Engine 293, in Woodhaven, was on the list of endangered firehouses during last year’s budget talks. It was spared then, but may face another scare this year. Forum Newsgroup Photo by Luis Gronda.
After Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed that he once again wants to close fire companies to bridge a budget gap, politicians and firefighters were quick to object in what’s become an annual tug of war.
Last year, Bloomberg proposed closing 20 fire companies, including four in Queens: Engine 294 on Jamaica Avenue, Engine 306 on 214th Place, Engine 328 on Central Avenue and Ladder 128 on Greenpoint Avenue.
Once again, 20 companies are on the line in Bloomberg’s revised $68.7 billion executive budget for the next fiscal year.
Last year, through negotiations with the City Council, the closings were averted.
And this year, the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) and members of the council quickly blasted the plan.
“It’s wrong,” said Tom Butler, a spokesman for the UFA. “It’s economically shortsighted and from a safety perspective it’s also shortsighted.”
If those 20 companies close, the firefighters will be assigned elsewhere, but Butler argues the minutes and seconds added to response times around those companies matters dramatically.
“If 20 fire companies were to be closed, it would be a horrific problem for communities across New York,” he said. “Say you have a trash can in your living room or in your kitchen. A trash can fire will go from inception—a spark—to exceeding 2,000 degrees and engulfing the entire room in under 2 and a half minutes.”
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, chair of the fire and criminal justice committee, made much the same argument, saying the budget should not rely on cuts to safety.
“Closing even a single fire company in New York City will lead to increased response times, more fire fatalities and millions of dollars in property damage,” she said. “We simply cannot accept a budget proposal that puts the safety of New Yorkers in jeopardy. I have always been, and will remain, committed to preventing even a single firehouse from closing.”
Butler said the department is already short staffed by about 600 firefighters because of a hiring freeze that’s in place while a discrimination lawsuit works its way through the court system.
Cutting fire companies wouldn’t add to that deficit of manpower. The firefighters would be reassigned further away.
It could however, up response times to the immediate neighborhoods and reduce the amount of manpower available to nearby neighborhoods in case of major emergencies.
“In the end, the group that loses most is the community, the community that firehouse serves,” Butler said.
Crowley and other council members rallied in front of firehouses in their communities last year to stop the closings.
And it looks like the same combatants are posturing for this year’s fight.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr, chairman for the finance committee, released a joint statement saying they disagree with Bloomberg’s method of balancing the budget.
They objected to proposed childcare cuts along with the firehouse closings.
“As we always have, the Council will work in the coming weeks to ensure the adoption of a budget for fiscal year 2013 that protects the most vulnerable, ensures public safety, and provides all of our citizens with the kind of City in which they can flourish,” Recchia said.
The details will be worked out in negotiations between the mayor and council members before the June 30 budget deadline.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
j.dobruck@theforumnewsgroup.com
