Where Protests Once Ruled, City Now Solicits Bids for Properties
By Evan Barton
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN — The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is making plans to reopen the now-vacant firehouses on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg and DeGraw Street in Cobble Hill — not for fire engines, but as nonprofit “cultural institutions” designed to serve the community.
Engine 204, which served Cobble Hill, and Engine 212, which served the Northside section of Williamsburg, both closed in 2003 as a result of Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to close six firehouses in a cost-cutting move. Many of the firehouses in New York, including Engine 212 and Engine 204, were built in the late 19th century.
Both Engine 204 and Engine 212 closed despite a series of protests (most notably, perhaps, when Williamsburg native Paul Veneski tied himself to a fire truck outside of Engine 212). The activists and elected officials in the communities have not forgotten about the loss of the firehouses in their neighborhoods, but many were pleased with the EDC’s decision to reopen the facilities for community use.
“The mayor’s not budging on that issue,” said Veneski, in response to the question of whether the city should reactivate Engine 212 on Wythe Avenue. “We would hope it would go to a not-for-profit organization from the neighborhood, though,” he said.
Daniel Rivera, executive director of Northside Williamsburg’s People’s Firehouse, a nonprofit organization, is planning to submit a bid by Sept. 17 to the EDC to buy the space. After all the proposals for the space are in, the EDC will pick the group it deems most fit to serve the community, and sell it at a negligible price.
“We’d like to keep it as a building for community use,” Rivera said. “We’d like to use it to bring in more services to the community.”
People’s Firehouse already has a tenant advocacy department, which it hopes to expand if it receives the firehouse space. It also hopes to petition the city to bring in a Community Emergency Response Team office into Williamsburg.
“There’s no more firehouse, so the public has to know about how to protect itself in an emergency situation,” Rivera said.
Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) joining People’s Firehouse in submitting proposals for the space. Peter Gillespie, executive director and lead organizer of NAG, spoke about how each floor of the space could potentially be used.
“The firehouse is a three story building, so the top two stories would be used for not-for-profit organizations like People’s Firehouse and NAG. The ground space would be used for art exhibitions, and perhaps a museum,” he said, which would be reminiscent of Engine 212.
The group also hopes to make the ground floor a large space for the Williamsburg community to take advantage of. “Right now, that’s something that the community does not have: a large space the whole community can use.”
The EDC plans to lease the former Engine 204 site (instead of selling it) in Cobble Hill, also with the goal of allocating the building to some sort of not-for-profit organization.
Councilman Bill de Blasio commented on the plan, saying, “When we lost Engine 204, we lost fire protection in our neighborhood. Nothing can replace that.” Still, he remained optimistic about its potential benefit to the neighborhood, saying, “Since we were able keep the facility in city hands, we need to make sure it goes to good use for something that will have a broad impact on the community.”
By keeping the building in city hands, Bill de Blasio suggested that the possibility of returning it to its former firehouse status remains. “If Engine 204 had been sold, the possibility of it being reopened as a firehouse would be non-existent,” he said.
State Assembly Member Joan Millman echoed de Blasio. “This is what we wanted all along: to lease the building to some group for a specified period of time, [leaving] open the possibility that in the future it could become a firehouse,” she said.
She also mentioned that a group called Friends of Firefighters, which plans activities for families of firemen, is interested in leasing the building. Another Cobble Hill-based organization, the New York Doll and Toy Museum, has also expressed an interest.
In Williamsburg, Rivera hopes that another firehouse will open up there to replace the loss of Engine 212, citing the rising population of both Williamsburg and the rest of Brooklyn.
“We still believe that there’s a need for additional fire protection, because the population is going up, and there’s going to be more of a need for fire protection with more people,” he said.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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