Mayor’s Office agrees to create community committees to find new users. On April 9, 2007, the Planning Commission approved four applications by DCAS to sell four closed firehouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. The plan sparked controversy with residents, community boards, Borough Presidents Scott Stringer and Marty Markowitz, and Council Members Bill de Blasio and David Yassky, who argued that their districts needed increased FDNY services and, if the firehouses remained closed, only a community service should replace the FDNY.
With 136 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, closed by the City in 2003 for budgetary reasons, Markowitz and residents argued that increasing construction of Williamsburg and Greenpoint high-rises and the influx of new residents required increased FDNY services in the area. Similarly, Markowitz and Cobble Hill Brooklyn residents asked that any use of the former firehouse at 299 DeGraw Street be temporary only until the City, which closed the location in 2003, returns Engine Company 204 to that location. They argued that the need for FDNY services would increase significantly as denser development continued in Downtown Brooklyn and construction started at the Atlantic Yards.
With respect to the East 125th Street Manhattan location and the firehouse in Rockaway, Queens, the community boards and the borough presidents asked DCAS to identify a community use for the firehouse, noting the scarcity of remaining City-owned properties.
When the applications reached the Planning Commission, a DCAS representative stated that Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler would appoint community-based steering committees to determine the best use for the firehouses. The committees would consist of the borough presidents, the local City Council member, community board members, and representatives from City agencies and the Mayor’s Office. DCAS also explained that it placed a hold on the sale of all the firehouses at the request of HPD.
Marty Markowitz and Council Members de Blasio and Yassky, who personally attended the hearing, remained opposed, emphasizing that the increased response times of the neighboring FDNY firehouses presented a completely unacceptable situation. Anthony Borelli from Borough President Scott Stringer’s Office also restated Stringer’s opposition to the sale of 120 East 125th Street.
The Planning Commission approved the dispositions without any modification, stating that it would be inappropriate to further restrict the sale due to the formation of the steering committee and the HPD hold. In its approvals, the Commission cited the response times of neighboring FDNY firehouses, emphasizing that response times remained the same in Rockaway and below the average City levels in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Cobble Hill and near East 125th Street in Manhattan.
City Council hearings on all four dispositions are pending.
ULURP Process
120 East 125th Street
Lead Agency: DCAS,No review
Comm.Bd.: MN 11,Den’d, 26-0-0
Boro. Pres.:Den’d
Council: Pending
299 DeGraw Street
Lead Agency: DCAS,No review
Comm.Bd.: BK 6,Den’d, 35-0-0
Boro. Pres.:Den’d
Council: Pending
136 Wythe Avenue
Lead Agency: DCAS,No review
Comm.Bd.: BK 1,Den’d, 40-0-0
Boro. Pres.:Den’d
Council: Pending
58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard
Lead Agency: DCAS,No review
Comm.Bd.: QN 14,Den’d, 34-0-0
Boro. Pres.: App’d
Council: Pending
CPC: 120 East 125th Street – Former Firehouse (C 070133 PPM) (April 9, 2007); CPC: 299 DeGraw Street – Former Firehouse (C 070134 PPK) (April 9, 2007); CPC: 136 Wythe Avenue – Former Firehouse (C 070135 PPK) (April 9, 2007); CPC: 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard – Former Firehouse (C 070136 PPQ) (April 9, 2007). CITYADMIN