Council Members Joann Ariola and Selvena Brooks-Powers have called on the city to provide more emergency resources for the Rockaways and other geographically isolated communities after the City Council Committee on Fire and Emergency Management held a hearing last week to examine emergency response and post-emergency assistance.
Ariola, who chairs the committee, said a police standoff and explosion on Far Rockaway’s Ocean Crest Boulevard on July 25 served as a catalyst for the Sept. 30 hearing. Police responded to the incident near Beach 25th Street after a woman told officers that her husband Kegan Thomas was armed and mentally ill.
