By Jeremy Walsh
The fire trucks will be staying in southern Ridgewood.
Engine 271, the Bushwick fire company that was slated to close in July as part of city budget cutbacks, was spared Monday night when Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council reached a budget agreement two weeks before the end-of-the-month deadline.
City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) coordinated a rally in front of City Hall in April to protest the closings of Engine 271 and 15 other fire companies throughout the city.
“I am pleased to announce that our fire protection will not be compromised and that we have won this fight,” Crowley said in a statement. “During this brutal economic time, it has been up to the people and their elected representatives to fight for what matters. … We organized, we rallied and we made our voices loud and clear that we would not support a plan that would jeopardize our community’s safety.”
News of the firehouses being spared in the $59.4 billion budget had just reached Community Board 5 District Manager Gary Giordano Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m very grateful that that engine company is staying open,” he said. “We can thank the City Council for their efforts and the mayor for bending.”
The city already had decided to eliminate the evening shift at Engine 271 to save money, alarming neighbors and civic leaders.
“I thought it was difficult enough that they were closed for at least half the day,” Giordano said. “And they being so close to Wyckoff Heights Hospital, if anything ever happened that the hospital needed help, it’s critical that they be there.”
Michael Hetzer, president of Citizens for a Better Ridgewood, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon. The civic had started a letter-writing campaign to save the fire company.
Crowley’s office has said that Queens has the worst response time in the city at six minutes, a minute longer than the citywide average. Engine 271 responded to 2,550 emergency calls last year, according to the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
