by Rich Calder
New York City's ports are becoming easier targets for terrorist attacks now that the FDNY has blocked anti-terror training to an elite firefighter unit that patrols the city's 560 miles of waterfront, officers for the division say.
Ronald Podolsky, a lawyer for the FDNY Marine Division's officers, told The Post that the department is "preventing" division members from receiving the supposedly mandatory training - even though their vessels contain equipment to detect biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological attacks.
"The result is the public is now at greater risk," said Podolsky. He said he believes that the FDNY's actions were motivated by a lawsuit marine officers filed in September over a pay dispute.
The lawsuit was over a contract that left the marine officers without an extra 12 percent in wages they previously received in "hazardous duty pay."
Podolsky questioned whether the FDNY "eliminated" the training to win the pending suit, which he said would set the stage for a completely untrained unit as people retire.
But FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said the department "is not eliminating" marine officers' training, although he couldn't elaborate on when the officers would be enrolled in classes.
"They're never going to come out and say they're canceling the training, but all I know is that our guys keep on applying for classes but continue to be shut out," said one Marine Division source.
The city's Law Department declined comment, citing the pending litigation.
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