Outside of outlawing puppies, there is nothing a mayor can do that is more certain to draw angry protests than the decision to close a firehouse. In May, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that four firehouses in Queens and 20 throughout the city have been targeted for closure because of the city’s budget cuts.
One of these is Ladder 128 on Greenpoint Avenue in the Blissville section of Long Island City. The FDNY admits arrival times of engines first responding to the scene of a fire would increase by more than a minute — from five minutes 31 seconds to six minutes 44 seconds — if Ladder 128 were to close. But the arrival times for second responders would remain largely the same.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) said the population boom and the increased number of condominiums in Long Island City make closing this firehouse “a horrible mistake …. The last thing we need is to lose a ladder company.”
It is easy, of course, to say no. Critics seldom offer counterproposals. The mayor has to balance the budget. Every city agency has been cutting its budget nearly every year since Bloomberg took office. The smaller agencies have little if anything left to give.
We would like to know if Gianaris thinks it would be better to close other firehouses in other communities or if they know of other places where the mayor can cut spending without reducing services or, better yet, if they know of ways to increase the city’s revenues.
Rebirth Continues in LIC
Although times have been tough, Long Island City continues to show signs of rebirth. Case in point: CUNY Law School is moving to a new home at 2 Court Square in Long Island City.
Starting in September 2012, the nationally recognized law school will be housed in one of the most environmentally friendly buildings in the city. Some 90 percent of its structural steel will come from recycled materials and it has a 20,000-gallon storm water retention system where water will be collected and recycled in the building’s mechanical system.
It will signify that Long Island City is a community with a future with much more to offer than a good view of Manhattan.
