FDNY Shutters 26 Firehouses Over Vaccine Mandate

Kevin Downey Jr. | 6:17 PM on October 30, 2021

*In this photo provided by the FDNY, firefighters battle a blaze at a building in the Bronx borough of New York, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. (FDNY via AP)*

As of 7:30 a.m. Saturday, New York City has locked up 26 firehouses due to manpower shortages blamed on the COVID vaccine mandate.

GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis represents Staten Island and Brooklyn, where five of the now-closed stations are located. If someone dies, she says Komrade de Blasio will be to blame.

As of 7:30am this morning, 26 @FDNY companies are closed including 5 in my district due to @NYCMayor locking out unvaccinated firefighters. If someone dies due to a slower emergency response, it’s on Bill de Blasio and his overreaching mandates. I hope this fool fixes it ASAP!

🚨As of 7:30am this morning, 26 @FDNY companies are closed including 5 in my district due to @NYCMayor locking out unvaccinated firefighters.

If someone dies due to a slower emergency response, it’s on Bill de Blasio and his overreaching mandates. I hope this fool fixes it ASAP!

— Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) October 30, 2021

Just as a reminder, Komrade Bill gave New York City’s essential workers, including firefighters, a hero’s ticker-tape parade in July 2021. Today, many are being suspended and threatened with firing. My, how the times have changed.

And for what? Because they won’t get vaccinated against a virus that has a 98.4% survival rate in the U.S. and is likely even higher for younger, healthy firemen.

“Twenty-six companies out of service is an unconscionable number,” GOP Councilman Joe Borelli of Staten Island stated. “The firefighters who are unable to work have all been tested within the week and are not COVID positive, and I doubt New Yorkers care about the vaccine status of the person applying defibrillators to their chest.”

The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) declared that the closings are not forever, insisting they are “temporarily out of service.”

Seventy-two percent of the FDNY has been vaccinated, and 84% of the New York Police Dept. has been inoculated as of Friday’s deadline.

“People that aren’t retiring or quitting right out are gonna be on unpaid leave like myself. There’s not going to be enough bodies,” stated a 23-year-old EMT who spoke on condition of anonymity. “You know New York City, the call volume is high and the manpower, in general, is bad, without all this going on. We are always needing more people. It’s going to be a little crazy.”

If you thought the crime in NYC was bad, wail until 16% of the NYPD is off the job. And be careful with your candles this holiday season, as the FDNY response time just got longer.

Let’s Go Brandon!

Editor’s note: “NYFD” in the headline has been corrected to “FDNY.”