City Island Civic Association

The Civic Association has just sent a letter to the Mayor, with copies to the Fire Commissioner and others, protesting the closing of Ladder Company 53 between the hours of 6 pm and 9 am, starting Jan. 17. A copy of the letter is attached, since it outlines some of the issues that we feel make a good case for reinstating the ladder company.

Council Member Jimmy Vacca is working on our behalf by getting other council members from the Bronx on board; he has even met with the mayor to try to persuade him to change this ruling, but so far no luck. We may lose this fight unless members of the community do more than sign petitions and get themselves on television.

Letter writing can sometimes be successful and it would be great if as many City Islanders as possible wrote a letter to the fire commissioner and the mayor. The Fire Commissioner can be reached by e-mail (http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailfdny.html), as can the mayor (http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html), but personal letters sent by snail mail may be even more effective.

Don't use the Civic letter as a model for your letter but put in your own comments, personal ones if possible. The addresses are:

• Hon. Michael Bloomberg
  Mayor of the City of New York
  City Hall
  New York NY 10007
• Nicholas Scoppetta
  Fire Commissioner
  9 Metrotech Center
  Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler
  Deputy Mayor for Operations
  City Hall
  New York NY 10007
• Ms Christine Quinn
  Speaker, City Council
  224 West 30th Street
  New York, NY 10001

Text of letter sent to Mayor Bloomberg

Hon. Michael Bloomberg
Mayor of the City of New York
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

December 20, 2008

Re: Ladder Company 153, City Island

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

As you know, the Fire Department, in an effort to reduce their budget because of the City's financial crisis, has decided to close Ladder Company 53 on City Island from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. Although we are aware of the need to cut costs, we strongly urge you to ask Commissioner Scoppetta to reverse this decision, because of the real danger that it poses for the people of City Island.

As you know, City Island is a small, isolated community in the Bronx with one road on and one road off. Because of this isolation, the vehicles at our fire station are not allowed to leave the island to assist other fire stations. Therefore, the number of runs-the primary reason that City Island's Ladder Company was selected for reduced hours-is artificially low by comparison with other fire companies in the City.

Another reason given was that City Island is a "low rise" community. This is true to a large extent, since we have a great many one- and two-family homes, but we also have a senior citizen residence that is five stories high, an apartment building of six stories and many three-story houses. There are many small houses built behind other houses, requiring the ladder for access. There are five yacht clubs and nine boatyards, with many boats stored on their property during the winter that also cannot be serviced by the Engine Company 70. Most of the serious fires in the past several years have occurred at night - including the City Island Nautical Museum (in a five story building with 16 condominiums) and the Morris Yacht Club. If it had not been for the quick response of the City Island firefighters, both of these fires would have spread to nearby houses. The winds here are often high, and most of our houses are wooden.

Quick response time is essential for the control of fires, and the closest fire station is at least 10 minutes away, assuming that there is no traffic and that the Pelham drawbridge is down (it averaged 2500 openings in 1998, the last time drawbridge use was monitored). We have 34 restaurants in operation here during the evening hours and restaurant fires are famously explosive when they occur, as the one earlier this year that started behind a pizza parlor.

Our Engine Company loses much of its effectiveness without the Ladder Company doing search and rescue on the waterfront. Also, it is a first responder for emergency medical situations, so if two crises occurred at the same time, one of them would have to be ignored.

Sponsored by Council Member James Vacca, the City Island Civic Association and the Chamber of Commerce held a town hall meeting on Monday, December 15, and the attendance by Island residents and neighbors of more than 300 people was standing room only. Petitions were signed, speakers were on point, and emotions ran high, but representatives of the Fire Department merely listened and provided no explanations to many of the questions raised.

It is ironic that Chief of Operations Salvatore Cassano spoke of the danger in which a local firefighter had recently put the community by calling in a false alarm. But when he was asked what kind of danger City Island would be in without a ladder company, he had no response at all.

Borough Chief Esposito pointed out that City Island's engine would be getting an additional firefighter, for a total of five. It is clear that no firefighters are losing their jobs, so apparently the only cost savings is that of overtime, which can only amount to a few thousand dollars a year for the three firefighters who will be located elsewhere in the Bronx.

Is human life on City Island really worth that little?

We recognize that we are a small and unique community, and we believe we play a crucial role in the City of New York, not only for our historical significance in the boat-building industry, but also for our attractive residential and recreational use today.

Sincerely yours,