A massive fire that tore through a commercial building in Jackson Heights prompted City Councilmember Daniel Dromm and Assemblymember Jose Peralta to publically question whether the result of the blaze would have been more tragic, had a proposed closure of city fire houses been in effect.
A press conference was held by both Dromm and Peralta on Monday, February 15 in front of the burnt out shell of the building at 84-09 37th Avenue, where the fire erupted on Saturday, February 13. Speaking in front of a crowd of business owners, reporters and local Jackson Heights residents, both men criticized the proposed closure, stating that public safety should always come before expense.
“We cannot put anyone’s life at risk to balance the budget,” said Peralta. “Public safety is our number one priority, we can worry about the price tag later.”
“We are here saying ‘No!’ to fire house closings, and to shine light on what is happening,” said Dromm, referring to the proposed closures. Dromm noted that the Fire Department has already cut the amount of firefighters in a unit from five to four, and that this fact alone has already put city residents at a greater risk.
Leroy McGinnis, Queens Trustee of the Unified Firefighters Association (UFA), also addressed the crowd on Monday. McGinnis stated that the mayor’s proposed budget would see 20 fire houses shut down, and noted that this would have a ripple effect on public safety throughout the city, no matter which houses were closed.
“If you take a unit out of this neighborhood, it affects the response time of every other unit. If there were less companies in this neighborhood, the delay could have been devastating,” he said.
The fire, which was called in at 9:53 a.m. Saturday morning, was battled for over three hours by 168 firefighters from 39 responding companies. While the commercial building was completely destroyed, the fire was prevented from spreading to a neighboring commercial building, as well as attached apartments, by a quick and efficient Fire Department effort.
“What occurred must be noted, if the fire houses hadn’t responded in the way they did, there could have been an enormous loss of life in this community,” said Dromm.
Maria Lalita, a Peruvian immigrant and owner of Lalita’s Party Shop, which was lost in the fire, also spoke to the crowd. Speaking in Spanish, which was translated by Dromm, Lalita thanked the incredible efforts of the Fire Department. “Thank God that in this tragedy no lives have been lost,” she said, before asking the mayor not to cut any houses from the city budget.
As for where the city should look to conserve money, rather than cutting firehouses, both Dromm and Peralta could only say that it’s a matter that needs to be looked into. However, Margaret Kalayjian, a 40-year resident of Jackson Heights, thought she knew the answer.
“Let the mayor cut the city employees who make thousands of dollars to do nothing. We work for every dollar we have,” she said.
