A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged Mayor Mamdani Saturday not to cut the FDNY’s budget — and to fund long-overdue renovations at the city’s crumbling firehouses.
Fire crews are taking roughly 700,000 more emergency calls annually than they did before the Covid pandemic, while the department’s $2.6 billion budget has “remained stagnant for the last half-a-decade,” the letter said.
“With the coming potential for budget reductions to city agencies, your administration must exempt the Fire Department from any cuts,” wrote Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who chairs the Fire and Emergency Management Committee, in the letter.
“Under the current, already sparse budget, firehouses across the city have deteriorated to near unlivable states. Ceilings are collapsing, walls are imploding, mold proliferates through ductwork, and apparatus floors are held up by metal stilts.
“Furthermore, our EMS personnel are working on sub-minimum wage salaries, performing life-saving work while earning less than a delivery driver, causing many of the most experienced members to abandon the job for better pay elsewhere.”
In the letter, Ariola’s co-signers include four Democratic and three GOP council members as well Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, both Democrats.
The pols sent the letter partly because the Mamdani administration assigned a chief savings officer, Lizette Christoff, to find budget savings for the FDNY as the mayor tries to balance his planned $127 billion budget for fiscal 2027, which includes a $5.4 billion budget hole.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association last year compiled a list of 23 firehouses – many more than 100 years old – that the union says need a combined $81 million in roof-repair work alone. Many of the firehouses are also plagued by cracked and moldy ceilings and walls and other foundation issues, the UFA says.
“Any cuts to the budget will, without question, put the lives of New Yorkers at risk, and translate to longer response times, reduced coverage, and an even greater strain on those men and women keeping us safe,” Ariola wrote.
“For these reasons, it is imperative that the budget of the FDNY not be reduced, and furthermore it is crucial that additional funding be provided to bring our firehouses up to a livable standard and allow our first responders to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.”
The Mayor’s Office and the FDNY did not return messages for comment.
