Bud,
I'm not sure where you are getting your information from but
A) The Fire Department of the City of New York does not use Motorola HT1000 portable radios and never did.
B) They are currently using Motorola XTS3500R portable radios (Model 1 for firefighters and Model 3 for officers). Prior to that the used Motorola Sabers, and prior to that they used MX330s. I'll leave it to you to determine how "cheap" an XTS portable with all the accessories (speaker/mic, case, strap, etc.) is.
SCANdal
Off topic but I heard that all FDNY dispatching is done out of Metrotech and not out of the 5 boros anymore?
Is this true?
Also worth pointing out, you very rarely hear anyone below the rank of Battalion Chief operating on a portable on a Borough frequency. The portables are for fireground communication, so the majority of communications (at least the ones the OP is referring to) are taking place from the rigs.
Not true. If you hear units operating at a scene it's almost always the Aid you hear over the radio giving the updates. It's never the highest ranking officer on the radio. The only time the officers are on the radio is when they are in the vehicle and the Aid is driving.
No. Metrotech has UCT and FOC. The Boro's maintain their own dispatch center. From what I remember Queens/Brooklyn share a CO now.
Citywide/Manhattan is still in Central Park, I don't know where the Bronx or SI CO is off hand.
-Alex