Engine 293 Saved!

Woodhaven residents are sleeping a little easier since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday that Engine Co. 293 is one of two firehouses that will be spared from the budget axe.
"This was stressful," said Engine Co. 293 firefighter, Rich Riccardi. "We didnt know whether we were going to break up. Some guys would have gone here, others there…."
In a written statement, Bloomberg owed the sudden reprieve for Engine Co. 293 and Squad 252 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to an override by Albany legislators of Governor Patakis recent veto on a city assistance package.
The additional $2.7 million in relief money given to the city allowed the firehouses to remain open.
The mayor also pointed to increased response times that would be experienced by neighborhoods surrounding both firehouses. Response times in Engine 293s area would have increased to 5 minutes and 25 seconds from 4 minutes and 14 seconds. This would have been above the average citywide time of 4 minutes and 46 seconds.
Bloomberg said the decision was "in the interests of exercising the maximum caution allowable. Response times in the areas served by Engine 293 would have risen above the citywide average, something we would like to avoid."
Six other firehouses in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn remain slated for closure, which would save $8 million.
"Thats what kills us, that some will still close," said Riccardi.
"We are all in this together," said colleague Tom Curran. "We hope that all of this will end and that all of the firehouses will stay open."
A group of state and city officials and civic groups brought suit last week against the city, accusing the mayor of closing the firehouses without adequate community input or environmental analysis. A Brooklyn judge was scheduled to hear the case Tuesday.
"I hope for two things," said Councilman Joe Addabbo, who is involved in the suit. "Either the judge will issue a restraining order of injunction against the closings, or the mayor will wait to hear the decision before closing anything."
Bloombergs deadline for shuttering the companies is this Friday.
Some city officials said they believe that Mondays announcement was the mayors attempt at bettering his odds in court.
"I am not going to get hung up on that kind of conjecture," said Addabbo, who plans to stay with the suit. "I plan to stay focused on the real issue. This is not just about the Woodhaven firehouse; this is about all of them."
The mayor said he might still close the reprieved firehouses if the economy does not improve, or if he cannot raise $600 million in concessions from the unions.
The Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed group, said in a recent report that the average cost of a city worker, including salary and benefits, will exceed $82,000 next year. This amounts to a 30% increase since 2000, almost three times the rate of inflation.
The commission blames the increase on the cost of pension benefits and health insurance. Escalating pension costs are caused partially by the faltering stock market, which has resulted in lost money for city pension fund investments, and by a recently passed state law that increased retiree benefits.
The commission said the annual price on one firefighter is more than on any other city employee: $125,169 a year: $74,393 average salary and $50,776 in pensions and other benefits.
The commission recommended that city employees should be charged for health insurance and that future employees should get cheaper pensions. Asking employees to share health insurance costs could alone save the city hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
With the state aid package and the reduction in intended firehouse closings, the city is still planning the worst layoffs and steepest budget cuts in over 10 years to close the $3.8 billion budget gap.
"Im grateful to the mayor for these two firehouses," Addabbo said, "but we still have a big job ahead of us. We have to work on how best to spend the money we have. There are still zoos, libraries and senior centers that [face cuts]."