8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 29, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Push to reopen closed LIC fi rehouse
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Long Island City offi cials and residents
are arguing that a Fire Department unit
which previously served the area until it
was closed in 2003 should be reopened.
Engine Company 261, along with fi ve
other FDNY units, was shuttered in May
2003 under the Bloomberg administration
Photo courtesy of Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer’s offi ce
‘The MTA is a total disaster’: Queens senator starts petition to demand Cuomo address issues
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
A train derailment, an electrical fi re
and massive delays are now standard
if you’re riding the New York City
subway — and one Queens senator is
imploring Governor Andrew Cuomo to
do something about it.
State Senator Michael Gianaris
announced last week a new bill that
would create a temporary tax for residents
making more than $1 million to
pump emergency funds into the MTA.
Th e bill, called “Better Trains, Better
Cities,” would also appoint an emergency
manager to oversee the maintenance
of the system.
Th ough the Senate and Assembly are
in recess, Cuomo called a special session
of the legislature to give Mayor
Bill de Blasio mayoral control of city
schools for one year. Gianaris is arguing
that the session should also be used
to discuss the MTA’s problems.
“Th e MTA crisis is real and it is
upon us,” he said in a statement. “New
Yorkers are suff ering the consequences
of years of underfunding and mismanaging
of our mass transit system.
It would be irresponsible for state leaders
to allow this to continue without
fi nding a solution and that is what we
should do with the urgency this crisis
demands.”
Gianaris is asking constituents and
subway riders to sign a petition that
asks Cuomo and the state Legislature to
fi gure out a solution to the MTA’s woes
before calling a recess.
“Employees were late to work, patients
missed doctor’s appointments and students
missed graduations,” the petition
read. “Th e situation became dangerous
as individuals were forced to pry open
train doors in order to escape unbearable
heat, aft er being stuck on a train
which had lost power. Two commuters
even exited a stalled train and attempted
to walk to work on the tracks.”
He argued that “fi xing the MTA
should be a top priority” and that members
of the legislature should not leave
the Capitol until a solution is proposed.
Th e petition can be found here.
Like clockwork, just as the senator
announced his petition, it was reported
that the A train derailed in Manhattan
and left more than a dozen people
injured.
“Th e MTA is a total disaster,” Gianaris
said. “When are we going to realize how
bad this crisis is and fi nally do something
about it?”
as a cost-cutting measure. At the
time, Bloomberg argued that the closings
would save the city $6 million in overtime
expenses.
But with the Long Island City population
exploding in recent years, many are
arguing that the company is needed to
ensure rapid response times.
Gerard Fitzgerald, the president of the
Uniformed Firefi ghters Association of
Greater New York, joined members of
the Uniformed Fire Offi cers Association
and elected offi cials including Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer and state Senator
Michael Gianaris in front of the former
Engine 261 fi rehouse at 37-20 29th St. on
June 23 to demand that the FDNY reopen it.
“We must do all we can to support our
city’s bravest and keep our growing community
safe from the devastating power
of a fi re,” Van Bramer said in a statement.
“Engine Company 261 gave the
people of this neighborhood comfort for
over a century, and today we call for it to
be reopened so that our city’s brave fi refi
ghters can once again provide life-saving
help to the rapidly growing population in
Long Island City and Dutch Kills.”
Th e company offi cially opened on June
12, 1894, as Engine 3 of the Long Island
City Fire Department. In January 1913,
it was reorganized as Engine Company
261. On May 25, 2003, it was shut down,
and 22 fi re personnel were transferred to
other companies around the city.
In July 2003, a Brooklyn judge found
that closing the engine company was illegal
because residents of Roosevelt Island, which
the company also serves, were not adequately
notifi ed. But the judge stopped short of
ordering the fi rehouse to be reopened.
“Firehouses are vital to our communities,”
Fitzgerald said. “When our neighborhoods
grow and develop, fi re protection
and the amount of fi rst responders
in the area should also increase. Engine
Company 261 should be re-opened today
as it provides a much-needed level of safety
and protection to a booming population
in Long Island City.”
George Stamatiades, the president of
the Dutch Kills Civic Association argued
that Long Island City “has grown to the
point that fi re protection is not a luxury,
it’s a necessity.”
In 2003, fi refi ghters Steven Cycan and
Chris Marino argued that shutting down
Engine Company 261 would slow down
response times. Ladder companies and
engine companies are usually housed
together for effi ciency.
A ladder company is in charge of
search-and-rescue and ventilation, which
means that fi refi ghters specialize in making
holes in roofs and windows to let
smoke escape from a burning building.
Th e engine company hoses down the
building and extinguishes the fl ames.
Currently, Ladder Company 116 is housed
at the 29th Street location and must rely
on engine companies from surrounding
neighborhoods to help respond to fi res.
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan
wrote a letter to the FDNY Commissioner
Daniel A. Nigro asking him to consider
reopening Engine Company 261. She fi rst
made that request in a letter addressed
to the FDNY on May 4, 2016. Th e agency
told her that they were conducting an
analysis to see what areas in the city might
need additional services due to “high population
growth.” Nolan said she has not
seen the results of that analysis.
“As the Long Island City community
continues to grow and expand, our
communities need more fi re protection
with the growing number of high-rise
apartments and the continued presence
of industry side by side with high-rise
hotels and condos,” she said. “Re-opening
Engine Company 261 would be a step in
the right direction in providing additional
services which would increase the safety
and security of the growing population
in our community.”
A spokesperson for the FDNY said the
department recognizes that Long Island
City is a “burgeoning community.”
“Th e Fire Department is dedicated to
maintaining the most effi cient network of
fi re mitigation resources, and we continue
to adapt our locations with the changing
landscape and population of New York
City,” the spokesperson said.
Long Island City residents and offi cials are calling on the FDNY to reopen Engine Company 261.
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