gunsmith
member
please include link as well as story, like I do.
do not be lazy or frightened...I know you took the tag off the mattress, you know.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_075202946.html
Wild Shootout: Mayor Repeats Need For Gun Control
Bloomberg Says Officers' Families Will Be Compensated
Slideshow: Wild Shootout In Greenwich Village
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK The city is looking for ways to compensate the families of two slain auxiliary police officers who are not entitled to line of duty death benefits because they were volunteers, the mayor said Friday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his administration has identified three compensation programs for the officers, who "were trying to protect you and me on a voluntary basis, getting no compensation for it, putting their time in."
"This was the great American dream for these two kids," he added.
Auxiliary officers Eugene Marshalik, a college sophomore who was weeks away from his 20th birthday, and Nicholas Todd Pekearo, 28, an aspiring writer, were killed along with 35-year-old pizzeria bartender Alfredo Romero, when a gunman went on a rampage Wednesday night in Greenwich Village.
The gunman, David Garvin, was then fatally shot by police. Police said he had been repeatedly kicked out of the restaurant where the shooting began and may have been angry that a friend was fired from the pizzeria.
One of the death benefits that will be granted to the families of the volunteer officers is the $66,000 City Award for Heroic Acts by Non-Peace Officers.
The Bloomberg administration will also help the families apply for a federal public safety officers benefit program that provides a payment of nearly $300,000 to survivors of public safety officers. The city will also assist with state workers compensation, a benefit of $50,000. Volunteer workers are eligible for both programs, officials said.
Bloomberg, speaking on his radio show Friday, said he was saddened by having to talk about money because "it doesn't bring back their lives."
The mayor, a vocal gun control advocate who has gone to Capitol Hill many times to argue his case, also used Wednesday night's shooting to dial up the pressure on lawmakers. After spending hours with the victims' loved ones at the hospital, Bloomberg put in a call to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and said on his radio show that "there is just a point that we have to say, 'Enough."'
"The Democrats have said repeatedly that they blame the Republicans for gun legislation. Well, now they're in charge," he said. "OK, stand up."
On Friday, auxiliary and full-time officers mingled together in line to pay their respects at a wake for Pekearo. Outside, two blue-uniformed men hugged each other silently, while colleagues stood solemnly in formation near the Chelsea funeral home.
"He was one of the nicest New Yorkers I've ever met," Hannah Waldron said tearfully of her high school classmate. "He had a sense of humor and a kindness about him."
Primarily, Bloomberg is pushing Congress not to renew measures that prevent federal authorities from sharing gun trace data with local governments. These typically have been attached to spending bills.
He has not yet spoken with Pelosi, according to a spokesman for Bloomberg.
The fired up mayor also addressed his critics, some of whom say he is going too far with his gun initiatives, such as suing out of state gun dealers. Maybe they should go with him to the hospital, he said.
"You look the parents in the eye and you tell them," he said.
Bloomberg was scheduled to speak at the funerals this weekend for both officers, and the city is covering those costs as well. Pekearo was to be memorialized on Saturday in Manhattan, followed by Marshalik on Sunday in Brooklyn.
Auxiliary police officers are unarmed but have uniforms that resemble those of regular police officers. They are not provided bulletproof vests but are allowed to wear them. Pekearo was wearing a bulletproof vest, but of the several shots that hit him, only one shot hit the vest, police said.
Since the shooting, some have questioned whether it is safe for the city's 4,500 auxiliary officers to look like regular police, but not to be armed. Bloomberg said Friday that the similar uniforms serve an important purpose.
"The idea is that they look like police officers, which will give us more presence on the streets and make the city safer," he said.
The two auxiliary officers are the first to die in the line of duty since 1993 and will get full police honors at their funerals. Only five other auxiliary officers have died on the job in the city's history, officials said.
do not be lazy or frightened...I know you took the tag off the mattress, you know.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_075202946.html
Wild Shootout: Mayor Repeats Need For Gun Control
Bloomberg Says Officers' Families Will Be Compensated
Slideshow: Wild Shootout In Greenwich Village
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK The city is looking for ways to compensate the families of two slain auxiliary police officers who are not entitled to line of duty death benefits because they were volunteers, the mayor said Friday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his administration has identified three compensation programs for the officers, who "were trying to protect you and me on a voluntary basis, getting no compensation for it, putting their time in."
"This was the great American dream for these two kids," he added.
Auxiliary officers Eugene Marshalik, a college sophomore who was weeks away from his 20th birthday, and Nicholas Todd Pekearo, 28, an aspiring writer, were killed along with 35-year-old pizzeria bartender Alfredo Romero, when a gunman went on a rampage Wednesday night in Greenwich Village.
The gunman, David Garvin, was then fatally shot by police. Police said he had been repeatedly kicked out of the restaurant where the shooting began and may have been angry that a friend was fired from the pizzeria.
One of the death benefits that will be granted to the families of the volunteer officers is the $66,000 City Award for Heroic Acts by Non-Peace Officers.
The Bloomberg administration will also help the families apply for a federal public safety officers benefit program that provides a payment of nearly $300,000 to survivors of public safety officers. The city will also assist with state workers compensation, a benefit of $50,000. Volunteer workers are eligible for both programs, officials said.
Bloomberg, speaking on his radio show Friday, said he was saddened by having to talk about money because "it doesn't bring back their lives."
The mayor, a vocal gun control advocate who has gone to Capitol Hill many times to argue his case, also used Wednesday night's shooting to dial up the pressure on lawmakers. After spending hours with the victims' loved ones at the hospital, Bloomberg put in a call to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and said on his radio show that "there is just a point that we have to say, 'Enough."'
"The Democrats have said repeatedly that they blame the Republicans for gun legislation. Well, now they're in charge," he said. "OK, stand up."
On Friday, auxiliary and full-time officers mingled together in line to pay their respects at a wake for Pekearo. Outside, two blue-uniformed men hugged each other silently, while colleagues stood solemnly in formation near the Chelsea funeral home.
"He was one of the nicest New Yorkers I've ever met," Hannah Waldron said tearfully of her high school classmate. "He had a sense of humor and a kindness about him."
Primarily, Bloomberg is pushing Congress not to renew measures that prevent federal authorities from sharing gun trace data with local governments. These typically have been attached to spending bills.
He has not yet spoken with Pelosi, according to a spokesman for Bloomberg.
The fired up mayor also addressed his critics, some of whom say he is going too far with his gun initiatives, such as suing out of state gun dealers. Maybe they should go with him to the hospital, he said.
"You look the parents in the eye and you tell them," he said.
Bloomberg was scheduled to speak at the funerals this weekend for both officers, and the city is covering those costs as well. Pekearo was to be memorialized on Saturday in Manhattan, followed by Marshalik on Sunday in Brooklyn.
Auxiliary police officers are unarmed but have uniforms that resemble those of regular police officers. They are not provided bulletproof vests but are allowed to wear them. Pekearo was wearing a bulletproof vest, but of the several shots that hit him, only one shot hit the vest, police said.
Since the shooting, some have questioned whether it is safe for the city's 4,500 auxiliary officers to look like regular police, but not to be armed. Bloomberg said Friday that the similar uniforms serve an important purpose.
"The idea is that they look like police officers, which will give us more presence on the streets and make the city safer," he said.
The two auxiliary officers are the first to die in the line of duty since 1993 and will get full police honors at their funerals. Only five other auxiliary officers have died on the job in the city's history, officials said.
