The Battery

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, June 26, 2002

PARKS RESPONDS TO NEED FOR TRAINED SEARCH & RESCUE TEAM

Parks’ Urban Parks Service (UPS) - Search & Rescue (SAR) team was established as a result of UPS personnel being on the scene immediately following the events at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. With members of the Urban Park Service assigned to the site for over two months, Parks realized that having a Search & Rescue team in the future would be a huge benefit.

At the site, UPS personnel helped evacuate many people, provided emergency medical treatment for injured persons, searched for missing persons, and rescued animals trapped inside nearby apartment buildings. UPS personnel also provided mobile support transporting relief personnel, supplies, and equipment back and forth from staging areas to ground zero. UPS provided crowd control, organized volunteers at staging areas, helped to reestablish command posts and communication bases for the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and provided site security along the promenade that connects Battery Park City and Hudson River Park. Many of the UPS workers voluntarily worked 20 hour shifts, often for days in a row.

After our part of the rescue effort at ground zero was concluded, Parks saw a need and opportunity to create the SAR team. Formed with 6 main members, the UPS Search & Rescue team was trained and certified by the National Association of Search & Rescue (NASAR). The team has both ground and mobile units. There is also one EMT certified member and a FEMA qualified manager/instructor. The team is currently training for Technical Rescue with Over-The-Edge, Inc, an affiliate of Central Jersey Technical Rescue Team.

Parks UPS Search & Rescue Team:

Mario Carrillo (UPS/Communications Division, Deputy Director)

Dennis Annunziato (UPS Academy, Lieutenant)

Anthony Prastaro (UPS/Parks Enforcement, Corporal)

Bernie Maldonado (UPS/Communications Division, Corporal)

James MacDonald (UPS/Urban Park Ranger, Ranger)

Walter Luciano (UPS/Parks Enforcement, Patrol Officer)

The Search & Rescue team is on 24 hours a day alert to respond to calls for assistance in New York City and is prepared to assist in search and rescue missions anywhere in the continental United States. Equipped with two emergency response vehicles, radios, aquatic, and technical rescue equipment, emergency medical equipment, and more, the UPS Search & Rescue Team is ready for action of all kinds.

Through networking and communications, the SAR team has already formed affiliations and alliances with the following organizations, associations, and teams:

NASAR: National Association of Search & Rescue (VA)

NIUSR: National Institute of Urban Search & Rescue (CA)

NYSFEDSAR: New York State Federation of Search & Rescue (NY)

NJSARC: New Jersey Search & Rescue Council (NJ)

Over The Edge, Inc. (NJ)

CJTRT: Central Jersey Technical Rescue Team (NJ)

PSARC: Pennsylvania Search & Rescue Council (PA)

W.E.S.T. 6-10: Wilderness Emergency Strike Team, Squad 6-10 (PA)

(Wednesday, July 5, 1989)

At Queens County Farm Museum, string beans, carrots, hens, and sheep share the land to recreate the 17^th- and 18^th-century life at the historic Jacob Adriance House and farm.

Settlers were attracted to the rich glacial soil of Flushing in the early 17^th century, and family farms characterized the area throughout the Colonial period. The earliest records of farm ownership by the Adriances date from 1679. Jacob Adriance built his Dutch-style farmhouse in 1772, with a steeply pitched roof, four-foot overhanging eaves, and hand-split shingles on the exterior. Two unusual features are the English-style central chimney and the northern orientation of the house, which was possible because nearby hills protected the structures from winter winds. The home was doubled in size by Peter Cox shortly after he acquired it in 1883.

"I am always willing to learn, however I do not always like to be taught."

Sir Winston Churchill
(1874–1965)

Know Before You Go

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