On a rainy, fall New York evening, the Brooklyn Community Board 1 members are preparing to revise their district statement of needs in Greenpoint and Williamsburg for the 2024 fiscal year.
Gina Barros – the Third Vice Chair of the Executive Committee for Brooklyn Community Board 1 – greets the rest of the members as they trickle into the WebEx call. Pleasantries are exchanged, introductions are given, and then the agenda is presented.
“Our agenda for today is the revision of the district’s needs statements for the fiscal year 2024,” said Barros.
Members from several committees like parks, transportation, affordable housing, safety, and more must agree upon the prioritization of the requests they are presenting to government officials.
The two biggest requests on the board’s list? A new firehouse with adequate first responders and appropriate drug outreach programs for the communities of Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
“The Greenpoint and Williamsburg communities are growing greatly in population and new businesses,” said Barros. “There’s a tremendous increased need for enhanced public safety. Yet there is no firehouse to service the north side community and waterfront areas.”
“When the budget committee has met with the fire department the last few years, the people who met with us did confirm that they really are concerned about the lack of firehouse,” said Del Teague, Second Vice Chair of the Executive Committee for Brooklyn Community Board 1.
Turns out, the committee has been asking for funding for a new firehouse for years. They even made this same request back when they began planning for the fiscal year of 2022.
In 2003, firehouse Engine Company 212 was closed in 2003 due to cuts made by the Bloomberg administration. Since then, the Brooklyn Community Board 1 has adamantly spoken out against closing down any more fire stations in the Greenpoint and Williamsburg areas.
“We continue to be in “shock and awe” with the Mayor’s decision to close Engine Company 212,” said community board members in their district needs request for the fiscal year of 2022. “We are compelled to once again reiterate our extreme and vehement opposition to any Fire Station closings. The future of our community depends on this essential service.”
Their request was titled Creation of a New Firehouse in the North side Area – now, essentially two years later from when they prepped and sent the 2022 fiscal year requests, the community board is asking for the same exact thing.
The community board’s 2024 fiscal requests don’t read much differently this year as they push for a new firehouse with adequate staffing of firefighters, EMS workers and first responders.
“We are pushing for the funding of the Newly Created Firehouse (FDNY) in the North side,” the 2024 fiscal year request stated.
”The closure of the firehouse at 136 wythe Avenue serving the mixed-use north community leaves this expanding residential neighborhood without adequate fire protection. Loft conversion and future development planned for the waterfront will greatly increase the population and businesses in the area requiring fire protection.”
The topic of safety is a top priority for the Brooklyn Community Board 1 members as they connect the dots between growing drug overdoses and the need for adequate first responders in the area.
“There’s been an increase in, in drug use, [specifically] in synthetic drugs in the neighborhood,” said Barros.
“We really do need to advocate for both the firehouse and more firefighter fighters and EMS workers,” Barros continued.
On the 2023 fiscal year requests, community board members agreed to request an increase in staffing outreach programs that handle infectious diseases and education on addiction services.
“They told us they agree with this request but funding cannot be determined at this time,” said Barros.
“I just want to emphasize when we write [this year’s] district needs statement that we make clear the concern with emerging synthetic drugs and the increase of drug overdoses in the community.”
Barros isn’t the only one concerned that they haven’t been putting enough pressure on elected officials when it comes to drug overdoses and the first responders who are needed to combat them.
“I was told at one, allegedly, the city just waits until there’s someday that dies and then they look at it,” said Teague on how the city responds to requests for new firehouses or more first responders in communities.
“So I think we need to just keep pressing for it,” continued Teague.
In Brooklyn, fentanyl has become very popular. 79% of overdoses in Brooklyn during 2020 were due to fentanyl. 4 Brooklyn men were recently arrested for the distribution of fentanyl lace heroin to public figure Michael Williams. Another Brooklyn resident was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found with 400 grams or more of fentanyl and heroin.
If Teague’s theory is right, then city officials may be finally fulfilling their request for a new firehouse, adequate first responders and appropriate drug outreach programs for the community of Greenpoint and Williamsburg.