FDNY Rallies for Fifth Firefighter Restoration

City Council Speaker Julie Menin joined FDNY union leaders and fire victims’ families at Engine Company 7/Ladder Company 1/Battalion 1 on Duane Street in Lower Manhattan on Monday to press for more firefighters on city engines. The group wants the city to fund a fifth firefighter for 86 engine companies, up from the 20 engines that now carry that staffing level. The push comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Council negotiate the next city budget. Supporters said the staffing cut dates to 2011, when the city reduced most engine companies from five firefighters to four. ### Why are firefighters asking for a fifth person on 86 engines? Most FDNY engine companies had five firefighters until 2011, when the city cut that position during a budget squeeze tied to the financial crisis. Today, only 20 of nearly 200 engine companies have a fifth crew member, according to NY1. Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said the added firefighter would help crews get water on a fire faster and keep smaller incidents from growing. “It’ll stop single-alarm fires from becoming multiple-alarm fires because we can knock it down faster,” Ansbro told CBS New York. FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, made the same case at Monday’s rally. “We need as many trained hands as humanly possible on scene as fast as possible,” Brosi said, according to NY1. ### How much money is the Council asking the city to add? Julie Menin said the Council is seeking nearly $92 million to expand fifth-firefighter staffing to 86 engine companies. CBS New York reported the proposal at about $91.7 million. The Council’s Fire Department budget report put FDNY’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget at $2.62 billion in the executive plan released last year. The current push is tied to the city’s annual budget talks, which run through June and end with adoption before the new fiscal year starts on July 1. ### What are supporters pointing to as the public-safety case? NY1 reported that New York City had 30 fatal fires so far this year, with fire deaths up 60% from the same period last year. CBS New York, citing supporters at the rally, reported 51 people had died in fires across the five boroughs so far this year, nearly double the total at the same point last year. Haji Dukuray, who lost five family members in the 2022 Twin Parks fire in the Bronx, spoke at the rally. “I was just wishing to myself, if only there [were] an additional firefighter,” Dukuray told NY1. The Twin Parks fire killed 17 people. Menin said the added staffing should be directed to neighborhoods with the highest burden of structural fires and fire deaths. She said the difference in fire response can come down to seconds. ### What has the mayor’s administration said? An FDNY spokesperson told CBS New York that “The Mamdani administration looks forward to continuing conversations with the Council regarding a fifth firefighter pilot proposal.” The statement did not commit the administration to funding the full 86-engine plan. The rally was timed to those budget talks. The City Council’s budget process page says the mayor submits a budget for Council review and adoption, and the fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. ### Why is this fight resurfacing now? Monday’s rally brought together firefighters, elected officials and families affected by fatal apartment fires, a coalition that supporters hope will shape the final budget. The staffing issue has surfaced repeatedly since the Bloomberg administration’s cuts, and labor leaders said earlier efforts to restore the position citywide have fallen short. June 30 is the next concrete deadline. By then, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council must agree on and adopt the city’s budget, which will determine whether funding for a fifth firefighter on 86 engine companies is included.