Mack Trucks presented a $25,000 check today to New York City Commissioner of Sanitation John J. Doherty to support relief efforts following Hurricane Sandy. The donation will go to the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to community and economic improvement, and will be used to meet immediate needs for food, water and supplies, as well as long-term relief and restoration projects.
“New York City has long been an important refuse and heavy-duty truck customer for Mack Trucks,” said Kevin Flaherty, president of Mack Trucks North American Sales and Marketing. “We value our relationship with New York, and we want to assist them as they deal with enormous demand for public services in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.”
Mack’s relationship with New York City stretches back more than 100 years to 1900 when the Mack brothers incorporated the company and began manufacturing their first heavy-duty vehicle, a 20-passenger touring bus aptly named the “Manhattan,” in a Brooklyn factory. New York City was a customer of Mack Trucks as early as 1911, and the New York Departments of Sanitation and Transportation together have more than 6,000 MACK® vehicles currently in service.
“On behalf of Mayor Bloomberg, I would like to thank Mack Trucks for their very generous donation to New York City’s Hurricane Sandy relief efforts,” Doherty said. “Our city was hit hard by the super storm and its incredible surge. Entire communities were devastated. Lives were lost. And many New Yorkers face years of rebuilding. But our DSNY workers were out citywide, many of them in Mack trucks, helping families recover and hauling more than 338,000 tons of storm debris to date. We really appreciate Mack’s continued support.”
As one of the most damaging storms ever to hit the northeastern U.S., Hurricane Sandy caused public and private losses of approximately $15 billion that will not be covered by private insurance, according to reports from New York City.
“New York is very important to our company and vital to the economic health of the entire nation,” Flaherty said. “For more than100 years, our trucks have been helping to build our country, and its Mack’s privilege to continue that tradition and support one of America’s greatest cities as they put the damage created by Sandy behind them.”