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Dennis Duggan
Budget Burns the Bravest
April 16, 2003
The firefighters at Engine 278 in Sunset Park sat in front of a television yesterday and listened as Mayor Michael Bloomberg told them what they already knew - their goose is cooked.
They knew because the bantam billionaire told them Sunday morning that the clock was ticking on their beloved home away from home. Their firehouse, built in 1912, will be shuttered, perhaps forever, on May 22.
"It was depressing," said Bryan Horan, who has worked at Engine 278 for the past 14 years.
The mayor spent two hours Sunday at the firehouse on Seventh Avenue and 50th Street in Brooklyn. He had to walk through a door that told him he wasn't welcome.
"Mayor Bloomberg, Shame on You! You Have No Idea What We Do!" read the sign on the door. Under that was an epitaph for the many firehouses the mayor is closing in an effort to close the city's multibillion-dollar budget gap.
"Heroes to Homeless," it read.
Yesterday, the men sat around a table made by a retired firefighter. The mood was dark, even though spring had finally put in an appearance. The mayor's Palm Sunday visit had taken much of the fight out of them. "It's either I lay off firefighters or I close firehouses," he told them Sunday.
"He doesn't care about us," one of them said during the mayor's budget presentation.
The heart has been drained out of the once iconic firefighters. They are going through the motions, fighting fires. Yesterday they were waiting for what they called the "burning of the bread," a Passover ritual that requires their attendance for safety reasons.
Morale, one of them said, is "at its lowest ever."
The past 19 months have taken a toll. You cannot lose 343 of your comrades in one disaster and shake it off as just part of the job. There has been no tragedy in the department's history that comes close.
Then there were the funerals, day after day, the dirges, the eulogies, the mothers and wives weeping, the children frightened and bewildered.
"We argue with one another now and then we take our bad moods home and argue with our wives and children," Horan, 48, said.
His wife, Moira, has seen his disposition darken over the past year or so. After Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw said that firefighters were slackers, she wrote an impassioned letter to the mayor. "How dare you and the city turn around and treat these men in this manner? I truly cannot find the words to adequately express my anger, outrage and hurt at this treatment of these wonderful men," she wrote.
Firefighter Mike Leahy, 32, told me yesterday, "This is going to hurt the community here more than anyone else." Like many of the men in the company, he has a tattoo commemorating Sept. 11, 2001.
But there was little show of support from the community yesterday, even though a local newspaper proclaimed "Engine Co. 278 to Close."
Maybe that's because when the mayor's bean counters declare that a firehouse closing will mean only a minute or so in response time, people don't think it's a big deal.
Former firefighters like Dennis Smith, author of "Report from Engine Co. 82" and "Report From Ground Zero," say a minute can mean the difference between life and death.
"Fire travels real fast," said Smith, who spent 17 years fighting fires in the South Bronx. He cites the recent Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed nearly 100 men and women.
Inside the firehouse where she has come every day for the past 40 years, Lynn Aronson, 48, said she would miss the camaraderie of the firefighters who have "adopted" her. Aronson's mother started sending her over when she was a youngster.
"She loves this place," said firefighter Richard Vetland, 42.
The mood yesterday was heavy otherwise. The firefighters were the toast of the town for a few months. Not anymore.
"I used to look forward to coming to work," said Horan, who spent six months at Ground Zero looking for body parts. "Now it's an effort for me to come here. I have six years to go to retirement and I am looking forward to that.
"When the mayor walked out of the firehouse Sunday I felt like running out of there myself," he added. "This used to be my home, the people here my neighbors. Now I just don't care. I want out."
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
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Mary Horan, daughter of Moira and firefighter Bryan Horan (Eng.278)won a $500 scholarship in memory of Firefighter Paul Keating, who was killed on Sept. 11. It’s a beautiful essay that speaks eloquently and movingly not only about true heroism but also about her father. I believe Mary finds them one and the same. I know both Bryan and Moira- my own experience is that women like Moira are as heroic as their husbands and too often they are overlooked. As a New Yorker I can only thank them for what they also sacrifice for us, and beg their forgiveness that we ask it.
Bravery & Patriotism in the USA: What it Means to Me
On September 11th 2001 the world witnessed the unthinkable. When something this bad happens it is amazing to me that some good has come out of it. The nation came together to comfort each other and show their patriotism and loyalty to their country. The support and volunteerism that everyone offered were amazing and really brought everyone closer together and helped everyone put the petty things in life to the side for a while.
I have a very personal example of bravery and patriotism right in my own home. My dad, Bryan Horan, has been an active member of the New York City Fire Department for 13 years. He worked at the Trade Center from September 11th until the last day of the recovery effort. It was something that he felt he had to do -- as a firefighter, as a man and as an American. After first trying to rescue people and then digging along with all the rescue workers, his job was GPS, which meant that whenever something was found he marked the location, tried to identify the body part or other items that were found, logged them in a computer and delivered them to the morgue. One of the many phone calls we got from my dad was a call to tell us that they had found Paul Keating. My father always felt better on days like that. Although it was always incredibly sad, he also felt those were good days because he hoped that what they had done would bring a family some small amount of peace. A letter my dad received thanks them for giving of themselves to serve our country by giving peace and dignity to our nation’s dead. I feel that this explains how all the rescue workers were able to go back to the site day after day and continue working.
The other day my dad brought home a newsletter that he got at the firehouse called Fire Lines, and I read an article written by Rudy Sanfilippo. The article was titled “Putting Firefighter's Heroism in Perspective”. In the article he interviewed Dr. Philip J. Mango, who is the director of Saint Michael's Institute for the Psychological Sciences. He quotes Dr. Mango in the article, who says that he believes heroism is spiritual and taking a physical risk is a way to it. He feels that everyone who was involved in the rescue effort personified four images of what it means to be masculine and male. The four main "archetypes" were king-leaders, warriors, lovers and wise counselors. He said they were king-leaders because they guided people to safety and helped to prevent chaos; they were warriors because while everyone was running down the stairs they were running up the stairs to save their brothers and sisters; lovers because they all came back to help find their lost brothers and other victims; counselors because even though they were grieving just like everyone else they were their to listen to those who lost a loved one and help them. What Dr. Mango has said I totally agree with and I feel that it breaks down what heroism is and how it has so many different aspects. I also feel that it defines what it means to be an American. On that day and every day our police officers, firefighters and EMT workers exemplify all of those qualities. To have people like that in the United States is what makes our nation so great and safe to live in. This has a personal meaning to me because it is what I see in my dad and all the guys that he works with every day.
It is our responsibility as US citizens to keep our patriotic spirits up and to always be there for each other. We are living in a world where terrorism is a real threat to our country but we can not live in fear. We need to come together and be there to listen to each other if we need someone to talk to or be there to lend a helping hand whether it is in our family, among our friends or in our community.
Since the attacks of September 11th I have tried to be more involved in community work and other types of volunteerism. I have helped out at various FDNY charity runs in memory of those lost on that day. I feel it is necessary for me to do whatever I can in the way of community service because on that day all those brave men gave their lives for us. I would like to keep their memory alive and try to do my part.
If I was to receive this scholarship I would feel extremely honored and grateful. To receive something that is in tribute to one of the firefighters lost on September 11th would be a true honor. On that day Firefighter Paul Keating had only one thing in his mind, and that was to run to the scene and try to help other people without having a trace of fear run through his body. Firefighters, police officers and EMT workers don't have time for second thoughts; they don’t have time to act on their fears. They just do what they feel in their hearts is right. They do whatever they can to help another human being, even if it means putting their own life at risk. They serve as an example to us of what we all need to keep in our daily lives. Just think how much more of a wonderful place this country would be if we all acted as unselfishly. to top
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The Sunset Park section of Brooklyn once belonged to the Gowanus section of Brooklyn and the Bay Ridge section of New Utrecht. The area started developing in the 1830's. Brooklyn built Sunset Park just south of Greenwood Cemetery between 5th and 6th Avenues in the early 1890s. 