FACING THE DEADLINE

Firefighters, union delegates and City Council members rallied outside City Hall in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 12 to protest the announced full-time closure of four FDNY companies in July, including Engine Co. 271 on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn. (photo: Robert Pozarycki) The Fire Department has notified local elected officials that Engine Co. 271 on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border is one of four FDNY units across the city that will be disbanded this summer due to budget cutbacks.

According to the office of City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, the FDNY notified her last Friday night, May 8, that the company based at 392 Himrod St. would be permanently shut on July 1. Ladder Co. 124 and Battalion 28, which share the firehouse with Engine 271, will remain open for business.

Engine 271 and the other three units marked for elimination were initially ordered in January to close overnight between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. as necessary as part of the FDNY's effort to trim overtime costs. Firefighters who would have otherwise worked the shift at their home companies were sent to fill absences in other units instead.

Members of the Latinas Against Fire Cuts protested outside the headquarters of Engine Co. 271 at 392 Himrod St. in Brooklyn last Saturday, May 9 against planned cutbacks to FDNY services. As noted, the event was part of the group's sixth-annual walk against previous reductions to the Fire Department. Among those who participated in the event were organizer Josefina Sanfeliu and City Council Member Tony Avella. But the permanent closure of the four FDNY companies appears to be only the tip of the iceberg, as the Fire Department reportedly plans to eliminate 12 additional companies and 30 ambulance tours across the city by New Year's Day 2010. City Council Member James Vacca, chairperson of the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, stated that the FDNY has yet to announce the exact areas of the city that will be affected by the additional cutbacks.

During testimony before the committee on Tuesday, May 12, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta reportedly stated that future closures may be avoided provided that the unions which represent firefighters make concessions.

The Times Newsweekly reported in its Apr. 16 edition that two other local FDNY units—Engine Companies 206 in East Williamsburg and 293 in Woodhaven—were among the other fire companies marked for closure. The Fire Department has since denied this report.

Council Members Crowley and Diana Reyna, who share jurisdiction over the areas serviced by Engine 271, joined Vacca and other city lawmakers in vowing to draw "a line in the sand" and resist the proposed cutbacks during a rally with firefighters and union delegates on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan Tuesday morning.

Nearly "a quorum," as described by Vacca, of City Council members spoke out against the proposed cutbacks. Along with Crowley and Reyna, others who took part in the rally included City Council members Eric Gioia, Melinda Katz, Peter Vallone Jr., Bill DiBlasio, Alan Gerson, Vincent Ignizio, Leticia James, Miguel Martinez, James Oddo and David Weprin.

"The closures we're facing will endanger the health and well-being of every New Yorker," said Vacca, noting that in the wake of the recent economic downturn, the city's populace has faced increasing taxes and fees along with reductions in services.

'This is a test and we cannot fail'

Despite the recession and the difficulties it poses on the city's finances, Council Member Katz charged that the city government must nonetheless provide its residents with the assurance that vital public services will be there in the event of a fire or medical emergency.

"At the bare minimum in the City of New York, working men, women and children deserve to have a safe city," she said. "They deserve to know that their firefighters and everyone they count on will be there in sec- onds' notice. ... This is a test, and we cannot fail."

Crowley pointed to two recent fires in the Ridgewood area as examples of the impact the loss of Engine Co. 271 and others would have on surrounding communities. She noted that on Mar. 18, a three-alarm fire burned three homes on Wyckoff Avenue and displaced scores of residents. During the event, Engine 271 was shut down.

Less than a week later, the Council member said, Engine 271 was open and helped to rescue three residents from a burning home on Ridgewood Place on Mar. 24.

"Every second a fire grows exponentially. Seconds equal lives lost," Crowley said. "I understand that it is tough times right now for the city. But they can find other ways to cut the department budget without cutting these fire companies."

Reyna noted that the potential closure of Engine 271 would make the surrounding area vulnerable to fire outbreaks similar to ones that destroyed blocks of homes and businesses around Bushwick during the 1970s.

"We lost property and population" during that decade, the legislator said. "We must see to it that these [fire companies] are not closed and we find a way to keep them open. We're [otherwise] putting our lives at risk and our neighborhoods at risk."

Others questioned why the FDNY had yet to announce the location of the other 12 fire companies and 30 ambulance tours slated to be eliminated in January, with some speculating that they were holding off on announcing their fate until after the citywide elections in November.

"They don't want the people to know," offered Israel Miranda, vice president of FDNY Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Inspectors Local 2507. Though he said EMS units are currently doing more with less, Miranda charged that any further cutbacks may make it nearly impossible for the remaining teams to serve the entire city effectively.

Alternatives offered, rejected

Council Member Weprin noted that Council members and delegates from the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA)—which represents the city's firefighters—offered alternative cuts to the budget in the hope of avoiding the closure of FDNY units. Fire Department administrators, he noted, countered by proposing a plan to drop one of the five members of each engine company in the city.

That idea was rejected by both the City Council and the UFA. Steve Cassidy, president of the union, said that the fifth member of each engine company is needed to help set up and quickly distribute water on a fire.

The loss of manpower, he charged, would endanger the lives of both fellow firefighters as well as residents.

The UFA suggested that the FDNY reduce the number of chiefs and other administrators on its payroll, Cassidy added. He noted that "not one single reduction to one single chief" was made.

"The Scoppetta administration has decided to cut firefighters and risk the lives of everybody in the City of New York because he doesn't want to cut his friends at the top," the UFA president charged. "They are playing Russian roulette with the lives of New York City taxpayers."

As the June 30 budget deadline draws nearer, Council Member Crowley told the Times Newsweekly that she hoped Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Department officials would work something out with the City Council to avoid closing Engine 271 and other fire companies around New York.

"I can't see how the City Council can support a plan to close fire units," she said.

Congress members add voice

In the wake of the City Council rally, two local Members of Congress sent a letter directly to Mayor Bloomberg calling on him to stopped the planned closure of Engine 271.

Representatives Anthony Weiner and Nydia Velázquez stated that while they understood "the gravity of the city's current fiscal crisis, [they] unequivocally oppose any cuts which compromise fire services for city residents."

"It will create a virtual vacuum of services in the area, jeopardizing the safety of hundreds of homeowners, more than 600 small businesses, four schools, numerous faith-based institutions, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and thousands of public transit commuters who rely" on the L and M trains, the letter noted. "Neighborhoods with growing populations need more services not less. Initiating drastic cuts and closing the station will only undo the progress made in Bushwick and neighboring communities."

Weiner and Velázquez pointed out that nearly a year ago, the city commemorated the 100th anniversary of the opening of Engine Co. 271/Ladder Co. 124, during which Fire Commissioner Scoppetta described it as a "premier company with a great history."