Fire Safety Meeting Draws Several Hundred
Scores of residents joined city and borough elected officials for the first of a borough-wide fire safety education campaign last night at PS 193 Gil Hodges, 2515 Avenue L in MIdwood.
City Councilman Chaim Deutsch was the main elected official organizing the forum.
The forum on fire safety follows last Saturday’s fatal fire in Midwood that claimed the lives of seven siblings, aged five to 16, from the Sassoon family.
People in attendance heard fire safety officials speak about the importance of having proper smoke alarms with working batteries and where they should be installed. They also addressed the common causes of fire and fire injuries in the home, as well as provided information on how to prevent fires and what to do in case of fire.
In related news, the Jewish Communal Fund has set up the “The Sassoon Children Memorial Fund”. People who wish to donate or learn more can visit:
https://private.jewishcommunalfund.org/JCFDonate/PreDonation.aspx
In addition, checks may be made payable to JCF (add “The Sassoon Children Memorial Fund” in the memo) and mailed to Jewish Communal Fund, 575 Madison Avenue, Suite 703, New York, NY 10022.
For further information, contact Ellen Israelson at Ellen@jcfny.org or at 212-752-8277 ext. 213
Cornegy holds Small Business Financing Panel
Bedford-Stuyvesant City Councilmember Robert Cornegy, who chairs the council’s Committee on Small Business, is holding a Small Business Financing Panel this morning for small business and entrepreneurs.
Member of the small business lending community, representatives from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and others will be on hand to discuss how to get access to capital for your small business.
The event is slated from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza Building, 1368 Fulton Street, which is part of the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID.
Cymbrowitz Says Be On Lookout For FEMA Maps
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz is urging residents in flood-prone areas to be on the lookout for a letter from FEMA with news on preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and updated insurance requirements that will impact some 38,300 residents in his district alone.
This is a sharp increase from the previous flood maps, which showed 11,000 people in the Assemblyman’s district living in high-risk flood zones. Citywide, the new FEMA maps add about 200,000 residents, or 70,000 buildings, to the high-risk zones.
The FEMA letter is expected to start hitting mailboxes this week and will include information on the appeal/public comment period starting March 30th (ending June 30th) for those who believe their property has been included in error. The new floodplain maps replace maps that are up to 30 years old and will become official for insurance purposes sometime in late 2016 or early 2017. For building code uses the maps have already been in effect since 2013.
“The flood maps are changing so it is critical that residents look up their address to ensure they understand their updated flood risk,” said Cymbrowitz. “To protect themselves, residents should purchase flood insurance and, in fact, may be required to purchase flood insurance if they have a federally backed mortgage or received federal disaster aid and are in a high-risk area.
“Two years after Sandy I was still getting calls from people in Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay who were affected. For many of them, the out-of-pocket costs were astronomical even when you take into account FEMA aid, loans and other forms of assistance.
“The overwhelming and very reasonable concern is how the new flood-risk maps will affect them and just how steep the financial burden will be,” he said.
Golden, I.S. 239 Honors Film Director Aronofsky
Coney Island’s Mark Twain School for the Gifted and Talented (IS 239), along with Bay Ridge Sen. Marty Golden will induct Academy Award nominated Director Darren Aronofsky into the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame at a ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m., tomorrow, Thursday, March 26, at the school, 2401 Neptune Avenue.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, the graduate of IS 239’s Class of 1983, Darren Aronofsky, also graduated from Harvard University and the American Film Institute. Aronofsky’s first feature “Pi” made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998.
Since that time, Aronofsky has directed some renowned movies including “Requiem For A Dream”, “The Fountain”, “The Wrestler”, “Black Swan”, and most recently, “Noah”.
As a 7th grade student at the school, Aronofsky wrote a Noah themed poem, and credits his English
teacher, Vera Fried, for inspiring his creative writing.
Golden will be on hand to Aronofsky with a senate resolution of merit. Last year, IS 239 inducted the first distinguished graduate in the Alumni Hall of Fame, Academy Award winning Actor Louis Gossett, Jr.
