News of Members

Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
5,749
nfd2004 said:
Members and friends of NYCFire.net, without a doubt, he continues to be "Our Most Valuable Player". Today his number of post on this site has surpassed 17,000.

Officially joining this site in August, 2009, there is rarely a day that goes by when Mike D., aka here as "mikeindabronx", does NOT post something of value or interesting to the membership of this web site. He is both a very good friend to many, many members of the FDNY, both active and retired, as well as a GREAT friend to many of us that read or follow his stories.

  He spent his younger years as a firefighter in the U.S. Air Force. Later he worked as a stock broker, who was an FDNY buff and fan of the FDNY. He had special permission to ride in a Harlem Ladder Co during the very active fire years of the 1980s. There he put his excellent fire photography skills to work producing a book called "New York's Bravest", and later designing a web site filled with color photos. Capturing and preserving the history that only those PRICELESS photos can tell.

  Mike has been a lifelong resident in the same area of the Bronx for..... "well, lets just say a whole lot of years". Decades, actually more like it. As a young man, he married his wife Marie who was also from New York City and they have celebrated many years of marriage together.

  Those of us who know Mike personally consider him a good friend. If you happen to ask him about those busy years, he always has a few stories to tell you.

  As many of us know, the history of the FDNY during the busy 1980s is preserved very well in his web site. www.fdnysbravest.com 

  Thanks Mike for all you do for us.

As the year 2016 comes to an end and we welcome in the year 2017, we look back over the many threads, stories, reports, etc on this site. Throughout all of that we once again ask the question:

"Who has been our Most Valuable Player"

Who is it that posted more stories and reports than anyone else on this site ? He kept us informed of the goings on in New York City, the country and at times, the world. That award is once again given to a friend to many of us on this site. A guy that has lived his entire life in the Bronx. And that sure is a long time. His web site; www.fdnysbravest.com , has some of the best FDNY action photos out there of the 1980s in Harlem and the Bronx. 

Maybe you guessed it but once again, it is our own "mikeindabronx". He comes up with roughly 18,000 post since joining this site. Congratulations Mike and Thank you for what you do for all of us here. Those that know Mike personally will also tell you what a great guy he is. Mikes work is greatly appreciated not only by us, but by the members of the FDNY as well. Mike will very often donate his pictures to firehouses to be displayed on their walls of the guys and jobs they were at. GREAT JOB THERE Mike.

Now we look at the thread that has had the most views since it's beginning.

That thread is over one half million views standing at almost 505,000 views. It is an amazing piece of work in which a huge amount of research had to be done for each post listed. I can only be talking about the most popular and visited topic here called; "FDNY and NYC Firehouses", started by member "mack" or as many of us know him, Joe M. For those of us who know him, he grew up in Brooklyn where he was first introduced into the FDNY by his father, a retired FDNY Battalion Chief. Later he graduated from West Point and has since retired as a very high ranking officer in the U.S. Army. His personal story is one of "A GREAT AMERICAN". Thank you very much Joe for your contribution to both here and our country.

Mike and Joe, thank you for what you do. Also a Special Thank you to FDNY Lt Tommy B., owner of this site. Without him, none of this would be possible.

THANKS GUYS. 


 
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Messages
1,557
Willy D, you're also to be congratulated and thanked for keeping us aware of the great accomplishments of our members.  Keep up the grand work!
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
28,265
Bill.... Thank you for all the great work you do, also thanks to all the other members who help make this an informative and interesting site.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
8,496
Reporting from the White Castle on Northern Blvd and Bell Blvd!!!! :-

Great job Willy D for the great work that you do.  Up in Boston for the holidays, then to Florida.

Happy and healthy New Year to all, and to all a good afternoon!!  ;)
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
961
mikeindabronx said:
fdce54 said:
CFDMarshal said:
Lets gather and celebrate! They have the Oscars and the Grammys, why can't we have the Willy's!
We do. Here are the Willys.......


That looks like an Entr?e to me
Mike, as far as Willy is concerned, they are appetizers, entree, main course, dessert and after dinner mints.
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
5,749
johnd248 said:
Our own Willy D, the King of the Big Mac and retired Captain from the Norwich (CT) FD was recently quoted in the New London Day newspaper.  The Norwich FD is a full-time, paid dept. and is surrounded by 5 volunteer companies.  Apparently, when there is a fire in one of the volunteer areas and mutual aid is requested other volunteer depts responded instead of the closer city paid dept.  Willy D is spearheading an examination of how Norwich can better arrange its fire responses.  Not sure how many Mickey D's there are in Norwich to keep Willy D happy but he is doing the right thing by forcing this issue to be addressed.

Perhaps there is some progress being made. With a new volunteer fire chief in one of the volunteer fire districts, the Norwich Firefighters were the "first" department requested, as an additional company to respond in a recent fire. (See; "Norwich, Ct mixed use building fire 12/31/16" posted by "mikeindabronx" in the National section). This has NOT happened in a long time.

In addition, I was recently invited to meet and discuss this serious issue with the city manager. (Note - the previous acting city manager I met with two years ago is currently under a Code of Ethics Violation within the city, as well as an investigation being done by the FBI. All unrelated to the fire service issue - as reported in several articles of that same newspaper).

I found this most recent meeting with the current city manager to be much more encouraging in creating an effort to improve the fire service here. We were joined by the current Chief of the Norwich Fire Dept as well. We all agree that this is NOT a plan to eliminate any volunteer services, but about IMPROVING the fire service for ALL the people of this city.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
28,265
nfd2004 said:
johnd248 said:
Our own Willy D, the King of the Big Mac and retired Captain from the Norwich (CT) FD was recently quoted in the New London Day newspaper.  The Norwich FD is a full-time, paid dept. and is surrounded by 5 volunteer companies.  Apparently, when there is a fire in one of the volunteer areas and mutual aid is requested other volunteer depts responded instead of the closer city paid dept.  Willy D is spearheading an examination of how Norwich can better arrange its fire responses.  Not sure how many Mickey D's there are in Norwich to keep Willy D happy but he is doing the right thing by forcing this issue to be addressed.

Perhaps there is some progress being made. With a new volunteer fire chief in one of the volunteer fire districts, the Norwich Firefighters were the "first" department requested, as an additional company to respond in a recent fire. (See; "Norwich, Ct mixed use building fire 12/31/16" posted by "mikeindabronx" in the National section). This has NOT happened in a long time.

In addition, I was recently invited to meet and discuss this serious issue with the city manager. (Note - the previous acting city manager I met with two years ago is currently under a Code of Ethics Violation within the city, as well as an investigation being done by the FBI. All unrelated to the fire service issue - as reported in several articles of that same newspaper).

I found this most recent meeting with the current city manager to be much more encouraging in creating an effort to improve the fire service here. We were joined by the current Chief of the Norwich Fire Dept as well. We all agree that this is NOT a plan to eliminate any volunteer services, but about IMPROVING the fire service for ALL the people of this city.

Way to go Bill, keep up the great work
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
5,749
He is considered "Our Most Valuable Player".

He has a web site with some of the GREATEST FDNY Photos taken during the very busy 1980s.

Of course I can only be talking about Mr "mikeindabronx", aka Mike D. A good personnel friend to many of us here, and a guy who has preserved the history of a very busy time for the FDNY.

A time when it took a very special skill to take some of the photos that he has shared with us through his famous web site.

A time that not only was it costly to buy the film and special equipment needed, but also expensive to get those photos developed. Then 'hope" this once in a life time photo came out okay.

And when he finally decides to take his wife Marie out for a long overdue dinner, this is what she does for him. She takes some of those GREATEST Photos that he took and puts them onto another page of that great website called "fdnysbravest.com". Not only does Mike appreciate it, but many of us here appreciate that as well.

So friends, here is a gift for all of us from Mike and Marie. A photo history of a very busy time for the members of the FDNY.

So now both Mike and Marie would like to introduce you to their latest page on that website. This is "PAGE 24", THANKS to Mike and Marie.

http://www.fdnysbravest.com/page24.htm 

 
Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
5,749
Two of our members, who are known by several of us here, have had some recent surgery done.

Member "fltpara16", aka Steve E., had surgery done about one week ago. Word is he's okay and back responding as the B/C in his county in Virginia. Glad everything went well.

Also, Member "fdce54", aka Frank D., recovering at home from his recent surgery he had as well. A couple of days of "breakfast in bed" and he'll be fine.

 
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Messages
1,557
fltpara16 and fdce54 - my, and many others', best wishes and prayers for a full and quick recovery. 

And Willy, thanks for keeping us up to date.
 
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