By David Seifman and Sally Goldenberg
The New York Post
NEW YORK — Who you gonna call?
Not Ladder Co. 8!
The TriBeCa firehouse that played a starring role in “Ghostbusters” could be headed for the afterlife itself.
The picturesque station is among 20 that the Bloomberg administration is proposing to close due to budget cuts, according to a list released last night by the Fire Department.
City lawmakers yesterday were fuming over the cuts, and vowed to keep as many of the targeted fire companies open as possible.
“To even think about closing two fire companies in lower Manhattan, the No. 1 terror target in our country, is unconscionable,” railed City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose district includes Ladder 8.
The list also includes Engine 4 on South Street in Chin’s district.
“If the city moves forward with any of these closures, people who could have been saved will die,” warned Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who chairs the Fire Safety Committee.
Word that Ladder 8 is on the chopping block is a case of fact following fiction. In its role in the 1984 comedy, characters played by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis moved into the firehouse after it had been closed by the city.
“Today Mike Bloomberg willfully abdicated responsibility for protecting the safety of New Yorkers with his proposal to close 20 fire companies . . .”, said Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steve Cassidy.
Council members yesterday vowed to save as many of the fire companies as possible, but it’s a tall order. Mayor Bloomberg typically gives the council $300 million to restore some of his cuts to city services, and the 20 companies alone would cost $55 million.
Council sources predicted they would be able to save approximately 15 companies. Speaker Christine Quinn, who negotiates the budget with Bloomberg, did not comment on the proposed closures but thanked the mayor for making the list public. Councilman Domenic Recchia (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the Finance Committee, said he will call for another hearing on the closures. He held a budget hearing with Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano Tuesday but the list had not yet been made public.
“He has a lot of explaining to do,” Recchia said of Cassano.
Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx) said the loss of Ladder 53 on City Island would mean a doubling in response times to fires in the area, from about five minutes to 10.
“This will have a ricochet effect throughout the entire city,” he said.
In the line of fire
The following firehouses face closing because of budget woes:
BROOKLYN
Engine 205, 74 Middagh St.
Engine 206, 1201 Grand St.
Engine 218, 650 Hart St.
Engine 220, 530 11th St.
Engine 233, 25 Rockaway Ave.
Engine 284, 1157 79th St.
Ladder 104, 161 S. Second St.
Ladder 161, 2929 W. Eighth St.
QUEENS
Engine 294, 101-20 Jamaica Ave.
Engine 306, 40-18 214th Place Engine 328, 16-19 Central Ave.
Ladder 128, 33-51 Greenpoint Ave.
MANHATTAN
Engine 4, 42 South St.
Engine 26, 220 W. 37th St.
Ladder 8, 14 North Moore St.
BRONX
Engine 46, 460 Cross Bronx Expwy.
Engine 60, 341 E. 143rd St.
Ladder 53, 169 Schofield Ave.
STATEN ISLAND
Engine 157, 1573 Castleton Ave.
Engine 161, 278 McLean Ave.
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