Council Speaker visits rescued firehouse

Another year – another scare. But lawmakers said don’t you dare.
Local elected officials gathered outside Fire Company 306 in Bayside on July 13 to celebrate the preservation of one of the city’s safety services.
The Bayside firehouse was one of four saved in Queens when the City Council passed its 2012 fiscal year budget on June 30.
The averted closures “give New Yorkers the best assurance we can give them that when they put their head on a pillow at night if there’s a fire, we’ve done everything we can to make sure they get out of their bedroom and their home alive,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Relieved by the news, residents rejoiced as the closing of fire companies would have prolonged emergency response times endangering lives in the neighborhood.
“We wouldn’t have had an extra set of eyes and ears keeping an eye on the neighborhood,” said Felix Lamb, who lives around the corner from the saved firehouse.
In a tenuous and drawn out budgetary process, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed cuts to what many considered essential city services. In round the clock negotiations leading up to the fiscal year, Quinn came to an agreement with the mayor a week before the budget deadline.
All elected officials at the rally praised Quinn for her efforts in getting a budget passed.
The day before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, the City Council passed the budget with 49 to 1 vote. The approved $65.7 million budget saved 20 firehouses citywide, avoided 4,100 teacher lay-offs and restored funding for library services.
When Bloomberg released his preliminary budget that proposed closing firehouses, residents and local associations banded together and held rallies to raise awareness about the Bayside firehouse.
“All of you are the reason why this firehouse is still open,” said Councilmember Dan Halloran to the crowd of about 50 residents who attended the rally.
The Bayside firehouse has faced the chopping block before in previous budget years, but residents hope that this year will be the last it faces closure.
“Hopefully, this is a permanent deal,” Lamb said.