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May 16, 2006
Fire Storms
An inferno in Greenpoint highlights a drop in the number of fire investigators
The Village Voice
By Tom Robbins
The 10-alarm conflagration in Greenpoint and recent deadly fires on a Pacific Street "strip adjacent to developer Bruce Ratner's proposed new Nets arena and soaring high-rises," highlight the relationship between a hot real estate market and arson.
Cuts in city services reduced the number of fire marshals from 180 in 2001 to a current count of 80.
Emergency dispatchers say it's not unusual to hear fire chiefs at late-night suspicious blazes calling in vain for investigators to report to the scene. "On a continual basis we are trying to come up with fire marshals to respond to ongoing incidents," said David Rosenzweig, president of the Fire Alarm Dispatcher's Benevolent Association. "Unfortunately, due to the decrease in the number of fire marshals, it is becoming more and more difficult to provide them."
NoLandGrab: With city services streched thin, the City is supposed to protect the residents living in overheated real estate markets with the marshals that remain.
Meanwhile, Ratner has secured $100 million from the City Council, though no guarantees have been made that city services (i.e. fire, police, water/sewers, education, etc.) would be increased in the areas abutting the proposed "Atlantic Yards" footprint.
Posted by lumi at May 16, 2006 4:56 PM