Pages

Saturday, August 10, 2013

We are all in this together II




BROAD CHANNEL, HOWARD BEACH, FAR ROCKAWAY, ROCKAWAY PARK, BELLE HARBOR, NEPONSIT, ROXBURY, BREEZY POINT, BROOKLYN AND STATEN ISLAND....
WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER  II !

Our initial posting regarding a rally  ["August 8, 2013 -We are all in this together "] to be conducted on a national basis by those communities facing fiscal destruction as a result of the regulatory reforms Biggert-Waters Act of 2012, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and FEMA have burdened our communities with has been viewed more than 500 times at the time of this posting and has resulted in a terrific response from individuals living in neighborhoods throughout our area (Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island) including Alex Dubrovsky from Staten Island who emailed....


" Don't forget us folks in Staten Island ... Strong community over here... Over 10,000 damaged homes. We could learn a lot from the Louisiana folks .. They have an end result in mind and they speak [with] a single voice...."

RALLY INFORMATION UPDATE

DATE :  I spoke with George Kasimos from Stop FEMA Now and he has advised me that the date for this national rally has been scheduled for Saturday, September 28, 2013.  [Note:  originally, serious thought was being afforded scheduling the rally on the anniversary date of Super Storm Sandy, October 29th, but a wise wordsmith from Rockaway cautioned that media coverage our event would be "lost in the widespread coverage of the anniversary of this storm...." ]  

TIME:  Although not set in stone, it would be great if we could arrange for all the demonstration to commence at 12 noon.

LOCATION:  It is felt that if it would be possible to arrange for Breezy Point to host this event, that community would provide the most ideal media backdrop for such a demonstration given the difficulties in attempting to rebuild after the almost total destruction of Super Storm Sandy.  Obviously we will have to contact the Breezy Point Board of Directors to obtain permission to host this event.  

COMPOSITION:  The bigger the crowd, the more attention our voices will receive!  Thus we would like to bring together as many affected coastal Queens communities which will be affected by the regulatory reforms of Biggert-Waters, the NFIP and FEMA as possible.   It would be great if our area communities of Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Far Rockaway, Rockaway Park, Belle Harbor, Roxbury, Neponsit and Breezy Point could all ensure attendance at this event of a minimum of 25 to 30 residents each.  

[NOTE: We have also received several inquiries regarding this rally from our neighbors in Staten Island and
Brooklyn.  We are in the process of attempting to ascertain if the various civic and neighborhood associations in those communities will arrange their own area demonstrations or if they wish to attend ours.


 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?


We need to establish a group of involved individuals to meet to coordinate the following operational aspects of this event........

We still have to confirm with the Breezy Point Board of Directors regarding the use of the that community for this event.

We have to reach out to all our elected representatives (as well as those candidates running for elected office; Mayor, City Council, Borough President, etc) to ascertain their willingness to support us and attend this demonstration.

We need to establish "talking points" to respond to media inquiries regarding our event as well as signage wording for home made placards to be used at the rally. Most importantly, we need to be able to respond with one voice when the question is asked of us "Why should Biggert-Waters be amended and taxpayer dollars be expended to lessen the insurance burden of those of you who live in a flood plain?"

We need to communicate the information regarding this rally to everyone within our respective communities.
(Press releases, letter to editors, flyers and handouts, etc.)

Parking and trabsportation issues for attendees will also have to be addressed.

Anyone who is interested in assisting with the above please email us with your name, community and contact information at:

w12thrdblockassociation@gmail.com

Please share this with family, friends and neighbors.

Thank you,

Your neighbor,

Pete Mahon

No comments:

Post a Comment