City Islanders are
girding for another
fight with City Hall
over the potential
closing of the
island's lone fire
ladder company.
Mayor Bloomberg's
bare-bones, $63
billion proposed
budget for Fiscal
Year 2011, unveiled
Thursday, calls for
closing 20 fire
companies around the
city.
Although not yet
identified, all
indications are that
City Island's Ladder
Co. 53 will be among
them.
"It's ridiculous and
not using common
sense," said
Virginia Gallagher,
a City Island
resident and member
of Community Board
10.
"We have problems
during the summer
months with traffic
situations. We have
a lot of houses that
are made of wood,"
she said. "We need a
fire department
here, not 10
minutes, not five
minutes away."
Last year, the mayor
proposed closing 16
fire companies, with
Ladder 53 on the
list.
The closings were
averted at the 11th
hour when the City
Council restored
about $14 million to
the budget.
"Last year, the City
Council stated
loudly and clearly
that firehouse
closures were out of
the question," said
City Councilman
Jimmy Vacca, (D-East
Bronx). "This plan
represented a threat
to life then, and it
represents the same
threat now. We
simply won't stand
for it."
With the 2011 Fiscal
Year starting July
1, the city has
until mid-May before
it must name the
targeted fire
companies.
Vacca, who served as
chairman of the
council Fire
Committee last year,
said the new chair,
Councilwoman
Elizabeth Crowley
(D-Queens), "is
fully on board.
She's going to be
waging a citywide
effort. She's
definitely on the
same page."
The Fire Department
said that Ladder 53
is the least active
unit in the city.
But locals argue the
island's isolation -
with only a single
road in, crossing
over two bridges,
one an oft-raised
drawbridge - makes
closure
unacceptable.
Vacca said that
closing Ladder 53
would "double ladder
company response
time," since the
closest ladder
company is nearly
five miles away in
Co-Op City.
"We're really tired
of making the same
points over and over
again," said City
Island resident
Barbara Dolensek,
who fought to keep
Ladder 53 last year.
"The mayor and the
fire commissioner
know our arguments
and know our
arguments are very
good. But we'll do
it again if we have
to. We need a
firehouse here -
fully staffed - and
it's been proven
many times over."
mjaccarino@nydailynews.com
