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NEW YORK (CBS) Plaintiffs seeking to halt the closure of six firehouses failed to get an injunction against the city on Thursday, paving the way for the cost-cutting move to go ahead.
The injunction request was withdrawn when the city stated for the record that it would not sell any of the houses or move other city agencies into the buildings until the lawsuit seeking to keep the houses open has been settled, said Alex Navarro, a spokesman for City Councilman Bill de Blasio, one of the plaintiffs.
Engine companies set to close on Sunday:
206: Cobble Hill
219: Bedford-Stuyvesant
212: Greenpoint
278: Sunset Park
36: Harlem
261: Long Island City
The city also stated that it would maintain ladder companies in two houses, Engine No. 261 in Long Island City, Queens, and Engine No. 209 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and a battalion company in Engine No. 278, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The engine companies will still be disbanded on Sunday and their firefighters reassigned.
Supreme Court Justice James Starkey recommended the city keep Engine No. 261 open because it appeared the city had not given Roosevelt Island, the neighborhood responsible for taking over the house's duties, proper notice of its closing, Navarro said. Starkey's recommendation is not binding.
Starkey ordered both sides to return for oral arguments on May 28.
"We feel the judge weighed the issue carefully and appreciate the court's careful consideration," said Michael Cardozo, the city's corporation counsel. "We will do as the court asked."
The announced closure of the houses sparked fund-raising drives and protests by firefighters and residents in the neighborhoods where they are located.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg originally announced that eight of the city's 228 firehouses would be shuttered to help bridge a $3.8 billion budget gap. Earlier this week, however, he said the city had enough funds to keep two open. Closing six would save the city $6 million a year, he said.
Navarro said: "We are halfway there in keeping all eight houses open. We did not get all the relief we were hoping for, but things are moving."
He said he expected angry protests and possible actions of civil disobedience at the three remaining houses slated to be shut on Sunday.
Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, a firefighters union, said Sunday would be "a very sad time for people who risk their lives for the city."
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