NYC Fire Museum in danger of shutting for good after Disney construction damage

Mickey Mouse shut down the city’s Fire Museum — and it may need to wish upon a star to ever open again.Construction on Disney’s new, 22-story New York City headquarters at Hudson Street caused what the city said was nearly $6 million in “significant structural damage” to the neighboring Spring Street museum, forcing it to close for nearly a year.The museum opened in 1987 and operates out of an historic, 120-year-old firehouse once used by Engine Co.

30.It features 30,000 artifacts stretching back to the days of the bucket brigade, along with a memorial to the 343 NYC firefighters killed in the Sept.

11, 2001 attacks.“Excessive vibrations” from the work last May were the nail in the coffin for the historic Beaux-Arts building, prompting an emergency evacuation, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court filing by the city.Terrified staff preparing to open for a day that included a birthday party for 30 kids called executive director Patti Murphy in a panic.“They said they heard a loud banging, the building started to shake and then they said to me the floor felt soft,” Murphy recalled to The Post.The frightening incident forced the building to shut down to visitors for 11 months — leaving the institution in crisis, Murphy said.Murphy said the museum plans to launch a public fundraising effort in the upcoming weeks.

“We need immediate support,” said Murphy.“We’re a very small nonprofit, we’re a self-sustaining organization so our operations are pretty much in a dire position because we’ve been closed so long,” she added.The Museum took in about $571,000 in fiscal year 2023-2024, far short of its target of more than $772,000, it said in its annual report.At the moment, the building is “structurally sound and stable,” but staff is only inside on a limited basis and visitors are not permitted, Murphy said.The city intends to sue Hudson Square Realty and construction companies Skanska Inc.

and Lendlease US Construction Inc.over the...