After a long, hard fight by community members, the city said Tuesday that Engine 204 in Cobble Hill is no longer up for sale.
Brooklyn City Council members and residents have been fighting to keep the property out of the hands of developers since the firehouse closed in 2003. Now, they say, a compromise has been reached.
The city says it will lease the firehouse to a public agency for ten years. That means it could be used as a cultural center, a pre-K, or a Department of Education school annex.
City Councilman Bill de Blasio says the deal gives the city the option to change it back into the firehouse in the future.
“If this lovely, quaint building were turned into luxury housing, that would have been the worst outcome for our community, and thanks to the good work of everyone here, that didn’t happen,” said de Blasio. “A sale, even to a non-profit, would not have allowed for future possibilities, so a lease is clearly better.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he would not consider reinstating Engine 204.
“The compromise reached today is a paint-over, just to hold the communities back,” said Danny Murphy of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. “It’s just a day that we really feel that it’s not a win for the UFA, that’s for sure.”
Residents — while disheartened to learn there are no immediate plans to reopen Engine 204 as a firehouse — warmed to the idea of using it as a community space.
“I think it would be a wonderful community effort and a community property if it can’t be used as a firehouse,” said one local resident.
“A community center of any kind would be wonderful,” said another. “We don’t have anything like that in this area.”
It will be a couple years before the process is finalized and someone can move in.