Facing the invevitable, the city says several FDNY firehouses will have to close. While there was hope the the closures would not be needed, the Bloomberg administration announced a panel would be formed to decide which houses would have to shutter their doors. Lauren Glassberg reports on the latest developments.
Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw, speaking to the Citizens Budget Commission Saturday, said a decision to temporarily drop talks about shuttering eight firehouses was a "political punt" used to deflect fierce opposition. Shaw went on to say that inefficiency in the FDNY would mean the closures would have to go forward. The mayor backed up that statement Sunday, saying the city needs to do more with less in the midst of tough finanical times.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City (R): "Every time every mayor has tried to do that, the political forces make it one of these things that is just very difficult to do..."
Shaw said that the fire department, as well as the police departments, were grossly inefficient and that every effort over the past 20 to 30 years to make the FDNY more productive had failed.
A spokesman for the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which represents 9,000 firefighters, called Shaw's remarks "ridiculous and irrational." UFA spokesman Tom Butler said. "Mr. Shaw probably thinks the United States only needs a military when we are at wartime. Clearly he does not understand what firefighters do every day."
Politcally speaking, there's nothing easy or pleasant about closing firehouses. Plans to do so have inspired rallies and protests from Queens to Harlem.
About a month ago, firefighters from Engine Company 209 in the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn painted one of the garage doors to read "As of December 27th This Company Will No Longer Protect You Against Fires and Emergencies," when they thought their house was on the verge of closing. They haven't painted over just yet, saying their house is still not in the clear.
That's because a blue ribbon commission is being established to look into firehouse closings. The panel, made up of seven people including several fire chiefs, will ulimately decide which firehouses will be closed. But by having the commission select which houses to close, the heat is off the mayor and the council.
It is a move Deputy Mayor Mark Shaw said Saturday would remove the politics from the decision. Mayor Bloomberg agreed.
Mayor Bloomberg: "Is it a political punt? It's an attempt to remove the process from the day in and day out politics."
But the people still plan to have their voices heard in the hopes of keeping their neighborhood firehouses open.
Rivky Moskovitz, Bed Stuy Resident: "Taking away our safety is not the place to take money... There are other places where you take money from."
Leo Lebowitz, Bed Stuy Resident: "We very much cooperated with the fire department, with the people, with the community, just to make sure this fire department is not being closed up."
With the announcement of the panel to decide which firehouses will close, the city can expect more protests and more rallies. Mayor Bloomberg did offer one reassurance: No firefighter will lose his or her job.
