[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 117 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF ADAM VENESKI, PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE'S FIREHOUSE OF 
                         WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 27, 2000

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague 
Nydia Velazquez, to pay special tribute to Adam Veneski, the President 
of The People's Firehouse and a pillar of the Northern Brooklyn 
community, who recently passed away.
  Mr. Veneski, who in early 1975 was a well-liked neighborhood grocer 
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, suddenly became a passionate political 
activist after his neighborhood firehouse, Engine 212, was closed as a 
result of the Mayor Abe Beame's financial cutbacks. Disillusioned by 
the excessive number of firehouse closings and concerned for the safety 
of his neighbors, Mr. Veneski organized a campaign against the city 
government aimed at changing the Mayor's mind. Mr. Veneski, using every 
resource he had, however limited, strove towards achieving a single, 
meaningful goal--to save Engine 212.
  Conceiving one of New York City's most memorable acts of civil 
disobedience, Mr. Veneski encouraged neighbors to sleep in the 
firehouse on round-the-clock shifts for nearly eighteen months while 
holding the fire truck hostage as a direct message to the city to keep 
North Brooklyn's firehouse open. When the Mayor ordered his opposition 
removed, a deputy fire chief said, ``We're not going to remove them, 
it's the people's firehouse.'' The name has stuck around since--and so 
has Adam Veneski.
  Mr. Veneski's goal was not only achieved through his public protests, 
but it was also realized as a result of his relentless research into 
facts that exhibited the necessity of preserving Engine 212. Mr. 
Veneski became an expert on fire-related injuries in his neighborhood, 
pointing out that eight fire-related deaths had occurred during the 
eighteen months Engine 212 was closed. As a result of the valiant 
efforts of Mr. Veneski and his neighbors, Engine 212, now known as the 
People's Firehouse, was reopened and the alarming increase in fire 
deaths in Williamsburg strongly reduced.
  Mr. Veneski, fresh from his triumphal success as a community activist 
and invigorated by his role in helping the community, continued to 
serve his North Brooklyn neighborhood. After Engine 212 was reopened as 
a fully operational fire station, Mr. Veneski and his united neighbors 
formed a community assistance program, the People's Firehouse, Inc. 
(PFI). PFI provides legal outreach and mediation services, language 
education specialists, and housing development assistance to the 
residents of North Brooklyn. The People's Firehouse is celebrating its 
twenty-fifth year of public service this year and owes it success to a 
kind and personable grocer from Williamsburg Brooklyn--Adam Veneski.
  From simple beginnings and with few resources, Mr. Veneski pioneered 
a movement that not only assisted in the improvement of the lives of 
those in his community, but through the preservation of the People's 
Firehouse and his dogged determination, saved many of those lives as 
well. North Brooklyn lost a tenacious advocate with the death of Adam 
Veneski. He will be sorely missed.

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