FDNY and NYC Firehouses and Fire Companies - 2nd Section

[mack]

^^^^ mack pretty sure that is ENG*5 on the Lower East Side.

Chief - You are right.  I had this unmarked picture for a while and right after I posted it tonight, I found this article:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-nyc-blackout-2014-7

It is a picture from the 1977 Blackout - July 13, 1977 - a year after Squad 5 was disbanded.  It was a company operating in the Bronx - and had to be Engine 5.

Article:  "Dramatic Photos Of Chaos And Looting During New York's Notorious Blackout 37 Years Ago Today"

    "Sunday marks the 37th anniversary of the infamous blackout that led to looting and rioting all around New York City. That date, July 13, 1977, was a time of extreme strife and tension in America's largest metropolis.
3,800 arrests were made, according to the New York Times, and more than $1 billion in damage was recorded, with some of the worst coming in the Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. The FDNY reported 1,037 fires throughout the city, with at least 50 being very serious, according to The Times.

The root cause of the blackout was a series of lightning strikes occurring between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. that cut electricity off from two major power plants. The chaos would soon follow.
LaGuardia and JFK were closed, and the subways were evacuated.

''The looters were looting other looters, and the fists and the knives were coming out,'' Carl St. Martin, a neurologist in Forest Hills, Queens, recalled years later, according to the Times.

Here are some of the shocking photos of the eery darkness and mass chaos:

    Firefighters battle flames in a Bronx storefront:
   
         

    This shot shows the Twin Towers in near-darkness.

         

    Owners of a sporting goods store carry bats on the night of July 13.

         

    Two men carry a chest down the street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

         

    Firefighters try to put out one of the hundreds of fires set that night.

         

    This photo shows 110th Street and Third Avenue on July 14, in the wake of the looting.

         

    Here's another shot of a heavily looted 110th Street

         

    Police oversee a crowd in Harlem

         

    A man peers into the broken window of a jewelry store on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.

         

    A street in Bedford-Stuyvesant is filled with trash and people.

         

 

[mack]

^^^^ i believe ENG*88 BX.  Chief might be BN*56 i do'nt remember exactly about the BN.

Thanks Chief - Picture came from this article: "Bronx Trilogy: The Bronx Was Burning (1955 to today)":

    http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2016/09/bronx-trilogy-bronx-burning-1955-today.html

 

[mack]

Another picture without description:

   

 

[68jk09]

LAD*43 East River Drive & E 106 St.....trying to bridge the Drive to get a 2 1/2" line for a Fire on the old amusement pier mid '60s.

 

[mack]

This one goes back to 1912 - from the newspaper "The Brooklyn Eagle" - a firehouse where companies were staging for a ceremony or parade.


   

 

[811]

Looks like the old Brooklyn FD Horse Hospital on Canton (later St Edwards) Street near Willoughby (south of Myrtle Ave)

 

[68jk09]

I dont remember the horse hospital in BKLYN even though i worked nearby (after it was gone) while in R*2 but i do remember the horse hospital on Chyrstie  St on the Lower East Side ...it was a single bay 3 sty house with ramps from floor to floor so the horses could get upstairs....i do not remember it with horses in it but in the late '60s / early '70s when it was used as an FDNY Communications facility. 

 

[811]

Here is the even older Brooklyn FD Shop at Canton & Bolivar Sts.  Bolivar ran east-west between Willoughby & Myrtle opposite the western side of Fort Greene Park. Probably former vollie house next door, Lafayette Engine 5 which was on Canton Street now used by BFD.

 

[mack]

The paid Brooklyn Fire Department, which became part of FDNY when Brooklyn was annexed by NYC in 1898, had 56 horses, a department hospital for sick horses and a department veterinarian. The department horses cost $350 each and served on fire duty for 10 years.

BFD 1870:

   

BFD Vet:

   

   


    - Thanks for info 811.

 

[mack]

1912: Victor, the New York Fire Horse That Finally Lost it on Varick Street

    http://hatchingcatnyc.com/2015/06/10/1912-victor-the-new-york-fire-horse-that-finally-lost-it-on-varick-street/


1913: The Upstate Farm for Inebriates and Retired New York Fire Department Horses

    http://hatchingcatnyc.com/2015/02/01/upstate-farm-for-retired-fdny-horses/#comments

 

[mack]

1915 FDNY horse ambulance:

   

 

[mack]

Back in the day:

   

   

 

[mack]

FDNY/NYFP horsepower:

Engine 12:

   

Engine 261:

   

Engine 263:

   

Engine 55:

   

Ladder 20:

   

   

Ladder 10:

   

Engine 30:

   

   


Engine 20:

   

Engine 271:

   

Ladder 8:

   

Fire Patrol 7:

   

Searchlight Engine 1:

   

Engine 18:

   

Water Tower:

   

Ladder 2:

   

Engine 27:

   

Engine 1:

   

Fire Patrol 5:

   

Engine 41:

   

Engine 233:

   

Engine 5:

   

Engine 39:

   

Water Tower 6:

   

47th Battalion:

   

3rd Battalion:

   

 

[mack]

FDNY Parade 1904:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNNmaYCHa-I

FDNY 1896:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vjm12pa10o

FDNY Returning to Quarters 1903:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppbco_NN6Dw

Brooklyn:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRYQUplbhcY

Turning Out w/Horses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5GWgDOgfYQ

 

[mack]

Last FDNY run with horse-drawnapparatus:

Engine 205
December 20, 1922
Brooklyn Box 5-93-205


   

   

   

 

[mack]

Bronx firehouses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53f4K7nO-Zc

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9pinh9ZPg

Brooklyn firehouses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpyc9T5tu6k

Queens firehouses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxlbCeG7-E0

Manhattan firehouses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTY6rleArk

Staten Island firehouses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izuadzXj6-k

 

[mack]

Engine 92/Ladder 44/Battalion 17 Firehouse 1261 Morris Avenue  Concourse, Bronx  6th Division, 17th Battalion "Popeye South Bronx"
 
    Engine 92 organized 1259 Morris Avenue w/Ladder 44                      1913
    Engine 92 moved 1155 Washington Avenue at Engine 50                  1997
    Engine 92 returned 1259 Morris Avenue w/Ladder 44                        1998

    Ladder 44 organized 1259 Morris Avenue w/Engine 92                      1913
    Ladder 44 moved 1781 Monroe Avenue at Engine 42                        1997
    Ladder 44 returned 1259 Morris Avenue w/Engine 92                        1998     

    Battalion 17 organized 209 Elizabeth Street at Ladder 9                    1903
    Battalion 17 moved 253 Spring Street at Engine 30                          1903
    Battalion 17 disbanded                                                                    1904
    Battalion 17 reorganized 491 E 166th Street at Combined Engine 50  1904 
    Battalion 17 moved 1192 Fulton Avenue at Engine 42                        1904
    Battalion 17 moved 491 E 166th Street at Combined Engine 50          1905 
    Battalion 17 moved 1259 Morris Avenue at Engine 92                        1956
    Battalion 17 moved 453 E 176th Street at Rescue 3                          1997
    Battalion 17 moved 1259 Morris Avenue at Engine 92                        1998
 

1259 Morris Avenue firehouse:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


Engine 92:

   

   

   

   


Ladder 44:

   

   

   

   

   

   
   
   

   

   

   

   


Engine 92/Ladder 44:

   


Battalion 17:

   


Engine 92/Ladder 44, Battalion 17:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDQYR5VjzWs

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPYAXvjCK6A

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiZ0OB1nhk

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gZ5HKu_ssc

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcdZ5xutyEc

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMmsZl1yaNY


FDNY Medals - Battalion 17:

    DANIEL A. DEASY BAT. CHIEF BAT. 17 1940 MC ELLIGOTT

          BC Deasy assisted the London Fire Brigade, at extreme personal risk, October 1939-January 1941 during an official visit to England to study war-time firefighting tactics and to assist British fire services.  BC Deasy assisted the London Fire Brigade battle nightly fires while the city was under attack due to incendiary bombs during fire raids. 

    ROBERT F. CHAPMAN FF. BAT. 17 JUN. 4, 1954 TODD

    WILLIAM R. MULCAHEY LT. BAT. 17 L-44 AUG. 16, 1988 BROOKMAN


FDNY Medals - Engine 92:

    BERNARD F. CURRAN FF. ENG. 92 JAN. 30, 1954 JAMES GORDON BENNETT

          896 Fox Street, Bronx

    GEORGE E. MULLER FF. ENG. 92 ACT. E307 JAN. 4, 1979 FIRE CHIEFS

          26-12 96th Street, Queens

    ENGINE 92 MAR.4, 1989 ELSASSER

          902 Morris Avenue

          LT Mulcahey, FF Galarza, FF Matthews, FF Scally, FF Schader, FF South

    ROBERT J. BERGIN FF. ENG. 92 NOV. 13, 1989 DOLNEY

        1110 Washington Avenue, Bronx

    ENG. 92 JUN 27, 2006 CURRAN/NY FIREFIGHTERS BURN CENTER

          1161 Sherman Avenue, Bronx

          LT Reginella, FF Maglerle, FF Hollingsworth, FF Ward, FF Falsone, FF Ryan

    VINCENT MCMAHON, LT. ENG. 92 (COV) JAN 24, 2007  KANE
         
          975 Sherman Avenue, Bronx


FDNY Medals - Ladder 44:

    RICHARD H. CODY FF. LAD. 44 DEC. 17, 1968 PRENTICE

          1767 Clay Avenue, Bronx

    GERALD W. CRABTREE FF. LAD. 44 JUN 17, 1968 WAGNER

          1001 Findlay Avenue, Bronx
   
    HERBERT V. ROHLFING LT. LAD. 44 JUL. 6, 1976 LA GUARDIA

          1403 Grand Concourse, Bronx

    GEORGE T. DALEY FF. LAD. 44 SEP. 2, 1978 GOLDENKRANZ

          1340 Nelson Avenue, Bronx

    ALBERT W. SCHNEIDER FF. LAD. 44 MAR. 24, 1978 DOUGHERTY

          1432 University Avenue, Bronx

    MICHAEL E. LAMBERT FF. LAD. 44 SEP. 29, 1983 FIRE CHIEFS

          38 Marcy Place, Bronx

         

    JOSEPH F. MAHONEY FF. LAD. 44 APR. 3, 1984 DOUGHERTY

          1189 Sheridan Avenue, Bronx

       

    JAMES J. GALLAGHER  LT. LAD. 44 DEC. 8, 1984 DELEHANTY

          1325 Walton Avenue, Bronx

       

    JOHN J. CRONLEY FF. LAD. 44 DEC. 8, 1984 FDR

          1325 Walton Avenue, Bronx

         

    ROBERT DI TRANI FF. LAD. 44 APR. 3, 1984 SIGNAL 77

          1189 Sheridan Avenue, Bronx
       
         

    JAMES J. GALLAGHER LT. LAD. 44 MAR. 9, 1985 COLUMBIA

          1066 Morris Avenue Avenue, Bronx

       

    JOSEPH F. MAHONEY FF. LAD. 44 MAR. 9, 1985 KANE

          1066 Morris Avenue, Bronx

         

    FRANCIS W. MANNION, JR. FF. LAD. 44 JUN. 14, 1988 STIEFEL

          233 176th Street, Bronx

    JOSEPH D. DI MARTINO FF. LAD. 44 JAN. 1, 1988 FDR

          1350 University Avenue, Bronx

    DOUGLAS M. GEHRT FF. LAD. 44 JUL. 4, 1989 CRIMMINS

          1254 Morris Avenue, Bronx

    DOUGLAS M. GEHRT FF. LAD. 44 NOV. 26, 1990 HONOR LEGION

          1011 Sheridan Avenue, Bronx

    LAD. 44 JUL. 4, 1990 ELSASSER

          1631 Walton Avenue, Bronx

          LT Wasco, FF Alfano (Bn 18), FF Dougherty, FF Kitson, FF Velten, FF Kuhr (L 49)

    ALEXANDER HAGAN CAPT. LAD. 44 (COV.) JAN. 16, 1993 MC ELLIGOTT

          1534 Selywyn Avenue

    RICHARD JOHNSON FF. LAD. 44 DEC. 18, 1993 HISPANIC

          1504 Sheridan Avenue, Bronx

    CHARLES E. MALARA FF. LAD. 44 (L 51) SEP. 13, 1994 BROOKMAN

          3804 Greystone Avenue, Bronx

    JOHN T. CONROY FF. LAD. 44 (R-3) NOV. 25, 1996 CRIMMINS

          30 Hamilton Place, Manhattan

         

    BRIAN J. MC CARTHY CAPT. LAD. 44 JAN. 28, 1996 KRIDEL

          1368 Webster Avenue, Bronx

         

    JOHN F. SOUTH, FF. LAD. 44 MAY 3, 2000 JAMES GORDON BENNETT/FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION

          288 E 168th Street

          NY Daily News Jun7, 2000  "Firefighter John South of Ladder Company 44 in the Bronx won the James Gordon Bennett Medal, the highest honor, for rescuing a 33-year-old man from the rubble of a collapsed garage last May. The roof had fallen almost completely to the floor - a condition firefighters call a "pancake" collapse. After he and fellow firefighters cleared away the debris, South crawled into the wreckage to free the man. When the first victim was moved to safety, South went back into the rubble to find a second victim, who did not survive. Firefighter Dan Perrella, also of Ladder Company 44, was honored with the Emily Trevor/Mary B. Warren Medal for assisting South. The crowd roared when South stepped up to receive his medal with his wife, Sally, and children John Jr., 18, and Gina, 14. "I am very humbled and honored," South said after the ceremony."

    DANIEL PERRELLA, FF. LAD. 44 MAY 3, 2000 TREVOR

          288 E 168th Street

          Dan Perrella, Ladder Company 44, was honored with the Emily Trevor/Mary B. Warren Medal for assisting  FF South rescue 2 victims from a collapsed structure.

    JAMES W. WATTERSON, FF, LAD 44 MAY 7, 2000 SCOTT

          1560 Grand Concourse Boulevard, Bronx

    BRIAN FOX, FF. LAD. 44  JUL. 19, 2003  BOOKMAN

          1455 Townsend Avenue, Bronx

          "Firehouse"  July 21, 2003  At Least 17 People Injured in Bronx Apartment Building Fire

              "There was a fire in an apartment building in the Bronx on Saturday. At least 17 people were injured, including five firefighters when they braved the flames to save those trapped inside.
The fire had spread into the staircases and hallways. Smoke was everywhere too, forcing families back inside their apartments. An infant baby girl was among those rescued by firefighters.
Deputy Chief Bob Busch, FDNY: "Probably what happened is that they opened the door and the heat was so intense and hot it just blew them backwards...knocked them out. I don't think they had much of a chance."
Firefighter Brian Fox with Ladder 44 was making his way to the sixth floor. He opened a door to find three generations of one family all unconscious, burned in a smoky room.
Firefighter Brian Fox, FDNY Rescue 3: "The baby and mother were on the couch...the grandmother was laying on the ground. They were real lethargic. I tried to communicate to the mother that help would be here shortly...that I would take the baby to safety."
Fox grabbed the 5-month old baby girl and rushed her down six flights of stairs to a waiting ambulance. At the same time, firefighters with Rescue 3 were going inside the apartment from the window.
Firefighter Stuart Keane, FDNY Rescue 3: "I forced the gate into the apartment and found the mother on the couch...and Tommy found the other female in the apartment."
Firefighter Tom Bohn, FDNY Rescue 3: "The grandmother was in the corner of the living room by the T.V. She was unconscious with second to third degree burns...shoulders...arms...back."
Firefighters had to wrap the grandmother in netting so that they could carry her down from the top floor. Five firefighters were hurt battling the blaze and getting everyone out successfully.
Capt. Dennis McCool, FDNY: "Everything worked out great with Brian today...I mean...he did a great job. He had all his skills and tools he used. From what I understand, the baby has been downgraded to stable condition and she's going to make it."
The baby has been upgraded to stable condition and is a Cornell Medical Center. Her mother and grandmother are not doing as well. They have second and third degree burns.
As for the cause of the fire, fire marshals are investigating arson. They believe someone set a third floor couch on fire that was in the hallway."

    THOMAS P. MAXWELL, FF. LAD. 44  MAY 28, 2004 SCOTT

          1269 Sheridan Avenue, Bronx

    LOUIS MANCUSO, FF. LAD.44 MAR. 5, 2005 FIRE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION

          1711 Morris Avenue, Bronx

          "Chief Leader - June 13, 2006

          Among the honorees at last week's Fire Department Medal Day ceremony was Louis Mancuso, an eight-year veteran of the FDNY whose father, Nick, is a former president of the Uniformed Firefighters' Association.
On March 5, 2005, Firefighter Mancuso (who since has been promoted to Lieutenant), teamed with Lieut. John Dooley to pull a 71-year-old woman to safety from a burning apartment at 1711 Morris Ave. in The Bronx. The woman, Christine Brockington, suffered severe burns, but as the FDNY awards program noted, Mr. Mancuso's "courage and selfless actions in a dangerous situation without the protection of a charged hose-line helped save this woman."

    Among those basking in his honor, not surprisingly, was his father, who after retiring from the FDNY spent more than a decade as a top official at Teamsters Local 237 and is currently doing consulting work for the UFA.
The elder Mancuso, who like his son worked out of Ladder Co. 44, stood outside Pace University following the ceremony alongside UFA President Steve Cassidy and said of Louis, "He demonstrates what everybody does every day in the department. We're kinda proud of him."

    "Kinda proud?" Mr. Cassidy teased him. "Very proud," Nick Mancuso amended."

    JOHN DOOLEY, LT. LAD. 44 MAR. 5, 2005 PRENTICE

          1711 Morris Avenue, Bronx

          LT Dooley and FF Mancuso rescued a 71-year-old woman from a burning apartment.

    MICHAEL R. HEFNER, LAD. 44 DEC. 28, 2008 DELEHANTY

          1848 Monroe Avenue, Bronx

         

    ANDREW F. MAGENHEIM FF. LAD. 44 FEB. 1, 2014  ROTHMAN

         

    JONATHAN A. KAPPEL  FF. LAD. 44 APR. 23, 2016  PRENTICE

          Box 75-2763, Bronx

         


Engine 92/Ladder 44 LODDs:

    FIREFIGHTER JAMES C. FARLEY ENGINE 92 December 16, 1947

          FF Farley suffered a fatal heart attack while operating at an alarm.  He was an 18 year veteran.

    FIREFIGHTER ARTHUR G. HANSON LADDER 44 April 4, 1956

         
   
          On April 4, 1956, six firemen were killed when the marquee and wall of a former movie theater collapsed into the street. Lieutenant Lieutenant John F. Molloy, Firemen Edward J. Carroll and Fred Hellauer of Engine 48, Firemen William Hoolan, and Arthur Hanson of Ladder 44 and Fireman Charles Infosino of the Headquarters Staff were killed while operating at 4063 Third Avenue. The building was being used by an artificial flower concern. At the time it was the second largest lost of life to hit the Fire Department. The four-alarm fire started in the basement and was fed by highly combustible coloring materials. A dozen men were standing under the marquee directing water into the building with three men on a ladder against the wall. The two iron bars holding the marquee melted and it started falling in slow motion, taking the front wall with it. Shouts of warning were heard and firemen started scrambling in all directions. A few men ran into the wall while most ran away. Those who ran into the wall were slightly injured and those who ran away were buried under tons of debris. Firemen Hoolan and Hanson were both on the ladder and were crushed when the wall fell on them. Lieutenant Molloy, Firemen Carroll, Hellauer and Infosino were located under the marquee. Eight other firemen were injured in the collapse. Fireman Carroll?s father, John Carroll, was a member of the Department and made the Supreme Sacrifice on April 28, 1935.

    FIREFIGHTER WILLIAM P. HOOLAN LADDER 44 April 4, 1956

         

          3rd Ave. Bronx Collapse
          April 4th, 1956 Box 4-4- 2904
          Six killed 13 injured
          Greatest loss of firefighter life in a Bronx collapse
          Occupancy: furniture store and artificial flower factory (It was never a movie theatre)
          Building Construction: One story 125' by 75', ordinary construction.
          Location of fire: Fire started in the cellar and spread up the walls
          Forty pieces of apparatus and 150 firefighters responded
          Cause of fire: unknown
          Cause of collapse: Marquee failed and pulled down parapet wall

         

         

         

         

         

         

          http://nyfd.com/3rd_ave_4-4-56.html

          http://www.firegroundleadership.com/2016/04/04/lessons-from-the-fireground-third-avenue-collapse-fdny-1956/

    FIREFIGHTER DONALD L. FRANKLIN LADDER 44 January 13, 2001

          Died of a heart attack an hour after fighting a fire in a Bronx tenement building.

          On January 13, 2001, a 42-year-old male Fire Fighter responded to a fire in a five-story apartment building. On-scene, wearing full turnout gear and his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)(not on air), he climbed his aerial ladder, performed roof ventilation, and then entered the fire building to search for fire victims and perform overhaul. After approximately 15 minutes on the fire floor, he returned to ground level where he conversed with crew members, walked to the rehabilitation unit, and rested on his apparatus. At this time he began to feel lightheaded. Crew members administered oxygen while ambulance personnel on the scene were summoned. Just as the paramedic arrived he collapsed. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support (ALS) administered by crew members, ambulance paramedics, and personnel at the local hospital's emergency department (ED), the victim died. The death certificate, completed by the Medical Examiner's Office listed "hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease" as the immediate cause of death and "smoke inhalation"

          http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/sad-tears-bravest-6-000-mourn-bx-firefighter-article-1.910876

          https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200247.html


    RIP.  Never forget.


Concourse, South Bronx:

   

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concourse,_Bronx












   
    - Thanks to Historian Ed Kelly for Engine 92/Ladder 44 historical information

 

[mack]

CAPT Al Hagan - LT Ladder 44 1987-1990

"The Chief" - A Good Fireman? On His Way Out Reflects On Jobs Well Done

    By SARAH DORSEY Aug 29, 2014

    Fire Captain and Uniformed Fire Officers Association President Alexander Hagan is retiring Aug. 30 after 35 years in the field, one year on the union executive board and five years as president. He was described by a board member and other union presidents as a natural leader who is effective because he uses humor and a self-effacing manner to bring people together.

    Alexander Hagan last week had already removed all of his personal photos from his office: the many snaps of his family, but also the one that captured himself in a very different time?in gym shorts as a young man who competed in five marathons when he wasn?t fighting fires.
As he got ready to retire on Aug. 30, the Uniformed Fire Officers Association president and Fire Captain, now 64, looked back fondly on a time when on nice days, he sometimes ran the 13 miles to work.

Smoke Took a Toll

    Those days have slipped past, ended by a bum knee and the chronic bronchitis and cough that have plagued him for more than a decade. The lung problems recently sparked a diagnosis of reactive airway disease, a condition that can result from exposure to noxious substances and that has been called ?occupational asthma.? Mr. Hagan said he might have gotten it even if he hadn?t spent months cleaning up at the World Trade Center site after Sept. 11.

?My Fair Share of Feeds?

    ?In the Fire Department, when you get exposed to a lot of smoke, they call it ?taking a feed,??? he said, noting that his 35 years in the field were spent in the South Bronx and Spanish Harlem, two of the city?s busiest areas for fire in the ?70s and ?80s. ?I will tell you, I?ve been to many, many fires and I took more than my fair share of feeds. So a little bit of reactive lung disease is not that bad.?

    He came on the job during what firefighters call the ?war years?: a decade when 97 percent of the buildings in seven Bronx census tracts were lost to fire or abandonment.
Those conditions may be foreign to new Firefighters today, when the number of structural fires and the fatalities they cause are at all-time lows, but the department then was going through a similar period of diversification.

Started At Turbulent Time

    In 1973, the year Mr. Hagan entered the firehouse, a Federal Judge had just declared that the entrance exam had an adverse impact on blacks and Latinos, was not job-related and needed to be revised. He implemented a three-to-one quota system under which one minority candidate had to be hired for every three white candidates appointed from the list. The percentage of African-Americans in the department was just 3 percent?roughly what it was three years ago when Judge Nicholas Garaufis made the same characterization and went a step further, declaring the FDNY to have intentionally discriminated against people of color for decades and appointing a Federal monitor to oversee hiring.
Hundreds of active and retired firefighters formally objected to Mr. Garaufis?s decision, in writing or in two-minute statements given in the courtroom, and many predicted that with the revision of the test, standards would plummet and the quality of the firefighting force would be compromised.

Doesn?t Fear for Future

    Mr. Hagan said he?s a strong supporter of the merit system?he paraphrased George Washington Plunkitt, the flamboyant leader of the Tammany Hall political machine a century ago, a book of whose sayings Mr. Hagan is fond of handing out to colleagues and reporters as background on the importance of a strong civil service.
?I honestly believe that drink is the greatest curse of the day, except, of course, civil service, and that it has driven more young men to ruin than anything except civil-service examinations,? Mr. Plunkitt once said.
   
    But despite the dire predictions by Judge Garaufis?s detractors who believe his ruling subverts the merit system, Mr. Hagan said of the new diversity effort, ?I think that everything will be fine.?

?Quality, Attitude Great?

    ?From what I?ve seen, the quality of the new people is high and the attitude is great, it?s terrific. They want to be firemen. They love the Fire Department as much as or more than anyone else. And that?s what you need.?

    At his first firehouse, Engine 36 in East Harlem, hazing was still the few-holds-barred institution that was discouraged in later years and that former Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano formally banned in May 2013.

    ?They treated you like a scullery maid,? Mr. Hagan said, likening it to Mr. Miyagi?s treatment of Daniel at the beginning of the ?Karate Kid? movie. Probies had to clean the whole firehouse??they learn to wax on, wax off??as well as the company?s tools, which Mr. Hagan said helped them identify them and remember where on a rig each piece is stored.

Pranks for the Memories

    Mr. Cassano?s anti-hazing order called for ?dignity and respect? for new members; he wrote that ?there are no such things as pranks, because somebody may take something a different way than somebody else.?

    The prohibition may not include assigning extra work duties to probies?the Uniformed Firefighters Association at the time complained that its scope was unclear?but it certainly covers a classic prank described by Mr. Hagan in which a probie would be called to the bottom of the fire pole. When he looked up, his colleagues would drop a bucket of water, and then a bucket of flour.
During his stint at Engine 36 in the quota era, Mr. Hagan said one minority probie came in who was initially given ?the same hard time they gave me,? only he took ?maybe a little more? guff for being a quota hire.

He Grew on Them

    Within weeks, he said, ?Whatever initial resentment and trepidation there was melted in the heat. He was willing to be good at his job. He was willing to take the pain.?
Firefighting is a very experience-driven job, he added; no one understands the way a fire moves until she?s seen dozens of them. So for a newbie, ?it?s all about heart and willingness.?
Hazing, whatever remnants persist after Mr. Cassano?s ban, can affect people differently when they come from a different neighborhood or gender or ethnicity and don?t have mentors like them who they see are no longer being singled out, Mr. Hagan acknowledged. He said it?s a Captain?s job to set the limits on what?s acceptable?and he believes that the era of surprise showers at the fire pole are over.

?He?s a Unifier?

    Captain Hagan may have been particularly suited to set such limits and have them be respected. Battalion Chief John Dunne, a former UFOA executive board member who served with Mr. Hagan and four other presidents, called him the kind of leader who ?has the ability to get people on the same page that he is on...he always had us pointed in the right direction and you?d see that he was right and you?d get behind him.

    ?He had a united executive board,? he added. ?And that?s not easy to do, nine guys pulling in the same direction.?
Mr. Hagan was elected by the membership as Captain?s representative in 2008, and then elected president of the 2,700-member union unanimously by his executive board five years in a row. Before he came on board, the union?s governing body was deeply divided, Mr. Dunne said, and part of the change was due to Mr. Hagan?s leadership style.
?We discussed everything,? and often made decisions together, he said. ?It was very collaborative.?
Keeping his board informed was the first item Mr. Hagan cited when discussing how he operated as president, and he maintained that his missteps occurred on the occasions when he didn?t follow their advice.  Such modesty seemed to fit with Mr. Dunne?s depiction of him winning over people with his self-effacing nature.

    ?And he?s got a great way of articulating that is unique to him,? Mr. Dunne said. ?He tells you just like it is, he doesn?t pull any punches.?
He later added, ?I think even Bloomberg liked him, I mean personally.?

Weathered Mayor?s Cuts
   
    Much of Mr. Hagan?s energy, of course, was concentrated on fighting the annual defunding of fire companies that former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in each of his last five years in office claimed was necessary due to budget cuts. (The money was restored each year by the City Council, after pressure by the fire unions.) Mr. Hagan invited each City Council member to his local threatened company and educated him on the unique tools and techniques of its members, Mr. Dunne said. But he avoided personal attacks, on either the Mayor or the Fire Commissioner, who he acknowledged was the Mayor?s representative and not an autonomous figure.

    He also, Mr. Dunne said, set a ?one-man, one-job? policy at the board, allowing each member to more effectively focus on one goal; began holding popular retiree meetings and ensured that they got the same aid as active firefighters for Hurricane Sandy damage; significantly added to a scholarship fund for the children of active members who die; and boosted the union?s focus on political action.

Got Members Involved

    ?Participation by UFOA members in political action increased a lot during Al?s tutelage,? Mr. Dunne said. ?We turn out members for literature drops, phone banks?we?ll have hundreds of guys working citywide for the people we endorsed.?

    The board during Mr. Hagan?s term also set up a political education fund, which Mr. Hagan said 98 percent of members contribute to. He is of the mind that a union?s political work should be focused not on general social issues but on matters that directly affect all members: salaries, benefits and working conditions.
According to Mr. Dunne, every elected official they endorsed was first interviewed by the entire board before each election. Those who voted for the reduced pension benefits under Tier 6 in 2012 had a tough time the following interview.

    ?We had a term for how they were verbally treated by Al: they were Haganized,? he said, claiming that at least one official left in tears over his questioning.

Cops Among His Fans

    Mr. Hagan is reportedly well-liked among many union officials, and helped solidify an alliance with police superior officer unions into a bargaining coalition.

    Michael J. Palladino, the president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, paid tribute to Mr. Hagan?s famous schedule, adopted during the days he was studying for his promotion exams and woke daily before dawn.
?
    I?ve always been very impressed by the leadership of the UFOA, Hagan included. I think Al is a very knowledgeable, solid union leader and I am going to miss his wit, his sense of humor and of course, his 5 a.m. e-mails,? he said.

?A Labor Legend?

    Roy Richter, president of the Captains? Endowment Association, said, ?So you?re doing a piece on a legend, huh? There?s a couple of legends in labor and I think Al Hagan?s one of them.?
He said he admired his ability to get a point across with a mixture of humor and forcefulness, and said he had become ?one of the main players in the union business? by forging strong ties with labor umbrella groups including the AFL-CIO and the Municipal Labor Committee.

    ?Al Hagan brings a presence to the table that is unmatched in labor circles,? Mr. Richter said.
Mr. Hagan cited as his biggest disappointment that he wasn?t able to negotiate a contract, accusing the Bloomberg administration of bad-faith bargaining.

Mr. Dunne offered perhaps the highest praise.

Honest Al?

    ?I said to him, ?You?re the only man other than my father that I?ve ever said ?I love you? to,? he recalled, later calling Mr. Hagan ?a mensch,? ?a ball-breaker? and ?Lincoln-like.? He added that the company he still officially leads until Aug. 30, Ladder 43, was widely recognized as one of the best in the city, thanks in part to his leadership.

?One of the highest compliments we in the FDNY can pay to another is, ?He was a good fireman,?? he added.

The UFOA will hold an election the first week of September to choose a replacement from among the executive board.


   

 

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HqZX2C6KT8