidavit
“Hey how a bout a quickie”?
A desparate looking woman stood poised on the edge of a cliff, ready to jump. An old homeless man who was passing by said “Look, since you’ll be dead in a few minutes and it won’t matter to you, how about a quickie before you jump?” She screamed “No, you filthy old bastard”. He shrugged &turned away saying “OK, I’ll just wait at the bottom”
see-counselling does work.
Chris Cioffi
Total Number of FDNY Members Who’ve Died from a 9/11-Related Illness Nearly Equals How Many Died at Ground Zero
By D Andrews and C Burke – NY Post – 9.09.23 – UPDATED
A heartbreaking milestone haunts this year’s 9/11 anniversary — 341 FDNY members have now died of Ground Zero-related illnesses, nearly equaling the death toll for city smoke eaters that perished in the 2001 terror attack.“Twenty-two years ago the loss of 343 firefighters was an unimaginable number and sadly the day we pass that milestone is quickly approaching,” Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association, said at a news conference Friday.
“It is inevitable.”
“We’ve attended 40 or so funerals this year for the members that we lost and we know it’s not going to end. So for us it’s every day or every week — but for the general public we have this press conference to remind everyone that it is ongoing and that funding is still needed,” he said.
James Brosi, president of the FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association, warned that “we may exceed” the immediate 9/11 death toll “even before the anniversary.”
In February, Brosi said he lost his own father, Joseph Brosi, who worked at Engine 88 in the Bronx and battled both lung and bladder cancers after 9/11.
Brosi worries now about those who are still sick.
A heartbreaking milestone haunts this year’s 9/11 anniversary as 341 FDNY members have now died of Ground Zero-related illnesses, nearly equaling the death toll of
343 firefighters who died on 9/11.
“In the early anniversaries that immediately followed 9/11, our primary focus was on the people we had lost because that was our greatest concern,” Brosi said.
“And as the years passed, and as the latency period passed for those illnesses that will now affect us, our concern is shifted not only with the people we lost, but the people we’ve lost since, and the people that are now struggling.”
He credited the World Trade Center monitoring program and the medical treatment his dad got for making “a dramatic impact on his quality of life,” recounting there’s been an additional $600 million added “to grow and build funding so that people would have access to this care.”
“We are never going to be able to undo this exposure,” Brosi said.
James Brosi, president of the FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association, warned that
“we may exceed” the immediate 9/11 death toll “even before the anniversary.”
“But we do have the ability and the obligation to limit the effects of this for as long as humanly possible, so that people can live fruitful lives.”
“Being affected with cancer is the absolute worst thing that can happen to you. Worrying about how to pay for it is probably worse than that.”
Ansbro acknowledged the numbers of those dead and dying from 9/11 exposure “are staggering.”
“Three hundred forty-three times two is almost 700 Firefighters –that’s about 6-7% of the entire department at the time,” Ansbro said.
Brosi credited the World Trade Center monitoring program and the medical treatment
his dad got for making “a dramatic impact on his quality of life.”
“It’s important to let people know that their neighbor, maybe someone who’s suffering… for them it’s still on going,” he asserted.
On Wednesday, the FDNY added 43 new names to its World Trade Center Memorial Wall commemorating firefighters, paramedics and civilian support staff members who’ve died from illnesses related to the rescue and recovery efforts after the 9/11 strike, the second largest group to be added to the memorial wall since it was created 12 years ago with 55 names.
My First Firehouse -E 256
By Jim Barry
Adams Warns Cuts of Up to 15% Coming to Every NYC Agency Over Migrant Crisis is ‘Detrimental’
By Rich Calder and Carl Campanile – NY Post – 9.09.23 – UPDATED
Mayor Eric Adams Speaks to New Yorkers https://youtu.be/nUsAPUdCLkg?si=WOrdI3VzmMN2f-V6
Mayor Eric Adams’ demand for budget cuts of up to 15% across all New York City agencies could gut a host of critical municipal services, including trash pickups, afterschool programs and cops, experts told The Post.New Yorkers will have to endure a decrease in many city-backed services, including extra sanitation routes, Chris Coffey, CEO of Tusk Strategies and former aide to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, told The Post.
Mayor Eric Adams ordered city agencies to slash their budget by 5% Saturday.
“It just depends on how creative each commissioner is on how to do more with less,” Coffey said, noting OT hours for police officers could hit the chopping block.
Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, said that the latest round of proposed cuts by Adams would be a “doomsday scenario” for the city’s schools.
Slashing funding would translate into “a loss of after-school programs, larger class sizes — they’d have to cut everything,” Haimson said.
DSNY could slash trash routes and composting programs to meet the city’s latest budget cut mandate.
The president of the city’s EMS union said that slashing emergency medical services funding will have “deadly consequences.”
Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association, said the fire department is already stretched so thin the only cuts he could envision were “gutting everything in headquarters and all the fire prevention, recruitment efforts and everything else” besides the rank-and-file.
“You couldn’t close companies or not put out ambulances because we’re already understaffed and overworked,” he said. “I really don’t know where the money would come from.”
Oren Barzilay, president of the local union repping 4,000 EMS workers and fire inspectors, warned they are already underfunded and cuts will have “deadly consequences.”
“There are times the public has to wait half an hour to an hour for an ambulance, if not longer,” he said.
One longtime Brooklyn cop was astonished by the mayor’s orders, noting any NYPD budget cuts will mean fewer cops through attrition and gutting funds for equipment.
“They’d be cutting the budget for cars and I don’t know how they could do that because there aren’t enough cars right now,” he said.
Democratic strategist George Arzt, a former spokesman for Mayor Ed Koch, said New Yorkers will almost certainly see fewer hours or days libraries are open, and parks maintenance services will also be reduced.
Okane Club participates in Various 9-11 Ceremonies
Ten Of the brothers attended a wreath laying at our monument at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Louis Kikis & Rich Miccio lay the wreath at our monument.
Below – some of the brothers at Curlew hill ceremony: L. to R. Dave Ireland, Chris Cioffi, Steve Mc Nally, Louis Kikis.
Pictured left: Rich Miccio lights the eternal flame & right
NYC’s Overspending is Bigger Problem than Migrant Crisis: Budget Watchdog
By Carl Campanile and Craig McCarthy – NY Post – 9.12.23
Mayor Eric Adams is blaming the city’s multibillion-dollar budget hole on the migrant crisis, but more than half the deficit really stems from City Hall’s massive spending on other issues, a Big Apple budget watchdog says.
“While serving the rapid influx of migrants and asylum seekers has massively strained the City’s finances, this cost is not the sole cause of the City’s fiscal problems,” said Citizens Budget Commission director Andrew Rein in an analysis released Sunday — the same day Hizzoner doubled-down on his warning the issue will “destroy” the Big Apple if it doesn’t get more federal and state help.
“Less than half of the potential fiscal year 2025 $13.8 billion budget gap is attributable to the $6.1 billion the City estimates services to migrants will cost next year,” Rein said.
Adams’ previous budget-cutting efforts also “were overmatched nearly 3 to 1 by additional spending for new and expanded programs, collective bargaining, pensions, and the failure to address the federal and City fiscal cliffs,” the budget expert said.
“Restructuring operations to significantly reduce costs would be critical now even without the migrant crisis,” he said.
Citizens Budget Commission director Andrew Rein admits migrants are not the main reason for the city’s fiscal issues.
Rein said other spending not connected to the migrant crisis — including hefty pay raises for the city workforce negotiated by Adams’s team — was made without the needed offsetting productivity savings.
“We are spending more than we can afford. We already had significant fiscal problems of our own making that we were not solving,” Rein told The Post on Monday.
Rein said the mayor and council added $2.6 billion in spending to the budget that is not supported by recurring revenues, given that federal COVID-19 funding and other sources of revenue are drying up.
Uniformed agencies like the NYPD are asked to cut overtime.
“The fiscal cliff programs — ongoing programs funded by federal covid and non recurring City revenues –should be scrutinized to see how essential they are, since they are already unfunded in the future, “he said, although, “The City may determine they are higher impact than other programs, and ones chosen to protect.”
The added spending that should go under the microscope for potential cuts, according to the CBC.
The spending involves some city Department of Education programs: $184 million for expansion of special education pre-k; $84 million for mental support; $78 million for community schools to offer after-school and summer programs; $25 million for digital learning, gift and talented programs and wellness programs and $16 million for child-care programs.
Other programs and pricetags funded with non-recurring funds include: $558 million in rental vouchers for families with children, $41 million to cover wages for shelter security and $25 million for additional litter-basket collection.
Mayor Eric Adams blamed the city’s multibillion-dollar
budget hole on the migrant crisis.
“Less than half of the potential fiscal year 2025 $13.8 billion budget gap is attributable to the $6.1 billion the City estimates services to migrants will cost next year,” Rein added.
Adams said the migrant influx could cost the city $12 billion in the next three years and that Big Apple agencies will have to immediately come up with cuts of 5% — and possibly a total of 15% by spring — although city Budget Director Jacques Jiha warned that even the more draconian figure would still “only cover two-thirds of our projected asylum costs.”
The plan includes prodding the NYPD and other uniformed agencies to slash overtime, as well as a hiring freeze — except for public health and safety and “revenue producers” — but even critical positions can only be filled to replace a vacancy, not add jobs.
Asked about the criticism regarding overspending, City Hall defended the wage hikes for city workers including police, fire and teachers as “fair and reasonable” — and overdue.
“Investing in our workforce is critical for recruiting and retaining top talent, and ensuring our city functions efficiently and effectively,” the statement said.
Budget Director Jacques Jiha warned that even the more draconian figure would still “only cover two-thirds of our projected asylum costs.”
Adams said the migrant influx could cost the city $12 billion in the next three years.
A mayoral spokesman said it is premature to discuss what specific programs will be part of the budget reduction to be considered in November.
The CBC did praise Adams for taking action to curb some spending and to pressure Washington and Albany to shoulder a larger share of the costs to shelter and assist migrants.
“Mayor Eric Adams is taking the right step right now, directing agencies to propose 5 percent budget savings — PEGs [Program to Eliminate the Gap] — for the November plan and to prepare for two more 5 percent rounds in January and April,” Rein’s analysis said.
“These are a substantial and challenging lift, but critical to closing the City’s massive budget gaps; the fiscal year 2025 gap alone may exceed $13 billion if the City’s asylum seeker cost estimate proves accurate,” he said.
“NYC should not bear this much of the cost of serving new migrants and asylum seekers. The federal government should provide much more fiscal aid, and the State’s recently increased commitment is welcome, but should be bigger. The migrant crisis is a shared responsibility.
“For the City’s part, the Mayor is right to direct agencies to reduce the costs of shelter and services, which appear extraordinarily high.”
Mayor Adams Drops Bombshell, Says Migrant Crisis Will ‘Destroy’ NYC
by Michael Gartland – NY Daily News – 9.07.23 – UPDATED
MAYOR ADAMS RIPS BIDEN OVER MIGRANT CRISIS
https://youtu.be/gTUhMDoMTpA?si=-iuVZvNUI_Xwkhku
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Biden Admin Shredded over Border Crisis – FOX News
https://youtu.be/hfqetNfZ4cM?si=dAqfLKKDnATWX8K9
Mayor Adams predicted Wednesday night that the influx of more than 110,000 migrants will “destroy” New York City and continued his demands for the federal government to step up efforts to address what he called a “national crisis.”
Adams’ comments represent perhaps his starkest rhetoric yet on the situation, which began to take shape in the spring of last year when asylum seekers started flooding into the city after crossing into American border states — with some coming to New York on buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
“I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City. We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month,” he said at a town hall-style meeting on the Upper West Side. “All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000, and I’m telling you now with 110,000 — the city we knew, we’re about to lose.”
Adams’ remarks came just hours after his administration announced the city would remove hundreds of single adult migrants from hotels and move them to a mega shelter on Randalls Island to make room families with children amid a shortage of shelter space.
For more than a year, he and his administration have struggled to process the flow of asylum seekers to the city and in response have adopted measures such as opening additional shelters, using hotel rooms as provisional shelters and trying to roll back the right-to-shelter law, which requires the city provide housing to anyone who seeks it within a proscribed time frame.
Advocates to the left of the mayor have largely supported his calls on the feds and state government to do more, but have also chided him for what they view as his sometimes inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the issue.
In a joint statement from the Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless — which is currently in a legal entanglement with the city over its right-to-shelter provision — called Adams’ comments “dangerous rhetoric” that one would “expect from fringe politicians on the far-right of the political spectrum, not from the mayor of a city that has always welcomed and celebrated its diverse and critically important immigrant community.”
Jews for Racial & Economic Justice criticized Adams, a more moderate Democrat, for his recent remarks on Thursday and suggested that instead of pursuing austerity measures, he should invest more wisely in the city’s social safety net.
Family from Venezuela along with dozens of other migrants/immigrants families are seen arriving from Texas at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
“What threatens to destroy New York City are billionaires trying to turn our city into a playground for the wealthy few, and the politicians who dine with them and choose to defund social services while criminalizing poverty and spreading fear & division,” the group said in a statement posted on social media.
Advocates have also criticized what they view as his failure to effectively utilize the tools already at his disposal.
In a letter to the mayor’s office obtained by the Daily News, more than three dozen advocacy groups slammed Adams for how he’s handled the crisis — and demanded he change course.
In a laundry list of policy prescriptions, the groups called on the administration to use thousands of vacant apartments under the city’s control to house the migrants, expand its use of housing vouchers and end a relatively new city policy that allows single adult migrants to remain in city shelters for only 60 days before they have to find “alternate housing.”
The groups — which include the New York Working Families Party, Urban Justice Center, VOCAL-NY and the Bronx Defenders — decried the 60-day rule as denying migrants access to the right to shelter.
“The city’s framing of the arrival of immigrants as a crisis deflects from the real issue — the city has not gotten a handle on its long-term housing and homelessness crises. This is not because of recent arrivals to New York — our city has always been a city of immigrants,” the groups said. “It is because of a lack of progress on issues critical to all New Yorkers — homelessness, housing affordability, and housing preservation. Framing this as a ‘migrant problem’ invites racism and xenophobia.”
Republicans largely embraced Adams’ dire message, though.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Long Island) praised him for “admitting” the city’s predicament.
“The first step toward solving a problem is admitting you have one,” said the Suffolk County Republican. “Credit to Mayor Adams for being truthful in this clip about the scope of NYC’s migrant crisis. Now, he must repeal NYC’s sanctuary policies.”
Councilman Joe Borelli, a Staten Island Republican and minority leader, also echoed the sentiment.
“NYC is doomed. The migrant crisis is sinking us. People need to protest the feds,” he said, paraphrasing Adams’ remarks. “Turn the buses around.”
Okane Club Dues And The Booster
Brothers, you don’t have to be reminded of how the the Corona Virus has affected every facet of our lives, as well as businesses small and large. Well, in a sense our club is a business also. Although we have no paid employees, the club depends upon the prompt and timely payment of your dues to pay it’s expenses: mail expenses, all newsletter costs, monthly rental of the American Legion hall etc.. We are looking at the very real prospect of no meetings for the first few months of 2021. Since many of you pay your dues directly to Mike Doyle at the meetings, you may not have that opportunity until things change. You are urged not to forget to pay your dues before the end of January, 2021. You can see Mike’s address near the bottom of this page.
Don’t forget about the Booster. 100% of the revenue from the Booster goes directly to pay for the club’s internet, website and all newsletter related expenses. You can remember anyone for $5 for the entire year. The club is counting on you.
Moving? New Contact Information?
You are reminded that if you have moved, changed your phone number or email address recently, it is your responsibility to notify the club. This is the main reason why members fail to receive the newsletter or club information. It’s easy just – email: okanefdny@verizon.net or call: 727-859-5847.
Please
THE OKANE BOOSTER CLUB
BaalJoe3 Mem Dennis Cross
BaalJoe3 Mem Gary Barbara
BaalJoe3 Mem Billy McGovern
BaalJoe3 Mem Ed Gerhearty
Barry Jim 3 All Of Our 343 Fallen Brothers
Bartolo Ralph2 Mem Malcom Malkasian E285 L142
Bartolo Ralph2 Mem Malcom Malkasian E285 L142
Bartolo Ralph2 Mem all members of 9-11
Bartolo Ralph2 Mem all members of 9-11
Bartolo Ralph3 Mem Tom Earl E285 -L142
Bartolo Ralph3 Mem Malcom Malkazian E285-L142
Bartolo Ralph3 Mem of all who perished on 9-11
Bartolo Ralph3 Mem BC Robert Costa
BasslerBill3 Mem of all 9-11
Calabro Jeff4 Mem my father Edward Calabro R.I.P.
Calabro Jeff4 Mem my father Edward Calabro R.I.P.
Calabro Jeff4 Mem my father Edward Calabro R.I.P.
Calabro Jeff4 Mem my father Edward Calabro R.I.P
Corby Earl3 Members of 343
Deszcz Lenny3 E309, L159
Desccz Lenny3 E290, L 103
Ditta Charile2 Mem Richard Prunty Bn2
Ditta Charile2 Mem BC Ed Wertzel E 231
Ditta Charile2 Mem Fr Seynour Schenker E 231
DittaCharile2 John Braunagle L 48
Ditta Charile2 Mem John B Greehy E3
Falk Artie5 L 24
Falk Artie 5 L24
Falk Artie 5 E1
Holleran Edward3 All Members past & present
Dunscomb Jim3 E 82
Dunscomb Jim5 E82
Dunscomb Jim5 E82
Falk Artie5 L 24
Fey Tom5 Mem Jack Birmingham
Incarnato Charles5 Mem Danny Luizzi E314
Incarnato Charles5 Mem Danny Luizzi E314
Holleran Ed5 All past & Present Firemen
Kikis Louis5 Never Forget
Kikis Louis5 E22, L 13
Kikis Louis5 E88, L 38
Kikis Louis5 Jeff Giordano L 3
Linares Lou2 Mem Frank Hughes
Mathieson Jack Leadership Of Okane Div.
Martinsen Ron3 Mem Ed Humburg L126
Martinsen Ron3 Mem Bob Bruce L126
Martinsen Ron3 Mem Barney Forman E303
Martinson Ron3 Mem Tom Burton E332
Martinsen Ron3 Mem Tom Nuccio E332
Martinsen Ron3 Mem Bob Ferry E332
McFey Tom5 Jack Birmingham
McDonald Lorraine3 Mem J. “Don” McDonald L142
McDonald Lorraine3 Mem J. “Don” McDonald L 142
Mckenna Jim2 Mem BC Ron Quartuccio Bn39
McKenna Jim2 Mem Lt. Peter McGreavy L 120
McKenna Jim Mem Lt Patrick Maune E332
McKenna Jim2 Mem BC Joseph Brocco Bn44
McKenna Jim2 Mem Fr Sonny Caruso E94
McKenna Jim2 Mem Fr Thomas Slevin Bn3
McKenna Jim2 Mem Fr Manny Pena L48
McKenna Jim2 Mem Fr Michael Gilvary L7
McKenna Jim3 BC Donald Quartuccio Bn 39
McKenna Jim3 Lt Peter McGreavy L120
McKenna Jim3 Lt Patrick Maune E332
McKenna Jim3 BC Joseph Brocco Bn44
McKenna Jim3 Fr Sonny Caruso E94
McKenna Jim3 Fr Jim Slevin Bn3
McKenna Jim3 Fr Manuel Pena L48
McKenna Jim3 Capt. Robert J. Majeski L175, E293
McVeigh Tom3 Mem Jack Birmingham
Murphy John3 Mem BC John O’Regan
Murphy John3 Mem Larry Fitzpatrick L26
Murphy John3 Mem Capt. Patty Brown L3
Murphy John3 Mem Lt. Robert Nagle
Nilsson Mike3 E 303, L 126, 343
Nilsson Mike3 E 303, L 126, 343
Nilsson Mike3 E 303, L 126, 343
Nilsson Mike3 E 303, L 126, 343
Pascucci Anthony2 Mario Pascucci E 58
Pascucci Anthony2 Mario Cassini E 75
Pascucci Anthony2 Michael Reilly E 75
Pasquale John5 FF John Casey Pasquale L 107
Pasquale John5 FF John H. Carmichael L 7
Pasquale John5 BC William H Carmichael Bn 35
Pasquale John5 10/16/66 55-598 L 7
Pasquale John5 9-11-01 Sq 252
Pasquale John5 FF John Casey Pasquale L107
Pasquale John5 FF John H. Carmichael L7
Pasquale John5 BC William H. Carmichael Bn35
Pasquale John5 10/16/66 55-598 L7
Pasquale John5 9-11-01 Sq 252
Quartuccio Ron2 Batt 39, L103, E 290
Quartuccio Ron2 Batt 39, L103, E 290
Quartuccio Ron2 Batt 39, L103, E290
Reina Tony2 Mem Tom McDevit
Reina Tony2 Fr terry Cullen L138
Reina Tony2 Mem Fr Bob Stermer
Reina Tony2 Mem Fr Ed Richter
Reinna Tony5 Mem Tom McDevitt, Lt Bob Nagel, Fr Terry Cullen, Fr Bob Stermer
Savarese Jim2 Mem Ron Quartuccio
Savarese Jim The Tin House Gang E232, L 176
Tarantino Ron2 Mem lou Tarantino
Tarantino Ron2 Mem Det Sgt. James Van Valen
Tarantino Ron3 Mem Lou Tarantino
Tarantino Ron3 Mem Det Sgt James Van Valen
Tarantino Ron3 Mem Nick Barone
Waligovska Richard2 E229 R2 L40 Sq1 L175 BN6 The best job in the world
Waligovska Lydia5 Missing my B.C. more than anyone in my life – my Richie, Lydia
Who is it, What is it, where is it ?
you will get the answer at the bottom of this page.
A new Settlement Cuffs Cops and Guarantees More Protests Will Become Riots
Editorial Board – NY Post – 9.12.23
Once again, the city has agreed to a bad court settlement that will make New York harder to govern.
This one puts new cuffs on cops: The NYPD must stop “kettling” crowds of unruly protesters.
It was bad enough when City Hall agreed to pay $13 million to Black Lives Matter protesters — nearly 10 grand per rioter — who’d gotten themselves arrested amid the looting, arson and violence that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The settlement of this case, stemming from the same 2020 protests, ends the crowd-control tactic where cops corral packs of unruly demonstrators before arresting or taking other action against individual members of the crowd.
Mayor Eric Adams said this will “ensure that we are both protecting public safety and respecting protesters’ First Amendment rights.”
Huh? These 2020 protests (and some the next year) were routinely breaking COVID curfew restrictions, and the demos regularly turned into full-on riots, accompanied by looting and arson.
The Occupy City Hall protest.
“Protesters” often assaulted officers, even tossing Molotov cocktails at police vehicles.
Night after night saw full-blown battles in the streets, as out-of-town anarchists and radicals flooded into the city thinking they might start a revolution and criminal gangs exploited the chaos.
Provocateurs handed out bats to Occupy City Hall thugs ahead of a “community and clergy march” against gun violence and in support of the NYPD in July 2020.
On MLK Jr. Day in January 2021, “peaceful protesters” injured 11 cops — including a captain struck in the head with a bottle.
The fact is that the option of kettling a crowd that gets out of control allows greater freedom for protest: Demonstrations went right up to the entrances to Madison Square Garden during the Republican convention here in 2004.
An NYPD van burns during a George Floyd protest in May of 2020.
Yes, the NYPD several times kettled mobs to cool things down — but Boston’s answer for the Democratic convention that same year was to cordon off a quarter of the city from the whole public, creating a huge “frozen zone.”
Which approach better “respects protesters’ First Amendment rights”?
This settlement follows deals struck by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio that limit or outright prevent such tried-and-true crime-fighting tactics as “vertical patrols” in public-housing projects and stop-question-and-(maybe)-frisk of individuals who’ve triggered an officer’s suspicions.
A crowd forms in front of an NYPD van that was set ablaze during a George Floyd protest.
And it’s not just the NYPD that gets hamstrung by such settlements: Another one created the ridiculous “right to shelter” that now leaves the city burning billions to house illegal migrants.
Elected lawmakers aren’t the only ones making it ever-harder for the city to function rationally with idiocy like the no-bail law: It’s also court agreements like this one, which ends one minor headache now but is sure to bring curses from a future mayor and the innocent civilians who suffer because cops have lost a key tool for preventing protests from turning into riots.
Answer to “Who Is It” What Is It” “Where Is It”
NYPD Can Expect a Flood of Retirements after NYC Mayor Adams’ Proposal to $lash Overtime for Migrant Cost-Cutting
By J O’Neill, C Campanile and C McCarthy – NY Post – 9.12.23
The NYPD can expect a brain drain thanks to a flood of retirements if overtime is cut as proposed by Mayor Adams to help plug a multibillion-dollar, migrant-fueled budget hole, police sources say.
“A lot of people that are eligible to retire are going to leave if the overtime stops because overtime is pensionable,” an NYPD sergeant said Monday.
New York’s Finest “haven’t heard anything officially” about a potential reduction in overtime, but the source told The Post that such a move wouldn’t make financial sense.
“We’re already at critical staffing levels, and it’s cheaper to pay overtime than it is to hire another officer,” the source said, explaining that health care and other benefits had already been paid for when an existing officer picks up a shift.
In addition to possible police, fire, sanitation and correction OT cuts, all branches of government in the Big Apple have been told to slash spending by 5% — and potentially up to 15% by spring — to mitigate the “skyrocketing costs” of New York City’s migrant crisis without more federal aid.
Recent city initiatives such as special education pre-K expansion, rent supplement for families with children and additional litter-basket collection should also be ripe for the chopping block, according to budget watchdogs.
NYPD Officers, NYC Sanitation workers and NYC Homeless Outreach officers stormed the Migrants mini city under BQE on Hall Street and dumped it into a sanitation truck.
Possible belt-tightening measures for the city were very generally laid out in a Saturday directive to Big Apple agencies by Jacques Jiha, the director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.
Sources said news of the percentage cuts and the memo were rushed over fears of a leak, leaving the missive begging a number of questions.
Approximately 100 parents and children who attend PS #172 in Sunset Park held a rally today in front of the school.
Newly arrived immigrants were dropped off at the Port Authority.
Jiha warned in the memo that without a “infusion of significant aid from the federal government,” the city will be forced to slash costs to cover the expected $12 billion bill for sheltering migrants from the southern border over the next three years.
“We are a city of immigrants, and we will always welcome people from around the world in search of a better life, but the financial cost of the current crisis is staggering and not sustainable,” he wrote.
For cops, the possibility of slashed overtime was mentioned.
Mayor Adams plans to cut overtime for police officers.
Jacques Jiha is the director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.
But the NYPD source that while there would be pain over such a move, there’s an upside, too — for some officers who are currently being forced to work extra hours against their will.
“Morale will improve among some cops if overtime is cut because a lot of them are being forced to do unwanted overtime,” the sergeant said.
But sources at several city agencies also complained that guidance was scant from City Hall as to what they should be doing to cut costs.
New York City Police Academy graduates.
At City Hall, a top Adams aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, huddled with budget officials Monday. The administration declined comment on what was discussed.
Andrew Rein, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a non-profit think tank, said a list of programs that were added to the city budget just two months ago should be considered for the chopping block.
“The fiscal cliff programs — ongoing programs funded by federal COVID and non recurring City revenues — should be scrutinized to see how essential they are, since they are already unfunded in the future. But the City may determine they are higher impact than other programs, and ones chosen to protect,” he said in an analysis.
A new migrant center has been set up on Staten Island at a former Catholic school
called Saint John Villa Academy.
The programs include $735 million worth of DOE initiatives such as special-ed pre-k expansion, mental-health support and digital learning and gifted and talented programs, he said.
Jiha said in his memo, “The city is experiencing a humanitarian crisis that we did not cause.
“We are responding to an enormous influx of migrants, most of whom arrive with young children and limited means.”
In addition to the proposed cuts, the city plans to “impose a hiring freeze, limit contractual spending, reduce uniform agency overtime spending, and freeze city funded new agency spending,” the budget chief said.
Nearly 60,000 asylum seekers are currently being sheltered by the city, and some 110,000 have come through the five boroughs from the southern border since last spring, according to officials.
THE END