Feb. 5, 2024
By Rayan Yamout
Staff Writer
As a result of a 5% budget cut that would have affected all city agencies in New York City, on Dec. 2, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced cuts that would have suspended the training of new police recruits and removed the fifth firefighter from 20 Engine Companies. The decision would have impacted the two largest engine companies in the nation, Engine 54 and 65.
The following month, on Jan. 10, Adams announced the city was restoring the fifth firefighter position in the FDNY in addition to finding the funding to add another police academy class of 600 and restoring funding to other city services.
School Resource Officer Sgt. Passamano, who is a 24-year volunteer firefighter, said he is glad the city reversed its decision to make cuts.
“[Officials in New York City] will be helping better the first responders’ response time to emergencies,” Passamano said. “This will directly result in less loss of property and save lives. This will also help to create and save many of their jobs.”
Passamano said cuts to first responders are never good for a community.
“We need more first responders in our communities, and we should not be cutting their budgets because those decisions directly impact a community as a whole in a negative way,” Passamano said.
Senior Matteo Morelli, who intends to pursue a career as a volunteer firefighter and police officer, said he feels more comfortable and safer knowing the mayor has restored funding for all New York first responders.
“Every first responder, whether it is a firefighter, police officer or [Emergency Medical Services], deserves all the protection and support when it comes to funding,” Morelli said.
The budget restorations expand on the Adams administration’s successful efforts to reduce crime, which resulted in a 12% decrease in killings and a 25% decrease in shootings in 2023.
“How do we think these percentages got to where they are at?” Morelli said. “Defunding them will make these percentages skyrocket.”
The FDNY consists of over 11,000 uniformed firefighting employees, over 4,000 uniformed EMS employees and over 2,000 civilian employees. These departments serve over 8.3 million residents in the city.
“The call for more and more specialty incidents [is] on the rise, and the fires are becoming more intense, burning hotter and faster.”
“With New York having a very big population, you need at least double the first responders [the city has currently],” Morelli said.
Captain in Kearny and volunteer firefighter in North Arlington Michael Golon said the consequences of the budget cuts would have been severe.
“Removing the fifth firefighter from the engine only passes his or her assignment onto another member of that company, which slows down the operation of that company,” Golon said. “Having extra tasks to perform can lead to mistakes being made, which could also have fatal consequences.”
When Adams originally announced the cuts, he defended his decision, saying the cuts were routine, but the Uniformed Firefighters Association acknowledged the newfound setback in fighting fires.
“The call for more and more specialty incidents [is] on the rise, and the fires are becoming more intense, burning hotter and faster,” Golon said.
Golon said cuts to the FDNY would have resulted in faster burnout among the remaining firefighters.
“Firefighting is a very taxing profession, both physically and mentally,” Golon said. “Every job, whether it’s a fire or a rescue, could be your last. We see and deal with many traumatic incidents, which, over time, can build up inside and lead to [post-traumatic stress disorder].”
Twenty-five-year volunteer firefighter of the Meadowlands Company Michael King said population, building structure [and] high-rise apartments make firefighting in the city difficult.
“Pre-planning is very important, so you know about a certain building beforehand. Congestion, traffic and building access all play a part [in] a fire scene,” King said.
King said staffing cuts would have delayed firefighters from performing their duties and put lives at risk.
“Less firefighters means more time needed to suppress any fire and more time searching for victims. Lives [would have been] lost that could have been saved,” said King.
