What's happening
This bill requires written requests, detailed impact reviews, and council approval before permanently closing, removing, or relocating firehouses or fire units in large New York cities.
Why it matters
Imposes transparency and accountability. on city officials by requiring a formal, written process—including environmental impact statements—before any permanent closure, removal, or relocation of firehouses or units in large cities, ensuring decisions aren't made behind closed doors.
Mandates comprehensive impact analysis. , including current and projected emergency response times, detailed staffing/resource reviews, and geographic/traffic studies, so communities and officials clearly understand the safety implications before changes are made.
Strengthens community and council oversight. by giving local council members, community boards, and borough presidents the authority to review and approve or reject proposals, with higher vote thresholds required if all local representatives oppose the change.
Prevents indefinite approvals. by requiring that if a closure, removal, or relocation doesn’t happen within four months of approval, the process—including documentation and public review—must start over, ensuring decisions remain current and responsive to changing circumstances.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Review for Fire Cuts
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to cities
- Referred to cities
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1664
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2017
Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring written request and review of proposed reductions in the level of fire services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 204-d of the general municipal law, as amended by section 44 of part B of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
§ 204-d. Duties of the fire chief. (1) The fire chief of any fire department or company shall, in addition to any other duties assigned to him or her by law or contract, to the extent reasonably possible determine or cause to be determined the cause of each fire or explosion which the fire department or company has been called to suppress. He or she shall file with the office of fire prevention and control a report containing such determination and any additional information required by such office regarding the fire or explosion. The report shall be in the form designated by such office. He or she shall contact or cause to be contacted the appropriate investigatory authority if he or she has reason to believe the fire or explosion is of incendiary or suspicious origin. For all fires that are suspected to have been ignited by a cigarette, within fourteen days after completing the investigation into such fire, the fire chief shall forward to the office of fire prevention and control information detailing, to the extent possible: (a) the specific brand and style of the cigarette suspected of having ignited such fire; (b) whether the cigarette package was marked as required by subdivision six of section one hundred fifty-six-c of the executive law; and (c) the location and manner in which such cigarette was purchased.
(2) Reduction of fire services; prior approval required. a. The highest ranking fire official of any city with a population of over one
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00596-01-7
S. 1664 2
hundred thousand people shall provide written request with supporting documentation prior to the permanent closing of any firehouse or the permanent removal or relocation of any fire fighting unit to the council members, community boards and borough presidents whose districts are served by such facility or unit and the chairperson of the council's public safety committee or chairperson of the committee with oversight of fire services. For the purposes of this section, the term "permanent" shall mean a time period in excess of six months.
b. The written request, required by paragraph a of this subdivision, shall include an environmental impact statement, which shall include but shall not be limited to:
(i) current and projected response times of the subject firehouse or fire fighting unit, which shall mean the sum of dispatch time and travel time in response to a call directed to the facility or unit, for the area affected by closure, which must include geographic and traffic analyses as they affect response times;
(ii) current and projected allocation of resources, including staffing levels, for the firehouses or fire fighting units in the district or districts served by the facility or unit which is proposed to be closed, removed or relocated; and
(iii) distance of other firehouses or fire fighting units in the area affected by closure.
c. The proposed closure, removal or relocation shall be subject to a thirty day review period by the council members, community boards and borough presidents whose districts are served by the subject firehouse or fire fighting unit which shall commence upon receipt of the written request to council members, community boards and borough presidents.
(i) If any or all of the affected council members, community boards or borough presidents support the proposal, the council will be given a thirty day period to review the proposal and a majority vote will be required to approve the measure;
(ii) If all of the affected council members, community boards and borough presidents oppose the proposal, the council will be given a thirty day period to review the proposal and a two-thirds majority vote will be required to approve the measure.
d. In the event that the permanent closing of any firehouse or the permanent removal or relocation of any fire fighting unit does not occur within four months of the date of approval after review, in the manner provided by paragraph c of this subdivision, the commissioner shall issue another written request with supporting documentation prior to such permanent closure, removal or relocation, with another review procedure required as provided by paragraph c of this subdivision. The four months during which the approval is effective shall be tolled for any period in which a restraining order or injunction prohibiting the closing of such facility or unit shall be in effect.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring written request and review of proposed reductions in the level of fire services
Purpose or general idea of bill
The legislation will require the highest ranking fire official in cities with a population of over one hundred thousand people to provide a written request to the council members, community boards and borough presidents and the chairperson of the council's public safety committee or chairperson of the committee with oversight of fire services prior to the permanent closing of any firehouse or the permanent removal of relocation of any firefighting unit.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends section 204-d of the general municipal law by renumbering and creating a new subdivision concerning "reduction of fire services; prior approval required".
Read the full memo (616 words)
This new section requires that in cities with a population of over one hundred thousand people, the highest ranking fire official shall provide written request with supporting documentation prior to the permanent closing of any firehouse or the permanent removal of relocation of any firefighting unit to the council members, community boards and borough presidents whose districts are served by such facility and the chair person of the council's public safety committee or chairperson of the committee with oversight of fire services.
The written request must include an environmental impact statement.
The proposed closure is subject to consecutive 30-day review periods by community boards and borough presidents whose districts are affected by closure.
If any or all of the affected community boards or borough presidents support the proposal, the council will have 30 days to review and a majority vote will be required to approve the measure.
If all of the affected community boards and borough presidents oppose the proposal the council will have 30 days to review and a 2/3 majority vote will be required to approve the measure.
If the permanent closing does not occur with four months of approval, the Commissioner will be required to issue another request pursuant to the requirements of this section.
Section 2 provides for this act to take effect immediately.
Justification
The proposed closure of 20 firehouses by New York city Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2011 poses a significant safety threat to the citizens of New York city and such extreme actions should not be allowed to occur without a complete and transparent review of the potential effects of such closure and without the approval of the city council.
Therefore, this legislation is necessary to give community boards, borough presidents and the city council an opportunity to thoroughly review requests from the Fire Commissioner that provide a detailed analysis in an environmental impact statement setting forth the current and projected response times if a closing were allowed including geographic and traffic analyses as they effect response times, the current and projected allocation of resources, including staffing levels in the firehouses or unit in the districts affected by closure, and the distance of other firehouses or units in the area affected by closure.
In the event that any or all of the affected community boards or borough presidents support the proposal, the council will have 30 days to review and an only majority vote will be required to approve the measure. However, if all of the affected community boards and borough presidents oppose the proposal, the council will have 30 days to review and a 2/3 majority vote will be required to approve the measure.
Prior legislative history
2011-12: S.5662/A.8477 (Braunstein) 2013-14: S455/A.917(Braunstein) 2015-16: S.697-A
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
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