Rockaway’s firehouses are in need of rescue. On Friday, May 29, Councilwoman Joann Ariola, chair of the City Council Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, welcomed FDNY Lillian Bonsignore and Chief of Department John Esposito for a tour of three firehouses on the peninsula, which are in dire need of repair. From Engine 329 on Beach 169th Street to Engine 266 on Beach 94th to The Big House on Central Ave., the extent of the issues kept getting worse. The tour was held ahead of a City Council Committee on Fire and Emergency Management budget hearing on Monday, in which Ariola brought up the issues, in hopes that the Mayor’s Office of Budget and Management can release funding for repairs sooner than later.
The first stop, Engine 329 by Fort Tilden, was in the best condition of the three, but the bar was low. Built around 1954, the firehouse lacked funding for small things such as blinds, leaving firefighters to duct tape tarps in the windows, and the building has seen few repairs over the years. In some hopeful news, the firehouse was allocated $2.6 million for interior rehabilitation, mold remediation, a roof replacement and reconstruction of the parapet wall, as the building hasn’t been repaired since Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012.
Engine 266, built in 1922, has not had a roof replacement, allegedly, ever. As Ariola, Bonsignore and Esposito walked through, they pointed out glaring issues, like a gaping hole in the ceiling over a space where the firefighters store the gear that they grab before heading out for an emergency. Just a few months ago, part of the ceiling caved, just feet from where a firefighter was standing, leaving a large hole that is still visible above hanging uniforms and helmets. Further up in the ceiling of the building, Ariola pointed out holes that have been temporarily sealed, just to keep water out of the building when it rains, because the roof is in such poor condition. The city has allocated $8.6 million for major renovations, but $7.65 of that won’t be released until Fiscal Year 2030.
Ariola explained that delays like that result in funding shortfalls by the time the money is dished out. “When we wait so long to do a project, the money that was appropriated will no longer be enough money to complete the project, so then it stalls as they await additional funding,” she said.
She pointed out that the roofs of each firehouse should be made a priority, as the disrepair leads to other issues. “The roofs in all the houses we saw, they’re in the worst shape. That’s why the rest of the building deteriorates because the water comes down and destroys the bathrooms, the locker rooms, the bedrooms and every area, so it’s the roof that needs to be fixed first and foremost,” she said. “That’s why we have to get OMB to release the money more readily. This is City Council money, which is real money. It is available immediately and it should not be held by OMB and doled out in X amount of payments.”
The worst was saved for last. Built around 1911, the Big House, which houses Engine 264, Engine 328, and Ladder 134, in Far Rockaway, showed clear signs of flood damage, evident by large holes in the ceilings and walls. It’s such an issue, that firefighters have to mop the floors each time it rains. And the bottom is no better. Sharing photos, Ariola’s office disclosed that the firehouse floor is supported by braces or stilts in the basement that have been holding up the ground floor since a pre-911 floor replacement project, something that was supposed to be temporary.
Ariola said the funding needed for repairs across all three firehouses could amount to tens of millions of dollars. Fortunately, she shared she has a good relationship with the FDNY commissioner, who has been working with her to get funding released. “I’ve had a great relationship with our commissioner and to her credit, she has been really pushing to release as much money as they can, and she continues to do so. So that alone is a very big difference and she’s making sure that she gets as much as you can for these houses, and our job as a committee is to help her goal in areas where she can’t, so we want to make sure that that the committee can say what’s needed and can ask questions, as they’re under oath, and they must answer honestly and be held accountable for the money that they’re not releasing meaningfully,” she said. “We’re going to make sure that we push this out as much as we can to get that money from the outyears to become available to them now.”
Following Monday’s City Council’s Committee on Fire and Emergency Management budget hearing where she expressed some of these concerns, Ariola shared she was unsatisfied with how it went. “Despite the importance of this hearing, department reps showed up completely unprepared to answer the questions asked of them. This was unacceptable. New York’s Best and Bravest deserve better,” she said.
