If thousands of people are moving into the new Hudson Yards development, then a new firehouse has to move to the West Side too, FDNY union heads said Friday.
Members of the Uniformed Firefighters Association are pushing for a new firehouse be added to the Hudson Yards project since firefighters stationed nearby are already too busy.
“Data from the FDNY shows that the closest firehouses to Hudson Yards are stretched thin,” UFA President Gerard Fitzgerald wrote in a letter to Mayor de Blasio this week. “Each has seen major increases in activity over the last four years — as high as 30% in some cases.”
The union also cited traffic nightmares that can result from the proximity of Times Square, Penn Station and the Lincoln Tunnel.
Considered the largest private real estate development in the U.S., the Hudson Yards project plans to bring 17 million square feet of office, retail and residential space between 10th and 11th avenues and 30th to 34th streets.
Construction has already begun on the project, which will include “the Spiral,” a massive skyscraper designed by famed architect Bjarke Ingels.
“An estimated 125,000 New Yorkers will live, work and visit Hudson Yards each day, and it is with their safety in mind that we express our gravest concerns,” Fitzgerald said in his letter, which was co-signed by several council members and Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “Hudson Yards needs its own firehouse. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake as your administration weighs out the possibility of a new firehouse.”
An email to City Hall for comment on the union’s demands was not immediately returned.
The FDNY agreed with the union — more fire service will need to be provided when the Hudson Yards development opens.
“The department has conducted a study of the Hudson Yards Special District and concluded there will be a need for additional fire and EMS resources in the near and distant future,” FDNY spokesman Francis Gribbon said in a statement. “We are continually evaluating both fire and EMS activity and are prepared to provide additional resources as needed.”