Talk Bronx New York

They walked the halls of the Bronx courthouse slowly, a little haltingly, but their steps were filled with purpose. Dress blue FDNY uniforms covered their many scars.

Firefighter Eugene Stolowski’s neck can’t move; he must turn his upper body to see sideways. Retired Firefighter Jeffery Cool stands straight, belying constant pain.

“We’re not supposed to be alive today,” they both like to say.
SEE: FDNY FIREFIGHTERS SAVE DROWNING WOMAN

Three years and eight months ago, they both clinically died on the cold pavement 50 feet below a burning Bronx apartment. They had jumped because there was no other escape.

Through their miraculous recoveries, they have awaited the trial of three people accused of creating the disastrous conditions in the building that forced them and four other firefighters to leap, two of them to their deaths.

“Our lives changed on Jan. 23, 2005,” said Cool, referring to Black Sunday. “You want to close this chapter, but it can’t close until this case is finished. Every day, I look in the mirror and see the scars. I want to see justice.”

Cool, Stolowski and the other two firefighters who survived the plunge, Joseph DiBernardo and Brendan Cawley, have attended the court appearances since manslaughter indictments were handed up in March 2006. So have relatives of the deceased, John Bellew and Lt. Curtis Meyran.

Last week, Cool and Stolowski heard the trial postponed again, this time until Dec. 1.

Both the defense and the prosecution say the lengthy wait has been unavoidable.

“There were motion delays,” said a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney’s office. “The defense has every right to file motions.”

Then one of the defense lawyers got sick. Now the prosecutor has medical issues.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett told the lawyers during a bench conference, “We’re on a slow track,” and urged them to be ready on the new date.

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Raging Bronx fire injures three kids 

Bravest have tough challenge of dousing four-alarm inferno that erupted on top floor of Bronx apartment building early Thursday. The raging blaze, which was ruled accidental, hurt three kids.

Towering flames exploded from the roof of a Bronx apartment building early Thursday in a four-alarm blaze that injured three children and left more than 200 people homeless.

The raging fire engulfed the top floor of 1998 Newbold Ave., and smoke filled the six-story structure, forcing tenants to race outside just after 1 a.m.

“I saw a stampede coming down the stairs and didn’t know what was going on,” said Walter Calle, who lives in the Parkchester building. “Things were really crazy, really dramatic.”

Firefighters and a few courageous residents ran through the building to alert sleeping neighbors and pull people away from the flames and choking smoke.

“The flames were rolling over our heads,” said Firefighter Bill Horel of Ladder 47. “I found three children huddled under a window trying to get air.”

Investigators believe the fire, which was ruled accidental, ignited in an overloaded surge protector in the hurt children’s apartment, an FDNY source said. The Red Cross provided temporary shelter for the building’s residents.

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HEAT’S ON BX. POL FOR FIRE FUNDS

A nonprofit group with ties to Bronx City Councilman Larry Seabrook received more than $300,000 in city money to improve firefighter diversity - a program that did little beyond burn cash, sources said.

The “Firefighter Advocacy Program” - run by the Northeast Bronx Redevelopment Corp. - was supposed to “produce up to 25 members of the NY Fire Department each year,” increase “the number of minority applicants and firefighters” and provide “information and services . . . [for] minority recruitment,” according to the organization’s proposal.

In 2006 the group received $310,000 for the effort - with $205,000 earmarked for staff salaries.

Two years later, the FDNY says its only contact with the group was a request to provide free posters and recruitment materials - which it was asked to leave in Seabrook’s office.

A source affiliated with the group said it did print recruitment materials and do community outreach, but steered most applicants into already established training programs run by the Vulcans, the FDNY’s association of black firefighters, and John Jay College. The group also gave about $15,000 to the Vulcans for study materials.

But it’s unclear where the bulk of the $310,000 went - the group’s proposal shows it filled two of 12 funded positions. One was an administrative assistant. The other was the $25,000 “executive director” position, which went to Gloria Jones-Grant - who reportedly already receives a $71,000 salary from the Northeast Bronx Redevelopment Corp.

The proposal also included $42,000 for rent - even though Northeast Bronx said it would work out of its existing offices.

Seabrook has long been linked to the organization, once located in the same building as his office. In March, the city froze his request for $912,000 to the obscure Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce, also in that building.

Jones-Grant and Seabrook did not return multiple calls for comment.

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Montefiore is ‘Keeping Kids Healthy’ in the Bronx 

Keeping Kids Healthy Children’s Health Fair 2008 to Focus on Wellness and Safety

WHAT:

For families with children 12 years old and younger, the themes for this year’s Keeping Kids Healthy Children’s Health Fair 2008 are: wellness promotion, health education, and safety and community. This FREE, fun-filled afternoon is sponsored by The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center and HIP Health Plan of New York. While offering an afternoon of entertainment, games and refreshments, important health education and health screenings will be provided.

Great visual opportunities

The Children’s Health Fair will include:

Child Health History I.D. Cards and Fingerprinting

Asthma and Diabetes Information

Nutritional Information

Medication Safety

Hearing and Vision Screenings

NYPD Representatives

FDNY Representatives

Face Painting and Activities

WHEN:

Sunday June 1, 2008

Noon - 3PM (Rain or Shine)

WHERE:

Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center

Corner of East Gun Hill Road and DeKalb Avenue

Bronx, NY

Keeping Kids Healthy Children’s Health Fair 2008 is open to children ages 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult.

SOURCE: PRNewsWire.com

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Fire Dept. to Send Units First, Save the Questions for Later

A pilot program for Fire Department dispatchers in Queens was so successful in improving response times that it will be extended across the city next month, the department said on Tuesday.

Under the program, which started on Feb. 14, dispatchers were trained to spend less time on the phone confirming the location and nature of the emergency in order to expedite getting units to the scene.

The program requires dispatchers to continue to obtain information — including the cross street and a contact number from the person or persons calling in the emergency — while the fire units are en route, the department said in a statement. The responding units are then given radio updates in their trucks.

Under the previous system, the additional questions had to be asked before dispatchers could assign units to an emergency, the department said.

The program has been criticized by union officials, who have said that the department needed more trucks and personnel, not new rules for its dispatchers.

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