FEEDBACK FROM FACEBOOK
Re “Momentum Building to Confront Construction Permit Fraud (news, July 16, 2015):
Thank you, Eileen, for your well-written and thorough reporting on this vital topic. It’s gratifying to know that a truly grassroots movement born in the heart of Chelsea has gotten so much traction, especially from our elected officials. The cure for this egregious abuse lies with DOB.
Pamela Wolff
Re “Plan Would Heed Siren Calls to Relocate Ambulance Station” (news, July 16, 2015):
Wow, what a bunch of whiny, spoiled, self-entitled brats. Be thankful you have an EMS station in your neighborhood at all. Many communities would love to have a quarter of the resources that FDNY has. An EMS station bringing down property values? Could it be that giant, elevated train directly next to your building that is bringing values down? What a freaking joke. Exhaust fumes and noise bothering you? It’s freaking NEW YORK. Pretty sure the sirens are the least of the problems.
Mike Ledgerwood (EMT at American Medical Response)
Ridiculous! Firemen do not work at EMS stations. Hence why they are called “EMS” stations and not “Firehouses.” I assure you, no one told you that the FDNY has a time frame in which they use their sirens because it’s against federal law not to when responding to a medical emergency. The ambulances often idle because there are Cardiac and Asthma medications in a cooler in the patient care compartment of the ambulance. These medications need to remain cool to ensure that they will actually work when administered, and not expire. Ambulances are very big and heavy vehicles. When repositioning them, the operator may use the air horn because of safety. I assure you the members of this station have done their best to accommodate its neighbors, but it’s an uphill battle. They don’t want them there, and they show it by allowing their dogs to deficate and urinate in front of the property. Hopefully, the EMS station will be moved soon. I hope that you never need an ambulance, but if you do let’s pray that its response isn’t delayed.
Shavoné Moore
There is no reason that they don’t have dedicated parking on the street and plug the ambulances in the spaces provided. That said, it would be really great if the city would commit to two permanent, purpose-built EMS stations on the West Side in Tribeca/Soho/West Village and in Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen. Gouveneur, Bellevue, Metropolitan, and Harlem are all on the far East Side. Having more, smaller stations which could hold 3-5 angle parked ambulances would allow smaller footprints, which would allow building on normal-sized Manhattan lots and have a net benefit as vehicles had to travel less from station-to-89. But that would involve an investment in EMS, something that the city has never been willing to do.
Scot Phelps (Disaster Science Consultant at Scot Phelps/CrispDynamics)
When you call for an ambulance and it takes longer because you wanted the station moved, don’t complain. Your sense of entitlement keeps you from understanding that the location is for the many, including the poorer residents of that neighborhood — not the affluent, like yourself, who have put your selfishness on display for everyone to see.
Danielle Kearns-Connell
