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by GLENN THRUSH
STAFF WRITER
The city is rushing an additional 150 police officers and 300 firefighters to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast to boost recovery efforts and repay some of the Southern hospitality extended to New Yorkers after Sept. 11, 2001.
Feelings of solidarity and sorrow have been running so high among city workers that the fire commissioner Sunday had to remind firefighters to await deployment orders -- and not to head south on their own.
"During the days and weeks that followed that dark day, we received help from all over the country," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg during a rare Sunday news conference in City Hall. "We have tried to show our fellow Americans in the Gulf Coast that we have not forgotten what they did for us."
The new deployments are added to the 172 police officers and 230 transit workers, packed on 70 Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses, sent to transport survivors from New Orleans to Little Rock, Ark., and Dallas.
A total of city 500 emergency personnel will soon arrive in hard-hit parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Bloomberg, echoing President George W. Bush, declared the initial federal response to victims of Hurricane Katrina "inadequate." He said New York officials were studying the situation to assess mistakes and vulnerabilities in federal and local responses.
The billionaire Republican, who is one of the nation's biggest philanthropists, is making a substantial personal donation to relief efforts, although how much he will give isn't known, according to an aide.
On Sunday, Bloomberg repeatedly invoked the World Trade Center attack, saying he was particularly moved by the state of Louisiana's generosity four years ago after hundreds of city firefighters perished.
"There is a fire truck which we are using that was a donation of the state of Louisiana. It has a tiger on it," said Bloomberg, referring to the mascot of Louisiana State University. "We were not forgotten by the rest of this country and we understand we have an obligation and we're happy to do it."
So many firefighters have volunteered for hurricane duty that Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta warned the rank-and-file against "self-dispatching" or leaving to help without orders.
As officials spoke, a caravan of 30 more MTA buses was leaving Staten Island, loaded with 90 more transportation workers and 20 more police officers. Later, Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler said the 30 buses "may or may not be needed" and might return home.
The 150 additional cops, all volunteers who will be federalized when they arrive on scene, could leave as early as Monday morning. Bloomberg is scheduled to attend a send-off for Red Cross volunteers in Manhattan at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
A city urban rescue team is already assisting operations in storm-flattened Bay St. Louis, Miss.
The 300 firefighters will likely be deployed later this week and will be used to conduct forced-entry inspections and will help put out fires, officials said.
Bloomberg said the transfer of uniformed officers wouldn't effect emergency response in New York but he couldn't predict how long they would be away.
"We want to get help for the people who are suffering on the road and heading down and we will work out the logistics when we get there," he added.
Other experts from New York -- particularly building inspectors needed to assess the thousands of structures swamped in New Orleans -- are likely to be sent down when the waters recede, city officials said.
A team of transportation and emergency management experts may also follow them to learn how local officials were able to evacuate 80 percent of New Orleans' population in the hours before the catastrophe.
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