Sammy Hagar is lending moral support to New York City’s firefighters, who are being targeted in an effort to help the city’s ongoing fiscal crisis. Hagar and his band, the Waboritas, will play a free show on Monday (May 19) at noon in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. The event has been organized by the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which is protesting Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to close eight firehouses across the city to save money.
In a statement, Hagar said, “I figured it was time to make some serious noise, just in case the Mayor hadn’t heard the message from my brothers and sisters at the FDNY.”
The location of the event is symbolic. It’s a short distance from Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11 terror attacks-and where 343 firefighters died that day. Battery Park also overlooks the Statue Of Liberty in New York Harbor.
The firemen said that closing the eight firehouses will only save $11 million in what is a $44 billion city budget, while endangering the lives of New Yorkers and their fellow firefighters.
It’s not the first time Hagar has played for New York’s rescue workers. Last August, he staged a free concert for New York City police officers, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Service personnel, as well as representatives from the Port Authority Of New York and New Jersey, to honor their departments’ sacrifices.
