Tag: fort hamilton

Government shutdown and the MWR – Fort Hamilton

Bradley FarlessLeave a comment
AI generated image, but pretty close to what was actually received.

With the government shutdown stretching into its third week, government employees on a bi-weekly pay schedule received their last paycheck this past Thursday. It was an abbreviated paycheck as well, for only 56 hours instead of a regular 80 hours, because 24 hours of the pay period were in the new fiscal year. Active duty service members received their check on the 15th because of money being diverted from other programs, but there’s no guarantee that there will be more money available on the 1st to cover the next military pay check. Essentially, money is getting short and its time to start cinching our belts.

Federal Credit Unions like USAA and Navy Federal CU have 0% interest loan programs to help cover people’s expenses until they receive their next deposit from DFAS. However, I’ve heard some people saying that they’ve been denied these loans. Apparently, credit scores are being taken into consideration, so some people, and probably those most likely to need assistance, as lower enlisted and younger federal employees generally have lower credit scores, won’t be able to take advantage of these loans. So, there’s still a gap that needs to be filled to keep bills paid and keep food on the table.

The MWR and the chapel on Fort Hamilton (and those who support them) have stepped in to help fill that gap. This past week, the MWR and chapel distributed household goods and groceries to military families and select federal employees who are in an excepted status. Items distributed by the MWR included toilet paper, paper towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, laundry detergent, frozen pizza, frozen vegetables, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen hash browns, and canned vegetables. Items distributed by the chapel included bags of potatoes, apples, rice, carrots, and onions.

Next week, another program called Blue Star Families will be distributing food to military families and select excepted federal employees, sponsored by Amazon, HelloFresh, and the New York City Department of Veterans Services.

It’s amazing that so many people and organizations are stepping up and making resources available to military service members and excepted federal employees in the Fort Hamilton community. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and go a long way towards easing the burden created by the government shutdown.

A view of the Verrazzano Bridge and Staten Island at sunset

Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

This is a really nice spot to sit and relax on Fort Hamilton, despite the cars going by on the highway below. There’s fresh air and you can actually smell trees, the grass, and the soil. That alone is a nice change from most of New York. If I lived anywhere nearby, I’d spend more time there just to relax. Another bonus is that because it’s in a controlled access area, you don’t have to worry about the regular parade of New York City lunatics walking up on you when you’re just trying to unwind.

The body of water shown in the image above and video below is The Narrows on the right and Lower New York Bay on the left. The bridge is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and is the only crossing between Staten Island and the rest of New York City. There are other bridges that go to the island, but they leave you in New Jersey. Alternatively, there’s a ferry service that takes you to the Financial District in Manhattan, but it’s time consuming. The lack of fast access is one of the reasons Staten Island is so underpopulated compared to the other four boroughs of New York City and, as a result, the island’s culture more closely resembles that of rural New York and New Jersey.

View this on YouTube and set the quality to 4K:

iPhone 16 Pro Max 4k 60 FPS Apple ProRes Sample. Video captured Friday, October 25th. The video was recorded directly to an SSK 1 TB external drive and uploaded with no post processing.

I decided to create this video using a new TODI 63″ Phone Tripod (Amazon affiliate link) that I picked up. I like how compact and portable the tripod is. The way it folds up, I can keep it in my backpack, meaning I can take it with me on walks around the city and pull it out when I see something interesting. My only concern about it was that it was a little wobbly in the strong, constant breezes coming off the ocean on The Bluff, but it didn’t tip over. It just made me a little nervous. I kind of wish there were flat, protruding feet on the bottom that I could stand on to anchor it better. For what it is and costs, though, it worked very well and the iPhone’s software was able to compensate for the slight wobbling so I wound up with a great video.

NY Fire Department responds to fire on Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn

Bradley FarlessLeave a comment

A car on Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NYC erupted into flames this afternoon around 3:00 PM near the garrison headquarters building. NYFD was very quick to respond.

The exact cause of the fire is unknown to me, though I imagine he had to have left something flammable in the car. It wasn’t that hot at the time though, especially in the shade where the car was parked.

The fire melted the tires off and burned the car down to the frame back to the trunk, so it had to be burning hot and it took the NYFD a while to get the engine block to stop burning. I wonder if it had something to do with aftermarket modifications to the vehicle, or if the fire was deliberately set.

I guess I won’t ever know, but I was asked to provide a copy of the above video to an investigations team, I suppose to find out if it was a criminal act or an accident.