NYCHA Caretaker Saves Baby and Family from Blaze was so thick that it was diffi- like family,” he said. “I saw the cult to breathe. Mr. Maestre people I helped while they told the residents not to open were growing up. What I did their door—to keep out the was just a gut reaction. But if I smoke—and he immediately didn’t do anything, I couldn’t went to the roof to open the live with myself.” roof door to let the smoke out. “What he did was just Mr. Maestre then went amazing,” said Ms. Forbes, down the fire escape and who helped organize the entered the apartment where award ceremony. “He never the residents and baby were thought about himself. He just From left: Tenant Association President Maria Forbes, NYC Council waiting. “They were panicked ran right in without hesitation Member Vanessa Gibson (in black and white), State Assemblywoman and didn’t know what to do. I to warn the residents and Latoya Joyner (in black), and Claremont Rehab caretaker Ivan Maestre. was worried that the gas line save that family and baby. It might explode, so I knew I was just his human instinct Caretaker Ivan Maestre ping and heard people yelling had to get everyone out fast.” to help. Many people here was honored for rescuing “fire, fire,” his first thought First Mr. Maestre carried are grateful, and we are very a two-week-old infant and was to check on a woman in a the baby in his arms down proud of him.” four others from a third-floor wheelchair in the lobby. “You four floors on the fire escape. Many of Mr. Maestre’s blaze at Claremont Rehab in get to know all the residents He then returned to the coworkers and residents the Bronx on August 2. The and who is where at what time apartment to bring down congratulated him on the ceremony was hosted at the of the day,” said Mr. Maestre, Claremont Community Center who has worked at Claremont on August 10 by New York Rehab for seven years. They were panicked and didn‘t know what State Assemblywoman Latoya He then went door-to- “ Joyner, New York City Council door down the smoke-filled to do. I was worried that the gas line might Member Vanessa Gibson, and halls to warn residents, later explode, so I knew I ... had to get everyone out fast. Claremont Tenant Association assisted by the Con Edison President Maria Forbes for employees, until he reached Ivan Maestre, Caretaker “the selfless individuals that a third-floor apartment that ” assisted in the brave rescue of appeared to be the source the family dog. The four heroic deed. When asked to families in the fire,” as report- of the blaze. He kicked in the other residents were able to explain how he kept calm and ed by News 12 Bronx. Thanks door, found nobody inside, travel down the fire escape thought clearly, Mr. Maestre to the prompt response of and closed it to contain the unassisted. The scene on the mentioned that he is a martial Mr. Maestre and Con Edison smoke. When he reached a street was chaotic, but the arts instructor and also teach- workers, all the victims are door on the fourth floor, he family members were able to es the discipline to children. fully recovered. heard people inside telling express their gratitude. “This helped me focus and to When Mr. Maestre was pre- him there was a baby. “You get to know all the have confidence and cour- paring for the afternoon mop- At this point the smoke residents, and really they are age,” he said. CONTENTS VOL. 2 AUGUST 2016 NUMBER 8 Caretaker Gary Carter 2 NYCHA Notes: FlexOps Pilot Initiative Debuts 5 Employee Voices: 3 has more Say Hello to “J” Stakenburg 2016 NYC Gives Campaign Preserving NYCHA’s Artistic time to get Heritage, by Aaron Schraeter Dir. of Emergency Management things done NYCHA Recognized for Excel- 4 6 Public Interest Design, in his per- Resident Watch to Merge with lence in Construction Mgmt. by Jae Shin Office of Emergency Mgmt. sonal life. Award for Excellence in 7 I Am NextGen: R. Rodriguez Watch Ras at Urban Decision- Financial Reporting See why on Makers Conference 8 News to Use p. 3. VOL. 2 AUGUST 2016 NUMBER 8 NYCHA Notes Resident Watch to Merge With City’s Emergency Response Team Say Hello to “J” Stakenburg, Director of the Office of Emergency Management NYCHA has teamed up with the Office Jeffrey Stakenburg, formerly of Emergency Emergency Manager at the Management to Federal Department of merge the existing Homeland Security/Federal Resident Watch Pro- Emergency Management gram with the City’s Agency (FEMA), was appoint- Community Emer- ed Director of the Office of gency Response Team (CERT), creating a more responsive Emergency Management in community-based watch effort that will be an asset not just to July 2016. Mr. Stakenburg is NYCHA developments but also to surrounding communities. responsible for coordinat- CERT trains volunteers for different types of disasters, includ- ing NYCHA’s preparedness, ing hurricanes, large snowstorms, fires, and more. Participating response, recovery, and NYCHA residents will join their development’s Resident Watch mitigation efforts to minimize patrol and complete the 10-week CERT training program to disruptions to the Authority’s operations and services in the learn how to be prepared and assist in emergencies. event of a large-scale emergency, including natural disasters, The Resident Watch Response Team (RWRT) will be acts of terrorism and infrastructure failures. In addition, Mr. launched at the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety Stakenburg provides leadership and guidance for the revision, (MAP) developments: Boulevard, Brownsville, Bushwick, Inger- development, implementation and maintenance of NYCHA’s soll, Tompkins, Red Hook, Van Dyke, Queensbridge, Staple- emergency response strategies and plans. ton, St. Nicholas, Polo Grounds, Wagner, Butler, Castle Hill, Mr. Stakenburg—who simply goes by “J”—brings 15 years and Patterson Houses. of experience in the field of emergency and disaster manage- RWRT is now recruiting members, ages 18 and older, for ment. Most recently, he worked for FEMA, where he support- the fall. If you live in one of the MAP developments and want ed 14 presidentially-declared disasters, led highly technical to help keep your community safe, contact your management damage assessment and recovery teams, and was selected as office to apply for the RWRT at your development. Visit http:// one of the subject matter experts tasked with reengineering www1.nyc.gov/site/em/community_business/nyc-cert.page to how FEMA administers its public assistance grant program. As learn more about the NYC Cert program. a result of those efforts, J and his team received FEMA’s 2015 Administrator’s Award for Innovation. Watch “Ras” at Urban Decision-Makers Conference Prior to FEMA, J was Chief of Emergency Operations for Lee County, Florida, where his experiences included coordi- On July 19, Rasmia (“Ras”) Kirmani- nating public safety responses to wildfires, several natural di- Frye, President of the Fund for sasters (hurricanes, floods, tropical storms), aviation accidents, Public Housing and the Director the H1N1 Pandemic and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Release. of NYCHA’s Office of Public/Pri- An accomplished instructor of adults, J also taught middle vate Partnerships, participated in and high school English, history, and government in his native a conference sponsored by the Bay Area, California, coached high school basketball, and New York Times called “Cities for worked for the City of Oakland as an advisor to the Mayor. Tomorrow: The Pre-eminent Con- In his spare time, he likes to explore historic architecture and ference for Urban Decision-Mak- study local history. In addition to California, J has lived in ers.” People value public systems Texas, Florida, and most recently, New Orleans, but is now such as police, libraries, parks, and excited to call Brooklyn home. schools but not so much public housing, Ras lamented. “But it’s the residents of public housing that make all the public systems you love run,” she said. The New York City Housing Authority top three employeers of NYCHA residents are the NYPD, the Department of Communications NYC Department of Education and NYCHA, and the top nine 250 Broadway | 12th Floor of 10 employers are public systems. “We need to invest in the New York, NY 10007 people who invest in us every day,” Ras said. The Fund for Pub- lic Housing partners with public/private entities to improve the 212-306-4384 way public housing works. Ras urged participants to tell people [email protected] they know about the Fund. You can watch the presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m839ixojggE. | 2 | VOL. 2 AUGUST 2016 NUMBER 8 New FlexOps Pilot Initiative to Improve Customer Service Debuts It’s not every day that Chair day (7:30 p.m.). All staff partic- the lobbies and front of the ty management industry stan- Shola Olatoye and General ipating in the new staggered buildings clean,” explained dard at their development. Manager Michael Kelly greet shifts (which includes care- Mr. Brown, who has worked at “I think it’s excellent, a great employees with coffee and takers, maintenance workers, NYCHA for almost 21 years, program,” said Nathaniel Green, and property managers) are the last eight at Dyckman. Dyckman’s Resident Associa- volunteers or new hires. “Just this morning, a tenant tion President, who has been FlexOps is already getting saw me cleaning the elevator a resident leader there for rave reviews—from both when she was leaving for work about a decade. employees and residents—at and said ‘thank you.’” It helps residents because Dyckman Houses in Upper “I love FlexOps,” said Ms.