Skip to main content

I must watch video of a backdraft in New York this week.

Here you will see FDNY members experience a major backdraft during a 5th alarm fire in a row of stores in the Sunnyside area of queens. (to the best of my knowledge no FDNY members were hurt during this backdraft. 


Here is the link to the video that highlights the smoke explosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66z7YVwE7n8 

Be SAFE!


Comments

Post a Comment

Please no profanity or political comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Hauptman Tells Congress CU Health is Strong; Responds to Questions from Committee

WASHINGTON — National Credit Union Administration Chairman Kyle Hauptman told members of the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday that the nation’s credit union system remains financially strong, while warning that rising delinquencies and consumer financial stress continue to warrant close monitoring. Hauptman also responded to a handful of questions from members of Congress, as well. Hauptman appeared as part of the regular hearings on Oversight of Prudential Regulators. Also appearing as witnesses were Michelle Bowman, vice chair for supervision with the Federal Reserve; Travis Hill, FDIC chairman, and Jonathan Gould, the acting Comptroller of the Currency. Kyle Hauptman In his prepared statement, Hauptman said federally insured credit unions remain well-capitalized and continue to meet members’ borrowing needs despite economic headwinds. He said the NCUA is focused on maintaining safety and soundness, protecting the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and creating...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

NCUA Board Approves Final Rule on Dependent Care and Board Member Reimbursement

Alexandria, VA (June 8, 2026) ― The National Credit Union Administration today issued a final rule for Dependent Care and Board Member Reimbursement. The NCUA Board amended its regulations concerning the reimbursement of reasonable expenses for federal credit union officials to remove potential barriers to volunteer service. This final rule provides flexibility for a federal credit union’s board to adopt more family-friendly policies tailored to its size, region, and operations. Previously, dependent care costs had not been considered reasonable expenses under NCUA regulation 12 C.F.R. 701.33.  The final rule applies to all federal credit unions, including corporate federal credit unions. It will not apply to federally insured, state-chartered credit unions, which remain subject to state law. The final rule is effective 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register and takes into consideration public comments received from the proposed rule that was issued on Januar...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Reuters: Trump Regulators Launch Biggest Bank Oversight Overhaul Since 2008

Is NCUA next? WASHINGTON—Federal banking regulators under President Trump are undertaking what Reuters described as the most significant overhaul of bank supervision since the 2008 financial crisis, shifting examiner focus away from process and compliance issues and toward what agencies consider “material” financial risks. According to Reuters, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. have directed examiners to concentrate on risks that pose direct threats to a bank’s safety and soundness, rather than on paperwork deficiencies, governance concerns or procedural issues that do not immediately affect financial stability. Reuters reported that regulators have also moved away from evaluating banks based on “reputational risk,” a supervisory concept long criticized by banks as overly subjective. The change follows complaints from President Trump and others that financial institutions have used reputational-risk considerations...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Sunday Reading - Changing the Map

  Changing the Map     Redistricting, explained Congressional redistricting is the process by which states redraw electoral district boundaries   that determine representation in the US House of Representatives. The Constitution, federal law, and court rulings require districts to have roughly equal populations, avoid discrimination against racial or language minorities, and, in most states, be geographically contiguous. For most of American history, redistricting has followed a predictable cycle, occurring every 10 years after the census.   Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of district boundaries to advantage one political party. Common tactics  by both major American political parties include packing opposition voters i...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Trump Accounts Program For Children Moves Forward With New Mobile App Launch

  WASHINGTON—The Treasury Department on Thursday announced the launch of the new Trump Accounts mobile app, marking the next phase of the Administration’s rollout of its new federally backed investment savings program for children ahead of the program’s official July 4 launch date. Donald Trump The app, now available through major mobile app stores, will serve as the primary platform for families to manage and activate Trump Accounts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the app is intended to give parents and guardians a “simple, secure way” to participate in the program, which was created under the 2025 Republican tax-and-spending package. Families that already submitted IRS Form 4547 to enroll children in the program will begin receiving phased activation emails between now and July 4, according to Treasury. Under the program, eligible children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, can receive a one-time $1,000 federal seed contribution into a tax-deferred investment ac...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Proposed FOM changes would streamline ability to reach underserved

February 16, 2023 The NCUA Board proposed chartering and field-of-membership changes and issued its final cyber incident reporting rule at its Thursday meeting. The board also heard a quarterly update on the share insurance fund, which noted an increase in the fund's equity ratio to 1.30%." The proposal would amend the chartering and FOM rules through nine changes to enhance consumer access to financial services, especially in low- and moderate-income communities while reducing duplicative or unnecessary paperwork and administrative requirements. “Getting credit union services to more communities across the country is important to CUNA, state leagues and the credit unions we serve, and making that easier to achieve has a big impact on access,” said CUNA Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak. “While we need to review the proposal in detail, we thank the NCUA board for working to streamline the ability of credit un...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Mortgage Rates Decline to Their Lowest Levels Since April

WASHINGTON–Mortgage rates fell last week to their lowest level since early April. According to Freddie Mac, the standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.87% in the week ending June 20, which was down from the prior week’s 6.95% average and marks the third consecutive weekly decline. Rates are down from a 2024 peak of 7.22%. “Mortgage rates fell for the third straight week following signs of cooling inflation and market expectations of a future Federal Reserve rate cut,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “These lower mortgage rates coupled with the gradually improving housing supply bodes well for the housing market.” Most economists and forecasters expect rates ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

IRS Reporting Requirement Has Turned Into Uphill Battle for CUs

  It’s in. It’s out. It’s in again. On Thursday, NAFCU, CUNA and more than 100 associations sent a letter to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate asking them to reject a proposed IRS reporting requirement that credit union trades have been pushing back against since July . The proposed IRS reporting requirement would require financial institutions, including credit unions, to report the inflows and outflows of personal and business accounts, as well as transfers between accounts of the same owner, if it is more than $600 per year. The proposal found new life inside the House version of the budget reconciliation bill after it was rejected in the version approved by the House Ways and Means Committee last month. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the IRS reporting requirement would be included in the House version of the bill. CUNA, NAFCU and other organizations voiced their objections to the proposal in a joint letter. While the l...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

The FedNow Service will launch in 2023 "Are you ready?"

The FedNow Service is a new instant payment service that the Federal Reserve Banks are developing to enable financial institutions of every size, and in every community across the U.S., to provide safe and efficient instant payment services in real-time, around the clock, every day of the year. Through financial institutions participating in the FedNow Service, businesses and individuals will be able to send and receive instant payments conveniently, and recipients will have full access to funds immediately, giving them greater flexibility to manage their money and make time-sensitive payments. Consistent with the Federal Reserve’s historical role of providing payment services alongside private-sector providers, the FedNow Service will provide choice in the market for clearing and settling instant payments as well as promote resiliency through redundancy. Financial institutions and their service providers will be able to use the service as a springboard to provide innovative instant p...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Admit It, You’re Curious: Learn These Strategies to Write Better Headlines

Headlines have become increasingly important in the online era, and associations have to write a lot of them. Here are a few tips to leverage to maximize your content’s reach. By Ernie Smith Apr 20, 2022 Associations may not be newspapers, but like publications and other media outlets, they have to write a lot of headlines, whether for blog posts, emails, white papers, or other communications. Here are some headline-writing tips to help you draw in your audience, and move the needle on your messaging. Focus on the Power of SEO Writers and search engine optimization don’t always fit together comfortably, but the fact of the matter is, many people are going to find your articles through methods such as search engines. If your headlines are written to be cute or funny rather than relevant, it could threaten the reach of the stories you write. As Poynter noted , it’s important to embrace things that in a prior era of headline writing would be considered a no-no, such as us...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»