As reported recently in the Yonkers Tribune, Yonkers Mayor Michael Spano is now targeting disabled Yonkers firefighters by attempting to reduce their monthly disability payments. The disabled firefighters, who were informed by letter earlier this month, were given a mere ten days to respond before Christmas.
In his letter to the Editor, Barry McGoey (Yonkers Fire Department and President of I.A.F.F. Local 628) described the Mayor’s craven attack on the Fire Department’s most vulnerable and most deserving members:
“Many of the Firefighters who received the notices are suffering from disabling injuries and illnesses including Stage 4 cancer, serious burns, and 9/11 illnesses, along with crippling injures to their legs, backs and various other body parts.”
Rather than addressing budgetary deficiencies throughout Yonkers in a transparent, responsible, and sustainable manner, Mayor Spano and his administration have chosen instead to waste public money by employing predatory upstate law firm(s) and instituting frivolous legal proceedings in their headlong rush to inflict additional emotional and physical pain on disabled firefighters.
As we prepare to mark the two-year anniversary of an alleged arson in our building, we recall the efforts of the Yonkers Fire Department. Back in January 2014 Yonkers firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in our seven-story building, which broke out on the top floor during a bitterly cold winter night. With an outside temperature of 0°F and frozen hoses, Yonkers firefighters still managed to extinguish the blaze, rescue two people who are believed to have started the fire, and save the building and the homes of its tenants.
While we do not know if any firefighters suffered injuries that night, we would expect the Mayor and City of Yonkers to uphold their legal responsibility to take care of each and every Yonkers firefighter whenever they are injured or disabled while serving and, in some cases, saving the public.
In their effort to instrumentalize disabled Yonkers firefighters for politically expedient ends—whether as retaliation for lack of support during his recent re-election campaign or simply as a morally bankrupt scheme to plug budgetary holes on the backs of disabled firefighters—Mayor Spano and his administration have reached a new low. Their actions are morally and ethically repugnant and warrant swift and sustained public condemnation.
The 461 Riverdale Avenue Tenants’ Association fully supports the Yonkers Fire Department in its efforts against Mayor Spano, his administration, and his supporters.
https://461riverdaleavenuetenantsassociation.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/the-grinch-that-stole-christmas-mayor-mike-spano-and-disabled-yonkers-firefighters/
https://461riverdaleavenuetenantsassociation.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/the-grinch-that-stole-christmas-mayor-mike-spano-and-disabled-yonkers-firefighters/
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