The city is putting its own firefighters at risk unless it pours hundreds of millions of dollars into renovating the FDNY\u2019s century-old firehouses \u2013 including 23 with rotting roofs requiring immediate repairs, union bosses claim.<\/p>\n
As Mayor Adams and the City Council iron out a new budget, the Uniformed Firefighters Association recently compiled a list of 23 buildings in urgent need of a combined $81 million in roof-repair work alone.<\/p>\n
Many of the firehouses are plagued by cracked and moldy ceilings and walls and other foundation issues, the UFA says.<\/p>\n
FDNY Squad 288\u2019s building in Maspeth, Queens, is plagued by massive sewage backups, cracked walls and floors, mold and exposed asbestos. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might be the greatest Fire Department in the world, but it\u2019s based on pure grit and determination because we are way, way behind the times,\u201d said\u00a0UFA Vice President Bobby Eustace.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve been fiscally abused for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Failing to fix the FDNY\u2019s archaic buildings could lead to emergency response times<\/a> <\/a>continuing to rise because many firefighters and medics would have to continue working in unsafe conditions or relocate to other buildings, Eustace added.<\/p>\n Adams and the City Council struck a tentative agreement\u00a0Friday<\/a> on a budget for the new fiscal year beginning Tuesday that includes $2.6 billion for the Fire Department, but it\u2019s still a $1 billion short of what council members had initially demanded for the agency <\/a>\u2013 mostly for infrastructure repairs and replacing outdated equipment.<\/p>\n Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who chairs the fire and emergency management committee, said she visited many of the buildings on the list and was \u201cshocked by the deplorable condition they were in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a cruel irony to the fact that the brave men and women we ask to save New Yorkers from buildings that are about to collapse are being forced to work out of dilapidated and unsafe buildings that in some cases are about to collapse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FDNY is facing a facilities crisis that is impacting everything they do, from fire prevention to inspections to training, and we need a significant capital infusion to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the FDNY\u2019s predominately century-old firehouses and other buildings are so dilapidated that they need hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations to make them safe, said UFA Vice President Bobby Eustace. Bobby Eustace\/ Instagram<\/p>\n The roof of an 119-year-old building at Fort Totten Park in Queens that the FDNY uses as a training site needs $15 million in repairs, according to the Uniformed Firefighters Association. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n Ten of the 23 FDNY buildings with rickety roofs are in Queens \u2013 including the three with the most estimated damage: an FDNY training site\u00a0at Fort Totten Park built in 1906 ($15 million), 63-year-old EMS Station 45 in Woodside ($8 million) and 112-year-old Engine Co. 264 in Far Rockaway ($5 million).<\/p>\n Recent images from inside FDNY Squad 288\u2019s building in Maspeth, Queens, were startling. <\/p>\n The site, built in 1913, is plagued by massive sewage backups, cracked walls and floors, mold and exposed asbestos. <\/p>\n And the union contends the garage where the trucks are parked and equipment stored is in danger of collapse.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s 23 FDNY buildings flagged for a combined $81 million needed roof repairs. Jared Larson \/ NY Post Design<\/p>\n The garage \u2013 or \u201capparatus room\u201d \u2013 until recently also had gaping holes leading to the basement, but firefighters dipped into their own pockets to put new cement flooring down because they feared someone would get hurt before the city responded, said Eustace.<\/p>\n The FDNY said repairs at the Squad 288 are slated to begin in the fall.<\/p>\n The Post also reviewed recent videos and photos of Engine Co. 96 in The Bronx showing a huge sinkhole forming on the roof next to what the union says is a broken vent. <\/p>\n The exterior of Fire Department buildings like the Queens site used by FDNY Squad 288 is filled with foundation cracks. J.C. Rice<\/p>\n Support beams in basement at Squad 288\u2019s station are so decayed that firefighters there fear the ceiling above it could soon collapse. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n Engine Co. 96 in The Bronx has a huge sinkhole on its roof. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n Fire stations through New York are plagued by cracked ceilings. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n Inside, the 59-year-old station is plagued by leaky windows and walls, mold and exposed asbestos, and the union estimates $2.2 million in repairs are needed.<\/p>\n