FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies

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3511 said:
FF Vincent Albanese did do "38 in 38". Appointed in about 1966 when the house was going nuts. Worked there into the next century.

Passed away after only a brief retirement. Commissioner Cassano allowed 38'S rig to leave the city to carry Vinny to his funeral on Long Island.

Leo Fracassi'S grandson works in that house today.

They always go back to Belmont Avenue.

And L38 probably the only rig left in the city to still have a bell. The same one moved from rig to rig for decades.

A lotta legends from/in that house.
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FF Vincent Albanese, 38 years in Ladder 38:

As bagpipers played "Going Home" under summer's blue skies Thursday, more than 100 New York City firefighters saluting in their formal blue uniforms joined friends and family to say goodbye to Vincent Albanese. But the death of the retired New York City firefighter, a first responder during the World Trade Center terrorist attacks who later did rescue and recovery at the site, is prompting more calls for funding for ailing 9/11 responders.

Albanese, 63, died of cancer Saturday, a day after Congress voted down a measure that would have provided $7.4 billion to care for 9/11 responders. Albanese's family said they believed his bladder cancer came from working at "the pile," as the site was known. The cancer was first discovered in 2007, during a World Trade Center medical monitoring exam for first responders.

Expressing disappointment at the congressional vote last Friday, Albanese's wife, Christine, said: "The government's turning a deaf ear to this - it's like they've forgotten people are dying."
John Feal of the FealGood Foundation, an advocate for responders who also was hurt while working at Ground Zero, said he has attended 39 funerals of responders who died of cancer and respiratory illnesses in the past four years. Congress let down those who worked to restore the country after the devastating attacks, he said.

"Congress is going back on Tuesday for a special session," Feal said. "It has the ability to put it on the floor on Tuesday and vote like Americans." If not, Feal plans a rally on Sept. 15 when Congress reconvenes. Thursday, Albanese's oldest daughter, Kelly, of Huntington Station, said she contacted Rep. Steve Israel's office this past Friday to tell him about her father's condition and urge congressional support for the bill. She said she hopes to meet with Israel (D-Huntington), who supports the bill, to discuss what she can do to drum up support.

Thursday, Albanese's good friend and fellow firefighter, Pat Connelly, of Howard Beach, said of Albanese's work at Ground Zero, "Vinny would have been there anyway. All these guys would have. Congress needs to step up." Kelly Albanese said her father had also gone to New Orleans in 2005 to help with Hurricane Katrina relief work. "He's the type of guy that got things done," she said. "I miss him so much already."

Advocates for 9/11 responders have been rallying for a bill that would help responders with medical needs related to illnesses from Ground Zero work, and allow the government to track those illnesses. Thursday, an NYPD helicopter flew over Route 110 in Huntington Station as the coffin carrying Albanese, draped with an American flag, was placed in the hearse and the firefighters saluted their friend one last time.  After the burial Mass at St. Hugh of Lincoln Roman Catholic Church, family and friends took part in a procession to Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton.

A 38-year member of Ladder 38 in the Bronx and a longtime Army National Guardsman who flew planes and rose to the rank of brigadier general, Albanese was a man of faith and compassion, who could pull off a great practical joke, said his friends.

"He really lived, didn't he?" said FDNY Lt. Joe Huber, who worked with Albanese at Ladder 38 and recalled various pranks Albanese played. "I never met a happier man," Huber said, adding the station lost a "great compass" when he retired."



 
Ladder 38 - father and son both awarded medals while members of Ladder 38 and both promoted out of Ladder 38


Captain John Keenan, Ladder 38, awarded Company Officer Assn Medal for rescue in 1992 and promoted to Battalion Chief

FF John Keenan, Ladder 38, awarded Walter Scott Medal for rescue in 2007 and promoted to Lieutenant




 
mack said:
Could not find anything about a Water Tower 7 unit being organized at Richardson Street.  Engine 229 was in a relatively new firehouse at 246 Frost Street built for them when organized in 1890.  Maybe the plan for the Richardson Street firehouse in 1915 was to organize a new truck company, a new water tower company, relocate Division 11 (which was quartered alone), and keep Engine 229 at Frost Street. 

Water towers were critical assets at major fires from the late 1800s until ladder pipes in the 1950s and later the tower ladders in the 1960s.  There were no other water towers located in Brooklyn or Queens other than Water Tower 6 in Downtown Brooklyn.

The locations of FDNY water tower units in 1915 were:

        Unit                      Boro              Company              Location
    Water Tower 1        Manhattan      Engine 31      Lower Manhattan
    Water Tower 2        Manhattan      Ladder 3        Lower Manhattan
    Water Tower 3        Manhattan      Ladder 21 then Ladder 24      Midtown
    Water Tower 4        Manhattan      Ladder 26      Uptown
    Water Tower 5              not organized until 1932
    Water Tower 6        Brooklyn          Ladder 118  Downtown Brooklyn
    Water Tower 7              not organized
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With the exception of Water Tower 1 and later 5, the water towers were established in single truck houses of that time, including Water Tower 7 which was planned with Ladder 146.

Does anyone have any insight about why the water towers were co-located with single trucks?  Did they share crews, as in two piece ladder companies, or were they stand alone companies?
 
The WTs shared crews or had detailed FF'S man them. They required chauffeurs qualified to drive tractor trailers and the tiller, hence usually quartered with truck co's. Some of the truck companies had been double companies (WT4/L26) and had room for the rig. Not a stand alone unit. There was never a helmet shield for WT#. They had no assigned 1st alarm boxes but only went on multiple alarms or when special called.
 
3511 said:
The WTs shared crews or had detailed FF'S man them. They required chauffeurs qualified to drive tractor trailers and the tiller, hence usually quartered with truck co's. Some of the truck companies had been double companies (WT4/L26) and had room for the rig. Not a stand alone unit. There was never a helmet shield for WT#. They had no assigned 1st alarm boxes but only went on multiple alarms or when special called.
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3511, thank you for the clarification.  The 1909 running card for Manhattan Box 386, displayed by Mack earlier, has both Ladder 3 and Water Tower 2 assigned on the first alarm.  The shared crew must have had two sets of chauffeurs assigned to be able to respond together.
 
Hold on. I may have spoken off the top of my head, which sometimes includes some BS. Wiser heads than mine have been in advisement.

More research needed. Will get back.
 
To correct the record, WTs in lower Manhattan (1,2,3) were assigned a full time LT and 2 FFs. They operated, however, under the administrative command of the house captain. These units did respond on the first alarm. They did have a helmet shield as shown in the excellent book "Badges of the Bravest". The shield is used a yellow and black color scheme later used by the Squad companies. Another excellent discussion of the WTs is in the book "Services Not Required", with pictures of the various apparatus.

Other WTs were staffed by company or detailed manpower as stated. Not sure how Brooklyn did it.

Thanks to those who caught my errors. Gotta keep the record of history correct.
 
3511 - Looks like Brooklyn Fire Department put Water Tower Company 1 into service 1895 at 124 DeKalb Avenue.  When consolidated into FDNY in 1898, Water Tower was manned by details from Engine 126 (226).  On December 2 1902, BC TS Coppinger (a water tower proponent) along with Lt W. F Jeffrey and FF M.J. O'Toole were killed when operating the water tower at the Arbuckle Coffee Company fire.  See Chief Meek's WNYF article below - 3rd insert.


Water Towers - WNYF - 2nd Issue 1969:













 
1902:  Collapse on water tower in Brooklyn - LODDs - FDNY Water Tower 1 Brooklyn (formerly Brooklyn Fire Department Water Tower Co 1) - water tower was manned by details:











FDNY members lost on water tower were detailed from Engine 126 (226) and Ladder 55 (105):

    Lt W. F. Jeffrey, E 126 (226)

    FF M. J. O'Toole, L 55 (105)

Also BC T. S. Coppinger, Bn 33

    Never forget.


Water Tower 6 FDNY was organized after this fire in 1903 at 365 Jay Street located with Ladder (68) 118:

   
 
Water Tower 1 members lost:

    FF Daniel A. Weise, Water Tower 1, injured Manhattan box 66-33-109, Church and Murray, April 13, 1953, died September 14, 1953

   


    FF James A. Rogers, Water Tower 1, September 2, 1963


    Never forget.
 
Engine 31, Engine 31-2,m Water Tower 1, Division 1, Battalion 2, Relay Hose Wagon, Satellite 1  firehouse  87 Lafayette Street    Chinatown, Manhattan

    Engine 31 organized 161 Leonard Street former volunteer firehouse                      1865
    Engine 31 moved 68 Elm Street w/Engine 31-2                                                    1894
    Engine 31 new firehouse Elm Street and White Street w/Engine 31-2                    1896
          Elm Street and White Street location became 87 Lafayette Street                    1905
    Engine 31 moved 363 Broome Street at Engine 55                                              1965
    Engine 31 moved 87 Lafayette Street                                                                  1965
    Engine 31 moved 100 Duane Street at Engine 7                                                  1967
    Engine 31 moved 363 Broome Street at Engine 55                                              1970
    Engine 31 disbanded                                                                                          1972

    Engine 31-2 organized 161 Leonard Street at Engine 31                                      1883
    Engine 31 moved 68 Elm Street w/Engine 31                                                      1894
    Engine 31 new firehouse Elm Street and White Street w/Engine 31                        1896
          Elm Street and White Street location became 87 Lafayette Street                    1905
    Engine 31-2 disbanded                                                                                      1918
    Engine 31-2 reorganized 87 Lafayette Street at Engine 31                                    1925
    Engine 31-2 disbanded                                                                                      1939

    Water Tower 1 organized 22 Chambers Street at Engine 7                                    1879
    Water Tower 1 new firehouse Elm Street and White Street w/Engine 31                1896
          Elm Street and White Street location became 87 Lafayette Street                    1905
    Water Tower 1 disbanded                                                                                  1957

    Battalion 2 organized 28 Chambers Street at Ladder 1                                          1869
    Battalion 2 moved 68 Elm Street at Engine 31                                                      1894
    Battalion 2 new firehouse Elm Street and White Street w/Engine 31                      1896
          Elm Street and White Street location became 87 Lafayette Street                    1905
    Battalion 2 disbanded                                                                                        1948
    Battalion 2 reorganized 87 Lafayette Street at Engine 31                                      1951
    Battalion 2 moved 100 Duane Street at Engine 7                                                  1965
    Battalion 2 moved 87 Lafayette Street at Engine 31                                              1965
    Battalion 2 moved 100 Duane Street at Engine 7                                                  1967
    Battalion 2 moved 251 Lafayette Street at Ladder 20                                            1974 
    Battalion 2 moved 55 Broome Street at Engine 55                                                1975
    Battalion 2 moved 227 6th Avenue at Engine 24                                                  1998

    Division 1 located at 87 Lafayette Street                                                              1956

    Satellite 1 located at 87 Lafayette Street at Engine 31                                  1965-1967

    Relay Hose Wagon Manhattan located at 87 Lafayette Street at Engine 31              1965

    Note:  Thanks fdhistorian

87 Lafayette Street:

   

   

   

    1930s:
   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 31 firehouse - WNYF:

   

   


Engine 31 steamer:

   


Engine 31 tender:

   


Engine 31 1941 WLF hose wagon:
   

   


Engine 31:

   


Engine 31 1954 Mack pumper:

   


Engine 31 1962 Mack 1000GPM:

   


Water Tower 1 1911:

   

   


Relay Hose Wagon - converted 1951 WLF Quad (1965):

   


Satellite 1:

   


87 Lafayette Street history:

    http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/05/napoleon-le-bruns-fantastic-french.html


87 Lafayette Street architecture:

    http://newyorkitecture.com/2012/12/14/engine-company-31/


Previous volunteer company - Fulton Engine 21 116 Leonard Street firehouse:

   


Water Tower 1 members lost:

    FF Daniel A. Weise, Water Tower 1, injured Manhattan box 66-33-109, Church and Murray, April 13, 1953, died September 14, 1953

   


    FF James A. Rogers, Water Tower 1, September 2, 1963


3 NYC Firemen Killed - Box 66-55-199 - Broadway and Grand - Loft Building Collapse:

   


    Lt John A. McDermott, Engine 31, Manhattan box 66-55-199, November 18, 1960, trapped in basement

   


    FF Francis J. Sammon, Engine 31, trapped in basement

   

   
    FF John Cosner, Squad 8,

   


    Never forget.



 
Still stands and still considered perhaps the most beautiful firehouse ever built in the world
 
mack said:
    Engine 31 disbanded                                                                                          1977
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Engine 31 was disbanded in 1972
 
Does the City still own this building? What is it utilized for now? A shame such a beautiful firehouse is no longer in use.
 
fltpara16 said:
Does the City still own this building? What is it utilized for now? A shame such a beautiful firehouse is no longer in use.
Click to expand...

- DCTV Cinema is located on the first floor which screens documentaries.

    http://ny.curbed.com/tags/87-lafayette-street

    http://www.dctvny.org/about





"Documentary Theater Slated for Landmark Tribeca Firehouse

By Matt Dunning


Jon Alpert and the landmark former firehouse, home of DCTV, where he hopes to build a 74-seat theater for screening documentaries.  Given the struggling economy and meager commercial rewards of documentary filmmaking, the birth of a new theater devoted only to ?docs? seems financially perilous.

But Jon Alpert, co-founder and director of Downtown Community Television, sees it differently. Over the last few years, Alpert and his staff at DCTV have been slowly building moral and financial support for a 74-seat screening room in their landmark former firehouse at Lafayette and White Streets.  If all goes as planned, they will break ground on the theater next February.  ?We know that this is a case of ?build it and they will come,? because they?re coming right now to an inferior space,? said Alpert, who has won 15 Emmy awards for his own films. ?What better place than in Tribeca, the home of many of New York City?s renowned artists, to build a cinema that?s devoted exclusively to the documentary??

Alpert and his wife, Keiko Tsuno, founded DCTV in 1972 as a community-based media education center. The organization runs free and low-cost classes in basic electronic media and filmmaking, mostly for lower-income and minority teens and young adults. Plans for the theater began in 2006, when DCTV received an $800,000 grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Since then the city has kicked in another $1 million, and the organization has received foundation support as well.

Inside the 103-year-old former firehouse that it calls home, DCTV has had to improvise its screening facilities?usually simple combinations of a screen and some black curtains strung up in the larger rooms. The new theater will occupy a one-story former barn in the rear, originally built for the horses that pulled fire wagons.

Though the building?s ornate French Renaissance?style exterior is in near-pristine condition, the interior of the theater space is another matter. A long series of jerry-rigged renovations have left it in dire need of repair, and the entire building?and indeed, much of the block?is perched on top of what was once Collect Pond, meaning that crews will need to take extra care as they excavate for the slope of the theater.

?The place has had many different uses,? said Paul Alter, the theater project?s lead architect, ?and going through those changes over the years, different things have been done to compromise the structural integrity.?

Alter needs approval from the city?s Landmarks Preservation Commission for a new entrance and awning on White Street that will replace one of the firehouse?s signature red wood-trimmed window bays. The commission rejected Alter?s first design last month, citing its mostly glass entryway.

?I think this is too weak,? Landmarks commissioner Margery Perlmutter said during the hearing. ?It?s a missed opportunity.?

Following the hearing, Alter said he retooled elements of the entryway and will resubmit his plans this month.

Catherine Martinez, DCTV?s managing director, described the new theater as DCTV?s one missing piece as a full-service production and exhibition hub.

?We want to build up our capacity for teaching and showing films,? Martinez said, adding that enrollment has increased in the last year. ?There?s a lot of fantastic work, and no one gets to see it.?"

    - Wired New York



- Might be other occupants

 
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