“All NYC Firehouses Fully Operational,” FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro said

By Yehudit Garmaise

   As more firefighters get vaccinated and fewer call in sick, all 350 of the city’s fire units are “fully operational,” FDNY Dan Nigro said, Mayor Bill de Blasio told radio host Brian Lehrer show on WNYC on Friday.

Last Sunday in New York City, 26 firehouses were shuttered: including one in Boro Park, on 42nd Street and 12th Avenue. 

 The firehouses were closed as a result of the 2,300 firefighters who participated in a ‘sick-out,’ as they called in sick to protest the city’s vaccination mandate of city workers that went into effect on Monday.

“We did see a very inappropriate action by a number of firefighters who called in sick when they weren't really sick,” the mayor said. “Now, let's be clear, most firefighters, most EMS folks absolutely did the right thing. 

“It is a few who called in sick wrongly, falsely and endangered everyone else in the process.

“What the Fire Department has done is really made great adjustments to keep the service levels high. And now, we're seeing the sick time going down the last couple of days, and people coming back.”

In addition to fewer firefighters calling in sick to protest the mandate, firefighters are returning to work as the level of vaccination in the department has increased: to 80% among the firefighters and 90% among the EMS workers: numbers that prompted the mayor to call “evidence that vaccine mandates work.”

“So, really good progress on the vaccine mandate and on making sure that New Yorkers are being served and protected,” said the mayor. “So, we're seeing a high level of working together and moving things forward from the vast majority of our unions, and that's really good news.”