Taking "Brotherhood" to the FDNY and so much more …CONTINUED!

This is “Part 2” of my post on our latest visit to New York City and the FDNY. It’s continued form yesterday …

See PART 1 of this post by clicking HERE

So, we get to Hoboken’s Headquarters and Battalion Chief Greene is waiting to greet us. The City of Hoboken has some GREAT looking houses. They are old and you can tell. Some may say they look like crap or are “dumps” but I beg to differ. These houses hold history and tradition. THEY ARE HISTORY ! That’s why they are “houses” and not “stations”.

So anyway, the first thing Chief Greene does is shake my hand and give me a Challenge Coin!

He felt bad when I gave him a Brotherhood Chip the night before and caught him with empty pockets.

They didn’t sell beer in the firehouse so he bought me a cup of coffee ….LOL

Their coins look GREAT!

Actually, I can’t think of a coin Rhett or I have received that I thought didn’t look good. Some stand out a little more than others. Sometimes it where or who it came from while with others, it the engraving, logo or phrase on the coin.

Hoboken’s is solid all the way around.

Another example of how Department’s such as Hoboken and members such as Chief Greene “GET IT”.

PRIDE, HONOR, TRADITION, RESPECT and BROTHERHOOD !

I wish my Department had a coin. With everything else we brag on … we should!

 

So, we got a tour, ate some stale doughnuts (bagels..LOL) and shared a cup of coffee up in dispatch.

That was another cool thing about this house. It was a house … the Headquarters .. and their dispatch center! There was a retired Jake manning the dispatch console. If anyone had a question, they asked him (sorry … can’t remember his name).

That’s him sitting to the far left…working (that’s Battalion Chief Greene in the center).

I’m thinking… how cool is this? The dispatcher is retired from the job. Who better to fill this position?

Now, our guys and gals do a wonderful job but this Brother has an advantage. He knows what he’s hearing. He knows the job .. what we want, need and are asking for. Sounds too simple I guess?

Anyway, we were having a great visit.

Before long, Zach was in the Chief’s office working his magic. Next thing you know, Hoboken made a large purchase of MN8-FoxFire Products! These members are really going to be pleased and impressed! It’s also a great feeling for me, Zach and Rhett. We know what these products can do as far as giving us an extra “tool” for visibility, orientation and accountability!  What an honor it is to be in a position to help or Brother and Sister Firefighters operate more safely !

THANKS to Chief Greene and the Hoboken  FD for the hospitality ! We look forward to seeing you all again.

So, we left Hoboken Headquarters and wanted to celebrate.

I was looking for a bar to buy us all an ice cold beer.

Zach and Rhett ?? ….. well …. their minds were somewhere else …A BAKERY ?!?!?!  WTF? ( No Chief “G” …NOT   “Well Trained Firefighters” ..LOL )

Apparently, this place is famous or something. They have some kind of TV show or something where they cook a bunch of fancy cookies and cakes. The Cake Boss ?  You can CLICK HERE to learn more.

I guess it’s kinda like the time when Rhett made us stop at some Jersey Shore place to look for Spookie (or whatever her name is). All I know is that Zach and Rhett were very excited to see the chair these people sit in to talk about cooking or whatever. Me??? not so excited but I do have to admit that it makes me feel good to see my two Brothers happy and excited so I guess it was worth the time to stop.

After their sugar fix, we got back to work.  We loaded up and headed to Queens!

Our first stop was Rescue 4….AGAIN… MY EMOTIONS WOULD SURFACE.

I have often wrote about my good friend and Brother Captain Todd Stone and our travels to ride a long with the FDNY back “in the day”. Rescue 4 was a regular ride for us.

Being in this house, and even back the day before while in Rescue 2 with the roof hatches open; my thoughts often drift to a photo I have of Firefighter Pete Mclaughlin while riding R4.

Every run, Pete would stand on the side shelves with his head up through the roof hatch. Todd and I have some GREAT pictures in the back of that rig with Pete and many more of  Rescue 4’s elite.I think of those times / rides often.

Firefighter Pete Mclaughlin was killed in The Line of Duty on October 8, 1995 just a week or so after our last ride with R4. He was caught in a flash over with collapse. Later, they would name a street in Queen in honor and memory of Pete. You can read a small related article by clicking  HERE . WELL DONE BROTHER … continue to Rest in Peace and thanks again for the ride!

After leaving Rescue 4, we headed out to what used to be know in the FDNY as “Red Square” …. aka their “shops”.

The members called it “Red Square” because it’s an entire city block in size. That’s a New York City “block” and it was always surrounded on all 4 sides by broken down fire trucks … RED ones (hint..hint Swoope Vol. Fire Company, Roanoke County Fire / Rescue and more…LOL)

We got some UNBELIEVABLE tours here!

 

Shops, tool rooms etc … this place was HUGE! Not only was it big …. the folks inside seemed to know what they were doing / talking about ! IMAGINE THAT !

I was as excited as my wife and daughters get inside a Walmart … I was like a kid in a candy store (or Rhett and Zach in Carlo’s Bake Shop..LOL).

OMG this place was AMAZING !

The only place you’ll see as much or more apparatus in one place at the same time is at Firehouse Expo, FRI, FDIC or the like!

Tools???? Walls and WALLS … shelves on top of SHELVES full of em!

I know the FDNY is the largest in the world but all I’ve ever seen is one house etc at a time. I guess it took seeing the shops to actually realize the scope of what they have to deal with. They have more pieces out of service for repair than we do in service in the whole valley!

Anyway, I didn’t let em see me catch too many flies due to my mouth being wide open in awe and they gave us another fantastic tour. Rhett, Zach and I could sit and talk to members like the shop’s staff  all day long .

We pulled out for a quick lunch on the go and headed out to the FDNY Training Center … THE ROCK ! Our day got even better.

TO BE CONTINUED …….

Read the 3rd and final part by clicking HERE