4 The Courier sun • AUGUST 1, 2013 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com ▶sandy aftermath A MATTER OF SAFETY P.S. 207 without fire alarm system since Sandy BY MAGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com The Howard Beach community and concerned parents are tired of dealing with a hot issue at local school P.S. 207. When Sandy swept through the region, it took the school’s fire alarm system with it. Since reopening on January 2, the school has operated without any fire alarm. “First their homes are destroyed, now they don’t even have a safe place to go to school,” said Alison Jasiak, whose sixyear THE COURIER/Photo by Maggie Hayes Alison Jasiak fears sending her son, rising second grader Gregory, to a school building Once installation begins, completion could take up to a year, Ulrich said. The DOE said FEMA is reviewing the cost of reimbursing a replacement alarm system at P.S. 207 and that more information will be available once the review is complete. The Fire Watch costs roughly $13,000 per week. Without a fire alarm system, the school has shut down afterschool and night programs. “There are so many more issues that this one issue has created,” Jasiak said. “The only ones who are suffering are the children and us.” “You throw your hands up in the air because you don’t know what else to do,” she said. ROCKAWAY WOMAN HONORED AS ‘CHAMPION OF CHANGE’ BY MAGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com Sandy brought forth countless “Champions of Change,” one of whom the White House recognized in an event honoring Americans striving to improve their communities through technology and civic participation. Jessica Klein, a Rockaway resident, civic hacker and designer, received the Champion of Change award for her work through the website www.rockawayhelp.org. Klein co-founded the site with other locals in the wake of Sandy to empower the community to find solutions, provide emergency response information and much more geared towards helping Rockaway rebuild. She was one of 14 recipients from all over the country honored for doing “extraordinary things in their communities to outinnovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world,” according to the White House website. The Civic Hacking and Open Government section in which Klein was recognized was for those who have made a “tremendous, positive impact” by building high-tech tools to help health workers and disaster-response crews better serve communities as well as “piloting programs to involve traditionally disengaged communities.” President Barack Obama said the champs for change have “a belief in working at the grassroots level and getting people engaged” and an understanding that “change happens from the bottom up.” Additionally, Klein led workshops and “hackathons” for designers, engineers and Rockway residents to identify problems and discover ways to get the rebuilding show on the road. Klein also created the Hackasaurus project, Web X-Ray Goggles and Thimble tools to help teens learn how to code through hacking. She has worked at learning institutions such as the Museum of Art and Design, the Rubin Museum of Art and the Institute of Play. She also founded OceanLab NYC, a project engaging parents, teachers and youth with their urban coastal environment. $100M, community input, to rebuild BY MAGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program could bring roughly $100 million to help southern Queens rebuild bigger and better after Sandy. Rockaway is set to receive $60 million, $13 million for Broad Channel and $20 million for Howard Beach and Hamilton Beach for “protection funding,” said Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder. However, through this unique program, community leaders, leading critical infrastructure and broad investment strategies but also providing localities the resources they need to invest in their own future.” Goldfeder said community members know their community better than anybody else and there is “no such thing as a bad idea when it comes to storm mitigation.” “If you allow the community to have a voice, you can get things done but ensure that it’s in line with what the community desires,” he said. Committees are still being finalized in each individual area, but the state would like to receive rebuilding proposals within eight months. “Arguably you could see shovels in the ground within a year,” Goldfeder said. Garden Center • Seasonal Decor Landscaping • Irrigation 125 Crossbay Blvd. • Broad Channel old son attends P.S. 207. The fire alarm system was located in the basement, unlike surrounding schools that have theirs on the first floor. During the storm, the basement filled with oil and water, destroying P.S. 207’s system. Moreover, P.S. 207’s fire alarm system used parts that are now obsolete. Other neighborhood schools had newer systems for which replacement parts are available. Since the school reopened, it has had 12 Fire Watch guards provided by the Department of Education (DOE) to monitor the building for any signs of smoke. A spokesperson said relying on the guards is “an acceptable practice, and the school is safe.” However, parents such as Jasiak remain unconvinced. “Who says the fire guards are sufficient?” she said. “Is your child in the school?” In the event a watchman smells or sees any sort of fire, procedure calls for him or her to go to the main office, which then calls the fire department. “You’ve just wasted three or four minutes when the kids could have already been on their way out,” Jasiak said. The School Construction Authority (SCA) and the DOE are waiting for with no fire alarm system. FEMA funds to install a fire system, but there is no timetable for the money. Councilmember Eric Ulrich sent a letter on Friday, July 19 to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and SCA President Lorraine Grillo describing the issue in detail and requesting that the organizations expedite the installation of a new fire alarm system. He has not yet received a response. “With all that my constituents have going on while they try to rebuild from Sandy, they should at least have the peace of mind that the school their child attends has a functional fire alarm system,” Ulrich said. His office has received numerous complaints on the matter from parents. experts and officials in each neighborhood will form committees to determine just how the rebuilding will pan out. “New York’s effort to build back better must be a twopronged approach,” Cuomo said, “with the state not only at the root of all your garden needs. 718.855.543.NURSERY (6877)
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