Month: June 2011
Save ladder 104
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
COUNCIL MEMBER DIANA REYNA STANDS ALONGSIDE THE COMMUNITY
TO SAVE LADDER COMPANY 104
Local leaders galvanize to March & Rally – strongly opposing the Bloomberg Administration’s cuts to FDNY first responders and emergency services in the Southside
WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN – June 7, 2011 – Responding to the Bloomberg Administration’s attempt to close Ladder Company 104, Council Member Diana Reyna and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez along with local leaders will “march & rally” to protest the proposed closure, tonight, June 6 at 5:15 p.m. in front of Firehouse 221 at 161 S. 2nd St. in Williamsburg. Local leaders will initially gather at the Los Sures office at 213 S. 4th St. and will walk in a group through the Southside streets to Engine 221.
The 34th council district bears the burden of those cuts with 2-Engine Companies and 1-Ladder Company closing in Williamsburg and Bushwick. Additionally, Ladder 104 is the closest firehouse to a large portion of the Williamsburg and Greenpoint waterfront, which the Mayor’s own plan claims will be home to over 10,000 new residents.
“The planned cuts to first responders and public safety professionals at the FDNY, who risk their lives saving property and people is unacceptable,” said Council Member Diana Reyna. “Every Brooklyn resident should be knocking on City Hall’s door in protest. The borough disparity is shocking and intolerable, as the administration attempts to balance another City budget on the lives of minorities and the working-class. We are marching and congregating in solidarity giving voice to our neighborhood – standing up to the closure of Ladder Company 104.”
“Cutting vital emergency services from this rapidly growing neighborhood would lengthen response times and put New Yorkers’ lives in danger,” said Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY).
“To close fire companies, when our FDNY is responding to more emergencies than ever before, is reckless, costly and potentially deadly, said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, City Fire & Criminal Justice Committee Chair. “The burning truth is—fires don’t care about budgets and they don’t discriminate.”
“Given the dangerous presence of Radiac, New York City’s only hazardous, chemical and radioactive waste facility just one block from the Jose DeDiego (P.S. 84) elementary school, we are not only fighting for our Southside Firehouse but for the very lives of our children,” said El Puente President and CEO, Luis Garden Acosta. “To shut down the only Southside firehouse would put most of Williamsburg at catastrophic risk.”
“Our community is growing not by luck or by some divine intervention but by this administration to increase the population size into the thousands, said Executive Director of Churches United For Fair Housing, Rob Solano. “To close Ladder 104 would be simply irresponsible.”
“Ladder Company 104 is the closest to a large area of North Brooklyn’s East River waterfront and closing [it] will result in significantly longer response times,” said Executive Director of the People’s Firehouse, Daniel Rivera. “Ladder companies from other areas will have to travel longer distances to respond to Fire and Emergency; leaving areas of the City with reduced protection. Engine and Ladder Companies are both necessary to fight fires and save lives. An engine company without a ladder company is hampered in its efforts.”
“It’s a disaster to close down firehouses. The city is simply raising the risk factor and provoking a safety hazard in the community and it could result in tragedy. The city needs to seek alternatives to saving money that doesn’t put people’s lives in jeopardy,” said Chair of Community Board 1, Christopher H. Olechowski.
WHAT: Save Ladder Company 104 – March and Rally
WHERE: Marching begins at the Los Sures office at 213 S. 4th St. / Rally at Firehouse 221 at 161 S. 2nd St.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 2011
TIME: 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
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CUFFH News 