January 30, 2004 -- Seven Williamsburg activists, charged with trespassing after they occupied their local firehouse last May, avoided jail time yesterday even though a judge threw cold water on their defense.
The so-called Williamsburg Seven, who occupied the "People's Firehouse" after the city closed it and five other engine companies, had argued that their actions were justified because the closing posed an imminent danger to the community.
But when Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge James Burke rejected that argument, all seven gave up the fight and accepted dismissals that will keep them out of jail if they don't get into trouble for six months.
Burke also rejected the argument that there was no trespassing because the firehouse door was open.
"We were boxed in," said Paul Veneski, 39, who was facing 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. "Either we took this or we were going to jail."
Veneski and the six other defendants were originally offered the same dismissals they received yesterday, but had rejected them in hopes of beating the city in a high-profile trial.
Dozens of activists outside the courtroom yesterday pledged to continue the fight to reopen Engine 212, which earned its nickname in the 1970s, when activists occupied it for several months during a prior city effort to close it down.
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