MAYOR GIULIANI WELCOMES FDNY/EMS TO NEW HEADQUARTERS AT REVITALIZED CENTER IN DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN
State-of-the-art Metrotech Center is Home to New York's "Best" and "Bravest"
Mayor Giuliani today cut the ribbon for the new New York City Fire Department/Emergency Medical Service state-of-the-art headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. Located at 9 MetroTech Center, the building will serve as a high-tech command and communication center, consolidating the administrative offices of the recently merged agency. Joining the Mayor were Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden and Bruce Ratner, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, MetroTech's developer.
"Today is an exciting day for the Fire Department and for the City of New York," Mayor Giuliani said. "Fourteen months ago, ground was broken on this state-of-the-art facility and today, New York's Bravest and Best will be able to call it home. All eight stories and 350,000 square feet of the modern and innovative headquarters will be put to optimal use in reducing response times and eliminating duplicative administrative functions of the Fire Department and EMS."
Since 1981 the Fire Department has been headquartered in an 80-year- old warehouse also in Downtown Brooklyn. The new technologically sophisticated headquarters is specifically designed for the FDNY/EMS and will house the fire inspectors, operations analysts, fire marshals, secretaries, tradespeople, fire firefighters and fire officers.
"Last year, thanks to the professional dedication and hard work of all of the members of the Fire Department, fire fatalities were at their lowest level in 37 years. During that same time period, response times to structural fires also fell in every borough. In fact, combined FDNY and EMS response time to the most serious incidents fell 50 seconds. This building will help the Department build on the remarkable recent achievements of our emergency response network . It will serve them well into the 21st century. I would like to thank Commissioners Von Essen and Charles Millard, and the Forest City Ratner Companies for making this achievement possible," the Mayor concluded.
Commissioner Von Essen said, "The New York City Fire Department is very excited about the move to our new home at 9 MetroTech. This state-of-the-art facility will allow the Fire Department to continue to provide the best possible life saving fire suppression, fire safety education and emergency Medical Services to the citizens of the City of New York. This building brings with it a new era in technology for the New York City Fire Department, that will endure well into the next century."
The Headquarters is located in the heart of the revitalized MetroTech development center in Brooklyn. Since the City's renewal plan for the MetroTech area began, new businesses such as Manhattan Bank, Brooklyn Union, Bear Sterns, Polytech, S.I.A.C., and the City's 911 Headquarters have located there. Not far from MetroTech is the Brooklyn Renaissance Plaza, a 31-story office building with a 384 room hotel and conference center. It is the first new hotel built in Brooklyn in over 50 years.
The City will have a 20-year lease with a 10-year option to renew for the new headquarters. Personnel will begin to move in this week.
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