OLD BKLYN BOXES.

[68jk09]

Some history....BKLYN Boxes on Sumner Av (now Marcus Garvey) were always strange in assignments....in the '60s the Avenues like Ried, Lewis,Sumner,Throop,Marcy,Nostrand etc were all two way streets......the odd thing about Sumner was that LAD*108 (aka "A Hundred N Eight"....."The Big Eight"....."Siegel Eagles").......was 1st Due along Sumner to Hart then 2nd alarm down to almost Fulton St.(906 Sumner & Hancock..908 Sumner & Macon.....dont remember about 910 Sumner & Decatur ) but in between was 2nd due at 902 Sumner & Monroe & 904 Sumner & Putnam bypassing 691 Sumner & Dekalb..689 Sumner & Lafayette..687 Sumner & Greene..& 685 Sumner & Quincy on these 4 boxes LAD*102 was 2nd due....strange passing 4 2nd alarm boxes to get to 2 2nd due ones.....when the Avenues were made One Way we were given the 4 boxes in between 2nd due.....in those days with all the running it did not really matter who was 1st or 2nd due as a lot of times Units were out of quarters so whoever arrived 1st was first & 2nd was second.....not all boxes had 2 Trucks at all times (as they well should today)......& there was no FAST Unit so the one Truck that was on the Second alarm went to work........the method i remember that was used by Alarm Assignment then to calculate distance to boxes then was similar to a cookie cutter & measured distance when rolled on a large map.....(even though computers are used today ...i do not think all the variables are factored in)......from Siegel St. a right on Humboldt St then across Flushing Ave then a short block of Sumner Place to Broadway where Sumner started.......from the Union Ave qtrs it was just about the same straight down Broadway to Sumner .....but the boxes did change somewhat farther down Sumner.......nothing to do w/Sumner but another odd one was ....on Siegel St. we were 1st due all along Broadway to & including box 776 Ried Av & Bdwy. then we went to 2nd alarm w/no 2nd due in between........ we always got along well with 102 & 111 & had healthy competition......you win some you lose some. 

 

[nfd2004]

There was a McDonalds at Broadway near Reid (I think). That was my buff hang out in 1976, 1977. Caught a lot of jobs, espically in those Row Frames and Brownstones. As I remember I think that McDonalds had a pretty good job in it. I think it got closed down after that. I don't even know if its still there.

  All those streets as posted above always had jobs on them. And there was a LOT OF THEM Then. Some very busy outfits in the neighborhood.

 

[firstdue2dq]

Alex Donchins book "FIRST DUE" is full of photos from the area of Brooklyn 68jk09 describes from 1959-1979

 

[guitarman314]

Great book, one of my favorites

 

[68jk09]

That is an excellent pictorial history book of the Williamsburg /BedStuy areas '59 to '79......Al was a real gentlman......&......any money he got from the numerous pictures that appeared in the daily papers he would throw on the table towards the evening meal at SQ*3 & ENG*230 where he rode.........for almost every photo in the book he had 5 or 6 more accompanying shots before & after or from different angles......there were many binders full of 8 x10 s in the kitchen there.......if it was not for the fact that he also worked a full time job i would bet his collection of photos would be twice as big..........he passed away a few years ago. RIP AL.

 

[guitarman314]

I read somewhere that he was in an auto accident and the members of E230 did not know he had passed away.

 

[vbcapt]

Willy D sure knows where those McDonalds are located.  ;D

 

[fdce54]

Willy D had better NOT go on a diet or McDonalds stock will surely PLUNGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D

 

[grumpy grizzly]

I am a little confused. I have FIRST DUE by Al Donchin but my cover is different. It shows a single FDNY member carrying several lengths of hose.

 

[68jk09]

GG ...good question .....mine is the same as yours.??

 

[grumpy grizzly]

I think we have the same book. The INSIDE cover shows a member stretching a booster line in an attempt to cool down a TL. For a check pg 133 is 2-2-236 Union@Lynch,  ancient Civil War  warehouse

 

[68jk09]

Yes your book is the same as mine.....that job at Union & Lynch burned the paint off & melted all the lights on one side of LAD*108 s rig........there was 2 shots of it on one of the sites that someone put a link up to....i was not working that day.

 

[firstdue2dq]

gg and jk i just took a pic of the inside cover because I liked that photo better than the front cover. jk were you at any of these jobs featured on the book? i can try to scan the photos if you have the page #s

 

[nfd2004]

As to the question of the McDonalds, I was drawn to the Micky D's in the ghettos like a magnet.

  On the Book, "First Due" that sure has some excellent photos. I never meet Alex Donchin, but I was always told that he really was a Great Guy. I believe he worked for the NYC Sanatation Dept and had a special love for the FDNY, espically those busy Brooklyn Companies.

  Rest in Peace Alex, your work is still appreciated by many.

 

[johnd248]

I met Alex Donchin several times back in the day.  Both he and his book are awesome.