<B>Williamsburgh Engine Co. 271 Will Shut Down Overnights</B> -- BUSHWICK BUDDIES

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:52:13 01/24/09 Sat
Author: Robert Pozarycki
Subject:

Williamsburgh Engine Co. 271 Will Shut Down Overnights

Engine Co. 271 Will Shut Down Overnights Beginning Jan. 17
Unit Off-Duty Between 6 p.m. And 9 a.m.

The map below shows the one-mile area around Engine Company 271 on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border that would be affected by the unit's overnight closure beginning on Jan. 17. Note that seven other Engine companies�206, 218, 222, 237, 252, 277 and 291�are located within or in close proximity to the circle and would respond to emergencies in the area otherwise served by Engine 271 between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. (map courtesy of the FDNY Press Office)

Despite the objections of local residents, Engine Company 271 on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border in Brooklyn will be taken out of service during overnight hours permanently beginning this Saturday, Jan. 17.

The Fire Department announced last November that the unit was one of four that would be closed nightly between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. as part of an effort to slice the department's budget in the wake of the financial crisis that has gripped the city.

Headquartered with Ladder Company 124 and Battalion 28 at 391 Himrod St., Engine 271 will remain active daily between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Firefighters normally scheduled to work for the unit during overnight hours will be redeployed elsewhere to help the FDNY reduce overtime costs.

Ladder Company 124 and Battalion 28, however, will remain active 24 hours a day as normally scheduled.

Engine 271 is generally the first company to respond to fires and other emergencies in areas of Ridgewood and Bushwick generally bounded on the north by Troutman and Starr streets; on the south by Madison, Woodbine and Bleecker streets and Gates Avenue; on the east by Woodward, Onderdonk and Seneca avenues and on the west by Knickerbocker, Irving and Wyckoff avenues.

The unit also responds to larger events such as multiple-alarm fires in surrounding communities including Bedford-Stuyvesant, East Williamsburg, Glendale and Maspeth.

According to the FDNY, seven other engine companies located within a one-mile radius of Engine 271 will be called upon to respond to emergencies in the closed unit's coverage area during overnight hours:

� Engine 206 located on Grand Street near Stewart Avenue in East Williamsburg;

� Engine 218 located on Hart Street near Central Avenue in Bushwick;

� Engine 222 located on Quincy Street near Linden Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant;

� Engine 237 located on Morgan Avenue near Thames Street in Bushwick;

� Engine 252 located on Schaefer Street at Central Avenue in Bushwick;

� Engine 277 located on Knickerbocker Avenue near Gates Avenue in Bushwick; and,

� Engine 291 located on Metropolitan Avenue near Himrod Street on the Maspeth/Ridgewood border.

Though the Fire Department maintained that the overnight closure would result in little effect in response time to emergencies, local residents and community activists disagree.

In the wake of the announced changes at Engine Company 271, Queens Community Board 5 and Brooklyn Community Board 4 overwhelmingly passed resolutions at their December meetings calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to resist any cutbacks at the unit.

In a Dec. 11 letter to the mayor, Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri stated that "even a partial closure may present risks greater than the financial benefit" the city would gain.

"This engine company and Ladder Company 124 ... are the first responders to fires in parts of Queens," Arcuri wrote. "This is especially true for any fires or EMS type emergencies in our densely populated Ridgewood, Queens community."

The chairperson also noted that the Himrod Street firehouse where Engine 271 is housed lies in close proximity to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and is regularly called upon to respond to emergencies there.

"There aren't any engine companies close enough to this critically important hospital to compensate for any closure of Engine Co. 271," Arcuri added.

Board 4 Chairperson Julie Dent echoed those sentiments in a letter sent to Mayor Bloomberg previously, as reported in the Dec. 24 issue of the Times Newsweekly.

"Community Board 4 fully understands that the city is experiencing a fiscal crisis and desperate measures must be taken to address the problem," she stated. "However, our concerns are the potential of the loss of life. ... Our sentiments are that a human life is priceless, and every second in fact counts."

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]