Just two days after declaring an impasse in contract talks with the city, the firefighters union announced Thursday that it will throw its weight behind Rep. Anthony Weiner in his bid for mayor.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association is now in binding arbitration to get a contract. Members have been without one for more than three years.
They say Weiner understands their concerns.
“We believe he's the right candidate to lead the city of New York over the next four years on the issues that affect every New Yorker: public safety,” said UFA President Stephen Cassidy. “Firefighter safety is critical to us and we believe that Congressman Weiner will be the best mayor that NY has seen for a long, long time.”
The union has had icy relations with the mayor, who ordered several firehouses closed early in his administration, and has taken a tough stance in contract talks.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the only responsible thing for the next mayor of the city of New York to say is the words I'm about to say: I will re-open the closed firehouses and return fire protection to the fire communities that they serve,” said Weiner.
In the last election, the firefighters union endorsed Alan Hevesi initially, and then backed Mark Green in the run-off and general election.
NY1’s Sandra filed this report.
“I will reopen the closed firehouses and return fire protection to the communities that they serve,” Congressman Anthony Weiner said Thursday.
With that, Weiner accepted the endorsement of the firefighters union. Its members are angry Mayor Michael Bloomberg closed six fire companies during the budget crunch three years ago.
“It's outrageous, and we're here to say it's a mistake,” said UFA President Stephen Cassidy.
Weiner says the closure of the firehouses left the surrounding communities unsafe and pointed to increased response times. Weiner also has been questioning the mayor's crime fighting credentials, saying some statistics are on the rise.
The mayor fired back, saying, “Overall, crime is down 18-19 percent in last three years, so I don’t know that, given the source, [he] doesn't seem to know what he's talking about.”
Bloomberg's campaign spokesman added in a statement: "First Weiner said union presidents who back Mike Bloomberg should hang their heads in shame. Now Weiner takes the backing of a union and its president who not only endorsed President Bush, but did TV ads for him. As Weiner himself would say, it's mind-bogglingly hypocritical."
While Weiner and the mayor mixed it up on the campaign trail, the congressman had to leave for Washington to vote on more money for hurricane relief.
Hurricane Katrina is also an issue in a new campaign radio ad by C. Virginia Fields. She tried to link the survivors of the hurricane with the poor of New York.
In the ad, the Manhattan borough president says: “Government held press conferences while mothers searched for their babies, seniors died of heat exhaustion, and people were trapped by rising waters and died alone, needlessly. Every day there are people across America, and in this city, who are abandoned by their government.”
The ad may be a sign that many New York voters may be focusing on a natural disaster rather than the mayor's race.
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