UFOA Backs Gioia For 'Advocate' Due To Aid on Closings

ERIC GIOIA: Uniformed support growing.

City Councilman Eric Gioia Aug. 3 received the endorsement of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association in his bid for Public Advocate.

In explaining the endorsement, UFOA President John J. McDonnell said that the Queens Councilman has been an outspoken advocate against firehouse closings under the Bloomberg administration, most notably in 2003 when the Mayor moved to close a company in Long Island City.

'Side By Side Against Cuts'

"He clearly understands the danger and the collateral negative effects on the surrounding neighborhoods of closing fire units down," Mr. McDonnell said in a statement. "He stood side by side with us in our attempts to save Engine Company 261 in his Council District and he stood with us again earlier this year when the Mayor wished to close down six more units. Eric knows that when there are financially difficult times that services may get pared back, but he knows that public safety agencies such as the Fire Department should be spared."

Mr. Gioia, who sits on the Council's Fire and Criminal Justice Services Committee, said in a statement, "These guys are on the front lines every day, keeping our city safe. I will be with them every step of the way, both ensuring that they have the resources they need to protect New Yorkers, and making sure that New York is a city where middle class New Yorkers like firefighters can continue to live and raise a family in safe, affordable neighborhoods that they're proud of."

While City Councilman Bill de Blasio has secured widespread support among unions—including District Council 37 and Service Employees International Union Local 1199—in the Public Advocate's race, Mr. Gioia has been a favorite among uniformed unions. In addition to the UFOA, he has received the endorsements of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association and several Police Department unions.

Green, Siegel Also Running

In the Democratic Party primary, Mr. Gioia also faces former Public Advocate Mark Green and civil rights attorney Norman Siegel.

In the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, Mr. Siegel worked closely with the UFOA and the Uniformed Firefighters Association as the legal representatives of parents whose firefighter sons were killed on 9/11 who appeared in a video produced by the unions' parent organization—the International Association of Fire Fighters— questioning the 9/11 record of former Mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.