FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 25, 2013
MEDIA CONTACTS: Collin Nash, Ryan Mulholland, & Sam Marksheid | (516) 869-7794
Town Presented with “Getting it Done” Award for Sandy Efforts
North Hempstead, NY – Since opening in September 2012, North Hempstead’s “Yes We Can” Community Center in Westbury has become a recreational, commercial, and cultural hub in the Town.
But under the leadership of Supervisor Jon Kaiman and the North Hempstead Town Board, the Platinum LEED–Certified community center has evolved into much more: one of the region’s primary emergency management headquarters.
For its role in mobilizing the community and providing disaster relief across the region in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, North Hempstead was the recipient of the “Getting it Done” award at the recent Seventh Annual Sustainability Conference.
Supervisor Kaiman collected the award on behalf of the administration at the April 12th event, which was at Carlyle on the Green in Farmingdale.
Kaiman acknowledged the hundreds of town workers who “helped out during the crisis, for being there and the Town’s constituents.” The Supervisor also acknowledged “mayors from throughout North Hempstead, Nassau County emergency management officials, as well as State and Federal representatives, for working with the Town to formalize an emergency preparedness response.”
In the days leading up to Sandy’s landfall on Long Island, Supervisor Kaiman activated the Community Center as a regional emergency management nerve center. By doing so, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials were able to use it as a disaster recovery command site. In addition, dozens of New York State Troopers out on public safety assignments called the center home for more than a week after being unable to find accommodations in nearby hotels.
The Town, which was preparing to relocate the 311 Call Center from Town Hall in Manhasset to the Yes We Can Community Center towards the end of 2012, moved up the schedule and pressed the 311 Call Center into operation weeks ahead of time.
Sustainable Long Island, which hosted the conference, pointed to the Town’s efforts “in the face of adversity” and the Yes We Can Community Center’s collaborative role as a “positive” for the region.
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Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman (center) flanked by County Executive Ed Mangano, and Councilwoman Viviana Russell on the left, and Nassau County Legislator Robert Troiano on the far right.