John D'Alessandro, Secretary of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, March 20th, 2026

John D'Alessandro, Secretary of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, joined Power & Politics this week to discuss the state of volunteer firefighters in New York. His appearance comes a few weeks after a different firefighter association, the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York, said the decline in volunteer firefighter staffing has become a "public safety crisis". On Power & Politics, D'Alessandro disagreed. Intro & Who Protects New York[00:00:01] – [00:03:26] Recruitment & Retention Challenges[00:03:26] – [00:09:21] More Calls, Changing Communities[00:09:21] – [00:13:41] Different Ways to Volunteer[00:13:41] – [00:17:10] Incentives & the VOLY Plan[00:17:10] – [00:21:06] Volunteers as the Backbone of Public Safety[00:21:06] – [00:22:17] Mental Health and 9/11 Impacts[00:22:17] – [00:25:37] Budget Priorities & Why It Matters to Taxpayers[00:25:37] – End Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices