Big ax looming at the FDNY: Threat of 1,000 layoffs, closing of 62 fire companies

[The Northerner]

Source: New York Daily News

The FDNY is bracing for doomsday.

The department will be forced to close a staggering 62 fire companies and lay off more than 1,000 firefighters if the bad-news state budget becomes reality, Commissioner Salvatore Cassano told the City Council on Wednesday.

"We would be very, very taxed," warned a grim-faced Cassano. "Our operations would be impacted and every neighborhood in this city would feel the effect."

Even if lawmakers in Albany - already facing an April 1 deadline and a $9 billion budget gap - find a way to pump in more cash, the city's fiscal woes may still force the FDNY to shutter 20 companies, Cassano warned.

"We're going to try not to close a single company or a single firehouse," Cassano told the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, "but if we have to, we will."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/11/2010-03-11_big_ax_looming_at_the_fdny_threat_of_1000_layoffs_closing_of_62_fire_companies.html

[mod mom]

1. TAX. THE. RICH!

at previous levels.

[pattmarty]

10. Don't forget to tax churches too.

[madrchsod]

15. can`t tax churches.....

freedom of religion issue.

[pattmarty]

16. One thing I learned in the last 10 yrs (I'm 63 now) is that there is not............

..............anything in this country that can't be changed or "wiggle-roomed". I always believed in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and mom & apple pie. I grew up in the 50's & 60's and it was no way as bad as it is today. Even under Nixon (the worst president in my life up to that time) it wasn't as bad as it is today. So if the courage to overhaul our tax system is ever attained (it won't be), we could indeed do it.

[quakerboy]

22. follow that through

If freedom of religion= cannot tax anything religious, and we also have freedom of speach, and as per the SCOTUS, Money=speach, where does that leave us?

[pattmarty]

24. I'm not a lawyer but freedom of religion (to me & some others at............

..........least) does not necessarily mean you can't tax them and the freedom of speech doesn't mean we don't get taxed. I don't think taxation would necessarily have anything to do with free speech.

[quakerboy]

26. I happen to agree

My understanding, and someone can correct this if they want, is that the current tax free state of things is a fairly new thing, and a result of a political deal which has not been honored by the power brokers among what are supposedly my christian brethren.

But if we accept the argument that freedom of religion means, among other things, that anything to do with religion is not subject to taxes, and we also accept that we have freedom of speech, and that speech=money, then wouldn't the tax free status of religion mean that money can also not be taxed? It seems to me that at least 5 members of our SCOTUS are either not very insightful or are trying to drastically alter the society we live in.

[Donnachaidh]

2. I'll bet the houses that are closed are in the working class and poor areas

Of course, the WEALTHY wouldn't have to worry about their homes burning down.

New York is turning into a city that reflects EVERYTHING that is wrong with this country.

[unabelladonna]

14. new york city is a mess

it lost its' middle class.

[Donnachaidh]

17. yup -- all those uptown yuppies expect people to schlep in to wipe their asses

They don't allow the working classes in to live, but they certainly can come around for minimum wage to clean their toilets and make their espresso. And walk their dogs.

I hope the FDNY goes on strike - and takes the cops out with them to the picket lines.

[naaman fletcher]

3. The number of fires has dropped dramatically in the last 30 years.

This is why firefighters now call themselves "first responders". They have to find things to do all day. Times change. As a result of building codes and new materials there are far fewer fires, and it makes sense that therefore there should be fewer firefighters.

[Bluebear]

6. Yes, on 9/11 we all saw firefighters just sitting around doing nothing.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[paulsby]

7. somewhat true

it is true that fires are much less common

however, the problem is that when there IS a fire, response time is still very critical, and fewer firefighters generally translates to greater response time.

i agree though about the fires thang. i used to be a firefighter. it got kind of boring. not enough fires, and too much medical crap (putting bandaids on ouchies). one of the reasons why i switched to law enforcement.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

32. Because those pre-engineered wooden I beams are so much safer than....

the solid wood beams used years ago. Far fewer fires, far more MVC's, far more emergency medical calls, far more public assistance calls. Oddly enough on average 100 firefighters die in the line of duty every year. A significant portion of those deaths are brought about by cuts in staffing.

[tclambert]

4. New York lost 341 firefighters on 9/11.

This budget will cost the city 2.9 times as many.

The horrible budget concerns in New York and 49 other states were largely caused by this recession, which was largely caused by Wall Street. How fitting if some Too Big To Fail investment banks on Wall Street burned down because there weren't enough firefighters to fight the fires.

[Psephos]

19. How fitting that office buildings full of people in New York burn? Are you effin' nuts? n/t

[winstars]

23. 343 actually.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

33. You would have figured he would have had the decency to get the number right.

[Bluebear]

5. How we treat our American heroes". Disgraceful.

As Maher said, we call them heroes then treat them like chumps.

[MissDeeds]

8. +1

These men and women have had enough pain, suffering and sacrifice for one lifetime. Now this.

[thelordofhell]

9. Legislators are worse than terrorists

The cowards in the legislature can't raise taxes on rich people so we have to axe more firefighters than the terrorists killed on 9/11. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Their next step will probably be to soak the working poor by cutting out their health benefits that will probably result in more deaths than 9/11.

[wordpix]

12. and we know what happened when the French kings did just that---well, almost

Louis XVI (?) kept taxing the masses while giving his buddies a pass on taxes until the real axe started to fall (on people's necks).

[wordpix]

11. OK, who has the money? Lemme see, now...Goldman Sachs & Co, for one

[unabelladonna]

13. this is BS...

if money is scarce there are other bloated departments and services to cut. this is an old trick...scare the citizens so they'll accept tax increases.

[Donnachaidh]

18. ah but it won't be the UPPER citizens who get nailed with taxes

Bloomberg knows who's asses he has to kiss and with what regularity to remain as King of NY. The working class in outer boroughs will get their taxes raised, after a short 2 or 3 act kabuki theatre about *no money* for city services.

Bend over Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island -- you're going to be on the hook to cover the footpatrols on the Upper East Side.

[Kievan Rus]

20. What else do you expect from that moron Bloomberg?

God forbid that asshat raise taxes on the rich.

He's even worse than Rudy...and that's saying something.

[unabelladonna]

28. bloomberg is a fool

he allowed and encouraged developers to build steel and glass monstrosities in formerly beautiful neighborhoods (chelsea, the village, and the brownstone areas of brooklyn). he caters to his uber-rich cohorts and thinks that by enacting ridiculous measures like no smoking, trans-fats, salt, etc. he'll endear himself to people who will think he really, really cares about them.

[smirkymonkey]

30. His latest "nanny project" is the soda tax.

Hey Bloomberg, wake the f**k up and watch the city crumbling around you instead of making up stupid laws to keep people in line with your ridiculous health issues.

The subway is falling apart, the roads are a mess, everytime I walk down the street another Mom & Pop store has been shut down and a huge, shiny new bank or some corporate chain store goes up in it's place. I've only lived here for 10 years and it's gone further downhill than I could have imagined.

[sendero]

25. "green shoots" "recovery"..

... get used to this it will be happening all over the country before this year is out.

Tax revenues are down 10%-20% across the board. What do you think cities and states are going to do?

[Rapier09]

27. Rescue Me will never be the same

Guess they are going to let the crazies go.

[eilen]

29. Perhaps they should just abandon Manhattan

and let the super rich there hire their own companies.

There are still fires in Queens, Bronx, Staten Island.

[One_Life_To_Give]

31. 6.2%

While I am inclined to think this is more a PR bit. To gain support for Tax increases. The FDNY has 16086 employees in the 2009 report. Making a loss of 1000 equal 6.2%. Which in this economy is much better than the private sector has been making out.