helicopper

So the shoes are safe, in a closet in his apartment. Nice.

Tis the season...

The "chauffer" has the responsibility to safely operate the vehicle, not supervise passengers. I agree they should be in the front seat but the driver shouldn't have his attention divided so it's a catch-22.

Isn't that the overall department and OEM is a division within?

If anyone is interested in THREE (3) tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular this SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 at 4:30 PM, a friend is trying to unload tickets due to a schedule conflict with a game scheduled for that afternoon. Seats are center orchestra, row L (supposed to be great). Contact for more info if interested and I'll put you touch with the ticket holder.

Date: 11-29-12 Time: approximately 1300 Location: Mount Vernon High School, 100 California Road Frequency: Numerous Units: Mount Vernon PD (all on-duty plus recall) MTA PD Westchester County PD DEP PD Other Local PD Units Special Units - K9, Aviation, Youth Bureau, DD operating Weather Conditions: clear and cold Reporters: numerous Writer: helicopper Large fight at Mount Vernon High School. Multiple arrests and a few injuries. Inner perimeter around school and out perimeter for traffic/crowd control. All other city schools on lockdown and phased dismissal at direction of MVPD. Units being deployed to specific areas for other school dismissals and crowd control. 1340 - All MVPD will be blue/gray until further notice. That is an MVPD officer and State Trooper riding together in a single vehicle. 1432 - All mutual aid with the exception of MTA PD and State Police being released by MVPD.

With all the new lotteries and gaming at the Race-ino's and stuff, how is it that the schools aren't enjoying a financial windfall from all this extra income? Why do school taxes continue to climb each year instead of being held off by all these lottery/gaming revenues???

"This is whining about getting wet"?!?!?!?! That's got to be one of the most demoralizing and mean-spirited remarks I've heard. Wow.

If there is a link to this picture online, the link may be posted so others can view it.

What do you mean DOT troopers?

Just to our south and east, one of the biggest challenges to emergency management and disaster recovery is unfolding. Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless by Sandy and their entire communities are devastated. This isn't just a matter of replacing basement carpet and some sheet rock. Entire neighborhoods in NY and NJ have been wiped out. The infrastructure in some of these communities was also destroyed and must be completely rebuilt, from the underground up. The first issue is where to put all these people, especially now that the temperatures are dropping and winter is around the corner. They can't continue to live as squatters in the debris field that was once their neighborhood. Without electricity, heat, water, sanitation, this will soon become a public health problem as well. How will communities that were barely able to sustain their municipal budgets afford to rebuild EVERYTHING? Did we really learn anything from Katrina or will we have to repeat all the mistakes that were made in response to that storm again? Who will bear the expense of rebuilding and who will make the decision about whether or not it is appropriate to make an investment like that on a barrier island that could be hit again next hurricane season? Just as Katrina was for the gulf coast and NOLA, Sandy will continue to be a crisis for sometime to come.

http://www.nypost.co...ONmw5SLdwaJyt8M (emphasis added)

Whether we like it or not, the calls for "nonsense" are part of the job too.

Despite assurances that public safety, emergency services, and other essential functions will not be affected by budget cuts, the County Police will lose 5 positions in the 2013 budget and DES will lose 19. I can't imagine that there are 19 open lines at DES so these cuts must have an impact on operations and real personnel. Where are these cuts coming from and how will DES be able to maintain their operations and support disaster responses (like Sandy) with almost 1/3 fewer people???? While discussing the roof is nice, the roof won't answer 911 calls or conduct training or staff the EOC! I should add that there are no changes to the County Executive's or the Board of Legislators staffs proposed in the budget. They remain as is.

Well, I'm just guessing but I imagine that their stipend will be paid by contract instead of as a part-time employee. The issue I wonder about is if they're a contractor, how will they be covered by insurance, etc.?

In the past few years they've gotten fewer and fewer vehicles which is another problem. They're operating an older fleet with higher and higher mileage for longer than ever before. The maintenance costs have to be rising and the likelihood that a vehicle will fail at an inopportune time is higher. Then there's the issue of situations like Sandy where DPS has to put out more units than normal. Where do they get the extra patrol cars? The Hertz or Avis police counter? And I've been told that DES will be forced to cut five administrative lines (that are occupied) in addition to the three dispatcher lines they gave up a couple of years ago. All the EMS and fire battalion coordinators are being changed from part-time employee to contractor which is what makes their numbers so high.

Flag people get $40/hour? Where do I sign up?

I'm sick of BS bashing and bitching too but intelligent, rational discussions about critical things like the future of our emergency services need to happen. To say that a department who can't get out the door needs to address it by paying personnel or a career department needs to reduce its budget by augmenting staffing with properly trained and qualified volunteers is "bashing" is very narrow-minded. Are there members here with an agenda? Sure, just like in every firehouse or EMS station! Get over it! We're all entitled to different opinions and if we can't exchange them without crying about it, we're never going to see anything improve. We just endured one of the most contentious elections in recent memory - at several levels, not just the presidency - but we're still all working side by side regardless of who we voted for. Why can't we simply agree to disagree, respect someone else for having a different opinion than ourselves and move on? Seriously, political correctness and fear of offending anyone and everyone has stifled some very important dialogue. All you have to do is look at the municipal budget crises to see that we are approaching a cliff also and will soon be facing people with torches and pitchforks demanding changes and savings and accountability. If you'd rather just discuss apparatus chevrons, flashing lights, and post, and post and repost nonsense, carry on. [/rant]

Well, given the thread about the lack of original content here, I thought I would point out that there have been several threads (including this one) started recently that could result in discussion but nobody has risen to the occasion except as above. It's all up to you...

Are there any city-based FD/EMS resources in Broad Channel?

Well taxes are certainly going to be the death of me so good old Ben was right on both.

Posted at the request of another member... Thank you (anonymous)!

As one EMTBravo member has been saying for so long he ought to change his name to "chicken little", the first of what will likely be many such crises is starting to play out in Rockland. http://www.lohud.com...ess-scrutinized http://www.midhudson...et-24Oct12.html

Attached is the report referenced in the articles. Rockland-County-Budget-Crisis.pdf

That was a CLASSIC!