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.