FDNY’s ‘The Beach House’ is Finally Getting a New Home

On a blustery Tuesday morning, October 28, the FDNY and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) broke ground on the new home for “The Beach House”—Engine 268 and Ladder 137’s firehouse.

Attending the ceremony at the new firehouse site, 116-11 Beach Channel Drive, were members of the FDNY’s top brass, including Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker and Queens Borough Commander Deputy Assistant Chief Joe Schiralli, along with members of Battalion 47, which covers the peninsula. Also present were Acting DDC Commissioner Eduardo del Valle, Councilwoman Joann Ariola, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, and other local leaders.

“Today we break ground on a new firehouse that represents resilience, progress, and a commitment to protecting the people of the Rockaways. This project has been years in the making,” Fire Commissioner Tucker said. “After Hurricane Sandy devastated the existing Beach 116th Street firehouse, which has served this community since 1913, the FDNY began a long process of identifying a new site.”

Almost 13 years ago to the day of the groundbreaking, Hurricane Sandy took a major toll on Engine 268 and Ladder 137’s current firehouse, located just down the street from the new site. The original firehouse at 257 Beach 116th Street, built between 1912 and 1913, has been in disrepair for years.

Commissioner Tucker explained that the new 16,750 square foot state-of-the-art facility will feature “modern apparatus bays, tactical training areas, company offices, and living quarters that support the health, wellness, and training of our members.” Addressing concerns about future storms, he added, “The building design is durable, efficient, and community-focused, which means this firehouse is ready for the next big storm.”

The project has been a long time coming. The FDNY first proposed the new location in 2018, with construction initially scheduled to begin in 2022 and finish in 2024. Further delays, however, pushed the project back until now.

Speaking at the groundbreaking, Councilwoman Ariola acknowledged the setbacks while expressing excitement for the project to finally move forward. “As chair of fire and emergency management and the councilmember representing this area, I am honored that this facility is finally going to be built,” Ariola said. She also praised Commissioner Tucker. “For years, this was supposed to become the new firehouse, but it wasn’t until we got new leadership in Commissioner Robert Tucker that it really happened—so thank you,” she said. Tucker, the 35th Fire Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, was appointed to the role by Mayor Adams in August 2024.

The total cost for design and construction of the new building is $40 million, with completion currently expected in the summer of 2027. In addition to housing Engine 268 and Ladder 137, the new facility will also serve as a training site for other companies on the peninsula, as well as those in southern Queens and Brooklyn.

The building is designed to accommodate the FDNY’s need for storage and maintenance of equipment, as well as easy access in and out of the building. The lower level will include three large indoor parking bays. Two will have garage doors front and back, allowing trucks to enter through the rear of the building on Newport Avenue and exit through the other side on Beach Channel Drive without turning around or backing up.

The lower level will also include an indoor tactical training area for firefighters with outdoor parking for training vehicles. Near the Beach 117th Street side of the site there will be space for boat storage as well as 12 outdoor parking spaces. At Beach 116th Street, the site will feature landscaped areas open to the public with new plantings, plus part of a “Percent for Art” installation by local artist Andrea Belag.

The upper floors will have separate male and female locker rooms and restrooms, a nursing room, quiet areas, a pantry and kitchen, laundry and study rooms, and a roof deck area. There will also be office space as well as a Training Room. A connecting stair tower that is pulled outward from the building as a symbolic beacon will feature a continuous vertical glass window that fills the stairwell with natural light and glows at night, signaling the FDNY’s presence to the community.

“The FDNY and the Rockaway community have always stood side by side in good times and in bad,” Tucker said. “This new firehouse will stand as a beacon of safety and service for generations to come, and I can’t wait to see this vision come to fruition.”

Councilwoman Ariola closed her remarks by thanking the members of The Beach House, Engine 268, and Ladder 137. “You are our partners in our office—whatever we need, you’re there for us. And I am so glad to be here, to put a shovel in the ground, and be there for you.”