 |
For many years New York City has funded all New York City’s ten volunteer fire departments’ workers compensation insurance premiums. This insurance costs $34,000+ annually per department. The insurance premiums were due November 1. This past week all the volunteer companies in NYC have received insurance cancellation notices. Insurance will be terminated if payment is not made in full by November 26, 2008. This insurance is mandatory! If a department operates without the insurance they will be fined $1000 per day for not having VFBL Insurance.
The New York City Volunteer Fire Department Association, in which GBFD is a member of, has been contacting the council member’s offices, mayor’s office, and Anthony Weiner’s office. This is not a large enough voice for them to know that we mean business.
We NEED EVERYONE in Gerrittsen Beach to contact Lew Fidler’s office, the Mayor’s office, and Anthony Weiner’s office and tell them we need the funds for this insurance by next Wednesday, November 26, 2008 or the Vollies will unable to operate, for there is no way they can afford the insurance premium or $1000 per day fine.
Emphasize to the politicians that if insurance funds are not released it will cause all the departments to shut down, for none of them can afford the premium. These departments shutting down does not just mean these neighborhoods will loose their volunteer fire departments, but it also means they will loose their ambulance services!
Gerrittsen Beach’s Council member: Lew Fidler
District Office: 718-241-9330
Manhattan Office: 212-788-7286
Email: fidler@council.nyc.ny.us
Anthony Weiner’s Office:
Anthony Weiner
Brooklyn Office: 718-743-0441
Mayor’s Aide:
Matt Gorton
City Hall: 212-788-8526
Email: mgorton@cityhall.nyc.gov
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
Sincerely,
Joseph Shovlin
GBFD Treasurer
I sent e-mail’s to all three. Here is Anthony Weiner’s e-mail:
Weiner@mail.house.gov
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I believe that Councilman Fidler was addressed by the Incoming Chief of the Vollies John Czap and he was very positive that this will be taken care of in the City Council.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
thank you.. What happened to the roofers of the neighborhood? Are they stepping up to fix the roof in the training hall? Can they do the labor for free as a donation?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
FREE? I think that is too much to ask. Everyone is suffering through some hard times right now. Roofers have to pay bills too. I would maybe ask for a discount, free is expecting too much right now.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
If you don’t ask then you won’t receive. The Vollies don’t charge for their services right? Why would it be too much to ask for “Volunteers to do some roofing on the side.”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
No. but then it wouldn’t be a “donation”. It would be volunteering.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The Vollies do not charge any patient directly. What the Vollies do is called Revenue Recovery. If a patient has medical insurance, medicare, medicaid, or in such cases of motor vehicle accidents: automobile insurance the Vollies take the insurance information and bill the insurance carrier. Any funds the insurance carrier pays to the Vollies they accept. If the insurance does not cover the ambulance transport the Vollies DO NOT ACCEPT any payment directly from the patient. Therefore, the Vollies are in essence receiving “free money;” there is NO COST for the patient directly!
Some people may receive multiple letters from our insurance company asking for further information that the EMT did not obtain during patient care, but that is all the letter is asking. They will never ask for any money directly from the patient, only ask for further information so they can acquire the funds from the patient insurance carrier.
Sincerely,
Joe Shovlin
GBFD Treasurer
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Each Member of the Vollies gives hundreds of hours a year to the Community of Gerritsen Beach for FREE.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if the roofers of the community got together to give a days work to a building that every one of the community benefits from? This is the Training hall for the Vollies.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thats a great idea. Doesn’t roofing get slow in the winter.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Are you going to collect some donations for the roofer to pay his mortgage while he is working for free?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
These departments shutting down does not just mean these neighborhoods will loose their volunteer fire departments, but it also means they will loose their ambulance services!
You mean LOSE. LOOSE is how I like to wear my pants.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
where is the president of the vollies? didn’t he say he was too busy doing paperwork to respond to calls or something like that? why didn’t he know about this sooner? or did it get lost in the MOUNDS of paperwork he was/is taking care of?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Where has Artie De Mello been for the last several years? Why has the membership under HIS leadership dwindled down to barely nothing?
When was the last drill, call, or fundraiser attended by Chief DeMello?
lets get those questions answered first.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This issue caught all ten of NYC Volunteer Fire Departments off guard. Every year the city council automatically allots the funds for this insurance, but for some unknown reason the council did not do it in a timely manner. The volunteer fire departments never receives the funds for the insurance; the funds are sent from city council directly to the insurance carrier. Therefore, there is no paperwork that is lost or was not completed for the Vollies to acquire these funds. There is no neglect on the side of the volunteer departments. We can only ask for residents of Gerrittsen Beach to keep calling Lew Fidler’s office, the mayor’s office, and Anthony Weiner’s office, and make sure they know its important to Gerrittsen Beach that these funds must be alloted by November 26th.
Joe Shovlin
GBFD Treasurer
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
All this Anti Vollie bickering needs to stop. That not the point and is unproductive. The point is that all of the cuts and proposed budget cuts are going to affect all poor, lower middle class and middle class people. I went to Albany last week with my union and a coalition of 150 community groups to fight the cuts. That was the day that the legislature refused to vote on the cuts and that is why, although none of the news stations that were there or newspapers carried that part of the story. Yes, many of these community groups were minority, so what? Many were working people just like you and I, trying to save the schools and all kinds of programs from the chopping block. Why do the poor and middle class have to bear the brunt of the financial mess? We didn’t create this problem,but we are the people who will sufffer under the cuts. WHY? I never attended a protest like this before and as we stood on the steps of the State Capital, the snow was coming down like crazy and around me were groups of elderly poor people trying to do what they could to hang onto their community centers,where they can find companionship and maybe a meal.There were disabled people, losing group homes and other services, veterans groups, teachers and school janitors. Why is it that the cuts always start with the most vulnerable ? Why should bus service be cut at all? Its not like most people who are ride the bus/train to work can just say “oh, no bus to come home in, I’ll just take the Mercedes to work instead” Why don’t they start taxing the rich at a higher rate? Why do I pay the same 61/4% that someone making $10,000 a week makes? Why not let them figure out a way for the people who caused this mess to pay for it? Why is it always us? Now, this crap with them not paying the Vollies insurance. Its outrageous that they are going to close this budget gap by saving 34k. They are grasping at straws and the legislature needs to be told by ALL OF US that we are fed up with carrying the brunt of cuts, to the children and the most vulnerable among us. The rich don’t care. Their kids go to private schools, they don’t ride the buses or trains. They don’t care if a loaf of bread is $1.29 or $5.00. They don’t care how much gas costs. WE are all hurt by this. Losing the Vollies would be a devastating loss to this community. Not only for what they do, and they have saved countless lives, but for what they are and represent to Gerrittsen Beach. (Yes, its spelled with two “T”s, it is mispelled on the street signs) Do not let this happen!!! Our elected offficials need to know that we will not just roll over and take this. We all know that things are going to get bad and sacrifices will have to be made, but there have GOT to be other solutions. The squeaky wheels do get the grease. LETS ALL GET SQUEAKY!!!!!Make those calls-send those emails. I thank all of the Vollies for their dedication and service and want to let you know that there are those in this neighborhood who appreciate ALL you have done and hopefully will continue to do for many years to come.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[...] Previous Post: NYC Council May Cause NYC’s Ten Volunteer Fire Departments to Shut Down. Including our Vollies. [...]
Like or Dislike:
0 
0