nfd2004

Yes, The Spot is located next to the orginial Pepes and I do believe it was put in there to handle the over flow. Same pie and some of the same employees. I guess I looked at that as an "addition" to Pepes, and not another Pepes. My cousin and I would always order the same thing. Two large pictures of beer, two dozen raw clams on the half shell, (Yes, in those Great Days, they sold the Qua Hog"s), and that Large Special Pie with all the Goodies. Libby"s is Great too. But in my younger years, after a Pepe Throwdown, came time to visit the many bars and hit on a few ladies. Who"s got the Best Steamed Cheeseburgers, is somebody else"s call.

For those Pepe Pizza Fans, word is that Pepes is planning on expanding. The orginial was started in 1925 (yes, actually before I was born) on Wooster St in New Haven. For about 70 or 80 years, that was the only Pepes until the second one opened up in Fairfield, Ct to help eliminite the huge crowds that would gather outside waiting to get their favorite pie. Shortly after another one opened up in Manchaster, Ct at the Blue Hills Mall area. Most recently on July 1, 2009, the Fourth Pepes opened up at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Ct. When the Pepes opens in the Fall (2009) in Yonkers, N.Y., it will be the first one to open in NY State. I"ve heard that other Pepes will be opening up in Danbury, and Enfield, Ct and in NewRoc City, NY. When the Pepes opens in Yonkers, I"ve invited "r1smokeater" and "jpinto" to join me in one, two, or three, of Pepes Famous Large Meat Specials with all the works. I hope they"ll take me up on it. But once we sit down, it doesn"t matter how many fire trucks go by, we DON"T LEAVE. As a kid in the 1950s my parents would take me to Pepes. Funny thing, I didn"t like pizza in those days, but I sure do now. Guess thats why I was skinny then and I"m so fat now. But there was a Waiter then whose first name was Sal. He would wait on us then. As a teenager, I"d go there and Sal would wait on us. I brought my wife there on our first date in 1975, and Sal waited on us. As the many years went on, Sal always waited on us. Sadly Sal passed away at age 89. I think he started working there when he was 18 years old. I believe he was still waiting on customers and working until he died. They would be closed on Mondays and I guess that was the only time Sal was off. He was really a Great guy. They even named the street after him in his honor. He was known by generations who would go to Pepes. He was good to Eveybody. If you go there, I believe they have a few pictures of him on the wall. He was the Greatest.

For me its hard to believe that was 40 years ago. It was a Huge step for America and the country was very proud. Sadly today (7/17/09) we lost Walter Cronkite. I remember sitting by the TV with my two brothers when he announced that "We had Landed on the Moon". He had tears in his eyes when he said that. He was age 92. (He also announced when President John Kennedy Died of his bullet wound in Dallas).

You Got That Right my friend.

Yes, those two scumbags got the right sentencing. Glad they"re off the street forever before they tried to take down a civilian or another police officer. The police officers of this country have my "Highest Respect". You have a very tough, thankless job out there guys.You must sometimes feel you are in this all alone. Well, there are many good people out there on your side, and respect you for what you do. "We say Thank You" !!!! And for the garbage that was killed by the other officers, I"m sure their FREE Lawyers are already hard at work for "Their Families". But what about the officers that are in the hospital now, some with critical injuries. Who"s taking care of "Their Families" ? ? ? For those officers and their families that are all suffering right now, please try to be strong and have faith that everything will turn out okay.

Yes Smokeater, I see what you are talking about. There certainly is a difference.

It certainly is becoming more apparent that a lot more depts are looking for Paramedic Certification. Anybody looking to get on the job as a Firefighter should seriously look into that. At least in Connecticut its becoming more of a trend. I"d guess that maybe half the depts that have given test recently have required it. I know in the dept I retired from, recently gave a test, and this was the "FIRST TIME" EMT was required. Also CPAT is a must and military service/college is favored. Not a bad idea to get a few of those Firefighter Exam books to practice with either. For anybody trying to get on the job, its a lot of work, but well worth it the day they swear you in. And remember, its not just passing all the test. Its about who scores the highest overall. Another point is that these depts are not looking to hire a Chief. They are looking to hire a "Probie Firefighter". They aren"t looking for somebody to tell them how to run the dept. Based on my experience, being Honest and Humble will get you a lot farther. Best of Luck Guys. And don"t give up.

Thank You very much "RWC130" for those kind words. Of course "r1smokeater" is the guy that has done all the work to post them, including looking up all the data on the rig, which I did not have. so for each picture is a lot of time consuming work for "HIM". For me, I certainly enjoyed taking the pictures. I really started getting into that as the busy FDNY War Years (1968-1978 era) were starting to slow down. As the years passed by, I had these pictures sitting in my house and really not many people to share them with. Two things happened recently that allowed me to get these posted. One was that all of my photos were on 35 mm slides and I have a friend that was able to put these on a Disc for me. Two full books of rig shots put onto two small Disc. The other of course was having somebody willing and able to post them on this Site. Along comes "r1smokeater". I"ve never met him, but I hope to some day. For those that don"t know, "r1smokeater" is a firefighter on a Busy Rescue Co in the NYC area. I have a lot of respect for him, for what he does. I"ve enjoyed seeing these pictures posted myself. And I"m happy that so many more people will be able to enjoy them also. And finely, Thank You for the kind words I"ve recieved. "It is "MY"Pleasure" ! ! !

Thanks "r1smokeater" for posting these. If it wasn"t for you doing this, none of these pictures would be posted at this time. I"m sure it is a time consuming chore. Thanks to you, now everybody can enjoy them.

Regarding the Lime Green Eng 45 rig, if you look at the front of the rig, you"ll notice a picture of a "Green Frog". I think somewhere on it, it said : "Its not easy being green". and the picture was supposed to be of "Kermit the Frog" cartoon charactor. I used to love seeing that. I"m getting a little off track here, but on some of these photos it shows some of the conditions that existed in areas like the South Bronx just as the War Years were ending. A lot of Vacant buildings in the background. A great time to be a Buff and you gotta love those FDNY Mack Cfs.

Post #55 of Eng 50. That was one of the first rigs to get its roof painted white. Prior to that, the Entire roof area was "red". It was hoped that the white colored roof would reflect the heat from inside the cab. Don"t forget, during those days there was "NO" a/c and on a hot summer day, it got pretty hot riding in that cab, espically with all the gear on. Post #65,66,67, and 68 showing the Lime Green pumpers of Eng 41, 85, 94, and 277, the Lime Green Color was first thought that it would cut down on apparatus accidents by using this color. Several other cities at the time also went to this color for the same reason. Some cities like Boston and Newark actually painted some of their "Red" Apparatus to this Lime Green color. It was often referred to by the Buffs as "Slime Green", as most of us perferred the Red. I believe the FDNY had about 20 of these Lime Green colored Mack rigs. The only other FDNY Lime Green rig was Eng 65 which was an American LaFrance. As it turned out, it didn"t matter what color the truck was, as there was no Decrease in the number of apparatus accidents.

Yes, r1smokeater, I believe that"s where the picture was taken. And Thanks for explaining to everybody that Joe Pinto deseves alot of the credit for some of those previous photos.

I"d like to THANK "r1smokeater" for posting these photos. I"m glad he was able to do it, and share these photos with others who would enjoy them. I have several more that I hope to get to him shortly so he can post them. I must confess though, that all of those previous photos were not taken by me. Some were given to me by a friend.

Whatever it takes to get the Bad Guys. And the NYPD knows every trick in the book.

Question. How long has EMTBRAVO been in operation. And congradulations on reaching that 10,000 number. Who was it ????

Yes Sir, you are correct, some of the Union Brothers do like to throw the word "Scab" around. Although I am NOT a Union Brother anymore since I retired, I understood a "Scab" as somebody to do my job, for less than what I did it for. Union Brother or not, a "Scab" will take "YOUR JOB" and do it for less money at less pay. Thats what I understand a "Scab" to be. Its not just some Amateur trying to take a firefighters job. Its anybody trying to take away, your job, your neighbors job, or your kids job. I guess though for firefighters it holds a little bit more meaning because they risk their lives together, and you"ve heard the saying "One for all and all for one".

That"s Exactly what I am talking about. I just can"t picture the Boston Fire Dept hurting themselves in this way. One of the toughest Depts in this Country. These guys last I knew didn"t have a reputation as some kids playing firemen. They fight fires in one of the busiest cities in the country. As the above statement from jfmuller, I am shocked to see so many condemning articles on firefighters in that dept. If all that is true, its definitely time to "clean house". And start from the Top Down. I may be contradicting myself because I really don"t know that much about Boston, but did they always hire the "Most Qualified Person" to be a firefighter. If not, that could be the reason for all the trouble that jfmuller points out in Boston. Along the same line, I know of one dept in Connecticut that recently hired "Convicted Felons", over more qualified people. I"m sure that dept will be facing problems down the road too. Its just a guess on Bostons problems.

With all due respect to the Boston Firefighters, I just can"t seem to realize what they are trying to accomplish by doing this. As I under stand it, they will be manning the firehouse but can"t respond or won"t be dispatched. If they are dispatched, yes its scabbing. I agree with one of the above statemets on this. Who would cover for injuries etc. Certainly a dept the size of Boston or any Career Dept for that matter, volunteering to fight fires just doesn"t make sence when its your paycheck that feeds the kids and pays the bills. I"m sure the IAFF feels the same, and so would other depts. Maybe I"m just completely Wrong the way I read and understood this. If there is something that I am missing, I ask for your help in understanding it. Thanks.

The Northern Hudson Regional Fire Dept in Northern N.J. was born from several smaller career depts consolidating. I believe that happen around 1998-99. and I think things are going well for them. Fire Appartus Journal had a profile on that Fire Dept a few issues back. It has worked in career, volunteer, and combination depts.

AJSBEAR, you are so correct. I remember back in the early 80s when cities like Newark, and Wash., D.C. would randomly close a company where ever an Eng or Truck was stationed together. The city would close one of these companies and keep the other unit still in service. That way the firehouse was still open with the manned rig, and giving J.Q. Citizen the appearance that the firehouse is still open. However only half the orginial crew was there and one, NOT two, rigs were in service. And this was done "Randomly" so it was hard to keep track of what was in service and what was out. If I remember correctly up to five companies would be closed at a time, and it didn"t matter, Day or Night. Since those days until now, the only difference I see is the word "Brownout". They didn"t have a term for it then.

Yes, but what do they talk about "AFTER LUNCH" ??? I just hope everybody is professional enough and doesn"t get caught up in a little tit for tat. And I"m sure the effects of this ruling is being disputed in other city firhouses too.

Yes its Great News, BUT, I wouldn"t want to be a firefighter or officer working in a New Haven Firehouse today. I"m sure it"s not easy from both sides today. Probadly a good afternoon to have some hands on training or catch a good job. Otherwise, it could be a long afteroon for them.

A little fatherly advice to guys trying to get on the job. First, I made sure I NEVER dropped the ball when turning in my application. Then I studied my butt off using some of those Firefighter Entrance Exam Books. I also made sure I was in Great Shape. My hobby was buffing the FDNY, but I made sure I took care of those things first. Even the many ladies chasing me, had to be put on hold. And it wasn"t like I had spread the word that I was studying, or taking a certain test. I didn"t need the competetion. It was hard enough to get on the job, without that. And that was back in the 70s. I"m sure its tougher now. And I didn"t get on after the first test I took. It took me six tests before I got on the job. I would get discouraged, but I never gave up. I retired from a dept in Connecticut after 29 years with a great pension and great benefits. And I loved the job. Was it all worth it, absolutely "YES".

Yes, I fell very bad for the death of one of the Angels, Farrah Fawcett. If anybody saw the Farrah Story about dealing with cancer, she was able to tell what every family goes through if they have a family member who has to deal with this fatal disease.

He certainly won"t be missed by me. This is one less child molester we have to worry about. It gets me sick that so many Military Personnel have given up so much for us. Or the loss of our Firefighters and police officers that give up their lives for us, or carry injury scares throughout the rest of their lives for helping some civilians they never even knew. We seem to forget about them, but we will no doubt forget this Jackson guy. I"ll remember him as a child molester who paid off one of his victims, and for the sick individual that held his own kid over a upper porch railing and never went to jail for that. His death is certainly no loss to me. I"m sure there are the people out there that totally disagree with me. Thats fine, but just don"t complain if you have a child molester move in your neighborhood.