Gottfried gets a room of his own at the Red Cross

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried cuts the ribbon on conference room 3A of the Red Cross West 49th Street headquarters, which the organization dedicated to him last Friday. Helping him is Theresa Bischoff, CEO of the American Red Cross in Greater New York.

By Albert Amateau

The American Red Cross in Greater New York last week named a conference room in its new headquarters building at 520 W. 49th St. for Assemblymember Richard Gottfried for his support of the city Red Cross chapter.

Gottfried, who represents Chelsea, Clinton, Murray Hill and parts of Lincoln Center in the State Assembly, was honored Fri. March 16 by senior management, employees and trustees of the chapter for his efforts, including arranging a recent $100,000 state capital grant to help prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Gottfried, who heads the Assembly’s Health Committee, has also gotten state funding for generators and HAM radio equipment that provide the Greater New York chapter with alternatives when normal communications are interrupted as they were during the World Trade Center attack and during the blackout in the summer of 2003.

Theresa A. Bischoff, chief executive officer of the Greater New York Red Cross, lauded Gottfried for continued support over the years. “He works with us closely in our vital humanitarian support for individuals and businesses.”

Gottfried replied that Red Cross programs are critical when disasters like fires, floods, power outages and ice storms strike the region. “There were nearly 4,000 of them last year,” Gottfried said. “If the Red Cross didn’t do this critical work, who would?” he said.

The new building between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues was designed to provide training for Red Cross volunteers and employees and to enable the agency to coordinate its efforts with the city’s Office of Emergency Management, fire and police departments, and its own units in Putnam, Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties. The chapter is accelerating its collaboration with other agencies to implement plans to respond to major natural and man-made disasters, Bischoff said.

The Greater New York chapter is the largest Red Cross chapter in the nation and is not a government agency but depends on local, state and federal funding along with individual and corporate gifts, special events and grants from foundations to fund its programs and services.