The FDNY will be forced to close a staggering 62 fire companies and lay off more than 1,000 firefighters if the bad-news state budget becomes reality, Commissioner Salvatore Cassano told the City Council Wednesday.

“We would be very, very taxed,” warned a grim-faced Cassano. “Our operations would be impacted and every neighborhood in this city would feel the effect.”

Even if lawmakers in Albany – already facing an April 1 deadline and a $9 billion budget gap – find a way to pump in more cash, the city’s fiscal woes may still force the FDNY to shutter 20 companies, Cassano warned.

“We’re going to try not to close a single company or a single firehouse,” Cassano told the Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, “but if we have to, we will.”

Sixteen fire companies were set to close last year until the Council restored funding for an extra 12 months.

But those companies – which were never identified – are still slated to close this July, and an additional four are scheduled to be shut down later in the year, creating a savings of $37.4 million, Cassano said.

The department currently has 198 engine companies and 143 ladder companies.

FDNY officials are still calculating which companies – or potentially entire firehouses – will be scrapped, although the prospect of any closures infuriated Council members and the fire unions.

The FDNY will try to close the budget gap by issuing violations to building owners whose fire detection systems set off false alarms, Cassano said.

The department is also fighting in court for the authority to scrap curbside alarm boxes, a potential $6 million savings on maintenance.

(Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/ YWN-4706)