On Saturday, May 6, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Josefina Sanfeliú of Latinas Against Fire Cuts at the Third Annual Walk Against Fire Cuts to draw attention to recent fires in several Brooklyn neighborhoods. The march, which also called for the reversal of fire department budget and staff cuts, passed through Prospect Heights, where vigils were held for victims of recent fires in the area, and ended with a rally at the closed Engine Company 212 firehouse in Williamsburg, just blocks from the site of the still-smoldering 10-alarm fire at the Greenpoint Terminal Market.

“Brooklyn has the quickest fire response time of all the boroughs, and the number of fires per year in the city has fallen,” said Borough President Markowitz. “But when you look at the tragic fires we are calling attention to today, I believe we can do more.”

Markowitz, community board chairs, and members of the City Council’s Brooklyn delegation have urged the city to reconsider its reduction of fire marshal funds, and called for the reopening of Brooklyn’s closed firehouses. Six New York City firehouses were closed in 2003, including four in Brooklyn.

Other event sponsors included the Eastern Parkway Coalition, the People’s Firehouse Inc., the Haitian-American Day Care Center, the Community Board 8 Fire Committee, the Lincoln Place Civic Block Association, the 959 St. Marks Ave. Tenants Association, the Crown Heights Clergy Council, and Maxine Carter Sharing, Caring and Serving Senior Citizens Advocate.