March 4, 2016 Column: Hundreds of Fire Alarms Installed in Williamsburg Drive by the Red Cross, UJO, Hatzolah and Shomrim

The March 4th column, also reported on the very-successful Smoke Alarm Drive, last Sunday, conducted by the Red Cross, the UJO, Williamsburg Hatzolah and Shomrim. Hundreds of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were installed in Williamburg.

The free smoke alarms were enabled thanks to the #GetAlarmedNYC initiative by the NYC Council announced by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Councilman Chaim Deutsch, after the terrible tragedy that took lives of the Sasoon family almost a year ago in Flatbush, jointly with Mayor de Blasio, the FDNY Foundation and the Red Cross of NY. Assemblyman Lentol was present at the kickoff of the drive, Sunday morning, expressing his strong support for the life-saving effort.

At a meeting arranged by Senator Daniel Squadron about two years ago, the UJO of Williamsbnurg formed a strong partnership with the Red Cross of NY, together with the Williamsburg Hatzolah and Shomrim, under which the volunteers are training with the Red Cross and are joining the Red Cross Volunteer network to respond to disasters. This partnership let to this very successful fire alarm drive, to make Williamsburg homes safer.

"I'm thankful to the Red Cross for undertaking this drive, working closely with us to protect hundreds of families. A special thanks for the devoted volunteers, and the volunteers of Shomrim headed by Coordinator Yanki Itzkowitz, for devoting so much time and efforts for this drive; and for the Hatzolah headed by Coordinator Yom Tov Malik, for opening their garage for the drive," said Rabbi Niederman, UJO President.

"A special thanks to Captain Garfield Richards of the Red Cross and Kelly McKinney, Red Cross Emergency Manager, for leading the drive, and all their co-volunteers," Rabbi Niederman added.

"I also want to thank Senator Squadron for forming the close collaboration of the UJO with the Red Cross, together with Hatzolah and Shomrim. It was very helpful during fires and it led to this successful drive. I also want to thank Assembklyman Lentol for participating at the event to give his support for it."

"I thank Speaker Viverito, Councilman Chaim Deutsch and the entire City Council for passing the initiative to provide free fire alarms to save lives, and Mayor de Balsio and the Fire Department for joining this initiative," Rabbi Niederman concluded.

Due to the demand of hundreds of families who pre-registered, a number of additional drives are planned to install alarms in those apartments who pre-registered but the teams didn't get to them yet.

 

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Statement by Rabbi David Niederman on Mayor de Blasio’s Base Lining of Additional Priority 5 Child Care Vouchers

“The community is tremendously thankful to Mayor de Blasio for base lining an additional 12.6 million dollars to fund Priority 5 vouchers for working parents, bringing crucial assistance to so many poor, hard-working families and their children city-wide. Base lining will give these families the peace of mind and security that they will be able to continue benefitting from it on a steady basis, so that they can look and find permanent work,” said Rabbi David Niederman.

Mayor de Blasio was always a strong proponent of extending child care services for working families, and from day one as mayor he was committed to reopen this important assistance to additional eligible children. Last year, the City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito included 12.6 million dollars for additional vouchers. It followed the strong advocacy of Councilman Stephen Levin, Chair of the General Welfare Committee, who was joined by many of his colleagues who called the city to restart issuing new Priority 5 vouchers – discontinued by the Bloomberg Administration.  The funding was enabled through the support of the Mayor. Today’s announcement by the mayor, that it will be base lined in the routine budget, as requested by the City Council, goes a long way in making this restoration permanent.

“We thank Speaker Mark-Viverito, Councilman Levin, and Mr. Avi Fink, for their hard work to expand child care services to all New Yorkers. Today’s decision is another step forward in the Mayor’s hard work to uplift all New Yorkers. We are grateful for that,” said Rabbi Niederman.