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Good Morning, my name is Monica Gabrielle and I am the Co-Chairperson of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign. Thank you for the opportunity to speak regarding this very important issue -- the adoption of a Model Building Code for the City of New York. I applaud Mayor Bloomberg and this Commission for their leadership role in addressing the urgent need for reform. I wholeheartedly support the adoption of such a code along with the necessary amendments specific to New York City. I would also like to stress the need to adopt a matching fire code. Real safety dictates that a building and fire code be adopted in tandem. It is abundantly clear that the codes we use today in New York City are antiquated and inadequate. They lack national acceptance. They lack the specifics necessary to our unique city, particularly as regards high-rise buildings. Perhaps most critically, each and every building within the confines of our city must conform to whichever new code is adopted. The time for waivers, variances and exemptions for 110 story buildings is over! September 11th has taught us an expensive lesson about the inadequacy of this city's building and fire codes and their application. The personal price I have paid is the aching void left by the death of my husband, Rich -- just one of more than 2,800 innocent victims. We must now adopt building and fire codes that will not allow such unorthodox buildings as the Twin Towers to be built in this city EVER AGAIN. We need to outlaw the use of flimsy gypsum board to protect stairways and elevator shafts in all buildings. More and wider stairwells are essential in all high-rise buildings. Stairwell capacity should be sufficient to allow for the complete evacuation of all occupants within a designated time limit. Fire Protection Engineering needs to be recognized as the true profession it is. Moreover, fire protection expertise must be integrated into the design and construction of high-rise buildings from the moment the first blueprint is drafted. The time has come to put the true value of human life above the bottom line. Ultimately, there is no substitute for the confidence of the public in the safety and security of their workplace and their homes. Such public confidence remains the only and real bottom line. Monica Gabrielle 
Sally Regenhard,
Monica Gabrielle, |
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