NADLER, CUOMO ATTACK DELAY IN SANDY AID
The House of Representatives’ failure to vote on a $60 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster aid bill last week prompted a number of angry responses by local elected officials representing the storm-ravaged city.

“This is a betrayal of the millions of Americans who are struggling after Sandy and a trivialization of the loss of more than 100 American lives,” said Congressman Jerrold Nadler. “Not taking up the $60 billion Sandy funding bill will mean that many Americans could remain homeless, the rebuilding of homes and businesses across the Northeast will be delayed, and the coastal infrastructure of the region will remain damaged and vulnerable to the next storm.”

He noted that agencies including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could not proceed with major repairs until funding is secured.

Local governors were similarly incensed. “This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a joint statement with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. “The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed more patience about the delay. “You know, democracy is something that takes a while to come together and to get the results,” he said. “As long as it turns out that we get the monies that we think are appropriate for the federal government to send to a part of the country that’s had a major natural disaster, all’s well that ends well.”

The House cast a preliminary vote to direct funds to the National Flood Insurance Program on Friday, and has scheduled to vote on the remaining aid on Jan. 15, the first day of legislative business from the new 113th Congress.

FIRE FATALITIES DROP TO LOWEST NUMBER EVER
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano announced last week that 2012 saw the fewest civilian fire deaths in New York City history. Fifty-eight people died in blazes, four fewer than the former record low of 62 deaths in 2010, and a 12 percent decline from the 66 deaths in 2011. It was the seventh consecutive year that fire-related deaths have numbered under 100, which has occurred only 12 times since the city began keeping records in 1916.

The top two causes of fire-related deaths last year were accidental electrical fires and smoking. Forty-three percent of those killed in a blaze were over the age of 70, and 79 percent of the fatal fires struck where there were no working smoke detectors.

Bloomberg and Cassano also announced that FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service set a new record last year for fastest average ambulance response time: The new record, 6:30, is down one second from 2011’s previous record.

“With a record low number of murders and shootings and the fewest fire deaths in our city’s history, 2012 was a historic year for public safety,” Bloomberg said. “The FDNY has consistently improved fire safety over the past decade and has continued to drive response times to historic lows. These achievements and the efforts by our firefighters, EMTs and paramedics to save lives—while putting theirs on the line—is the reason fewer New Yorkers died as a result of fire in 2012 than ever before.”

POLITICAL MEMORABILIA SHOW TO HOST ED POTTER AWARD
The American Political Items Collectors’ Big Apple Ed Potter Chapter is sponsoring its 25th annual Political Collectors Show on Sunday, Feb. 3. The show will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue, 325 E. Sixth St., and will feature over 10,000 political items for sale, including buttons, posters, mugs, bandannas, watches and clothing that cover the presidencies of George Washington to Barack Obama, as well as a special exhibition of political memorabilia from the 2012 election.

The show will also include the presentation of the fourth annual Ed Potter Memorial Awards, named after the political memorabilia collector, which are given to those involved in the political process who have used political items and artifacts in their campaigns. This year’s recipients are New York State Assemblyman and City Councilman Adam Clayton Powell and Manhattan Media’s own CEO and mayoral hopeful Tom Allon.

Admission is $3 for adults and free for children under 16. For more information, call 212-764-6330.

SCHOOL MOVE TO BE DECIDED JAN. 16
The Department of Education (DOE) has moved its Panel for Educational Policy vote on the relocation of Innovation Diploma Plus (IDP) from Dec. 20 to Jan. 16. The controversial vote will decide whether the high school will remain co-located with four other schools in the Brandeis Education Complex at 145 W. 84th St. or move to a soon-to-be-vacated building in Washington Heights.

The move was condemned by education administrators and local elected officials when it was proposed in October because they believed that the DOE was isolating IDP’s students, who are transferred to the high school because of poor performance elsewhere, to favor Success Academy, the education complex’s one charter school that hopes to expand in the building. DOE maintains that the move would be advantageous to students because they would have shorter commutes and be closer to the school’s partner nonprofit community development organization.

EXPRESS TRAIN DERAILS
Passengers on the A express train recently were stranded near 81st Street Station when the train’s last car derailed. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, an undetected broken section of the rail caused one wheel assembly of the southbound train to jump the tracks around 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22, leaving over 400 straphangers waiting underground as a second train came to their rescue. The accident caused subway delays from uptown Manhattan to Brooklyn throughout the day by forcing the A and D lines to run on the local track. No injuries were reported, and service returned to normal in the evening.

CHRISTMAS TREE CLEAN-UP
The Department of Sanitation (DOS) is currently running a Christmas tree collection for mulching and recycling. Through Saturday, Jan. 19, the department is encouraging residents to leave their trees by the curb in front of their homes for pick-up. Tree stands, tinsel, lights and ornaments should be removed, and the trees should not be placed in plastic bags.

According to DOS, the trees will be chipped into mulch that will be distributed to parks, playing fields and community gardens throughout the city.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is also holding a “Mulchfest” next weekend, Jan. 12 and 13, at designated sites around the city. Residents can bring their trees to be chipped into mulch that will be used as ground cover for the city’s plants, and free mulch will be given to anyone who brings a bag to transport it.

THINKING OF SUICIDE? FREE COUNSELING AVAILABLE
In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, the Samaritans of New York reminds the New Yorkers that it operates a free, confidential, 24-hour suicide prevention hotline in the city at 212-673-3000.

“The focus on the details of the tragedy, the memorials and the politics of gun control must also be accompanied by the need for greater access to mental health services for those who are depressed, experiencing trauma and/or experiencing some form of mental illness,” Samaritans said in an e-mail, noting that their service alleviates the intensity of the feelings that those in crisis experience and reduces their risk factors for suicide.

Samaritans of New York, part of the international suicide prevention organization that has centers in 42 countries, is the longest-running suicide prevention program in the city. They have answered over 1 million calls from people in crisis, and provide suicide prevention education programs for health providers and support groups.