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The New York state Assembly and Senate approve amendment to criteria for adding volunteer firefighters to memorial in Albany.

Nearly five years after Malverne volunteer firefighter Paul Brady perished in the line of duty, his name may finally appear on a memorial in Albany in

The New York state Assembly approved an act (A05933) to amend the volunteer firefighters’ benefit law to include the names of all members who die or have died while performing services in the line of duty on the fallen firefighters wall at the Capitol Mall.

The bill, which passed in the Senate earlier this month, was created in response to outrage that Brady, a six-year veteran of the Malverne Fire Department, had been denied a spot on the state memorial following his death on July 30, 2006. It was sponsored by Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre.

“I am pleased that fallen firefighter Paul Brady will finally receive this distinction that is very long overdue” said Skelos, the Senate Majority Leader. “Paul was a devoted husband, a loyal friend, and a dedicated firefighter who under a tragic set of circumstances was killed in the line of duty.The passage of this legislation ensures that Paul’s name will be inscribed on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial where it belongs.”

Brady, 42, had been participating in various drils and training for the deparment with 12 other volunteer firefighters that day, when he was fatally injured in an accident. Brady was on the top of a heavy rescue fire truck performing maintenance activities as part of the training, when another firefighter, unaware of Brady’s presence atop the vehicle, began to drive the truck, causing him to hit a ceiling beam and fall off. Brady suffered serious internal injuries, which led to his death later that day.

The New York State Workers’ Compensation Board determined that Brady died in the line of duty and awarded death benefits to his wife, as did the United States Department of Justice when dismissing a wrongful death action against the village of Malverne and its fire department. Brady was honored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which also recognized his passing as a line of duty death.

However, the New York State Fallen Firefighter Memorial Committee refused to add Brady’s name to their monument, denying an application sent by the Malverne Fire Department on Nov. 30, 2006 and subsequent requests.

They ruled that the activity that Brady was involved in when he died did not meet the ‘ Line of Duty’ definition.

“The Chief of Department along with Paul’s family, friends, thousands of brother and sister firefighters and local lawmakers are stunned by the Committee’s actions and also are appalled at several inappropriate comments made by members of this New York State committee with regard to Firefighter Paul R. Brady and the tragic accident that took his life in the line of duty,” a spokesman for the Malverne Volunteer Fire Department said in statement released in April 2010, after the fourth request was denied.

The Malverne Fire Department and Brady’s estate took the issue to the state Supreme Court in Nassau County, where a rally was held outside the building in September 2010 that included Brady’s family, friends and fellow firefighters, along with local politicians, who demanded Brady receive “his rightful spot on the memorial wall in Albany.”

Sen. Skelos introduced the legislation (S.4655) in April 2011 to the Senate, which passed it with a vote of 138 yea-1 nay on June 15. It then moved on to the state Assembly, where it was sponsored by Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, D-Long Beach.

“While there is no way to repay the families of firefighters who make the ultimate sacrifice, the state memorial is a small way for New York to recognize their service,” Weisenberg said. “Paul Brady’s family, especially his children, deserve to see his name next to those of other fallen heroes from our state.”

The bill stated that Brady fit all the criteria set forth in 1998 by then Gov. George Pataki, James McGowan, a retired PUNY lieutenant, and Gunnar Nielsen, who at the time was president of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, to earn a spot on the wall. It also pointed out that other agencies had determined his death to have occurred while in the line of duty.

It called for an amendment to be added to ensure that in any case of death of a volunteer firefighter the deceased should have their name inscribed on the state memorial in Albany if an authoritative agency determines their death resulted from services performed in the line of duty. The legislation says this includes but is not limited to the Workers’ Compensation Board, the Federal Department of Justice and the Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

The bill reads, “If anything, firefighter Brady’s tragic death only proves the point that every task, no matter how routine it may seem, is an act of dedication….Despite the opinions of some professional firefighters that the wall would be ‘cheapened’ by including Paul Brady on the wall, the families of fallen firefighters deserve a place aside from a mournful cemetery, to remember their own personal hero, a place where they can look up to their lost love one’s name and leave with a feeling of pride and honor rather than that of sorrow.”

David Jacobowitz, president of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY), hailed the passage of the legislation in both houses as “a long awaited breakthrough that will be warmly embraced by volunteer firefighters throughout the state, which will bring a rational, objective set of standards to facilitate the placement of the names of our fallen on the memorial wall in Albany.”

The bill is now awaiting a signature from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Once signed, it would go into effect immediately.

“On behalf of the Malverne Volunteer Fire Department and the family and friends of our deceased brother firefighter, Paul Ryan Brady, we are pleased with the passage of the bill in both the Senate and Assembly,” said Malverne Fire Chief Daniel Morgan. “We look forward to the governor’s signature giving Paul the honor he deserve for giving his life for the residents of his community.”
Related Topics: Assembly, Fallen Firefighters, Memorial, Paul Brady, and Senate

US Labor Department’s OSHA cites 3 Queens, NY, contractors for safety hazards following construction site fatality in Elmhurst, NY
NEW YORK (MMD Newswire) June 14, 2011 – – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Sing Da Corp., H Rock Corp. and Vera Construction Inc. for alleged willful, repeat and serious violations of workplace safety standards following the agency’s investigation of a Jan. 10 fatality that occurred on a construction site located at 84-16/18 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst.
OSHA’s investigation found that, at the time of the incident, employees were filling an 18-foot-high by 65-foot-long concrete block wall with cement when the wall collapsed, killing one employee and hospitalizing three others. These workers were employees of Sing Da Corp., which does business as Chung Hing Co.
“This was a tragic incident that could have been avoided by taking the simple and obvious precaution of bracing the block wall before trying to fill it with cement,” said Kay Gee, OSHA’s area director in Manhattan.
Sing Da Corp. was cited for one willful violation carrying a proposed fine of $42,000 for failing to brace the block wall. The company also was cited for five serious violations with proposed penalties of $21,000 for various scaffold-related safety hazards.
H Rock Corp. was cited for three serious violations related to scaffold safety and not bracing the concrete wall, as well as for three serious violations related to unguarded floor holes, lack of head protection and lack of a safety program. Proposed penalties total $38,000.
Vera Construction Inc. was cited for three serious violations with $8,580 in penalties for unguarded floor holes, not having caps on reinforcing steel and not having a safety program. Two repeat violations with fines of $6,732 also were cited for hazard communication failures and a lack of hard hats. The company received similar citations in 2008 and 2009.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.
Proposed penalties for the three employers total $116,312. The companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Queens District Office; telephone 718-279-9060. To report workplace incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call the agency’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Harness industry workers such as catch drivers, blacksmiths and veterinarians would get relief from workers’ compensation premiums under recently introduced state legislation.

Such independent contractors are currently considered “employees” by State Insurance Fund auditors and are wrongly assessed workers’ compensation premiums, the Empire State Harness Horsemen’s Alliance said.

The alliance is composed of standardbred horsemen’s groups from throughout the state, including the Saratoga Harness Horse Person’s Association.

“It’s really a very frustrating situation here in New York because workers’ compensation premiums are being wrongly assessed and collected for people who are really not employees, and when they are hurt, these same independent contractors cannot collect because they never were employees to begin with,” alliance spokesman Joe Faraldo said.

The bill has been introduced by Gary Pretlow, D-Yonkers, chairman of the Assembly Racing, Wagering and Gaming Committee.

The proposed law would help the harness racing industry because owners, trainers and other harness horsemen would no longer have to pay thousands of dollars worth of premiums that help no one, Faraldo said.

— By Paul Post

Is it time, once again, to stretch? For decades, many of us stretched before a workout, usually by reaching toward our toes or leaning against a wall to elongate our hamstrings, then holding that pose without moving until it felt uncomfortable, a technique known as static stretching. Most people, including scientists and entire generations of elementary-school P.E. teachers, believed that static stretching lengthened muscles and increased flexibility, making people better able to perform athletically.

But about 10 years ago, researchers began putting the practice to the test. They found that when athletes did static stretches, performance often suffered. Many couldn’t jump as high, sprint as fast or swing a tennis racquet or golf club as powerfully as they could before they stretched. Static stretching appeared to cause the nervous system to react and tighten, not loosen, the stretched muscle, the research showed.

Not surprisingly, stretching fell out of favor among well-informed athletes and coaches. Last year, new exercise guidelines issued by the American College of Sports Medicine specifically advised against static stretching before workouts or competitions. The European College of Sport Sciences issued a position statement saying that such stretching could “diminish” athletic performance.

Which means, naturally, that static stretching is ripe for scientific reappraisal. And right on cue, several contrarian new reviews and studies suggest that static stretching may not be so bad after all — and may even be desirable.

For the most comprehensive, and bluntest, of the new reports, published this month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers reviewed more than 100 studies of stretching and concluded that the “detrimental effects of static stretch are mainly limited to longer duration” poses, meaning stretches that last for at least a minute. If you hold a particular stretch for a shorter period, the authors wrote, particularly for less than 30 seconds, you should experience “no detrimental effect.”

The other studies came to similar conclusions. A close reading of earlier studies, published in March in The European Journal of Applied Physiology, found that “a substantial number” of the experiments did not find “detrimental effects associated with prior static stretching,” especially if the stretches were “of short duration” or were stopped before “the point of discomfort.” And a new study of well-trained female collegiate runners undertaken at Florida State University and published last month in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, showed that a static-stretching routine consisting of five leg-muscle stretches, each held for 30 seconds and repeated four times, “did not have an adverse effect” on the women’s performance in a timed treadmill running test.

Of course, conclusions like “no detrimental effect” or “did not have an adverse effect” are not ringing endorsements of static stretching and beg the obvious question: if brief stretches aren’t bad for us, are they actively good? Should we, in other words, be making an effort to stretch before we exercise?

That question, most of today’s stretching researchers say, remains difficult to answer. “Several studies have revealed that stretching,” even of short duration, “increases the range of motion about a joint and reduces the stiffness of the muscle,” Anthony Kay, a senior lecturer in sport and exercise biomechanics at the University of Northampton and the lead author of the latest review, told me. “Both of these,” he explained, reduce “the risk of muscle strain injury,” though muscle strains are not a top concern for many of us.

“Muscle strains are uncommon in activities such as jogging,” cycling or swimming, said Malachy McHugh, the director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Training at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, who has extensively studied stretching. Runners, swimmers and cyclists are more prone to overuse injuries, Dr. McHugh said, and the newest studies and reviews have not found that stretching reduces the risk of overuse injuries.

On the other hand, “if you are involved in a sport that demands a great extent of static flexibility,” such as “holding a split position” during gymnastics or dropping into the ungainly crouch of “an ice hockey goalie,” then “you may need to add some static stretching,” said David Behm, the associate director of graduate studies and research at Memorial University of Newfoundland and lead author of the European journal review of stretching.

So there you have the state of the science on stretching. Hockey goalies, gymnasts, cheerleaders and dancers should be stretching before workouts or performances. The rest of us are unlikely, the latest findings show, to sustain any harm from brief spurts of static stretching — but equally unlikely to gain much advantage.

So if you stretch now before exercising and enjoy it, continue. “The negative psychological impact of altering precompetition routine may outweigh any possible benefit associated with removing” static stretching, the study of female runners concluded. But if you don’t stretch, don’t sweat it. “I would say there is no rationale” for most of us to practice “short duration static stretches,” Dr. McHugh said.

Talk about having nine lives.

Copper, a nine-year-old cat, survived a 14-story fall from her owners’ New York City apartment building.

When Angela Lang and her family moved into the Upper West Side apartment last month, they didn’t think Copper would be able to slip out of the building through the windows, which don’t open very wide.

As it turns out, they were wrong. Somehow, the feisty feline managed to slip out onto a ledge, where she fell 14 stories to the street below, according to MyFoxNY.

The Langs said they hurried the cat to a local veterinary hospital but that amazingly, their tenacious pet not only survived the death-defying plunge but managed to limp away with only a fractured foot.