Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City Council urges mayor to fund $91.7M to add fifth firefighter at 86 engine companies
Summary
Speaker Julie Menin and council members, joined by Uniformed Firefighters Association leaders and a Twin Parks survivor, urged the mayor to include $91.7 million in the fiscal-year budget to place a fifth firefighter at 86 engine companies, saying the change would speed water placement and reduce fire deaths.
Speaker Julie Menin urged the administration on Wednesday to include $91.7 million in the city budget starting July 1 to restore a fifth firefighter at 86 engine companies in the city’s busiest and most dangerous neighborhoods.
"The council is asking the administration for 91.7 million dollars in the city budget that starts July 1st to add a fifth firefighter at 86 engine companies in the busiest and deadliest areas of the city," Menin said, framing the request as an urgent public-safety priority as fire activity and fatalities have risen.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association’s president, Andrew Ansbro, told the council the FDNY’s staffing decline over decades has left engine companies thinly manned and cited operational data to press the point. "The 197 engine companies that remain went on over 740,000 runs last year," Ansbro said, arguing that additional staffing shortens the time to get water on a fire and reduces civilian and firefighter casualties.
Union leaders and council members said the proposal would prioritize placement in neighborhoods with the highest rates of structural fires and fatalities. Jim Brosi, speaking for union members, called the measure a "public-safety initiative" and asked officials to judge the proposal by lives saved rather than its price tag.
Survivors of the January 2022 Twin Parks tower fire asked the council to act. "I personally lost five members of my family on that fateful night," said Dukuray, who identified himself as a Twin Parks survivor and urged elected officials to restore staffing to prevent similar losses.
Council Member Joann Ariola, identified as the council’s fire chair, said four-person engine companies are insufficient for larger, more complex emergencies and reiterated that an additional firefighter means faster hose deployment and safer searches. Council Member Kevin Riley, representing the Bronx, and Bronx delegation leaders said the borough has experienced disproportionate fire tragedies and pushed to direct staffing to high-risk neighborhoods.
Speakers pointed to staffing changes since 2011 and to an increase in fatal fires in the current year as reasons for the restoration push. Andrew Ansbro said fire deaths were "up 60%" compared to the same period the previous year and described how staffing cuts affect on-scene operations; those are assertions attributed to speakers in this event and have not been independently verified in this report.
The city council’s request is a budgetary appeal to the mayor and does not represent a formal appropriation. No vote or formal motion was taken during the press event; council members said they are asking the mayor to include the funding in the coming fiscal-year budget. The next procedural step is for the mayor’s office to propose a budget and for the council to consider amendments during the budget process.
