by RICH CALDER
Brooklyn activists are trying to persuade the Bloomberg administration to keep a shuttered Cobble Hill firehouse intact - in the hope that the next mayor will reopen it.
The city should limit any future leases for the 4,250-square-foot Engine Co. 204 site on Degraw Street to such uses as support groups helping cops, firefighters and other public-safety employees, Community Board 6 District Manager Craig Hammerman said yesterday.
"The city is very aware that [the Downtown Brooklyn area] is undergoing a period of unprecedented growth, and it's hard to believe that we won't have more of a need for fire services in coming years," Hammerman said.
"If the facility is significantly altered, it might preclude any chance of readapting it to a firehouse."
One Brooklyn group that has expressed interest in the property is Friends of Firefighters Inc., which has offered emotional support to firefighters and their families since 9/11.
Hammerman's remarks come a week after the city began accepting proposals from nonprofit groups interested in leasing the firehouse.
In May, the city agreed to lease rather than sell the firehouse. With a lease, the city would have the right to take the site back if it declares an emergency.
Yonit Golub, a spokeswoman for the city's Economic Development Corp., said the firehouse would be developed for community-based "not-for-profit entities and cultural institutions."
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