Sanchez questions Bonsignore on Bronx fifth firefighter deployment

I'll shift gears and I'll come back to my questions on the fifth firefighter later.

Commissioner, we've had some challenges with FDNY and DOT coordination on bike lanes.

Does the fire department support protected bike lanes?

Yeah.

So we are a life-saving agency.

That's our mission, our core mission, save lives.

And we appreciate the fact that bike lanes put people in a safer place and they save lives.

So, yeah, the fire department has no problem with bike lanes.

Thank you.

There are going to be these situations where maneuvering around them are an issue.

And in those circumstances, as we have already started having conversations with the DOT to resolve those issues together.

And we sent you a letter to this effect, and I don't think we got a commitment on a time frame, but Councilmember Areola passed legislation requiring coordination between DOT and FDNY on bike lanes.

There's been some litigation around this as well.

Can we get a commitment from the fire department that barring extraordinary circumstances, the feedback can be provided to DOT within 30 days?

We are going to try our very, very best.

Having these additional heads are definitely going to help speed things along.

But sometimes they're just, you know, it's not only the process.

It's not only the fire department, I would say, that kind of slows things down.

It may be a more complex thing.

That needs to be reviewed.

It takes a little longer.

But we certainly will commit that we'll do our best to get them a timely response.

And we're working very well together.

I mean, we are talking together and solving problems together.

And we actually have seen, I can have Chief Correa talk to you about it if you wish, but we have seen some reduction in turnaround times.

The chair asked me to be brief in this round, and I've already gone over it, but I'll just say I appreciate the improved coordination.

I think having a timeframe commitment that, barring extraordinary circumstances or a really complex project, that FDNY is getting back to DOT in a certain timeframe really matters for planning and execution because there's a set timeframe in the year,

about six months, that DOT can install these projects, and we lose the windows and lose a year of safety that we can otherwise get if we're getting tight responsiveness from the fire department.

So I hope we can work together to have some real accountability there.

Yeah, I can assure you we're working well together.

Thank you.

And Council Member Ruster, I have you on for round two, so don't worry.

Okay, so just quickly, we can agree that it is your job and your mission to put out fires, right?

And you acknowledge that fires go out faster with the additional staffing.

Do we agree on that?

Yes or no?

Yes, as a general statement, yes.

Thank you.

Okay, Councilmember Jay Sanchez, followed by P.

Sanchez.

Thank you.

First and foremost, I want to say thank you to all the firefighters for all the work that you do day in and day out.

Also, happy Pride Month.

I know nothing has to deal with sexuality, but representation matters.

And there are people all over the city and this country that get to see someone like you and feel represented.

So thank you for the work that you do as well.

Aside from that, back to the fifth firefighters.

Representing the South Bronx and a proud co-chair of the Bronx delegation, this is truly important to us.

We sent over a letter on February 10th in partnership with Councilmember Areola and the Bronx Borough President.

But I want to dive deeper.

You said there are already 20 fire stations that have this fifth firefighter, but they are dependent on the higher the buildings, the more firefighters.

So is it safe to say that these 20 fire stations are located in downtown Brooklyn and midtown Manhattan?

Some of them are, but it's not necessarily high-rise buildings.

It's buildings that have longer hose line stretches.

In high-rise buildings, we operate off a standpipe, which is generally a shorter stretch than stretching off the apparatus.

Is there any way to identify where these 20...

20 firehouses are and yes, we have them we can provide that for you.

How many of those are currently in the Bronx?

I'm not...

Do we have that, Kevin?

Currently, four of the engine companies in the Bronx have five firefighters.

And how many engine companies are in the Bronx in total?

I think we have 30.

So how many fires have happened in these areas that have the fifth fire already during the course of this past year?

I'll have to get that for you.

So you're asking the number of fires that the engines where there are five firefighters, the number of fires they've gone to?

Yes.

Okay, we'll have to get that for you.

Thank you.

Can we have that by the second round?

We need that information.

We need the information answered.

We asked you to come prepared.

So saying we'll get the information is not going to be tolerated.

Find the information, answer in the second round.

We have the breakdown of the engines and the fires they've had the last three fiscal years.

Basically, what I'm trying to get to with my line of questioning is, have there been enough fires in where these fifth firefighters are to justify them being there?

You said earlier that based on gaps in coverage that you would move the firefighters over to cover different things.

We would move the fire companies around.

So based on the data.

that you already have based on the fires, has there been any indication that would suggest that moving

some of the stations that have a fifth firefighter to other stations in the Bronx that are experiencing higher fires, would there be any type of movement from the stations that are not experiencing fires versus the ones that are?

I guess we could have that discussion, but they're all going to fires.

Okay.

But it's just if the fifth firefighter is reducing times and reducing the ability, I completely understand that, you know, the cause for the fire and the prevention is not a fifth firefighter.

That's not what we're saying.

The housing stock and the infrastructure, but we're not going to change the housing stock overnight.

Physically and literally impossible, but what we can do is cut down response times to what we actually do with the fires.

And I understand that question, but then you also have to see the reality that there's other council members here that if we take one of the five firefighter engines from their area, we're going to get the same issue.

Well, I think just showing from Staten Island to Brooklyn to the Bronx, we're seeing a concerned, unifying voice about the fact of everyone's recognizing the number of fires that the Bronx is going through.

And we have been on this since the very beginning.

I mean, I know this fight has been happening now for 15 years.

From when we started.

started as the Bronx delegation co-chair.

This has been a major fight.

So understanding that combating fire times in the Bronx is our top priority, making sure

that if there are other places that are not having a single fire or minimal fires compared to what we're experiencing every day, I get the all hand, the notices every day on my email, multiple times a day.

If we're able to move those firefighters around, that also does tremendous things for the ability to take care of our fellow Bronxites.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Peace and joy.