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As a group of religious leaders and workers in the private security industry prepared to gather at City Hall to call for higher standards in the private security industry, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg issued the following statement:
"Building owners and large corporate tenants have a responsibility to keep their tenants, staffs and visitors safe and secure. It is time for them to take concrete steps to professionalize their private security forces. Because we depend on security officers to keep us safe and our buildings secure, they must be trained in the latest procedures and offered fair compensation. Private security officers form one of New York's first lines of defense against a terrorist attack. We need to increase the training and support these officers so they can continue to remain vigilant in protecting our infrastructure."
Clergy Letter to REBNY
Mr. Steven Spinola
President
Real Estate Board of New York
570 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
May 16, 2007
Dear Mr. Spinola,
As leading members of the clergy, we call on you to help raise standards in private security so that New York City’sbuildings are protected by well-trained security officers who are able to support their families.
Some sixty thousand private security officers throughout the City, including six thousand in Manhattan’s commercial office buildings, work to protect New Yorkers. Although heightened security demands since 9/11 have increased the responsibility and demands on security officers, they are still making poverty-like wages and receivinginsufficient training to defend our city.
In order to ensure their buildings are kept secure and their tenants safe, members of REBNY have a vested interest in endorsing higher security standards, including:
- Increased industry-wide training so security officers are better prepared to keep New Yorkers safe; and
- Higher wages and benefits, including employer-paid health insurance, that enable security officers to provide for their families and to stay on the job.
New York is a world-class city filled with multi-million dollar buildings that need professional security officers. We call on you to publicly support thesehigher standards and the security officers who are working to keep us safe.
Sincerely,
Rev. Reginald Williams
Chairty Baptist Church
Rev. Lee Arrington
Paradise Baptist Church
Rabbi Michael Feinberg
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
Rev. Michael Relyea
St. Mark's Church in the Bowery |
Rev. Errol Harvey
St. Augustine Church
Rev. Nicholas Tweed
Macedonia AME Church
Pastor Jason P. Radmacher
John Street Methodist Church
Rev. Mark Hall
Sociey of Jesus, NY Province |
Also in support
Bishop Orlando Findlayter
Christian United to Save and Heal
Rev. James E. Booker Jr.
Saint John AME Church
Rev. Donna Schaper
Judson Memorial Church
Rev. C. Vernon Mason
Fund for Community Leadership Development
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Rev. Terry Lee
Byways & Hedges Youth for Christ Fellowship
Rev. John Denaro
St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery
Rev. Maria Isabel Santiviago
Iglesia de San Juan Bautista
Rev. Charles Straut
Riverside Church
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The Safe City Pledge
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