Mayor Adams Restores Funding to Retain “Fifth Firefighter” at 20 FDNY Engine Companies, Including Boro Park

By Yehudit Garmaise

New York City funding has been restored to enable the retention of the “fifth firefighter,” position, which the FDNY feared would have to be removed from 20 citywide engine companies, including Engine 247 on 13th Avenue and 60th Street.

In addition to retaining the “fifth firefighter” at 20 fire departments, the restored funding will allow the FDNY to continue to pay 190 firefighters who are not expected to be able to return to work full-time. The NYPD, which will also benefit from the influx in funds, will now be able to add another police academy class of 600 new recruits set to join the ranks in blue in April.  The latest class of NYPD recruits, who will graduate in October, will join the three additional police academy classes scheduled to graduate this year. 

The restored funding reveals a complete turnaround from the mayor’s December 2023 announcement that $7 billion had to be cut from residential city service funds to accommodate and house illegal migrants: the costs of which City Hall’s “responsible fiscal management has reduced.”

Other causes of the city’s budget deficit included the end of COVID -19 stimulus funding and expenses from labor contracts that had to be resolved after inattention from the previous administration, Adams explained.

“I am proud to announce that we are not only adding hundreds of additional NYPD officers to our police force this year, but we are also bolstering the Fire Department’s ranks,” said mayor, who pointed out that crime in 2023 decreased overall: with murders down 12% and shootings decreased by 25%. 

“While our commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe is unwavering, New York City cannot continue to shoulder the burden of this massive humanitarian crisis on its own without significant financial aid from our state and federal partners,” pointed out Philip Banks III, NYC’s deputy mayor for public safety.