Engine Company 271, located right near the Brooklyn/Queens border, and three other engine companies throughout the city could close their doors on July 1 while another 12 companies could shutter by the end of the year.
Members of the City Council joined representatives from the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) and concerned residents at a rally on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, May 12 to protest the proposed cuts, which stem from budget cuts handed down by the Mayor’s Office.
“Closing these companies equals lives lost,” said Queens Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, who represents the area in western Queens that would feel the repercussions of the shuttered engine company.
Although none of the four engine companies slated to close have a Queens address, Engine Company 271, which is located at 392 Himrod Street, is right next to the Ridgewood section of Queens.
“The emergency services provided by the firehouses not only respond to fires but also to emergency calls such as gas leaks and heat attacks,” Crowley said. “With the recent closings of St. John’s, Mary Immaculate and Parkway hospitals, emergency response is already stretched far too thin.”
Earlier this year, the city began closing the four engine companies at night, but they remained open during the days. However, unless the city reaches a compromise to change the plans, the four would close for good on July 1.
In a letter sent by Daniel Shacknai, Deputy Fire Commissioner/General Counsel Bureau of Legal Affairs, to Crowley’s office on Friday night, May 8, he wrote that the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) made the decision to close the company after carefully examining years’ worth of data and exhaustively analyzing all relevant information.
“Our goals in doing so were to identify those companies that could be closed with the least impact on public safety while retaining the maximum effectiveness of our finite resources,” Shacknai wrote.
Meanwhile, during the City Hall rally, Councilmembers from all five boroughs trotted up to the microphone and took turns blasting the proposed cuts by Bloomberg’s administration.
“When it comes to lives we can’t worry about a $1 million here or a $1 million there,” said Queens Councilmember David Weprin, who is the Chair the Finance Committee.
In addition, Steve Cassidy, President of the UFA, said that the FDNY is being penalized because it does not generate revenue.
“That’s not our job,” Cassidy said. “Our job is to save lives.”
Cassidy claims that the UFA has made alternate proposals to the Mayor’s office and the Fire Commissioner in order fill in the budget cuts that do not include closing firehouses, but those proposals have been rebuffed.
It is still unclear where the 12 firehouses that could close beginning January 1 are located.
