May 27, 2003 -- Die-hard demonstrators were still camping out in front of the "People's Firehouse" in Greenpoint yesterday, hoping to force the city to reopen it - just as they did in 1975. The protesters have set up a 12-by-12-foot tent outside Engine Co. 212 at 136 Wythe Ave. and are manning it around-the-clock in shifts.
"We're doing this for the community. We stand for something important. This is a historical firehouse," said community activist Paul Veneski, 36.
In 1975, Veneski's father, Adam, led a campaign to stop the city from closing the firehouse. Members of the community staged a sit-in at the firehouse for 18 months, and the city finally relented.
Veneski's 66-year-old mother, Brigette, who took part in the earlier action, is taking part in the latest protest, too.
"I have no choice," she said. "This was my husband's heart, and I won't let him or the community down. We'll stay out here as long as it takes."
"We'll even block the [nearby] Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and the Williamsburg Bridge if we have to," added Veneski.
He and Brigette were among 20 people arrested by fire marshals Saturday during protests against the closing of six engine companies - four of them in Brooklyn.
The protesters were charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct and released pending hearings on June 30.
Mayor Bloomberg says the closings will save $7 million for the cash-strapped Big Apple.
"We just don't have the money," he said yesterday.
"We really only closed three firehouses - one was a block away from another firehouse. We just don't have the money to have a firehouse on every block, unfortunately."
Outside Engine Co. 212, Georgina Codelia, 36 - who was with her 8-year-old daughter, Sarina - said she had been in the tent until 11:30 Saturday night.
"This is a symbolic firehouse," Codelia said. "It's got history already. This firehouse saved people's lives - not just with fires, but with medical emergencies."
Teresa Toro, 36, a legislative aide, said the firehouse had Brooklyn's only foam unit capable of putting out industrial fires.
There are dozens of factories in the area, she noted.
"This is more than about community sentiment," she said. "This really is a public-safety issue because of the special needs of the community. This is a highly industrial area with many toxic facilities. If there is a chemical fire, how are we protected?"
There were major protests at Engine Co. 212 and at Engine Co. 204 in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn when the engine companies were closed Saturday, the firefighters being transferred to other houses.
In all, approximately 220 people took part.
As a result, the city has decided to cut back on having fire marshals guard the six firehouses that were either closed or had their engine companies disbanded, The Post has learned.
Originally, fire marshals were to guard the firehouses through Saturday, sources said.
But under new orders, issued after Mayor Bloomberg and the Fire Department reviewed the protests, the firehouses will now be guarded only through Wednesday.
