Bloomberg has a 'Vendetta Against Firefighters,' says Avella

State Senator Tony Avella, D-Bayside, says he is introducing legislation that would require review by the Community Board, Borough President and approval by the City Council in order to close firehouses. 

The announcement of his intention to propose the bill came at , located at 40-18 214th Place in Bayside on Sunday—a firehouse which Mayor Mike Bloomberg may close as a cost saving measure.

“Unfortunately, we have a Mayor who has an obvious vendetta against firefighters and has become fixated with closing firehouses,” said Avella. “Every year Mike Bloomberg threatens to close firehouses throughout the City; and while he continues to raise salaries for his Deputy Mayors, he is now threatening the safety of Bayside residents.”

Avella also said he is calling for the Financial Control Board to oversee the City's budget under Bloomberg. "The jobs of our fire fighters, police officers and teachers should not be on the chopping block year after year while the salaries of Mike Bloomberg’s top aides and the number of bureaucrats continue to grow and grow,” said Avella.

in the Assembly, Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, lives around the block from the firehouse, and expressed concerned for the safety of his immediate neighborhood.

"The Mayor's statistics reveal that the elimination of this engine would increase the first arrival response time to over 6 minutes, which is the third-worst time of all of the proposed closures," said Braunstein, adding, "The Mayor must take these closures off the bargaining table immediately and find other cost saving measures to balance the budget. "

Parroting Bloomberg's posturing,  Uniformed Fire Officers President Alexander Hagan said, “Mayor Bloomberg is fond of saying that, ‘We all want a firehouse on every corner.  We just can’t afford it.’"

Hagan then called that rhetoric disingenuous, saying, "Nobody is calling for a firehouse on every corner…we just want to keep the ones we already have!"

Hagan also cited a study of 40 large American cities, in which he said New York ranks at  40th for ratio of firehouses to population—dead last.