FDNY Firehouse Closings Decision Postponed Until NY State Budget Resolved - Ladder Company 116 Still Serving Roosevelt Island, At Least For Now

Image of 11/09 Island House Fire From Tweet Photo

Update on prior posts concerning possible closing of Long Island City based FDNY Ladder Company 116 which serves Roosevelt Island. May 17 was believed to be the day that Mayor Bloomberg was to announce the New York City Firehouses to be closed due to City and State budget crisis but that announcement of Fire House closings has been postponed. The NY Daily News reports:

Mayor Bloomberg is giving a reprieve to 20 fire companies on the chopping block - at least for now.

"I'm going to wait and see," Bloomberg said.

He's counting on Albany to come through with some last-minute cash when the Legislature finalizes a spending plan - one that is already 48 days late...

The Wall Street Journal adds:

... On May 6, when the mayor released his proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, he called for the closing of 20 fire companies, a move he said would save the FDNY $41 million if the companies were closed by July 1.

By law, the city is required to make public the list of companies slated to be closed 45 days in advance.

For more than a week, officials at the Fire Department were saying they planned to release the list on Monday. But Mr. Bloomberg, who would have borne the brunt of community anger related to the list's release, opted not to move forward.

Mr. Bloomberg said he still doesn't know what's happening with the state budget, which is now more than a month late. While the city must continue to prepare for what officials anticipate will be dramatic declines in state funding, the mayor said he preferred to wait a little longer before making a move on fire company closings.

"I'd like to have another five or six weeks of tax revenues information, see how tax revenues are coming in," he said, noting that the economy is picking up.

Still, he warned, the economy isn't improving at a fast enough clip to spare the city from significant spending cuts. "We are going to have to make some serious cuts," he insisted...

The closing of relatively near by Ladder Company 116 would represent a significant danger to Roosevelt Island residents.

Fire At Island House

Here's a report about August 2009 fire at Roosevelt Landings/Eastwood.