FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section

mack

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Engine 253 (continued):


Engine 253 LODD:

FIREFIGHTER ROBERT G. GATES ENGINE 253 AUGUST, 1943

FF Robert G Gates, E-253, US Navy Reserve. August 10, 1943. FF Gates was killed in the Mediterranean Sea when his ship, USS Brant, was accidentally damaged 10 August 1943, off Sicily, when limited visibility and inadequate signals caused friendly warship to fire at her. 10 sailors were killed. USS Brant was on a mission to locate a drifting LCT and left from Licata, Sicily in the regular convoy channel. FF Gates was a Tech 3rd Class.

GATES 3.jpg


USS Brant:

BRANT.jpg


RIP. Never forget.
 
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mack

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Engine 253 (continued):


Landmarks Preservation Commission
September 15, 1998, Designation List 297 LP-1986

E 253 fh 1.jpg

Fire Engine Company 253 (originally Engine Company 53 I later Engine Company 153),
2425-2427 86th Street, Brooklyn. Built 1895-96; architect Parfitt Brothers.
Landmark site: Borough of Brooklyn Tax Map Block 6859, Lot 67.

On April 21, 1998, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of Fire Engine Company 253, and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 8). The hearing was duly advertised according to the provisions of law. One witness spoke in favor of designation. There were no speakers in opposition to designation. The New York City Fire Department has indicated support for designation.

SUMMARY
Fire Engine Company 253, built in 1895-96 for the City of Brooklyn, is a major design by the prominent architectural firm of Parfitt Brothers. The two-story structure with tower was constructed to provide fire protection in Bensonhurst, a suburban development in the southwestern portion of Kings County, between the towns of Bath Beach and Gravesend. Erected on 86th Street, a major transportation route, its Dutch Renaissance Revival design alludes to the area's roots as one of the first six towns established in Kings County. It is faced in tawny brick with complementary brownstone details and a set of stepped pediments, features that appeared in civic structures built in northern Europe and the American colonies during the early seventeenth century. In a neighborhood where few buildings predate the consolidation of Greater New York and the arrival of the elevated subway, Fire Engine Company 253 stands out as a rare example of late nineteenth-century public architecture, symbolizing this district's annexation by Brooklyn in 1894, as well as civic expectations for the areas' s continued development.

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS
Until the late 1880s Bensonhurst was known as New Utrecht, one of the first six towns established in Kings County. Located in southwestern Brooklyn, this neighborhood's history can be traced to 1652 when Cornelis Van Werkhoven, a member of the Dutch West India Company, began purchasing land from the Nyack Indians. Although he did not live to see the area settled, a surveyor, Jacques Cortelyou, named the town New Utrecht in 1655 in reference to the city in the Netherlands, which was Van Werk:hoven's home and final resting place.

Despite an advantageous site overlooking Gravesend (and Lower New York Bay) the population grew slowly, with only six hundred residents by 1790. While neighboring towns like Bath Beach and Gravesend became fashionable resorts, New Utrecht, even the late nineteenth century, was best-known for its potato and cabbage farms.

In 1887 New York developer James D. Lynch began acquiring property in New Utrecht between Bath Beach and Gravesend. The Benson family, which owned several farms in the area, resisted his offers, but finally agreed to sell their land when he agreed to preserve the nearly two-century-old family homestead and name the new suburb Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea. In the years that followed, Lynch divided and developed his property, laying out fourteen miles of streets and twenty-eight miles of sidewalks. Strict building guidelines were drafted to control the character and use of specific blocks. A contemporary observer called the results "an ideal settlement, the creation of which marked an era, important and entirely new, in the suburban development of Brooklyn."

Despite initial optimism concerning the project and its prospects, sales did not meet expectations due to the economic downturn of 1893 and prejudice by builders against investing in properties outside Brooklyn city limits. Although New Utrecht was annexed the following year, interest remained sluggish until the arrival of the 4th Avenue subway in 1915. After World War I, Bensonhurst developed its present density and residential character, as dozens of two and three family houses as well as apartments were constructed in the vicinity.

THE BROOKLYN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Early fire companies in Brooklyn were volunteer units, each with its own equipment and personnel. For the most part, they were clustered close to the East River, in areas where the population and property values tended to be high. Brooklyn's first volunteer company, established in Brooklyn Heights in 1785, consisted of five men and one engineer, all of whom were chosen to serve one year at annually held town meetings. A fire engine was purchased and a wooden barn constructed to store the apparatus on Front Street, close to the present site of Cadman Plaza. As part of their duties, volunteers were expected to "play, clean and inspect the engine" on a monthly basis. By the mid-nineteenth century, Brooklyn's volunteer department had grown to an estimated three thousand men. Despite its large size, losses from fires increased during this period and many city residents, as well as members of the insurance industry, contended that better protection would result from the creation of a paid, professional force like that found in other American cities.

Although reservations from volunteers slowed the adoption of such a plan, in 1869 a bill establishing the Brooklyn Fire Department was enacted. The impact on service was considerable: some companies closed, new apparatus were ordered, and many firehouses were rebuilt. Thousands of volunteers were released, replaced by a force of only a few hundred men. In 1880, for example, the department had nineteen companies with a total of 235 men.

Brooklyn experienced astonishing growth following the Civil War. Between 1870 and 1890 the city's population doubled, resulting in the development of new commercial and residential districts away from the East River and Upper New York Bay. Linked by improved rail transportation, these largely rural communities attracted considerable interest from real estate speculators.

The growth of these areas and the subsequent annexation of outlying towns placed new demands on the Brooklyn Fire Department. Previously, sparsely populated agricultural areas had been left unprotected or served by an untrained force of local residents, but by the 1890s the department embarked on an ambitious building campaign. Whereas the New York City Fire Department hired a single architect, Napoleon LeBrun (after 1888, Napoleon Le Brun & Sons), who designed more than forty structures between 1879 and 1894, Brooklyn employed a number of local architects, including Frank Freeman, who designed the department's Romanesque Revival headquarters on Jay Street (1892, a designated New York City landmark), P. J Lauritzen, and Parfitt Brothers.

In 1895 alone, four new companies were organized and eighteen new firehouses were planned or under construction. As symbols of urban growth and civic improvement, Brooklyn's new firehouses were praised for their aesthetic character and functional design. Most were fairly simple in plan, providing space for steam engines and other equipment on the ground floor, as well as stalls for a team of horses in the rear. In addition, space was set aside for the office of the company foreman and rooms where firemen would spend time between fires.

Commissioner Frederick W. Wurster proudly wrote that "these new houses are of an entirely new design and construction from the present houses, and will, when completed, be a credit to the city and a boon to the firemen, who have long felt the want of comfortable quarters. There is no other public servant so much confined to quarters as a fireman . . . It is my desire to make their house as comfortable as possible. "

Not only were many of the firehouses built during this period strategically placed, but designs like Fire Engine Company 253 were particularly appropriate to their geographical and cultural contexts.

ENGINE COMPANY 53 (NOW FIRE ENGINE COMPANY 253)
Prior to 1890, few public buildings existed in New Utrecht. Aside from the town hall and courthouse, which stood at the intersection of King's Highway and 86th Street, much of the area remained open farmland. Lynch's plan to develop Bensonhurst-by-the-Sea stimulated considerable public investment in the area. Streets, sidewalks and sewers were constructed, as well as a post office and public library. Of particular note were plans to widen and rename 22nd A venue Bay Parkway, providing future residents with a landscaped route linking Ocean Parkway (Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, 1874-76, a designated New York City Scenic Landmark) and Gravesend Bay. Planted with rows of shade trees, the one-hundred-foot-wide boulevard was placed under the jurisdiction of Brooklyn's Park Commission.

During the 1890s many firehouses were built in southwestern Brooklyn, in Bay Ridge, Gravesend, and Bensonhurst. These projects had two goals: first, to improve fire protection in developing communities, and second, to provide tangible symbols of the relationship between the city and the areas it now governed. During the 1890s Parfitt Brothers designed four firehouses. Engine Company 53, the firm's third commission from the department, was planned for a mostly undeveloped stretch of 86th Street along the route of the Sea Beach and West End Steam Railway in Bensonhurst's eastern section -- an area that would attract few builders until after 1915. A new building application was filed by the firm on August 17, 1895, and the firehouse was placed in service on February 1, 1896.

Faced in tawny brick, the two-story structure cost approximately $13,000. It was crowned by a short tower incorporating a small domed cupola set on an octagonal base housing a fire bell, topped by a flagpole (only the base is extant). Decorative iron work (removed) was affixed to the building in several places, including an s-shaped tie rod at the center of the right gable on the front facade, and iron finials atop the main facade and side gables.

Fire Engine Company 53 became an immediately recognizable landmark -- visible across still-vacant lots, from Gravesend Bay up Bay 37th Street, and from tree-lined Bay Parkway, a half dozen blocks away.

After 1898, with the consolidation of Greater New York, Engine Company 53 was given a new numerical identity. In an effort to avoid confusion between various companies in the five boroughs, all companies in Brooklyn were given the prefix "1 "; thus Engine Company 53 became Engine Company 153. In 1913, units in Brooklyn and Queens were given the prefix "2", establishing the present title -- Fire Engine Company 253.

PARFITT BROTHERS
In the last years of the nineteenth century, Parfitt Brothers was among Brooklyn's most successful architectural firms. It was composed of three brothers -- Walter E. Parfitt (d. 1925), Henry D. Parfitt (1848-1888) and Albert E. Parfitt (1863-1926), all recent immigrants from England. Walter
was the first to emigrate, arriving in the United States in about 1863. Twelve years later, he and Henry established the firm, and in 1882 their youngest brother, Albert, joined the team as a draftsman. Parfitt Brothers established a reputation designing private residences, especially in Bedford-Stuyvestant and Park Slope, two communities that were undergoing rapid development during the 1870s and early 1880s. Surviving examples of the firm's residential work, include: the Queen Anne style Montague, Berkeley, and Grosvenor apartments at 103, 115, and 117 Montague Street in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, and the John and Elizabeth Truslow House (1887-88, a designated New York City Landmark), 96 Brooklyn Avenue at Dean Street in Crown Heights. These early projects led to a number of prestigious commissions, including St. Augustine's R. C. Church complex (1888) on Sixth Avenue and Sterling Place in Park Slope (outside of the designated historic district), Temple Israel (1890-94, demolished) at the corner of Bedford and Lafayette A venues in Bedford-Stuyvestant, and the Knickerbocker Field Club (1892-93, demolished) on 18th Street in Flatbush.

In 1885 the firm received its first commission from the City of Brooklyn, a courthouse on Adams Street (demolished). This project was followed by a pumping station for the Brooklyn Water Works in Ridgewood (1890-91, demolished) and by a series of park shelters (1896; all demolished). The Fire
Department commissioned four firehouses from Parfitt Brothers in 1895 and 1896: Engine Company 43 (1895; now Engine Co. 243 and Hook & Ladder 168) on 18th Avenue; Engine Company 47 (1895; now Engine Co. 247) on 60th Street in Borough Park; Engine Company 52 (1896-97; now Engine Co. 252) on Central Avenue in Bushwick; and Engine Company 53 (1895-96, now Engine Co. 253) on 86th Street in Bensonhurst, the subject of this report.

Walter and Albert Parfitt were closely involved with the design of houses in Bensonhurst and other residential communities in southwestern Brooklyn, such as Bath Beach and Sea Gate. Lynch hired them as Bensonhurst's architect, and both surviving brothers lived in the new community. Walter was reputed to have restored the eighteenth-century Benson family homestead as his own home. After consolidation he maintained his affiliation with the New York City Fire Department, designing three facilities in the classical style: Engine Company 120 (1906; now Engine Co. 220) on 11th Street and Engine Company 169 (1907; now Engine Co. 269) on Union Street, both in Park Slope, and Engine Company 127 (1907; now Engine Co. 227) on Herkimer Street at Ralph A venue in Bedford-Stuyvestant.

THE DUTCH RENAISSANCE REVIVAL
Fire Engine Company 253 is a rare example of the Dutch Renaissance Revival style. In choosing this mode of decoration, Parfitt Brothers showed an awareness, not only of Brooklyn's beginnings as a Dutch colony, but also of current architectural practice. This was an era when most architects
sought inspiration in the historic past, synthesizing a wide range of styles from Romanesque to Classical. One of the leading firms of the period, McKim, Mead & White, is generally credited with the introduction of the Dutch Renaissance Revival in New York City, in the Goelet Brothers Offices
(1885, demolished) on West 17th Street near Fifth A venue, and in a row of five brick-fronted private houses on West End Avenue and 83rd Street (1885, demolished).

For a brief period in the 1890s, a significant number of New York buildings were constructed with motifs borrowed from Dutch or colonial sources. In lower Manhattan on Old Slip, several blocks from the site of New Amsterdam's Stadt Huys (1641, Pearl Street, east of Broad Street), Napoleon LeBrun designed a much-praised Dutch Renaissance Revival firehouse with stepped pediments, Engine Company 15 (1887, demolished). Institutions also adopted the style, including the St. Nicholas Club (1890, demolished) on West 44th Street near Fifth Avenue, the West End Collegiate Church and Collegiate School (1892-93, a designated New York City Landmark) on West End A venue and West 77th Street, and a number of public schools designed by C. B. J. Snyder. Ties to the city's Dutch heritage remained particularly strong in Brooklyn. Although the British assumed control of the colony in 1664, many place names and family names had been proudly retained. Furthermore, a significant number of colonial-era structures were still extant in the 1890s, many in the southwestern part of city, in the vicinity of the new firehouse. While Parfitt Brothers did not use these humble wood residences as models, they remained potent reminders of the area's past.
 
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mack

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Engine 253 (continued):


Landmarks Preservation Commission (continued):

E 253 FH 2.jpg

DESCRIPTION

Fire Engine Company 253 occupies nearly all of a forty by one hundred foot lot on the north side of 86th Street between 24th and 25th A venues, at the intersection of Bay 37th Street. The two-story façade and tower are faced in a tawny brick with projecting brick bands and brownstone trim. The street façade rests on a brownstone foundation that is approximately two feet high. At the ground floor are three entrances, all painted red: two for firefighting vehicles and one for pedestrians. Each vehicular entrance is framed in riveted cast-iron panels and arched corbels, and consists of a paneled wood and glass door that rolls up. The original double doors with leaded glass windows have been replaced, but the single hinges from which they originally hung remain. In addition, two lamps (one at each side) as well as an alarm box at the right (east), have been affixed to the facade.

Above the pedestrian entrance, where a brownstone tablet was once installed, is a hand-painted sign on concrete, celebrating “1896-1996 Brooklyn's Bravest”. A wide brownstone lintel runs between the first and second stories. Two emergency lights, to the right and left of each apparatus bay, are attached here. Over the right (east) bay, a wood sign identifying the company has been installed. Painted mauve with raised white lettering, it reads “253”, "ENGINE," and "253." The upper stories are faced with tawny brick laid in a common bond. There are four double-hung windows at the second story: the left pair and the one aligned directly above the pedestrian entrance have deep rectangular transoms, brownstone lintels, and sills. A single window, positioned at center, has identical lintels and sills, but no transom. A large air conditioning unit has been installed in the lower window frame. All sash have been painted red.

On the third story, above the left (west) apparatus bay, is a Dutch-style gable. It rises from a brownstone lintel set flush above the window transoms. The gable has cast-stone or terra-cotta coping. Visible near the building's corner are ascending brick steps that form part of the gable on the building's west facade. In contrast to the street-side gable, the coping is made of brownstone. The tower, which is aligned directly above the pedestrian entrance, rises to a height of four stories. It incorporates three extremely narrow double-hung windows: a pair on the third story, and one centered directly above. All have unornamented brownstone lintels and sills. The top of the tower is faced with three Dutch-style gables, each similar to but smaller than those constructed on the left side of the facade.

The tower is crowned by what remains of the original cupola, an octagonal base painted green. The west elevation faces a privately-owned parking lot. The section closest to the street rises to a Dutch-style gable, the building's widest. The coping consists of plain, thin brownstone blocks. Like the main facade, it is faced in tawny brick with projecting brick bands and a single vertical doublehung at the third story. The rear (and larger) section is faced in brick that is painted white. It consists of four identical recessed bays separated by rectangular pilasters. The brickwork at the top of each is corbelled. A large metal vent has been cut into the lower half of the two bays closest to the street.

The east elevation, which is visible from a narrow passage between the firehouse and its neighbor, is faced in tawny brick. It has projecting brick bands that connect to those on the front facade. The front bay, which is part of the tower, has two windows at the third story and a single window above. To the right of the tower is a irregular gable with two corbiesteps on the right and seven at the left.

The roof is divided into two sections, all surfaced with dark brown asphalt shingles. The front section, which is aligned with the two vehicular entrances, rises to the ridge line that extends to the gables on the east and west elevations. The much larger rear section, is a gabled roof with a hipped end at the rear. Atop the common ridge line is a large satellite dish. In parts of the roof where there are no Dutch gables, gutters have been installed along the edge at the top of the second story. These copper gutters are directed down in several locations, at the western edge of the street facade, and directly between the two vehicular entrances.

This gutter has been painted red to match the surrounding doors and ironwork. At the rear of the building, barely visible from the side, is a small single-story extension. This section, which appears to have been added later, is presently used as the firehouse kitchen. Along the rear facade, above the first floor, is a single chimney and four double-hung windows. The two center windows are larger than those at either side.

Report prepared by Matthew Postal


FINDINGS AND DESIGNATION
On the basis of a careful consideration of the history, of the architecture, and other features of this building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that Fire Engine Company 253 (originally Engine Company 53), has a special character, and special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage, and cultural characteristics of New York City.


The Commission further finds that, among its important qualities, Fire Engine Company 253, built in 1895-96, is significant as one of the most distinguished firehouses in Brooklyn; that the building is an important work by Parfitt Brothers, one of the most prominent architectural firms active in Brooklyn in the late nineteenth century; that it is one of the few buildings in Bensonhurst dating prior to the consolidation of Greater New York and the arrival of the elevated subway; that as an example of Dutch Renaissance Revival architecture, it illustrates a style that was popular in New York during this period, and that this mode of design was particularly appropriate to the cultural and historical context in which it was built; and that it is a well-maintained civic structure which continues to be used for its original purpose.

Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 74, Section 3021 of the Charter of the City of New York and Chapter 3 of Title 25 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designates as a Landmark Fire Engine Company 253 (originally Engine Company 53), 2425-2427 86th Street, Borough of Brooklyn, and designates Borough of Brooklyn Tax Map Block 6859, Lot 67, as its Landmark Site.

E 253 fh 20.jpg
 
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mack

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Engine 253 (continued):


Gravesend:

Gravesend was one of the six original towns of Kings County. Founded by religious dissenter Lady Deborah Moody and her followers in 1643, it was the only one of the original towns to be founded by English settlers. Gravesend was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1894.

Old Brooklyn.jpg


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravesend,_Brooklyn
 

mack

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12/6/2015 Brooklyn 3rd Alarm Box 2897




Address: 8501 New Utrecht Avenue - at 18 Avenue
Fire on the 2nd floor of a 2 story 100x150 mixed occupancy.
0714 - Bn. 42 - Transmit the 10-75. We have fire on the 2nd floor. All Hands on Arrival - Extra Engine and Truck (E-247, TL-153).
TL-149 FAST, replaced by TL-153

0720 - Bn. 42 - Go with the 2nd Alarm.

0727 - Div. 8 - There was a Mayday to remove everyone from the top floor. We are conducting a roll call at this time.
0734 - Div. 8 - We have fire throughout the top floor. 2 Tower Ladders in operation and setting up multiversals. Can I get a transit representative to the scene. Our only exposure problem is the elevated train.
0740 - Div. 8 - All members are accounted for in the roll call. At this time, we are putting TL-153 into operation. L-156 is the new FAST Truck.
0755 - FC - Per Car 4G - Operating with 2 TL & 1 multiversal. We have fire on the 1st and 2nd floor. This is an outside operation.
0806 - FC - Fire on the 1st floor is knocked down. We still have heavy fire on the 2nd floor and cockloft. Still operating with 3 TL and 1 multiversal. DWH

0823 - FC - Per Car 3 - Transmit the 3rd Alarm. No need for air recon. (Staging 86 Street and 18 Avenue)
0825 - FC - There was a 15x20 section of the elevated tracks that were damaged.
0841 - FC - We have a partial collapse of the building and bricks falling from the structure. Expanding the collapse zone. Operating with 4 tower ladders.
0849 - FC - Special call 2 additional ladders (L-166, L-109), have them respond into staging.
0901 - FC - Operating with 4 TL, 2 hand lines, & 1 multiversal. Fire is darkening down. Special call Tac 1 to relevant Tac 2, make sure they have their transit equipment. DWH
0908 - FC - Per Car 3 - Main body of fire is extinguished. Checking for pockets of fire. Searches will be delayed. Make this a 10-41 code 1, heavy fire upon arrival. PWH - Duration 1 hour 57 minutes.
1021 - Div. 8 - Special call a Battalion Chief (Bn. 31).

All Hands Maybe:
E-243, 253, 284, 330, 247 s/c
L-168, 172, 149, 153F
B-42, 33
S-1
R-5
D-8
RAC-5

2nd Alarm:
E-242, 250, 254
L-156
B-43 FF, 40 RUL, 48 Safety
RB, SB, FC, FCB, CTU, Tac 2
E-207 w/ Sat 6
E-246 Communications
Car 4G, Car 3

3rd Alarm:
E-276, 282, 245, 318
L-148, 161, 166 s/c, 109 s/c
B-41, 32 act 43 Staging, 31 s/c
MSU, Car 15A, Car 12A, Car 17, Car 1H, Car 23D
Tac 1 s/c
 

mack

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An Engine 253 warrior - Firefighter Steven "Bubba" Pascale:



Fighting for his life, September 11 first-responder shares an important message
Updated Sep 17, 2019; Posted Mar 21, 2019
By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com


5d5_3a377bd249bb440e8de772b38b6eed1e.jpg
Courtesy Steve Pascale
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- FDNY Firefighter Steven "Bubba" Pascale, of Westerleigh, is fighting for his life against stage 3 kidney cancer.
But he has an important message he would like to share with all the first-responders and volunteers who were at Ground Zero on or soon after Sept. 11, 2001: Get yourself checked for cancer or other illnesses that could be a direct result of working in the area of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks.
"My mission is simply to warn others of the possibility of having health issues hidden inside, even though you're feeling otherwise fine and non-symptomatic like I was," said Pascale. "I consider myself extremely lucky that my cancer was found and I want to do my part to help someone else who may not be aware, like I was.
Pascale recalled that on Ash Wednesday of this year, he had just received his ashes and was thinking about what his Lenten sacrifice should be.
"Nothing I thought about 'giving up' felt quite right," he explained. "But then as I was kneeling there in church I thought about not 'giving up' something, but rather 'giving out and sharing' some thoughts that I've had lately."
Pascale said he wants to share his cancer story as a cautionary tale.
In the photo above, Pascale of Engine 253, in his Brooklyn firehouse.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
"A few months ago, in October 2018, I had a precautionary CT Scan done of my lungs. It came back that my lungs were all clear," Pascale recalled. "But also seen in the scan was that my right kidney had a tumor. Basically, the whole kidney was one big tumor."
Pascale said he believes his guardian angels were watching over him that day. He had no symptoms of illness of any kind, but said he is grateful the tumor was found.
"A week later I was at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, meeting with their kidney surgeon specialist," he said. "The following week, my right kidney was gone. Stage 3 cancer."

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
The firefighter is currently undergoing a six-month immunotherapy treatment program at Sloan Kettering, and "so far, so good. That's the encapsulated story. Surreal to say the least," he said.
His message to fellow Staten Islanders and beyond is: "If there's anyone out there who was around the WTC site, please consider being proactive and going for one of those full body scans. I wasn't. I didn't, and over the years I had read and heard about first responders who suffered health issues years after 9/11. But having no big overriding health concerns or issues, I personally never did it.
"I underwent annual medicals, blood tests, heart, lungs and checkups, but nothing over all the years was ever discovered. It took a CT scan where, thankfully, the tech who administered it happened to include a view of my kidneys. If they hadn't, well my story today could be much different. The doctor at Sloan said that the tumor had probably been growing little by little for years."

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale said he is grateful for the love and support he has received from family and friends, which he described as "amazing."
The self-proclaimed music geek said he has assembled an inspirational "F Cancer" playlist -- where the music and lyrics, the rhythms and melodies have carried him "through the dark, scary times like when I'm hooked up to an IV in the Sloan treatment room."
"I plan on sending that playlist out into the social media world too, as soon as I get around to typing out around 400 songs and the artists who created them. I'm slightly music obsessed," he said.
The photo above was taken on Thanksgiving last year.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale is pleading for Staten Islanders to share his message.
"To all of you out there who are actually reading this, please, if you don't mind, can you forward this out to all your people, especially those who were intimately involved with Sept. 11 and Ground Zero?" he said in a social media post.
"It doesn't have to be just first-responders, it's anybody who lived or worked nearby, it's construction workers, it's anybody," he said. "So many of us have gotten hit hard by 9/11's shadow who may be sharing this; maybe by sharing this, it will help someone else and something good comes out of something not so good. It could save a life."
In the photo above, Pascale during his treatment at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center.



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Courtesy Steve Pascale

According to Pascale, the true heroes from 9/11 were all the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and civilians who helped others.
"The true heroes are the ones who went back into the towers after they were hit," he said. "Unfortunately, the acts of hate by those terrorists have cast a shadow all these years later.
"So many people have already died, both uniform personnel and civilians, from WTC-related illnesses. This is my small attempt to spread the word that an annual physical may not be enough.
"Take the next step, get scanned and make sure that hopefully, you're ok."
In the photo above, Pascale is picture with fellow FDNY firefighters Mike Castellano, Jimmy Profeta and Zak Tun.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale's daughter, Francesca, in 2006.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale with his son Dante at Engine 253 firehouse, Brooklyn.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale is seen here the morning of his surgery at Sloan Kettering in 2018.

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Courtesy Steve Pascale
Pascale remains positive after the surgery.


https://www.silive.com/life-and-cul...rstresponder-shares-an-important-message.html
 

mack

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Back in time - engine company responding - Broadway and 72nd Street - 1910:

1910  72 st & Broadway R.jpg
 
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