Battle in Far Rockaway to save Engine Company

By Mayer Fertig

“You got the ocean on the south, the bay on the north and Nassau County to the east,” said a firefighter, explaining why Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to save an estimated $2 million by closing an engine company in Far Rockaway is not a good idea. “In other parts of the city you can get units from any direction. In Far Rockaway its only from the west.”

Under discussion is a plan to shut down one of the two engine companies based in the firehouse at 1615 Central Avenue at Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway. Engine 328 covers the Beach 9th Street area east of the firehouse. Engine 264 covers Bayswater on up into the Beach 40s. Ladder 134 is also housed there.

The fire department has not specified if Engine 328 or Engine 264 is on the chopping block, but past proposals to close fire companies have included Engine 328.

“The issue would be if there are two runs simultaneously, there would be no one in Far Rockaway,” said an off-duty firefighter who has served on Engine 328 for more than 20 years. He asked to not be identified by name. “The whole thing is the isolation,” he said.

On a “good day” Engine 314 on Brookdale Boulevard is “a good 10-15 minute ride and that’s with no traffic,” he said. “In any kind of emergency, if they’re coming to Far Rockaway, they’re not helping anybody.”

A community rally was held outside the firehouse last Wednesday and petition signatures are being gathered online and in person.

“Risking lives doesn’t save money,” said Beach 9th Street resident Mordecai Rosen.

He’s been going “from shul to shul, event to event, just going where the people are” to gather signatures, he explained. “Somebody had a yard sale, I stood outside ... my friend made a bar mitzvah, I showed up there collecting signatures.

Rosen said many of his neighbors don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation, perhaps mistakenly believing that in the event of a fire, help would arrive from Cedarhurst.

“People don’t realize that they’re not allowed to respond,” he said, referring to the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department.

“Someone said to me, ‘So what if they shut down the firehouse,’” Rosen recalled. “I said, ‘I’d rather see them shut down the library than shut down the firehouse.’”