City Council eyes 5th firefighter for FDNY engines. Here's why supporters say "it'll definitely save lives"

The New York City Council and Mamdani administration are beginning negotiations this week to hammer out the city's budget. 

The Council's first ask is an increase in funding for the FDNY. Supporters say the funds are a matter of life and death. 

So far in 2026, 51 people have died in fires. That's nearly double the number for this time last year. It includes a 1-year-old killed in a Bronx apartment fire earlier this month, and three people who died in another Bronx fire in April. 

"The number of fires has increased. And so, we're really at a breaking point," New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin said. 

Menin is pushing the Mamdani administration to allocate $91.7 million in next year's budget for the FDNY in order to add a fifth firefighter to dozens of engines citywide. 

"Having the fifth firefighter can help to extinguish a fire, and it really makes it safer both for communities, to prevent deaths. And it's also safer for the firefighters as well," Menin said. 

The FDNY used to have five firefighters per engine, but most were cut down to four during the Bloomberg administration. Various lawmakers have tried, and failed, over the years to reinstate the funding. 

"Right now, we're about two million residents above where we were when they first starting cutting," Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said. 

The 20 busiest FDNY engines in New York City already have five firefighters. Ansbro says if Mamdani gives the City Council what it is asking for, the FDNY would be able to increase staffing at half of its nearly 200 engines. 

"It'll definitely save lives. It'll stop single-alarm fires from becoming multi-alarm fires because you can knock it down faster," Ansbro said. 

"The Mamdani administration looks forward to continuing conversations with the Council regarding a fifth firefighter pilot proposal," City Hall said in a statement.