Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Major Investments for Long Island Volunteer Firefighters' Facilities and Training

Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Major Investments for Long Island Volunteer Firefighters' Facilities and Training

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced significant new investments in Long Island's volunteer firefighter community during an event honoring their service. Governor Hochul highlighted a series of initiatives aimed at enhancing firefighter training, facilities and mental health support, underscoring the critical role volunteer firefighters play across New York State.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Great to see you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you.

First of all, I want to say how delightful it is to be back here. I come to Long Island as often as I can, and truly appreciate the opportunity to be the first suburban governor ever, meaning I come from the suburbs. I was elected in the suburbs, and so I understand the suburbs.

And you know, my appreciation for local officials runs deep, having spent 14 years. This year I started 30 years ago working as a town council member. So I always have to give great deference to town supervisors like Richie Schaffer. I want to thank him for his leadership of this community. All the advocacy that he has, calling me nonstop for support for his community, but that's okay. That's what you're supposed to do. That's what I used to do. So I appreciate your friendship as well.

And having a mayor here, I used to - my town had two mayors. So one was a population of 10,000 and one was 3,000, so a little smaller communities, but Mayor Brown, what you are doing in the village of South Floral Park I'm grateful for you. Thank you for stepping up and serving as well as our state elected officials who are here today.

I'm grateful to all of them and glad to be back in this great community. So, you know, my relationship does go back with the firefighting community, 30 years, because when you're a brand new council member, you're asked to emcee the fireman installation dinners.

We had ten installations every year and I did this for 14 years. So as you can imagine, as the emcee of many of these events, my jokes ran out after about year seven. So, it always got to be a little bit hard, but I had a chance to go to most of those 140 dinners and it had me - gave me a chance to see the pride the people had in their firefighters, their volunteer firefighters.

None of them were paid and also having a chance to listen firsthand to really their challenges. I mean, as the state was layering on more and more and more training requirements and certifications they had to do. I mean, people are forgetting that these people have families, they have real jobs to do, and this is something they do out of the goodness of their heart.

And it seemed like everybody was making it so much more difficult and I knew that recruiting was hard. Sometimes you have generational families, you know, grandpa was a firefighter, mom or dad was a firefighter, you know, and their children become firefighters. But, it just was so much harder. And I knew that anything I could do to support this community, I would do then.

And even as governor, and this has been a huge focus of mine as well, because your mission is critically important. And that's what I admire so much, are the selfless acts, the countless disruptions during dinnertime and the trying to watch your kids at the ballpark and all the times the bell goes off, the alarm goes off and you are the ones jumping up to serve.

And I don't know that you get the credit you deserve. I don't know if a lot of people think about this in their everyday lives until you're the one that, you know, like the ambulance and the fire truck that showed up when my daughter got hit by a car. She was fine, but here is mom sitting at a town board meeting, get the message that, you know that, "Your daughter's gonna be fine, but you know, the first responders are taking good care of her." You don't really - a lot of people don't think about it until you're in that situation, But when you're in that situation, your heart spills over with gratitude that your neighbors will step up and protect you and your family. So I want to thank you for that.

You know, also, as governor, we have - proud to know we have 1,600 volunteer fire departments in the State of New York. 91,000 volunteer firefighters. I mean, those are huge numbers and that's extraordinary. And I was just here in Suffolk County in August after the record rainfall. I mean, I don't want to bring up bad memories here, but that was horrific what we experienced here - and I saw then, I saw how our first responders are also having to step up more than the traditional buildings on fire and homes on fire and car crashes. Now we're dealing with weather events, the likes of which we have not had to deal with in my lifetime.

I don't recall any time that we've had such a continual bombardment of weather-driven events that are just destroying property and turning people's lives upside down. So, our first responders are even more critical than ever before. So, I'm just here to say thank you to all of Long Island's firefighters and I want to let you know, I'm going to keep investing in your future.

And I know you're always thinking about the next ones coming behind you and how we inspire them to hear the call that everyone can hear, but so few respond to. How do we get more people to feel that same passion and love of community that all of you here have? So, I'll keep doing that.

These are the greatest public servants. And what makes you so exceptional is not only this, the work you're doing, but also saves local communities and taxpayers a lot of money, right? I mean, they're not paying for a paid force, and that is something that I think is absolutely overlooked. So, when we can use resources to help supplement what you do, that is so important.

It's also taking care of your health and well-being. And sometimes you see humanity at its worst or horrific scenes of just tragedy. You're dealing with people who've lost perhaps a loved one and you're the first face they see. That takes a very big toll on anyone who's human. I don't know that you can train for that experience.

But your health and well-being is so important to me, which is why I signed into law legislation to assist firefighters and EMS workers who struggle with mental health challenges and addiction, and I think it's important we talk about this more openly, and it's about time.

I'm doing a lot on mental health and really focused on this since I became Governor because I've seen the need is so great. And when I see statistics, we think about even our law enforcement, they've got some of the highest suicide rates in the nation, and it doesn't fall far to other first responders and those who put on a uniform dealing with the same stresses. And we can't just talk about it, we have to make sure there's resources and funding for that. And we have programs to help people get through this, as well as protecting their families as well.

I also want to make sure that becoming a firefighter is not a financial burden. Why should it be so expensive for you to give up your time and resources here? So, we're spending $10 million at the state level and the Volunteer Firefighter Stipend Program to help offset the cost of volunteer training, because you shouldn't have to pay to become a volunteer, right? And right now that program is serving over 100 students from 50 fire companies all across the state.

But I want to today talk about some more investments we're making here on Long Island. First of all, it's about the fire academies, which are so important to us; making sure they have up to date technology and services. We're investing $300,000 into improving the training equipment at the Suffolk County Fire Academy. There you go. Because our volunteer firefighters deserve the best in training as well, so they can always improve their skills.

Also investing $2 million to expand the South Floral Park Fire Department's Training Center. There you go, Mayor. You're good. A lot of excitement about that, isn't there? You know, when you deal with a budget the size I do, you think about, "What is $2 million?" But when I was in your shoes, $2 million is everything. That's less money I have to get from my taxpayers who are begging for relief all the time. It's something you think about all the time in local office. You know, property taxes are too high. Do I really want to raise them to be able to do this? But we have to do this. So, those are the struggles you deal with. It's something I have lived with for so long. It's still part of who I am as governor, which says to me, I want to support them directly. If they need $2 million, you're going to get $2 million.

And this fire department is a model for all that is possible. You know, it's - I like to think of New Yorkers as being rather exceptional. A little biased here, but it's that resiliency, and the leadership skills and the dedication and the grit that we all have here in the State of New York. And so put that to use and continue supporting the best training facilities. And, you know, this department was under threat of closure. I mean, can you imagine this community without its own fire department? It only had 20 members. And in 10 years it has turned into a thriving organization with 51 now. 51 dedicated volunteers. And it's beyond just South Floral Park, right? You're providing mutual aid and services to all the neighboring communities.

I mean, this is the family that I so cherish when I see that selflessness - not just to support people in your own family, but also the neighboring communities. And that is something that we're just so, so known for here on Long Island. So, there's so many things that we want to take care of, but I also want to let you know that you should deserve to have the facilities that match the caliber of the impact that you have on your community. But it's not just about the quality of the training as well, it's also about how we honor those who step up. To spread the message, to inspire others, to come and know the stories that if they don't have a firefighter in their own family, they don't necessarily know what's involved.

And truly - I'm going to keep using that word sacrifice because it is a sacrifice. It is your time. It is your - you never have free time because you're with the family, your job, or the family of the firefighters. And that's the path you've chosen, but it's not an easy one and I want you to know we recognize that. So, how do we honor our firefighters and let them know how crucial you are to our society, and why don't we just collect the stories of the firefighters past, present and those possibly in the future, really getting young people excited about this? But you need a central place to do this: A hall of heroes.

There was a book written called "Young Men in Fire." I'm going to - there are young women in fire too. But, he wrote a book about firefighting - Norman McLean - he said, "Often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out what happened and restore some of the missing parts." And this museum will help restore some of the missing parts, to tell the stories that otherwise would have been obliterated by a fire. You know, this will help pick up the pieces and talk about what the firefighters see when they arrive at a scene, and it preserves the local history and it actually just educates the whole community. A gathering place for local residents.

And most of all, again, to me, I've said it before: We have to inspire the next generation to follow in your footsteps. That is everything to me. And that's why a - thank you. That's why a firefighter museum is so important. So, I'm proud to announce $3 million for the town of Babylon who will work with the Babylon Fire Chiefs Association…

But, you need a central place to do this - a hall of heroes. And there was a book written called "Young Men in Fire," I'm going to change it - "Young Women in Fire" too. He wrote a book about firefighting - Norman McLean - he said, "Often the best we can do with catastrophes, even our own, is to find out what happened and restore some of the missing parts."

And, this museum will help restore some of the missing parts - tell the stories that otherwise would have been obliterated by a fire, pick up the pieces and talk about what the firefighters see when they arrive at a scene, and it preserves the local history. And, it actually just educates the whole community - a gathering place for local residents.

And - most of all, again, to me, I've said it before - we have to inspire the next generation to follow in your footsteps. That is everything to me. And, that's why a firefighter museum is so important. So, I'm proud to announce $3 million for the town of Babylon. We'll work with the Babylon Fire Chiefs Association and not just build new, but how about repurposing an abandoned motel downtown and creating a vibrant volunteer fire department museum. That's the vision I want to invest in. That's the vision.

So, not just honoring our heroes, but turning an eyesore into a gathering place and a community treasure. That's what smart money does. So, to the firefighters here today, I know it's your sense of duty, it's your sense of responsibility and your commitment to serve that sets you apart.

I've been to so many firefighter memorials, speak every single year, I can do that in Albany when I was Lieutenant Governor - I never missed one. And, I'm always walking away from that so aware that there are people that are so humble, they're not looking for praise, they're not looking to be called out, they don't think they're exceptional, they don't like the word hero, but, to me, that's what makes them a hero. That's what makes them a hero, and I thank you for that - that you'll be there, that you're taking a place, that "I will be there when my community needs this."

I just wish there were more people like all of you, but you inspire me. Please know you inspire me. And so, with that, I want to say you have the respect and the gratitude of not just this community, not just Long Island, but 20 million New Yorkers who are grateful for what you do every single day.

Thank you. Thanks to all of you. And, with that, I'd like to introduce Supervisor of Babylon Richie Schaffer, who we've known many, many years, and I appreciate everything you do for us.

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