BCVFD Breaks Ground on New Firehouse

By Katie McFadden

Nearly 30 years in the making, the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department’s new firehouse is finally becoming a reality. On Sunday, November 30, past and present members of the volunteer fire department, elected officials and community members gathered at the site of the future firehouse, 305 Cross Bay Boulevard, to make it official with a groundbreaking ceremony.

Deputy Chief Ed Wilmarth opened the ceremony by introducing some of those on the dais, including Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, who was able to help the BCVFD get over the final funding threshold needed to start the project, her mother, former Assemblywoman and County Clerk Audrey Pheffer, Nathaniel Hezekiah on behalf of Congressman Gregory Meeks, Councilwoman Joann Ariola, Broad Channel Civic President Dan Mundy Jr., Dolores Orr of Community Board 14, Borough President Donovan Richards, John Langone of JAG Construction, which will be building the firehouse, and back for the occasion was “honorary chief,” former Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. Members of the Firefighters Association for the State of NY, as well as volunteers from the Gerritsen, Hamilton Beach and Rockaway Point volunteer fire departments also came out to show their support.

Despite the pouring rain, there was nothing but smiles in Broad Channel on Sunday. As Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato said, “This is a happy day.”

Part of what made it such a happy occasion was it marked a point where past and present members of the BCVFD finally got to see the light at the end of the tunnel after fighting for nearly 30 years to get a new firehouse built. Current Chief of Department George Conklin put it in perspective, just how long that was. “Almost 30 years and we are finally here. As a young boy, I learned about this project and now as a man, I get to see it become a reality,” Conklin said before introducing the man they give major credit to for making it happen.

Past Chief Dan McIntyre, who has been at the head of the fight, gave a quick rundown of how Sunday’s groundbreaking came to be. In the mid-90s, as Noel Road, where the current firehouse is, became busier and more susceptible to flooding, and the fire department and their equipment became bigger, the realization that they were going to need a bigger firehouse began to emerge. The new location was part of a construction site for a sewer project, and when the contractor abandoned it, the BCVFD looked into purchasing the property. “If you look at that old sign on the left, you’ll see Paddy O’Sullivan and Chief Trudden. They negotiated the pricing on this property and were able to purchase it. I believe that closing was in 1997,” McIntyre explained.

So began the mission of securing funding. Then Chief Keenan and President O’Hare approached the state to obtain a low interest loan for the design of the project, and at the BCVFD’s 100th Anniversary Dance in 2004, then Congressman Anthony Weiner presented them with a big check. “A lot of times the big check shows up and no little check follows,” McIntyre said to laughs. With that, he personally got more heavily involved in trying to secure funding through state, city and federal offices. “All the politicians can tell you that I never stopped pestering them,” he said. In recent years, the total funding was finally pledged and on Sunday, the first sign of the firehouse finally becoming a reality, was put on display with the groundbreaking. “This is a great day for Broad Channel. This facility will be a hurricane center. It will be a place where we can go to and plan when the storm is coming and more importantly, we’ll have a place we can go to after the storm passes. Hopefully it’ll be here for the next big emergency that comes,” McIntyre said.

Dan Mundy shared a personal story of just how important the BCVFD is to the community and celebrated the occasion. “It’s not a nice day today, but it’s a great day for the Volunteer Fire Department,” he said, before acknowledging McIntyre’s “tenacious” fight, and the elected officials who helped make it possible. Also, “a big thank you to volunteers. They deserve a facility like this,” Mundy said. “We look forward to seeing this thing go up in the air.”

“It’s so great to be here today, and former assembly member and Queens County Clerk, we made it. We lived to see it happen,” Councilwoman Ariola said, looking at Audrey Pheffer. “This became a dream and then that dream had a lot of starts and stops along the way, but I call it the little firehouse that could because it is going to happen. We have great partnership between our current assembly member, our borough president, our office, our Community Board, the money is there, we’re going to break ground and we are going to have a facility that our volunteers deserve, and this community needs.”

Goldfeder, who the BCVFD named an honorary chief for his help as assemblyman, even giving him the nickname, “Fireball Phil,” revealed a shirt with the nickname underneath his BCVFD jacket. He spoke of the BCVFD’s efforts to get the firehouse built when he was in office. “Danny was literally one of the first people through my door when I got elected in 2011 and literally was there every single week,” Goldfeder said. “This is still one of the proudest uniforms that I get to put on, one of the proudest logos that I get to wear, and I’m excited to continue to wear it and bring my uniform back, hopefully one day when we cut the ribbon on the new building.”

Hezekiah of Meeks’ office said they’ll continue to ensure the BCVFD gets the funding they need to see that ribbon cutting day. “Chief Dan McIntyre had mentioned that the big check doesn’t always amount to a little check, but the congressman is determined to make sure that his big check turns out to that little check, and anymore continual funding to make sure that this project goes through until the last brick is done,” Hezekiah said.

BP Richards acknowledged McIntyre’s efforts to see the project through. “Congratulations Chief McIntyre. Vision is the art of seeing what’s invisible to others and really, it takes visionaries to not just have a vision, but to turn that vision into reality,” Richards said. “Today is really an incredible day for this community.”

Orr reminded the BCVFD that if they need more funding to help see the project through, Community Board 14 can make budget requests on their behalf, which can be fulfilled by the borough president.

Last but not least, Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato spoke. “This project has been a labor of love. Chief, if you don’t call me for a long time, it’s ok,” she said to laughs. “When I was first elected, I knew that this was never about one person, even this town. It was bigger than all of us. This has been an honor of a lifetime to get this over the finish line with these partners, with this community. Now let’s throw some dirt!”

With that, the officials, past and present BCVFD members, grabbed a shovel and ceremoniously threw dirt in the air to mark the start of the long awaited new BCVFD firehouse and community center project.