J3716-2011 Actions

• Mar 27, 2012: ADOPTED
• Mar 27, 2012: REPORTED TO CALENDAR FOR CONSIDERATION
• Mar 20, 2012: REFERRED TO FINANCE

J3716-2011 Text

 ATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 101st Anniversary of the Trian-
 irtwaist Factory Fire on March 25, 2012

 S,  It  is  the  sense of this Legislative Body to commemorate the
 Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on  March  25,
 and
 EAS,  It  is the further intent of this Legislative Body to recog-
 he ongoing efforts of Workers United (formerly  the  International
 '  Garment  Workers Union), in striving to make working conditions
 e American people the safest in the world; and
 EAS, Each year, Workers United, together with the  New  York  City
 Department and the United Federation of Teachers, commemorates the
 rsary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire at the original site
  tragedy with a wreath, speeches and the laying of 146 flowers  in
  of  the  fire victims; members of Ladder Company 20, the first to
 d to the fire, toll their bell and raise their ladder to the sixth
  this year the ceremony will take place on Friday, March 23, 2012,
  corner of Washington Place and Greene Street; and
 EAS, With the terrible attack on our Nation of September 11, 2001,
 so painfully fresh in our hearts and minds, it is  more  important
 ever  that  we  reflect  on the strength and heritage of our great
 y; we owe a debt of gratitude and  remembrance  to  our  immigrant
 ars  and,  while  the  Triangle  toll was a grievous wound for our
  and Italian grandparents and ancestors, all should join  together
 cord,  remember  and memorialize the sacrifices and courage of all
 migrants who built this nation so that their children and descend-
 ould reap the rewards of their achievements and enjoy the benefits
 e and liberty in America, the greatest country in the world; and
 EAS, At the turn of the century, urban working conditions  in  the
   States  were appalling; no place else were these conditions more
 able than in New York's garment industry; here, young women, most-
 ent immigrants, toiled from dawn to dusk; in the winter of 1909, a
  was organized; the Union believed that  if  it  could  get  3,000
 s  to go out on strike, the strike would be successful; amazingly,
  women, including workers from the  Triangle  Shirtwaist  Factory,
   the  strike, but despite their courageous efforts, conditions in
 iangle Shirtwaist Factory did not improve; and
 EAS, By the early 1890s, shirtwaists were  being  made  in  modern
 ies,  at  long rows of sewing machines powered by electricity; Max
  and Isaac Harris, owners of the  million-dollar  Triangle  Shirt-
  Co.,  with  operations  in  New  York and Philadelphia, were "the
 aist kings"; their biggest factory occupied the top  three  floors
 ew, fireproof building, a block from Washington Square in New York
 ployed approximately 600 people; and
 EAS,  The  employees were putting on their hats and coats at quit-
 ime on Saturday, March 25, 1911, when someone noticed smoke  curl-
 rom the long rag bin under the cutting tables along the windows on
 ghth floor; the month's accumulation of linen  and  muslin  scraps
   fire,  then the fabric that was laid out on the tables, then the
 patterns strung open on the wire about them, then the  big  wicker
 s full of bundled work that stood by each sewing machine; and
 EAS, There were no sprinklers; only three weeks before, an associ-
  of  property  owners  had  met  to  oppose  the fire department's
 gn to require them; and
 EAS, In the Triangle Fire, all but  one  of  the  terrified  seam-
 es  and cutters on the eighth floor escaped, whether by one of the
 all elevators or down one of the building's two narrow  stairways,

 wide  enough  for  only  one person to descend at a time; somebody
 oned a warning to the executives on the 10th floor, where the fire
 y spread, and many from the offices and the pressing and  shipping
  on  the  10th  floor, including the shirtwaist owners themselves,
  an elevator or escaped over the roof; and
 EAS, Tragically, nobody told the ninth floor;  by  the  time  they
  they were caught between fires above and below them; some ran for
 evators, others for the doors to the stairs; one set of doors  was
  to keep girls from leaving early; the doors to the other stairway
  inward, and almost immediately the terrified crush made it impos-
 to open them; soon the stairs were cut off by the fire; and
 EAS,  The  elevator operators did their best, each making seven or
 trips through smoke and flames, but as the fire  grew,  it  forced
 fter  another  of  the desperate waiting crowds of girls and young
 to leap into the open shaft, until finally the elevators could not
 ecause they were jammed by bodies; and
 EAS, The rest of  the  ninth-floor  workers  were  forced  to  the
 s; they stood on the ledges as long as they could, waiting for the
 ladders,  but  the city's longest ladder reached only to the sixth
  and as the fire reached out the windows after them, they began to
 many holding hands, to their deaths on the  sidewalks  and  fences
  and
 EAS,  The  date  March  25th  holds a special significance for all
 g people because of this tragic Triangle Shirtwaist  Factory  Fire
 w  York City that took the lives of 146 garment workers, a tragedy
 ccurred on March 25, 1911; and
 EAS, Research has determined  that  the  majority  of  the  tragic
 s were Jewish and Italian immigrants; and
 EAS,  Among  those  lost were many sisters, mothers, daughters and
  groups, including Mrs. Caterina Maltese, and her daughters, Lucia
 saria; and
 EAS, Recent research has determined the  names  and  ages  of  the
 l of previously unidentified victims; and
 EAS,  The complete list now includes: Lizzie Adler (24 years old),
 ltman (16), Annina Ardito (25), Rose Bassino (31, sister of Cathe-
 iannattasio), Vincenza Benanti  (22),  Yetta  Berger  (18),  Essie
 ein  (19),  Jacob  Bernstein  (38),  Morris Bernstein (19), Gussie
 n (22), Vincenza Biliota (16), Abraham Binowitz (30), Rosie  Bren-
 3, sister of Sarah Brenman), Sarah Brenman (17), Ida Brodsky (15),
  Brodsky  (21),  Ada  Brooks  (18), Laura Brunetti (17), Josephine
 ata (17), Francesca Caputo (17), Josephine  Carlisi  (31),  Albina
  (20), Annie Ciminello (36), Rosina Cirrito (18), Anna Cohen (25),
  Colletti (30), Sarah Cooper (16), Michelina Cordiano (25), Bessie
 sky (25), Josie Del Castillo  (21),  Clara  Dockman  (19),  Kalman
   (24),  Celia  Eisenberg  (17), Dora Evans (18), Rebecca Feibisch
 Yetta Fichtenholtz (18), Daisy Lopez  Fitze  (26),  Mary  Floresta
  Max  Florin  (23),  Jennie Franco (16), Rose Friedman (18), Molly
 in (17), Catherine Giannattasio  (22,  sister  of  Rose  Bassino),
  Gitlin (17), Esther Goldstein (20), Lena Goldstein (22, sister of
 oldstein), Mary Goldstein (18), Yetta Goldstein (20), Rosie Grasso
 Bertha Greb (25), Diana Gerjuoy (18), Rachel Grossman  (18),  Mary
  (40), Esther Hochfeld (21), Fannie Hollander (18), Pauline Horow-
 19),  Ida  Jukofsky  (19),  Ida Kanowitz (18), Tessie Kaplan (18),
  Kessler (19), Jacob Klein (23),  Beckie  Koppelman  (16),  Bertha
 (19),  Tillie  Kupferschmidt  (16),  Benjamin  Kurtz  (19),  Annie
 te (16), Fannie Lansner (21), Maria Giuseppa Lauletti (33,  sister
 abella  Tortorelli), Jennie Lederman (21), Max Lehrer (18, brother
  Lehrer), Sam Lehrer (19), Kate Leone (14), Mary  Leventhal  (22),

   Levin  (19),  Pauline  Levine  (19), Nettie Liebowitz (23), Rose
 rk (19), Bettina Maiale (18, sister of  Frances  Maiale),  Frances
  (21), Caterina Maltese (39, mother of Lucia and Rosaria Maltese),
  Maltese  (20),  Rosaria  Maltese  (14),  Maria Manaria (27), Rose
 sky (22), Rose Mehl (15), Yetta Meyers (19), Gaetana Midolo  (16),
  Miller (16), Beckie Neubauer (19), Annie Nicholas (18), Michelina
 si (21), Sadie Nussbaum (18), Julia Oberstein (19),  Rose  Oringer
  Beckie  Ostrovsky  (20), Annie Pack (18), Provindenza Panno (43),
 etta Pasqualicchio (16), Ida Pearl  (20),  Jennie  Pildescu  (18),
 za  Pinelli  (30), Emilia Prato (21), Concetta Prestifilippo (22),
  Reines (18), Fannie Rosen (21), Israel Rosen (17,  son  of  Julia
 , Julia Rosen (35), Louis Rosen (33), Yetta Rosenbaum (22), Jennie
 erg (21), Gussie Rosenfeld (22), Nettie Rosenthal (21), Emma Roth-
  (22), Theodore Rotner (22), Sarah Sabasowitz (17), Santina Salemi
 Sarafina Saracino (25,  sister  of  Teresina  Saracino),  Teresina
 no  (20),  Gussie  Schiffman  (18),  Theresa  Schmidt  (32), Ethel
 der (20), Violet  Schochet  (21),  Golda  Schpunt  (19),  Margaret
 tz (24), Jacob Seltzer (33), Rosie Shapiro (17), Ben Sklover (25),
 Sorkin  (18), Annie Starr (30), Jennie Stein (18), Jennie Stellino
 Jennie Stiglitz (22), Sam Taback (20),  Clotilde  Terranova  (22),
 la  Tortorelli  (17), Meyer Utal (23), Catherine Uzzo (22), Frieda
 fsky (20), Bessie Viviano (15), Rosie Weiner (19), Sarah Weintraub
 Tessie Weisner (21), Dora Welfowitz (21),  Bertha  Wendorff  (18),
  Wilson (22) and Sonia Wisotsky (17); and
 EAS,  This  tragedy  became  the most vivid symbol of the need for
 ace safety and spawned the labor movement; the Factory Investigat-
 mmission was formed following the fire to study and make recommen-
 s on working conditions; this marked the beginning  of  auspicious
 cal careers for both the Chairman, Robert T. Wagner, Sr., who went
 become a U.S. Senator, and its Vice Chairman, Alfred E. Smith, who
   New  York  State  Governor; in addition, among the investigating
 tors were Frances Perkins and Rose Schneiderman,  women  who  were
 l in the history of American labor; the findings of the Commission
   the  basis  for  far-reaching  safety laws across the nation and
  the New York State Department of Labor; the  Triangle  Shirtwaist
 y  Fire  started a movement to fight sweatshops which continues to
 ay; and
 EAS, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire serves as a sad reminder
 orker safety laws are necessary to ensure a safe working place for
 ericans; we honor the memory of the 146 immigrant victims of  this
 ty,  and  their loved ones, by remaining vigilant to ensure that a
 r tragedy never happens again; and
 EAS, Upon the occasion of the 101st Anniversary  of  the  Triangle
 aist  Factory  Fire,  it  is the sense of this Legislative Body to
 ith Workers United, the New York State Department of Labor and the
 rk State Legislature, in commemoration of a tragic event  of  such
 gful significance to the history and purpose of the American Labor
 nt; now, therefore, be it
 LVED,  That  this  Legislative  Body pause in its deliberations to
 orate the 101st Anniversary of  the  Triangle  Shirtwaist  Factory
  and to acknowledge the efforts of Workers United, Governor Andrew
 mo, the Commissioner of Labor, Colleen Crawford Gardner,  and  the
 rk State Legislature; and be it further
 LVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
 d  to  Noel Beasley, President of Workers United, Robert E.  Belo-
 hair of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board;  Salvatore
 ssano, New York City Fire Commissioner; Vincent C.  Maltese, Board
 an, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory  Fire  Memorial  Society;  Serphin

 e;  and  New  York  State  Commissioner of Labor, Colleen Crawford
 r.