grumpyff

heres a before and after pic of how it was when i bought it and i did just some clean up. I eventually plan to take down the 3 fron doors and design and build a set of really substantial 12 ft high doors that look like they belong on the place made from wood, metal and glass. I also have to rebuild the right column that used to be brick like the other one, but one of the rookies blew it off the building pulling the truck out from what i understand so they just patched it up with 2x12s

a few others. the double toilets are great if you like to s*** with a friend haha

and heres an original shot taken back in 1883 of the place after it was completed

Hi! I am actually the owner of the old 34th st firehouse in Bayonne. I came across this board while i was doing some research on my building. The firehouse was sold by the city at a public auction and a local guy had bought it and told everyone he was going to restore it and got everyone all excited, he then immediately turned around and put it up for sale and thats when I came across it and purchased it about 2 years ago
From the moment I stepped inside I thought it was so cool, nobody had touched it yet, and it was still in the condition it had been when they shut it down back in 2008 and locked it up and moved out. So it still had/has all of the original elements inside. I was really lucky that nobody had started doing any renovations on it and ruining it. Theres paint peeling off the walls, plaster coming down, urinals in the bathrooms, stall showers, 26 original chestnut lockers still with a lot of the old fireman's stuff hanging inside them like tatoo parlor cards they went to, and old p**** mags and old school original subway tiles in the kitchen and baths. The original tin ceilings are still intact, all of the old garment and hose racks and features of the place. Theres also a whole slew of hand painted murals on a lot of the walls with the engine company and their old mascot which was a bulldog with a fire helmet on. Theres a 7 ft mural of this staring you in the face in the back room that will ultimately be the master bedroom. Theres also a list of about 300 names of all of the officers and chiefs who have retired over the years on the bulkhead above the kitchen cabinets. I plan on keeping all of it as original as I can. I respect the history of the place and what it stood for for the city and I dont mind the roughness around the edges of the place....it adds character and I dont want to erase it.
I do plan at some point to have the mural in the kitchen with all the names of the retired duplicated on a big plate of brass and mount it outside on the garage door along the bottom like a giant brass kick plate so that people around town can appreciate those who have served here. That may take a while though since a) it will be pretty expensive to have made, and I have a list of about 800 other things I plan to address with the place as well.
The place is pretty bitchin though, its about 5000 sq ft and has plenty of room, I wash my car inside my house while its parked next to my living room haha. It is a b**** to heat and cool, but its super solid and has stood for the past 130 years and I plan to do my best to preserve it and have it stand for another 130 more.
A number of the old firemen who worked here that I have met at first thought I was some douchebag condo developer who was going to tear the place down or make it into apartments, I told them I planned on keeping it as the original firehouse and they were welcome to come by anytime they liked, and they seemed to appreciate that.
I have plans for the place that center around keeping it as original as possible, I like the quirks and imperfections of the building, it tells its story. I cant tell you how much wood floors and trim i have to strip of paint, adhesive, linoleum etc. hiding under all that is gorgeous chestnut and oak and old heart pine. thats going to be a b****, but itll be worth it.
But rest assured, I plan to keep the place intact as the spirit of the place alive. No hokey HGTV style renovations with modern finishes and sheetrock...If I had wanted that I could have bought a condo, I really admire the old buildings and craftsmanship that went into them. So if it matters to any of you, old E5 in bayonne is in good hands. Itll prob take me 10 years to finish the place, but Im in no rush hahaha.
What I would like to ask, in case anyone knows or could help, is, I am trying to find 2 old brass firepoles for the building. Originally there was one in the front, and one in the back. Both had been removed and they were given back to the guy who bought the property from the city. The bayonne fire museum had given him two brass poles to put back in when they found out he had bought the place, in good faith. They were here and promised to me when i was buying the building. Well a day or two before I closed on the place, he took both poles and probably scrapped them for the brass, who knows....I thought it was a shitty thing to do, and the fire museum agreed. Point is I never got any poles, but I have the two openings, just nothing to slide down. EVERY SINGLE person I meet, the first question they ask is always "Do you have a pole?"
Id love to put the two poles back in so if any of you happens to know of any old poles not in use, or a place that makes them, or a station thats being decommissioned etc, please let me know! It would be sweet if I could get some brass poles back in here. I have tried calling places, go go dance suppliers, railing companies etc. they have brass poles, but when I tell them i need 23 ft long they are like ohhhhhh, we dont have that long. So the poles that were in here were 2.5 inch OD x @23 ft long. Just figured it couldnt hurt to put it out there in case any of you happens to know of some old firepoles laying around.
Thanks!

Unknown late 80's/early 90's Sutphen in Bedford Hills.

39 years ago I pulled up with Patrol 4 [ now Rescue 40] to find Gullevers fully invovled with engines 58 and 62 ingaged in a full atack on a bad fire. 24 died that night but little was told how over 100 were saved. Many firefighters went down that night going above and beyond the call. Most of us old guys think about this every day of our lives and wished we could have done better with our 3/4 boots two airpacks to a rig and red fireball gloves. There were no paper firefighters and keyboard firefighters that night! .

http://www.lohud.com/article/20130630/NEWS02/306300064/Port-Chester-Explorers-earn-state-title

Westchester fire wire
NYC Fire Wire

It's funny how when many of us came on the job, we were looked down upon by the rest of society because we were "only" civil servants.
Now because we have done well for ourselves, we are under attack, we really can't win

Today I have learned that a true legend has passed away after a long battle with Cancer. Her name is Irene Gremmert and she was a paramedic I had the honor and privilege to work with. For many of us in the Emergency Medical Service community she was at times a "Mom" to all of us. Irene had one of the most important skills that someone in EMS can have. Empathy. She could empathize with her patients and understand where they were coming from. She had an unmistakable laugh that was infectious spreading smiles far and wide. I will remember cleaning ambulances, amazing response times, the art of listening to Iron Maiden while driving to a call, and having fun at work because life is too short and to demanding to let work bog you down.I will miss you Irene. May you rest in peace and look over us as we go out there and do work.

The anti-public sector sentiment and actions by our elected officials recently is definitely cause for alarm.

I pity those getting on the job now. They will have to work under deteriorating conditions; for many more years, to receive fewer benefits.
A dark day for the entire public sector statewide.

The hearts of the entire EMS community are with the family of Irene Gremmert at this time of loss. Irene was an amazing mentor, marine, preceptor, paramedic, but most of all an amazing friend to many of us. Rest easy we will take it from here.

Unfortunately with the bias on this board, remove firefighter from the first sentence and replace with police officer, and everyone will go nuts with how it is unsafe, they are untrained, unprepared, unprotected. I for one am getting real sick of it.

I guess I wouldn't go so far as to tell LEO's not to enter any structure, but in fact hope that they'd have or be receptive to some education as to what they can do that won't make things worse, much like us messing up crimes scenes or becoming potential victims when we arrive ahead of them at a shooting or similar crime. As a fire officer in a place where resources are scarce at the outset, having LEO's that bang on doors and can point us in the direction of which apartment door has the paint peeling off is nice. Thus far we've not had any try and open fire apartment doors or make a search under smoke. We are all here to serve the public and assume some risks as part of our sworn duty. The stop[ping point of one's actions should be where they can no longer make an informed risk/benefit analysis. Many LEO's are also firefighters or have been and may have greater understanding of these choices, much like many firefighters have experience that allows them better assessment skills at some crime scenes. Much like the Columbine massacre, if we choose to not allow another discipline to assume any risk more people may die as a result. These incidents should be the jumping off point for PD/FD/EMS discussions on how we might help each other while not becoming part of the problem.

Unfortunately with the bias on this board, remove firefighter from the first sentence and replace with police officer, and everyone will go nuts with how it is unsafe, they are untrained, unprepared, unprotected. I for one am getting real sick of it.

No malice intended towards cops. I was just giving an example of how heroism is perceived. My point was that a FF who made a difficult search which turned out negative worked harder than the perceived "hero" that made a quick grab at the front door.
There may be differences in personality between cops and FFs. I would not even consider myself being a cop. I think I can usually predict how a fire is going to act. I never can predict how a person is going to act. For this, I salute you guys.
About a year ago, I passed a female cop who had a person pulled over. The person was big and tough looking and was sitting in the drivers seat with his feet hanging out the door. The cop, a lefty, had her hand on her gun and her knees slightly bent. Her posturing gave me the impression that she was concerned with this guy, so I turned down the next street and called 911 to make sure she had backup. We are, after all, brothers in blue.

Twelve years ago today, June 22nd, Lt. Michael Neuner died in the Line of Duty fighting a house fire with the Brewster Fire Department in Putnam County. Mike was a Police Officer in the City of Peekskill, a former member of the Putnam County Sheriffs Department, Armonk and Patterson Fire Departments. My Uncle Mike was one of the funniest, coolest and nicest guys to ever walk this earth.

We remember you today and every day, Satch. You may be gone but you'll never be forgotten!

In some areas, if PD had to "time they're arrival" with FD or EMS, they'd have to drive the length of the city 30 times over. Remember, no matter the hour, we don't have to wake up, assemble, muster, respond, etc. We are already out there. No matter the on going criticism from our FD "brethren", we most likely will continue to evaluate each situation on a case by case basis, and make informed decisions when the benefit outweighs the risks, and when it doesn't. I'd bet my salary for the next ten years if those cops stayed outside and that guy died, and he was your brother/father/son, etc, you'd have those cops skewered on this forum.

I can see the headline now, "Rye police let man die while waiting for volunteers."

The New and the Old!

Wow...This is great,everyone preaching about responder safety and how dangerous that CO call was...So,let's all take a step back and think,It's no different when an off-duty FF makes a grab as he's driving by,or the FF who tackles a perp,or the PO who drags a person out of a burning car,all with no PPE or back-up,but guess what we do it,because it's in our blood,to help others in need.Has there been times it went wrong yes,and others where it worked,so at the end of the day,it's a crap shoot. While,I would not advocate doing this,if circumstances were known ahead of time,but I'm not sure of the whole situation.
I can tell you standing there when someone needs help and not being able to do something sucks...
Why I'm not bashing anyone here or ever will,I find it funny how people are preaching safety and PPE,when we all know it's not practiced all the time. Hell,the FD entered the IDLH area with SCBA and partial PPE,so do we really know what was going on? Whatever,with this, we can go on forever,was it the right call? Don't know wasn't there, as everyone else here,it worked out right,but it's a hell of a crap shoot.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306160035

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013306160035

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