Press Release

Press Office: 718-422-4888
For Immediate Release
# 20-15

NYC EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONDUCTS EXERCISE TO TEST CITY'S COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION PLAN

April 28, 2015 — The New York City Emergency Management Department (NYCEM) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) today conducted a Commodity Distribution Point (CDP) exercise aimed at testing and evaluating the City's commodities distribution plan in the event of a disaster. The exercise, located at Kaiser Park in Brooklyn and Utopia Playground in Queens, is part of a series of exercises conducted by New York City Emergency Management to train and educate City agencies and private partners about their various roles in the CDP and prepare managers and staff for the upcoming 2015 Coastal Storm Season.

"Part of our goal here at New York City Emergency Management is to educate New Yorkers about emergency preparedness and coordinate emergency recovery. The first step in that public education is ensuring that our staffers and agency partners are fully trained and equipped with the skills necessary to help others," said Joseph Esposito, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner. "These CDP exercises will get us better prepared to provide the highest level of help and recovery assets to the people of New York in the event of an emergency."

A Commodity Distribution Point (CDP) is a location where life sustaining commodities (food, water, baby formula, ice, etc.) are distributed to the public following an emergency or disaster that disrupts access to traditional supply chains. Sixty-four CDP sites have been identified throughout the five boroughs, one in each community district, to use as distribution point. The program is scalable, and allows for multiple distribution sites to be activated to handle each community's need for access to life sustaining commodities. CDPs may distribute commodities to the public using either a pedestrian (walk-thru) or vehicular (drive-thru) model.

All CDPs are under the operational control of the CDP Command Center. Staff from NYC Emergency Management and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation will set up the CDP sites and distribute essential commodities to on-site volunteers. Evaluators will be present to observe the exercise and provide necessary feedback regarding the setup, distribution, and demobilization of the CDP.

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