Taking Care of Their Own

It was recently reported that the communities throughout Westchester County are being reimbursed by the federal government for cleanup and repair costs from the damage of Superstore Sandy. In case you might not be aware, today is the one year anniversary of Sandy and the devastation it caused. Sandy was less of an issue in Westchester County than Long Island and Rockland County.

Reopening 93 roads in Nyack to restoring their devastated marina, municipalities in the Lower Hudson Valley rightly footed the bill for the recovery effort after Superstorm Sandy blasted this area. The federal government will continue to send money to these localities if they haven’t already received payments. You may recall when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene hammered our area, numerous homes and businesses were ravaged by flooding, debris, lack of power and more. Our media savvy Supervisor remained home, ensconced in the comfort and safety of his gated Boulder Ridge community sending emails saying Greenburgh was without power, had flooding and roads were closed. Duh! While residents were left to fend for themselves, Mr Feiner waited days until he began visiting the devastated areas throughout the Town.

Once it was deemed safe to travel, Mr Feiner went where the news cameras were. He made sure to take advantage of the free press as he promised flooded residents a FEMA buyout for their homes. When push came to shove and it was detailed what the Town would have to do for buyouts to take place, he quickly clammed up and moved on! He then pointed fingers at other legislators in various levels of government that they needed to do something. He later held a meeting at Town Hall to discuss the power outage outrage because it took so long to restore power. He made sure his pandering went unchallenged and did not invite ConEd or any other utility representatives to that gripe session. When challenged by one resident why he was not at the Emergency Operations Center in Hawthorne where most leaders for all the major players were, he remained silent, probably thinking, “Damn! How did that guy slip in to this meeting? Where’s Hochberg with a body-block when I need him?”

Westchester and Rockland counties have received $49 million in public assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the year since the storm made landfall, federal officials announced on Monday. But individual residents, with FEMA Flood Insurance, that carries a minimum $5k deductible, couldn’t get reimbursed for their damage and were left to fend for themselves. Where are Nita Lowey and Chuck Schumer for them? Rockland had more damage from Sandy than Westchester and yet Westchester benefited from nearly $38 million, while Rockland collected about $11 million, with Putnam communities received $1.3 million. And, they are still applying for additional funding, with more expected to be awarded in the coming months! The residents? Tossed aside.

U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, “One year ago, Sandy made landfall and devastated our region, taking lives and damaging homes and businesses,” Lowey said Monday at a White Plains event marking the one-year anniversary of the storm. “Federal assistance has been absolutely essential in helping the communities ... get back on their feet.” But they didn’t really help residents get back on their feet, did they? They helped government get back to the business of taxation but hung the residents out to dry. Literally.

We’ve experienced a relatively dry hurricane season this year. We’ve also experienced a relatively dry response from our leaders regarding fixing any of the flooding issues that remain dormant to plague our area again. The first thing that needs to happen is a plan to dredge and maybe even widen both the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River from start to finish to ensure water can properly drain from all neighborhoods into these only two waterways’ exits. The next thing needs to be making sure debris and natural obstructions that might get into the rivers are quickly removed. We also need to question this unending development of any open space and replacing natural absorption with impervious space. Just because its undeveloped doesn’t mean we need to put a building on it. Alas, nothing will be done.

Our political leaders cannot wait to beat their chests and say look what I did when things are bad or good. Things are not good right now for residential and business taxpayers, they are just on hold until the next storm. Paul Feiner and Rob Astorino both brag about their respective bond ratings but refuse to take advantage of it by investing in their constituents and our infrastructure. Mr Feiner prefers to lead by press release and not from the front. He could be holding everyone’s feet to the fire but knows its better to not make any waves and complain about things like the Tappan Zee bridge, closing Indian Point, or brag having solar powered trash receptacles in the Town. If he was a true leader, instead of taking care of his own, he’d be helping our residents to make A Better Greenburgh.

Floating Dollars & Bronx River Flooding

ABG offices sit high atop Greenburgh overlooking the beautiful landscape covered in the proverbial blanket of white as Town vehicles appear to be about the only ones on the road. There seems to be a calm enveloping the area. Our copy of the daily newspaper may have been delivered but promises to remain undiscovered for weeks. We had received our copy of The White Plains Examiner before the storm which featured an article about the County’s move to address flooding with the Bronx River within the Town of Greenburgh. It a topic ABG has often posted about.

We’ve heard and seen the posturing before, so it remains to be seen if this time will be any different. County Executive Astorino announced the County is ready, “with an $800,000 capital project to restore over three acres of wetlands and riverbanks just north of Fisher Lane and east of the Bronx River Parkway in Greenburgh.” Translation? The County will throw a pittance toward an issue that needs addressing from at least the Kensico Dam southward into the Bronx, where the water continues it’s final exit. This will be nothing more than “photo ops” and press conference “attaboys” garnered to get political points, press coverage and accomplish little else.  This was exemplified by County Executive Rob Astorino, who said in a prepared statement, “It is important that we target achievable projects in problem areas in order to reduce and prevent future flooding.” Translation? As an “achievable” project, they mean they know they won’t fix the problem, but will be able to say upon the project’s completion that they completed the project. Government double-speak? You decide.

Last year the Astorino administration chose this site in Greenburgh as just one of the seven capital projects as part of a $9 million effort to address chronic flooding along the Bronx River and Sound Shore. The bond act has been sent to the Board of Legislators for approval. And while we assume the bond will be passed, the effort may all be moot if the entire river corridor is not attacked as a global entity. An inspection of the river from the Greenburgh area into the Bronx shows too numerous an amount of blockage to document. 

An effort made in Westchester that will contribute to creating a better and/or increased water flow, without participation from all points south of Westchester County, renders the money spent, the effort of little consequence and tantamount to floating dollars down the river. The people who suffered from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene have finally given up any hope of receiving funds from FEMA even though they are mandated to pay flood insurance to them; all the while new applicants hammered by Hurricane Sandy are just learning this lesson.

What’s needed is a consolidation of bipartisan leaders who run the length of the Bronx River to establish a plan with a concerted effort to tackle this vexing problem. We also need leaders which are willing to begin upgrading everyone’s aging infrastructures to help increase water flow created by all the development from the last twenty or thirty years. It’s not an easy task but one that will reap huge rewards for every community. We can only hope.

Disaster Preparedness - Talk Is Cheap

What’s been proven with Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Irene along the eastern coast and Hurricane Sandy in the northeast is that local governments, right on up through the state and the federal governments, are not capable of handling emergencies well, if at all! The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is little more than a “front” for the federal government. Their “help” is nothing more than pointing victims to someone else for assistance. Does this sound like any Town Supervisor we know? They, and our politicians, get repeated publicity and in the end, the victims get little or no help at all. We’re reminded of former President Reagan’s famous quote, “I’m from the government and I'm here to help.”

Many in emergency services are used to responding and attacking anything from a small, single incident to something of a larger magnitude, including mass casualty incidents. The Fire Service trains in the routine tasks of hooking up to a hydrant to dealing with hazardous chemical spills. The EMS Service spends time learning to ask the right questions to ascertain whether aid is even needed. 

The emergency services organizations need to be prepared for any type of emergency. Our Town leadership should also be participating and leading the way. Sadly, they’d rather talk about it than actually do something about it. Last year the Town paid a hefty fee to have Jonathan Raser, to work with Police Chief DeCarlo, to develop a Greenburgh Hazard Mitigation Plan. It was adopted (and paid for) only for us to learn it is merely a vehicle to allow the Town to apply for grant money. 

There are several phases to a disaster that include Mitigation, Preparation, Response, and Recovery. This is the order to address emergency planning as well as infrastructure improvements as they relate to flooding, power outages, resident relocation, etc., if and when the Town choses to address our suffering residents during the yearly “100-Year” storms. Our Town Board is anxious to discuss doing something without actually implementing any improvements. Talk is cheap, isn’t it?

Mitigation is considered activities that either prevent the occurrence of an emergency and/or reduce a community’s vulnerability in ways that minimize the adverse impact of a disaster or other emergency. Most communities have done little mitigation in preparation for an upcoming weather event. This was never more apparent in Greenburgh with the onslaught we received from Hurricane Sandy. Individually, many first responders and their departments handled it well. Conversely, many of our respective Greenburgh communities were paralyzed and unable to effectively receive aid. Residents abandoned? No quite. Thankfully, The Paul never missed a beat sending out emails, especially to those offline with no power.

Consolidated Edison, our “private” public service utility was understaffed to respond to all the incidents that befell them. The operational economics constraining ConEd cause them to not have enough staff to address events the magnitude of a hurricane. How should we get past their staffing issues? The Paul knew a Citizens Committee meeting at Town Hall to “bash” ConEd wouldn’t really do anything, but it would make him seem to care. Ah, publicity. Everyone uses ConEd and no one likes paying their bill, so who wouldn’t want to “go after” the big bad utility company? Pure genius. If you insist on a quicker response from ConEd, with more workers, be prepared to pay higher rates!

The Preparation phase involves activities undertaken in advance of an emergency. Response or Normal Operational phase consists of developing and revising disaster plans and hazard analyses; writing operational mutual aid plans; cross training response personnel to wear one or more of any “hats” as dictated by the event; improving public information and communications systems; and conducting exercises (drills) to validate the planning process. Putting all of these together into an implementable plan is all well and good, but if it is never tested before an actually event, it might ultimately be worthless. As with any critique after this testing, it is imperative that the leadership recognizes and honestly evaluates performances. Simply congratulating everyone so the practice appears good on paper will be self-defeating when it comes time to engage during an event. We often see this kind of “atta-boy” backslapping at Town Board meetings, when they fall over each other, becoming a mutual admiration society. 

An increased “readiness” (pre-planning) is also critical before an incident happens. Inspections of critical facilities must be performed and categorized. Reviewing and updating emergency plans and Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines (SOP/SOGs) should be an ongoing exercise for all Town personnel - not just emergency responders. This should enable them to have increased operating knowledge, familiarity of what is expected by different roles they may be asked to perform, an ability to enhance their performance. Equally important will be their ability to critique the operation to offer a different perspective to assist in making improvements. This personnel should also be updating resource lists and becoming increasingly familiar with mobilizing resources, testing warning and communications systems, disseminating accurate, timely, emergency public information as well as recruiting additional personnel and disaster service workers from the community, such as Citizen Emergency Response Teams (C.E.R.T.).

Responding to a disaster will require actions be taken to save lives and protect property first and foremost. From there, other steps must be taken, including disseminating warnings to be issued, emergency public information to be broadcast, and other advice and action instructions to be conveyed to the public. Perhaps dispatching teams to distribute information will be all that is needed. Leaders will need to have boots on the ground surveying and evaluating the emergency situation. ABG has suggested the Town utilize neighborhood civic associations as well as the CERT members for this task. With information at hand, they will be marshaling, allocating, and positioning personnel and equipment and mobilizing necessary resources. If available, they will need to activate their Emergency Operations Center (EOC) using established guidelines. 

Evacuating the public from certain areas prone in communities that suffer may be necessary and need to be implemented in stages for large areas or restricted access areas. In low lying, flood prone areas for example, conditions may be static, necessitating no changes for those people. Or, those same conditions may change swiftly and require decisions that had been contemplated by not initiated to take effect. All personnel should be well versed in what will be required of them to assist in those actions. During Hurricane Sandy for instance, residents were evacuated to the Theodore Young Center, only to need to be evacuated from there due to storm related damage.

During the immediate emergency, emphasis must be placed on saving lives, gaining as much control of the situation as can be controlled and minimize the effects of the disaster to both the public and the responders. Once an Incident Command Post has been established, they can work in or with the EOC. Of course, sustained or long-term events/emergencies may dictate what else must be done. Providing for the care and treatment of casualties, collecting, identifying, and addressing the deceased, are part of the gruesome reality that must be planned for. During that same period, providing for the mass care with food, lodging, clean clothes, hygiene needs of displaced persons becomes a priority. During the Hurricane Sandy, the Village of Elmsford highway department distributed firewood collected from fallen trees, to residents to burn in their fireplaces. It allowed homeowners with fireplaces to heat their homes and dispose of the wood at no cost! 

Once the recovery process is underway, our people or other appropriate agencies must begin implementing health and safety measures for both the short and long term. Additionally, you must begin protecting, controlling, and allocating vital resources; restoring or activating essential facilities and systems, ensuring the enforcement of police powers in controlling the locations and finally, establishing access controls, erecting traffic barricades, etc.

We do know that with proper planning, evaluation and activation addressing everything that is going on should provide a more organized and less chaotic environment for all. Ultimately, it will assist the victims with a level of calm and security during an extremely stressful event. We don’t currently have a pre-plan for major events and hope this article helps guide our leaders in the right direction toward starting one. We can be ready for the next event. We can only hope.

Another Resident Speaks Out

This post was a letter posted on another site after last nights Town Hall meeting to discuss forming another Citizen’s Committee for the Town, this time for Alan Hochberg to address ConEd’s inaction during Hurricane Sandy. Given the enormity of devastation throughout the region, we are more concerned with The Paul’s inaction during and after the storm. It is written, submitted and reprinted with permission by Whitney P. We feel there are several valuable points, warranting inclusion here:

Thank you for another great publicity piece for Paul Feiner. You took the comments of a few Village supporters who threw a few minor, somewhat valid, albeit softball, points and allowed him to pontificate for two hours. You neglected to quote any of the people who recognized Feiner’s typical lack of action, poor management skills and uselessness as a leader as he did absolutely nothing during the storm except send out emails to people with no power. Feiner admitted in the beginning of the meeting that HE couldn’t get ConEd to respond quicker or better for Greenburgh. If he can’t, what makes these residents believe they will have an impact? Because he said so? They won’t. If there are fines levied against ConEd, we will pay them after ConEd pays them and they raise our already high rates even higher still!

One man got up and blasted Feiner, saying he did nothing but make empty promises during and after Hurricane Irene, and his lack of actions were the same for this storm. All Feiner ever does is send letters to other politicians telling them they should do more for constituents. He also stated there is an emergency operations center in Hawthorne for all the decision makers to be located during an emergency with the heads of all agencies. THAT's where Feiner should have been during this storm. But, since you didn’t push back and just reproduce his one-sided press releases, you don’t know why he wasn’t there, do you?

Another man asked if Feiner had invited ConEd to attend this meeting. His standard parsing of words was to dodge the real answer until he finally admitted he had “notified” ConEd of this meeting. When the man continued to push, Feiner finally stated that, no, they had not been invited. Of course he didn’t invite them, as well as Police Chief DeCarlo, Fire Chief Loguidice, Highway Commissioner Carosi, if he had, it would have actually required doing something.

This meeting was about publicity for Feiner, shifting attention off of his Fortress Bible loss $8 million, the contaminated soil at the GameOn 365 site, the loss of $1.2 million a year from Westhelp and so much more. He got his publicity no thanks to the GDV. Feiner is a media whore who will continue to talk to you regardless of how much you write against him. Samantha, you need to get in the game.

Finally, Samantha, good reporters learn early on if they plan to make a name for themselves they must ask the tough questions, state the unpleasant and prove themselves in their reporting with the real story. What you’ve done is regurgitate Feiner’s talking points, historically repeating that Feiner will not be held accountable for his failures (again) and that you may have better success at your next job. We had such hope for you.