JNews: Harmon, Joseph John Jr. (MC????)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/05/22/
2007-05-22_a_proud_cop__his_family_
will_be_homeless.html
http://tinyurl.com/2cd223
A proud cop & his family will be homeless soon
By MICHAEL DALY
DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST
Tuesday, May 22nd 2007, 4:00 AM
***Begin Quote***
He wrote the letter that shames the whole city on eight sheets of unlined white paper.
“My name is Joseph John Harmon Jr. and I am a proud member of the New York City Police Department,” he began. “I currently patrol the streets and hallways of the Housing Bureau in Queens. I am a graduate of Manhattan College. Father of three beautiful children: Blu-Diamond, Joseph III, and my youngest Kailynn. My lovely wife Kena is also pregnant with our fourth blessing. This all sounds like a beautiful existence does it not? Father, Husband, New York City Police Officer. As of June 1, 2007, I will also be homeless.”
The letter was addressed “To Whom It May Concern” and it should concern us all. The 29-year-old writer is one of the cops who helped make New York a boom town awash with surplus billions. He takes home $1,247.47 every two weeks, and he knows some people make less and other cops somehow manage to scrape by. But he also knows his rent is going up and his hero’s salary has barely been able to cover the present rent and his bills.
“I had been giving my landlord bits and pieces of the rent each month to hold her off,” he wrote. “My rent is $1,600 plus utilities. Starting June 1, it will be $1,800. I don’t have to worry about that because I won’t be here. Matter of fact, I don’t know where we will be.”
He reported that he left a white-collar job with Bloomberg Financial Media to join the NYPD in January 2005.
“I wanted to become part of something greater, to make a difference.”
He went from working in a midtown office to patrolling housing projects, and he loved it.
“What I saw opened my mind to a whole new world I had never known. Every night I washed up and returned home to the new house we were renting in the … Bronx. It was a good life.”
Money did not become a problem until his wife had a difficult pregnancy and was forced to quit her job with Aflac Insurance.
“Bills piled up slowly …”
The crisis eased after six months when his wife became well enough to take a part-time job. He worked steady midnights to watch the kids during the day.
“We were a happy family, just getting by.”
Then his wife was let go because her boss needed her to start work before her husband got home. She had another difficult pregnancy and among the mounting bills were pills that cost nearly $10 a piece, even with the co-pay.
“Each month that went by just made the debt even worse.”
Last week, the electricity was turned off until they made an emergency payment. They sold the TV on the Craigslist Web site. The landlord announced she was raising the rent by $200 a month.
“I come home every day and find my pregnant wife crying in bed, worried about where we are going to be come June 1.”
The only immediate solution seemed to be for his wife and children to live with her parents in Florida while he stays with a relative until they regain their footing. “Will a new contract be signed since the city has such an overflow of cash right now? Do I keep the faith in my city? I was born and raised in the Bronx. I now patrol the city every night. I am beginning to feel that my city, the home I love, has betrayed me and my fellow officers.”
He had deposited his last paycheck on May 18 and he now had just $47.20 left in his checking account and negative $4.74 in his savings. He decided that the letters CPR on the patrol cars should not stand for Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect.
“What it should stand for is CANT PAY RENT.”
Meanwhile, he headed out each night to risk all serving his city.
“I had to suit up every night and solve everyone else’s problems. It is funny because I couldn’t even solve my own.”
He applied in February for permission to work security off-duty, but the paperwork was misplaced. He was still awaiting approval Sunday as he wrote his letter in what will soon no longer be his kitchen.
“It’s so easy to get into the hole and so unbelievably difficult to get out of it,” his wife said yesterday.
She stroked her 17-month-old daughter’s head.
“You know, we go to church every Sunday and I am so thankful we have all we have,” she said.
Her voice caught.
“We’re happy,” she said. “We’re healthy.”
She smiled at all money cannot buy, but her eyes began to well.
“What do you tell the kids?” she asked.
***End Quote***
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/05/22/
2007-05-22_letter_from_joseph_john_harmon
_jr_nypd.html
http://tinyurl.com/39soek
***Begin Quote***
Letter from Joseph John Harmon Jr., NYPD
Tuesday, May 22nd 2007, 4:00 AM
To whom it may concern;
My name is Joseph John Harmon Jr. and I am a proud member of the New York City Police Department. My Shield # is 18134. I currently patrol the streets and hallways of the Housing Bureau in Queens. I am a graduate of Manhattan College. Father of three beautiful children: Blu-Diamond, Joseph III, and my youngest Kailynn. My lovely wife Kena is also pregnant with our fourth blessing. This all sounds like a beautiful existence does it not? Father, Husband, New York City Police Officer. As of June 1, 2007, I will also be homeless.
Let me say that again in case it caught your eye. My three children, my pregnant wife and I will be homeless in less than a week. In the greatest city in the world, working for the greatest police force in the world, this is a disgrace. I would like to take some time out of your busy day to tell you my story and why I am writing this letter.
Jan. 10, 2005 is where my journey begins. That is the day I was sworn in as a member of the NYPD. I left behind a good job working for Bloomberg Financial Media. Good salary, great benefits. I thought I could do more with my life. That is why I joined the NYPD. I wanted to become part of something greater, to make a difference. I graduated in July 2005 and began my career in PSA 7 in the South Bronx. What I saw opened my mind to a whole new world I had never known. Every night I washed up and returned home to the new house we were renting in the Bronx. It was a good life. It became even better when my daughter was born on Dec. 20, 2005. Soon after that I was transferred to PSA 9 in Long Island City.
Now, my wife has very hard pregnancies. Due to this she was unable to go back to work for almost 6 to 7 months after the birth of our daughter. It was at this point that life, financially, became very hard. I now paid a toll everyday. $9 each day plus gas was hitting us hard. Overtime was scarce …
Bills piles up slowly, most went unpaid for months. Tax returns helped, so did mid-year holiday pay. But every month was the same. Do I pay the rent or do I pay my daughter’s tuition and put some food on the table? On top of all this stress, I had to suit up every night and solve every one else’s problems. It is funny because I couldn’t even solve my own.
Months went by and things got a little better. My wife was able to secure a good part time job in lower Manhattan. Bills got paid, but not all of them. We lived check to check and barely made it. We were a happy family, just getting by. Soon after that in the middle of 2006 my wife was let go by her job. Her boss needed someone full time and my wife just couldn’t be there at 8 a.m. and work until 6 p.m. in the evening. Child care was a priority and I now worked the midnight shift. I didn’t get home until 9 a.m. or later if I made a collar. I was able to obtain a loan from the Municipal Credit Union to help fight off some bill collectors and pay some rent. It felt good for about a week or so. This is not what I imagined life as a New York City Police Officer would be. I would never have placed myself or my family in such a position.
Fast forward now to 2007. I had been giving my landlord bits and pieces of the rent each month to hold her off. I live in a beautiful three bedroom duplex in a great neighborhood. My rent is $1,600 plus utilities. Starting June 1, it will be $1,800. I don’t have to worry about that because I won’t be here. Matter of fact, I don’t know where we will be. I only bring home $1,247 bi-weekly. There wasn’t enough money to go around. Each month that went by just made the debt even worse. Give $800 one month, then the first of the month comes around and now we owe $2,400 and so on and so on. It kept getting worse.
The car payment was not made, then my daughter’s tuition. My wife and I don’t answer our phone anymore. We screen our phone calls and look at the caller ID to see if it is a bill collector. I have not been able to pay my daughter’s tuition three months. I have not paid my rent in full in over three months as well. Last week my wife and children woke up to no lights, television, or phone. We had to make an emergency payment just to turn everything back on and live.
Three weeks ago I had to sell my television for $800 to try and pay some bills and buy my children some summer clothes. This is what it has come to? This is what a family is supposed to live like? As a man I am ashamed of myself. I come home everyday and find my pregnant wife crying in bed, worried about where we are going to be come June 1. My landlord is unable to pay her own bills because of me and needs new tenants who can pay their rent on time, and in full. Do you think this is stressful? You’re damn right it is and I have had enough.
I will no longer put up with this struggle. I have attempted in the past few months to get a second job working off duty to help out. I put in an application for off-duty employment in February 2007! I approached one of my ranking officers three weeks ago about the status of my application and if the captain had signed off on it so I can begin working. Do you know what I was told? That the application just couldn’t be found! I personally put that application in a sealed envelope, dropped in the mailbox inside my base and made photocopies for myself. I was told to just fill out another one. It has been three weeks since then and still no word. This is a joke …
My wife and children are most likely going to leave New York and move down to Florida come the middle of June. They will stay in Fort Lauderdale with her parents for three to four months while I stay here and try to make and save some money so we can get back on our feet. On top of all the stress I deal with every night, now I wont be able to come home to my children’s laughter and my beautiful wife’s face. Everyday my in-laws say move on down to Florida and become an officer here. It is a better life for you and the kids, they say. I have friends who are NY State Troopers in Columbia County making $75,000 to guard the trees. I deal with harsh conditions every night and bust my behind to bring home around $43,000 without overtime. I can only laugh because it is the only thing that keeps me sane.
Should I leave now and give my family a better life? Will a new contract be signed since the city has such an overflow of cash right now? Do I keep the faith in my city? Will I ever be able to buy my wife and children the home they truly deserve?
I was born and raised in the Bronx. I now patrol the city every night. I am beginning to feel that my city, the home I love, has betrayed me and my fellow officers. We all deserve better …
I have a degree in Business Management from Manhattan College and I can’t even provide for my family. I can’t get out of this grave I am digging without the help of my city.
Something needs to be done.
I am swallowing my pride as a man, a father, an officer. I need to know if there are any programs to help me out, whether it is with housing or financially. I can no longer survive in the city that I love.
As of this moment as I type this letter, I have $42.70 in my checking account and negative $4.74 in my savings account. I need help. My fellow officers need help.
The letters C-P-R are emblazoned on the side of each and every patrol car in the NYPD. It stands for Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect.
What it should stand for is CANT PAY RENT.
Respectfully Yours,
Officer Joseph J. Harmon Jr.,
Shield # 18134
***End Quote***
Wonder if he knows that Ray kelly is a Jasper?
I wonder what I can do to help him out?
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