Press Briefing COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

   Press Briefing

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

H. Lee Dennison Building

100 Veterans Memorial Highway

P.O. Box 6100

Hauppauge, New York 11788-0099

(631) 853-4000

 Steven Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Media Advisory

October 29, 2012

10:15am

Contact Information:

Vanessa B. Streeter

(Office) 631-853-7801

(Cell) 631-885-2298

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Will Hold Hurricane Sandy Press Briefing at 12:45pm Today

What: Bellone and Suffolk County officials will hold press briefing today to discuss preparations for Hurricane Sandy

When:    Today, October 29, 2012

                12:45pm

Where:    Suffolk County Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

                 30 East Ave, Yaphank, NY 11980

Note:        Media will be able to obtain B-Roll of the EOC         

Press Release COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

Press Release

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

H. Lee Dennison Building

100 Veterans Memorial Highway

P.O. Box 6100

Hauppauge, New York 11788-0099

(631) 853-4000

 Steven Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Press Release

October 28, 2012

Contact Information:

Vanessa B. Streeter

(Office) 631-853-7801

(Cell) 631-885-2298

Suffolk County Update

The County Executive has asked all residents to prepare appropriately for the forecasted weather. 

Updates

·         Suffolk County has been coordinating with Federal, State and local emergency responders

·         Suffolk County Emergency Operations Center will be open 24/7 until further notice

·         Mandatory evacuation of Fire Island at 2:00pm.  LIPA will de-energize Fire Island after 2:00pm

·         Three Suffolk County shelters were opened as of 8:00am today:

·         Hampton Bays High School – 88 Argonne  Avenue Hampton Bays, NY 11946

·         Sachem East High School - 177 Granny Road Farmingville, NY 11738

·         Brentwood High School Sonderling Bldg. – 52 Third Avenue Brentwood, NY 11717

·         Additional shelter to open at 8:00am:

o   Eastport South Junior/Senior High School- 543 Moriches-Middle Island Road Manorville, NY 11949

·         Will open additional shelters as needed in coordination with the American Red Cross

·         Two pet friendly shelters opened as of 8:00am

o   Brentwood Rec Center – 99 Third Avenue, Brentwood, NY 11717

o   Suffolk County Community College  Eastern Campus – Woodlands Bldg. - 121 Speonk Rd., Riverhead, NY

·         The MTA has announced the suspension of LIRR service as of 7:00pm tonight

·         Suffolk County Transit will shut down as of 6:00pm tonight

·         All Suffolk County parks will be closed as of 6:00pm tonight

·         County Health Centers and Mental Health Clinics will be closed until further notice. 

·         For those Suffolk County residents who do not have transportation, Suffolk County Bus will provide evacuation transportation to shelters through 8:00pm tonight.  Residents should go a regular bus stop to access evacuation transportation

Local municipal officials have called for mandatory and voluntary evacuations: Surge zones can be found atwww.suffolkcountyny.gov

·         Mandatory Evacuation for surge zone 1 area in the following towns:

o   Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southampton, Southold

·         Voluntary Evacuation for surge zone 1 area in the following towns:

o   Huntington, East Hampton, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Brookhaven (surge zone 2)

Suffolk County residents in surge zone areas, mandatory and voluntary, will receive Code Red notification from the Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management

McArthur Airport last flight leaving 5:45pm today.

Suffolk County residents who are disabled and need evacuation assistance should call 631-852-4900.

Please use 911 only for life-threatening emergencies, not for information.  Residents with non-emergency situations can use the SCPD non-emergency number 631 852-COPS (631-852-2677) or the Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services line at 631-852-4900.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Will Hold Hurricane Sandy Press Briefing at 2:30pm Today

Para preguntas o información en español, favor comunicarse con Luis Montes, Vice-Adjunto del Ejecutivo del Condado de Suffolk, al teléfono: 631-487-5994.

    Press Briefing

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

 

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

H. Lee Dennison Building

100 Veterans Memorial Highway

P.O. Box 6100

Hauppauge, New York 11788-0099

(631) 853-4000

 Steven Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Media Advisory

October 28, 2012

8:15am

Contact Information:

Vanessa B. Streeter

(Office) 631-853-7801

(Cell) 631-885-2298

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Will Hold Hurricane Sandy Press Briefing at 2:30pm Today

 

What: Bellone and Suffolk County officials will hold press briefing today to discuss preparations for Hurricane Sandy

 

When:    Today, October 28, 2012

                2:30pm

 

Where:    Suffolk County Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

                30 East Ave, Yaphank, NY 11980

 

Note:        Media will be able to obtain B-Roll of the EOC         

 

Reminders:

 

Mandatory Evacuation of Fire Island in Effect, Residents Required to Leave Fire Island By 2:00pm Today

All Suffolk County Residents in Flood Prone Areas Should Make Alternative Arrangements in Case of Heavy Flooding

The Red Cross Opening Three Shelters at 8:00am Today

Pet Friendly Shelters in Brentwood and Riverhead Open 8:00am Today

All Suffolk County Parks Will Be Closed as of 6:00pm Today

   

 

Suffolk County Shelters Open Today:

·       Hampton Bays High School – 88 Argonne  Avenue Hampton Bays, NY 11946

·       Sachem East High School - 177 Granny Road Farmingville, NY 11738

·       Brentwood High School Sonderling Bldg. – 52 Third Avenue Brentwood, NY 11717

 

Suffolk County Pet Shelters Open Today

·       Brentwood Rec Center – 99 Third Avenue, Brentwood, NY 11717

·       Suffolk County Community College  Eastern Campus – Woodlands Bldg. - 121 Speonk Rd., Riverhead, NY

Preparation Tips

If you have not done so already, it is important to ensure you:

•             Check your family’s emergency supply kit – make certain you have food, water, medications, and other necessities to sustain you, your family and family pets for at least 72 hours.

•             Keep up to date with local conditions – follow TV and radio reports from your area or visit www.weather.gov (http://mobile.weather.gov on your phone) for the latest forecast.

•             Remember food safety – power outages and flooding may happen as a result of strong winds and heavy rains so have a plan for keeping food safe. Have a cooler on hand to keep food cold, and group food together in the freezer so it stays cold longer.

•             Have an adequate communication plan - be sure friends and family know how to contact you. Teach family members how to use text messaging. Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not get through.

Keep in mind, hurricanes bring heavy rains, storm surges and possible flooding events. Avoid walking or driving through any flooded areas.

DEL ESCRITORIO DEL EJECUTIVO DEL CONDADO DE SUFFOLK STEVEN BELLONE

COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

 

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE

H. Lee Dennison Building

100 Veterans Memorial Highway

P.O. Box 6100

Hauppauge, New York 11788-0099

(631) 853-4000

 Steven Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Press Release

October 27, 2012

Contact Information:

Vanessa B. Streeter

(Office) 631-853-7801

(Cell) 631-885-2298

 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone Declares State of Emergency for Suffolk County

Mandatory Evacuation of Fire Island in Effect as of 8:00am Saturday, October 27, 2012

 

(Yaphank, NY-October 27, 2012) – Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has declared a State of Emergency for Suffolk County as of 8:00am today.   In consultation with Islip Supervisor Tom Croci and Brookhaven Acting Supervisor Kathleen Walsh, the County Executive has also ordered a mandatory evacuation of Fire Island with residents required to vacate the island by 2:00pm on Sunday, October 28, 2012.

The Suffolk County Emergency Operations Center opened at 9:00am on Friday, October 25, 2012 and will be open throughout the weekend.

The EOC coordinates the county’s response system and consists of over 40 workstations for representatives from the county, towns, villages, utilities and emergency responders.

County Executive Bellone said the Suffolk Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services began preparations for the storm, which include:

•             Notification by e-mail and phone to the county’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) volunteers that they may be called into action;

•             Notification to approximately 100 county employees who are shelter volunteers that they may be called into action if shelters need to be opened;

•             Coordination with towns and the American Red Cross to identify a shelter in each of the ten towns, if needed;

•             Telephone contact with special-needs persons on the JEEP (Joint Emergency Evacuation Program);

•             Identification of a pet-friendly shelter and persons-with-special-needs shelter, if needed;

•             Briefings for towns, villages and first responders throughout the weekend

County Executive Bellone is urging residents who live in low-lying and flood prone areas to monitor the weather reports closely and listen for updates. Do not report to a shelter until instructed to.

He also reminded residents to use 911 only for life-threatening emergencies, not for information. Residents with non-emergency situations can use the SCPD non-emergency number 852-COPS (852-2677) or the Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services line at 852-4900.

Preparation Tips:

If you have not done so already, it is important to ensure you:

•             Check your family’s emergency supply kit – make certain you have food, water, medications, and other necessities to sustain you, your family and family pets for at least 72 hours.

•             Keep up to date with local conditions – follow TV and radio reports from your area or visitwww.weather.gov (http://mobile.weather.gov on your phone) for the latest forecast.

•             Remember food safety – power outages and flooding may happen as a result of strong winds and heavy rains so have a plan for keeping food safe. Have a cooler on hand to keep food cold, and group food together in the freezer so it stays cold longer.

•             Have an adequate communication plan - be sure friends and family know how to contact you. Teach family members how to use text messaging. Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not get through.

Keep in mind, hurricanes bring heavy rains, storm surges and possible flooding events. Avoid walking or driving through any flooded areas.

CARTA DE LUIS FUENTES A LA EMBAJADA DE EL SALVADOR EN WASHIGTON DC

October 11, 2012

Luis Fuentes

237 Sherman Street

Brentwood, New York 11717

Embassy of El Salvador – Washington DC

1400 16th Street NW Suite 100,

 Washington, DC 20036. 20036
Telephone (202) 595 7500  - Fax (202) 232 3763

Dear Sirs/Madams;

I am writing this letter with the assistance of a community advocate in my area to address our inability to communicate with this Embassy or get any assistance from the Brentwood, New York El Salvadoran consulate.

I am a Salvadoran National living in Brentwood, New York, USA with the Temporary Protective Status granted to Salvadorans In 2001. Please understand that I am in dire need of assistance and I have been told over and over again to obtain such assistance from my local consulate and/or the El Salvadoran Embassy.

I am writing this because I have been to my local consulate in Brentwood NY where I presented my situation to the consul general himself and was told someone would contact me. That was on or around September 12, 2012, and I have not received a response yet. I then tried to call the Embassy in Washington, but after being hung up on several times, while told I was being transferred, and then disconnected, calling back and asking for the woman’s name who kept dropping the call only to be refused this information and hung up on again and ultimately not being able to speak to anyone, I decided to write this letter.

I feel as if my countrymen assigned to assist those of us here in the United States are not taking my situation seriously. I also feel that they are not doing anything to assist me. I need someone to help me, for this is a true emergency and one I have been trying desperately to resolve on my own with the assistance of the aforementioned advocate in my area.

The issue at hand is that my wife Marilu Noely Alas Santos decided to come to this country, as so many of us Salvadorans have, illegally.  Upon entering Texas she disappeared. The last contact I had with my wife was on September 5, 2012. I began to search for her about a week later after not hearing from her. I have been in the process of trying  locating her via CBP, ICE and USCIS.

  

The advocate I have come to for assistance has done all she can in trying to get information as to my wife’s whereabouts. We have even called and are receiving assistance from the “Angels of the Desert” a rescue organization that combs the bordering desserts looking for the lost immigrants. The founder of this organization has been most cooperative and has been actively searching and communicating with us to report his progress or lack thereof. In other words I have been receiving assistance from everyone, except the agency or government entity that we have been repeatedly told could and should assist me, the Salvadoran Consulate, my consulate!

I cannot understand how the very thing placed in this country to assist the citizens of El Salvador can be so callus and indifferent, so unprofessional and arrogant. Please understand that I would not be writing this if I would have received the slightest bit of cooperation from this agency. I would not be troubling you if at the very least they would have called to say we cannot help you, period! Yet I have been completely ignored, as if I am not a citizen of El Salvador, as if my wife and my family are not important. This is just unacceptable and absurd! How is it that the woman answering the phone in Washington sounds as if I am imposing on her time? How can she be as arrogant as to hang up on me over and over again? This is just plain childish, they are employed to assist their fellow citizens yet we are made to feel as if we are an imposition!! Whatever your training policy is this issue needs to be addressed. I am not expecting miracles, but I do expect to be treated decently, professionally and at the very least heard! If they are unable to assist me well then so be it, but I should think that an attempt or even a façade at an attempt should be made!!

I am sending copies of this letter to my local Brentwood New York assemblyman, Phil Ramos, to a local newspaper and to the local Hispanic news agencies. I am hoping that this will somehow motivate the proper authorities to assist me. I am also hoping that your customer service policy will be changed; to make one feel as if they are being helped by a fellow citizen of your home country, a compatriot, someone who understands the idiosyncrasies of our people; and not made to feel as if we are a burden and a bother. I strongly suggest that this behavior be addressed because it is disheartening and downright despicable!

Most of all I am begging for your assistance in finding my wife, the mother of our two young children, the daughter of a loving mother who is beside herself in anguish, please help! Thank you.

Sincerely,

Luis Fuentes 631-767-8363          Cecilia Quevedo 631-504-6651 community advocate

Missing / Kidnapped woman UPDATE!!

Sent: Wed, Oct 24, 2012 11:27 am
Subject: Long Island NY USA -  Re: Missing / Kidnapped woman UPDATE!!

To all the persons and organizations whom have extended their assistance in the matter of the missing immigrant Marilu Noely Alas Santos;
 
First and foremost THANK YOU!! It was so great to get your attention and prompt responses offering to assist us in this heartbreaking situation. We were so disheartened by the treatment we had thus far received from the local Salvadoran Consulate in Brentwood New York, USA and by the treatment by those imbeciles that answer the phones at the Embassy in Washington DC, who's name I'd publish but we were refused this information and constantly hung up on, yes, i said hung up on when we'd call, sounds too childish to be the policy of the EMBASSY personnel answering the phones, but that is exactly what happened a total of 6 times. I was calling them on the speaker phone with the missing woman's desperate husband by my side in my office, so he heard first hand the way his Embassy dealt with the tragic situation he finds himself in! He was so saddened by this but we forged on, and we were led by my friend and founder of the Comite Salvadoreño Independiente NY, Mr. Neftali Ernesto Trejo to the former consul general  Mr. Luis Monte Brito who had been assigned to the Brentwood NY office that  was totally ignoring us. He was the one who gave us the contact info to the organizations in El Salvador. I just want you to know that all your responses are greatly appreciated.
 
So an update to this case: yesterday 10/23/2012 Univision News 41 (channel 6 here in NY) interviewed Luis Fuentes, the husband of the missing woman and her 19 year old sister; whom was en route with the missing woman, but was separated upon arrival here in the US in the McAllen TX. area. the 19year old was taken and held captive in a motel in Alamo TX for 2 nights and 3 days being sexually assaulted, escaping on the 3rd night and finding her way to the authorities. Univision reporter Alex Rolan broadcasted this interview and story on the 6 pm Newscast on Univision. As a result of the coverage and with the cameras rolling the local consul all of the sudden became very interested in this situation' the same that was brought to them on the 12th of September by the missing woman's husband, Luis Fuentes! So I am happy to report that the consulate has now taken the steps towards actually putting in a report and starting a formal investigation.
 
Also, this morning at 6am Mr. Luis Fuentes the missing woman's husband and I were on the local radio station "La Fiesta 98.5" bringing attention to the continued search for this poor mother of 2 adorable children. We also made it known that we have received such great cooperation from your organizations in El Salvador, the University Centraoamericano Human Rights Group, Cofamide El Salvador, the Ministro de Relaciones del Exteriores, Mr. Ortiz with the newspaper  "The Monitor"  and from our special friend and greatest supporter Rafael Hernandez from the rescue organization "Angeles del Desierto" who has been with us since we began this nightmare! We also made it very clear that the consulate and the Embassy are NOT off the hook for their behavior and that we were sharing this experience of how we had been treated in the hopes that no one else who is searching for a missing loved one does NOT get treated as if they do not matter, from the very people who are employed specifically to help their citizens!!
 
So, sadly we have not located Marilu Noely Alas Santos, but at least with all the media coverage and your much appreciated assistance we are much closer to getting the attention this should have received from the start!!
 
Again thanks and let's find this poor mother whos daughter recently turned 2 and she was asking why her mommy hadn't called her to wish her Feliz Cumpleaños!! Lets get her a belated birthday present and bring her mommy home to her !! I am at your service if you need any more information or any questions, please try the office number first since i am usually ALWAYS here!! God bless you all!!!
 
 
Cecilia 631-504-6651 office
631-630-1809 cell -

APOYA TU CULTURAL, APOYA LAS ARTES, APOYANOS CELEBRANDO NUESTRA CULTURA

CAFÉ TEATRO

Una iniciativa Cultural de Ikarus Gallery Cultural Program, Inc.

Con el apoyo de Victoria’s House Catering & Restaurant

Jueves 25 de octubre, 6:30 PM- 11:00 PM

Victoria’s House Catering & Restaurant antes Rumba Sky

19 N. Franklin, Hempstead NY 11550

Inviten a familiares y amigos, para celebrar en familia.

PROGRAMA

6-7 PM

·         Exhibición Internacional y local de arte pictórico, fotografía y escultura.

Colectivo de Marinilla Colombia

Iconos Centroamericanos

Colectivo Ikarus

7-9 PM

·         Juan Carlos Guerra - Piano

·         Aracely Sánchez / Rafael Escobar / Daniel Lencinas-Santiago Miranda- Poesía

·         Grupo de danza folklórica CUNY quienes estarán presentando por primera vez en New York la danza “La Sanjuaniada” originaria de la región de Conchagua, El Salvador.

·         Micrófono Abierto, congas y mas

9-11 PM

·         Y para cerrar una noche de bohemia y lirica contaremos con la participación del Mariachi International Cuscatlán, para el deleite del público asistente.

Contribución $ 20.00

Incluye cena bufete y bebidas refrescantes

Para reservaciones 516-505-2270 / 631-838-1062

APOYA TU CULTURA, APOYA LAS ARTES, APOYA TU NACION, APOYANOS

LAS PRESENTES Y NUEVAS GENERACIONES TE LO AGRADECERAN

ESTAN CORDIALMENTE INVITADOS - DIA DE LA CANCION CRIOLLA

"juntos celebremos la vida" nos la merecemos.  Saludos de la directiva y miembros en pleno.

You’re cordially invited to attend.

You’re cordially invited to attend.

Luis Montes

Assistant Deputy County Executive

Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone

H. Lee Dennison Building,
PO Box 6100

100 Veterans Memorial Highway
Hauppauge, NY 11788-0099

(631) 853-4831