Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and many other elected officials gathered in the heart of Brooklyn's Haitian community Wednesday afternoon to outline the local government's response to the earthquake in Haiti. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

New Yorkers wishing to help in the relief effort in Haiti may be tempted to send supplies to help survivors. But city officials warned in a press conference in East Flatbush, Brooklyn on Wednesday that there is simply no way yet for those items to reach the victims.

"This is not something where you can send a can of food to help or a bottle of water. There isn’t an infrastructure and the magnitude of the problem just dwarfs anything that any one individual or even just our city can do," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg

What the city has done is set up a way for New Yorkers to donate money to relief organizations. They say the most effective way to help is to call 311 and give to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York, which will direct donations to groups like the American Red Cross. By 11 a.m. Wednesday, 12,000 such calls had already been made.

"We're not sure what they need yet. We're not even sure how it's going to get there," said Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, seen above center. "The best thing to do is to contribute money to reputable organizations."

"It doesn't matter how large or how small. Every little bit will help," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn

Governor David Paterson said the state will also create a registry of all New Yorkers known to be in Haiti to help get information to their family members.

New York also has an urban search and rescue team that includes more than 200 members of the city Fire and Police Departments who are waiting to find out if they will be deployed to Haiti. The city also has engineers, building inspectors and experts in debris management ready and willing to help, but it's the federal government's call.

"A lot of people want to contribute, want to do the right thing," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. "But we need the help of the government, the United States government - the only entity that can make a dent in the problem. It is massive."

Some authorities, including Williams, called on the federal government to grant temporary protected status to Haitians living in the United States. Homeland Security officials later said that for now they will halt the deportation of Haitians who are living in the United States illegally.

Public officials also asked Wednesday for private industry, especially communications companies, to aid the relief efforts.

"We've reached out to Verizon, AT&T and others and asked them to please set up call centers where people can come and make free calls to Haiti," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

The politicians wished to send a message of solidarity to the Haitian people.

"I want to say to the Haitian community, you are not alone. You can see that," said Brooklyn Councilman Mathieu Eugene.