Also See: Photo Slide Show: A Weekend Of Reflection in New York
LON SLEPICKA, HEATHER CASPI and DIONNE WALKER
Firehouse.com News
Firefighters and departments planning to attend the memorial service for
fallen comrades in New York City, Nov. 18, are for the most part canceling
any plans they made in wake of the postponement of the event.
A survey of several departments and union locals around the country found
most expressing the feelings of Rochester, New York Local 1071 treasurer
Gary DiNoto. "We will be down there when they want us. For us it is whatever
they need, whenever they need it."
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Bad feelings between the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
with the local unions, and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s
office and the FDNY administration, partly played a role in the postponement.
FDNY said many of the families of the fallen firefighters thought it was too
soon to hold a memorial. The IAFF said the administration was showing too
little respect for the firefighters when they cut the number of firefighters
at ground zero looking for their missing comrades.
The IAFF has said the memorial service will be rescheduled when newly
elected Michael Bloomberg takes over the Mayor’s office next year.
The 250 to 300 firefighters who planned to attend from Rochester are waiting
to hear about future plans DiNoto said. "We understand the deepness of the
problem. It is emotional for us up here and we can imagine what it is like
for them." No one complained about the postponement he said.
Firefighters with Honor Guards in Richmond, VA and Charlotte, NC have also
put aside their plans until new arrangements have been made.
Bob McCarthy, president of The Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts
said they had two full Amtrak trains reserved for the trip to New York city
but have since cancelled those and the rooms they had reserved. "We continue
to go down to attend the funerals but as far as the memorial, we are just
waiting for the International to give us the word."
But Bill Kugelman, President of Local 2 in Chicago said, "we are still going
come hell or high water." It may be down to about 200 from the planned 400
to 500 firefighters from Chicago, but they still planned to be present in
force on Nov. 18.
Kugelman said they plan to attend any funerals or memorials for firefighters
that are being held during the time they are there.
The California Professional
Firefighters planned to send a contingent of people to the memorial
Service. They cancelled their official trip after the postponement of the
service,
but expect some members from their organization, as well as others
around the state, will still go to New York on their own and attend
the individual funerals scheduled for that weekend.
L.A. County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014 said they too cancelled their trip,
but
have had members attending funerals on their own all along, and expect they
will continue to do so.
The Fort Worth Fire Fighters Association cancelled their trip as
well, and officials there were not aware of whether any individuals
would fly out on their own.
The Seattle Fire Fighters Local 27
reported at least one member still going, and possibly more despite
the cancellation of their trip.
The Professional Fire Fighters of
Arizona said they will have seven people going; one as an official
representative, two who were asked to come out because of fund raising they
did, and several going on their own. The rest of their
50 or so members who planned to attend the event are waiting until it is
rescheduled.
"At the request of the IAFF we’re not sending anyone at this point until
they find out the new date," said a spokesman at Local 341 in Houston.
"We were trying to charter a plane for our firefighters to go over there.
A lot of people were interested," she said.
"They’re all just wanting
to go. Its something they feel they need to show up for and pay their
respects."
According to several major hotels in New York City, most of the
firefighters who were planning to come to town for the memorial
service this weekend have cancelled their trips in light of the
service's postponement.
The Manhattan East Suite Hotels chain and the Hilton Hotels chain had
blocks of rooms set aside in NYC for those expected to attend the
service, but called them off as the cancellations poured in.
A reservationist with Manhattan East said callers are commenting that
they are sorry the event was cancelled, and look forward to
rescheduling when a new date is set.
A Hilton reservationist said that even more people have been calling
off trips to New York since Monday morning. "There have been a lot of
cancellations, especially after the plane crash yesterday," he said.
One hotel that was hit extremely hard is the New Yorker Hotel on 8th
Ave and 34th Street. They had over 500 reservations scheduled because
of the memorial service, and now only one or two of those guests are
still coming, said a reservationist named Lena. She said the plane
crash yesterday didn't seem to affect reservations.
Other hotels that reported major cancellations for this weekend are
the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia Airport and the Fitzpatrick Manhattan
Hotel, which had guests planning to come all the way from Ireland for
Sunday's postponed event.
However, at least one hotel is still expecting a full house this
weekend. The Mayflower Hotel on the Park, at 15 Central Park West, is
almost sold out for Saturday night.
"Actually we were expecting cancellations, but so far that hasn't
happened," said a representative named Venus. She said they have only
had an average number of cancellations, but aren't sure whether a
flood of cancellations may come in at the last minute or if most of
the guests are actually coming. She didn't know how many of the
hotel's 365 rooms were reserved because of the memorial service, but
said it was a lot.
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