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Headquarters Fire Department, City of New York
Bureau Chief of Department |
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| Special
Order N.Y. January
14th, 1905
No. 4 |
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| By direction of the Fire Commissioner, Hook and Ladder Company 28 (to be known as a double company), located at No. 232 West 143rd street, Borough of Manhattan, assigned to the 12th Battalion, is hereby organized to take effect at 8 o'clock A.M. on the 15th instant. | |
| The Company District of Hook and
Ladder No.28 will be as follows: Harlem
River and West 142nd street, to line half-way between Edgecomb
and Bradhurst Aves.,to lines just East of Speedway, to West
165th street to Harlem River, to West 142nd street.
Engine Company No. 59's district will be changed to read as follows: East 133rd street and Harlem River, to West 133rd street to St. Nicholas Ave., to Edgecomb Ave., to west 142nd street, to Harlem River, to East 133rd street.
Assignments:
On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 23
which is moved to 2nd alarm at stations: On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No.13 which is moved to 2nd alarm at station 750 On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 22 relieved, and Hook and Ladder Company No. 23 on 2nd alarms at stations: 758,759,788 On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 13 at stations:765, 766, 768. On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 23 relieved at station: 770
On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 22
relieved, and Hook and
On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 22
relieved, and Hook and
On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Truck of Engine
Company No. 68 at station:
On 1st alarm in place of Hook and Ladder Company No. 17 at
stations:
On 1st alarm at Stations:
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 THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS 
Harlem has a long and rich history going back as far as the Revolutionary War Period. Largely a rural then suburban area of Manhattan Island, the landscape started to change in the 1880s when real estate developers began to build the brownstone type dwellings on many of Harlem's streets. Shortly afterward the construction of five and six story apartment houses started to rapidly fill the cityscape of Harlem. A report by the National Board of Fire Underwriters issued in 1905 made note of apartment houses five and six stories in height were filling the block fronts along 7th and 8th Avenues from West 140th Street to West 144th street.  By 1905 the Polo Grounds, the long time home of the New York Giants was already bringing professional baseball to the residents of Harlem from 8th Avenue & West 155th street. 
 New York City's first subway was opened in 1904 and went from City Hall up to West 145th Street and Broadway which further fueled the construction boom in Harlem. In 1905, the population of Manhattan alone was just over 2 million inhabitants, which was a sharp increase of 600,000 residents to Manhattan in just 20 years and many of the newer residents were settling in the northern half of Manhattan Island. 
Despite all these factors in 1904 there was only one ladder company (#23) north of 125 street to the end of Manhattan Island at West 220 Street. For this reason, Ladder 28 was organized as a double ladder company. Ladder 28 was equipped with two horse drawn ladder trucks. One truck was built in 1868 making it 37 years old while the second truck was "newer", having been built in 1872, making it only 34 years old. 
On January 15, 1915, the second section of Ladder 28 was disbanded, mainly because within a ten year period (1905-1915). Five new ladder companies were organized in upper Manhattan. Ladder 30 and Ladder 34 were both opened in 1907. Ladder 40 first opened their doors in 1910 and Ladder 45 was organized in 1913. Ladder 36 was relocated to Inwood in 1915. A major event took place on April 16, 1917 in the life of the Harlem Hilton when Engine 69 was re- organized in the quarters of Ladder 28 with a first Size Metropolitan Steam Fire Engine, front drive tractor and a Combination Chemical and Hose Wagon. In the year that Ladder 28 was organized the foreman (captain) was paid $2160 per year with the Assistant Foreman (Lieutenant) receiving $1800 annually and first grade fireman was compensated at the rate of $1400 per year. A probie made only $800 annually. The working conditions in 1905 were as follows: Members were given 3 to 4 hours daily for meals and 2 1/2 days off every 10 days. A fireman was given 14 days a year vacation while on a company officer was granted 21 days a year vacation leave. In 1907 the first guest of the Harlem Hilton checked in. The 24th Battalion was organized in Ladder 28's quarters on March 28,1907, commanded by Thomas Larkin. The stay of the 24th Battalion at the Harlem Hilton was rather short as they were disbanded on May 1,1909. On that same date, the 16th Battalion was moved from Ladder 2's quarters on East 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan and placed in service at the Harlem Hilton on West 143rd Street. 
Engine 69 had previously seen duty in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx. And so since 1916, the Harlem Hilton has remained the same, with Ladder 28 and their permanent guests Engine 69 and the 16th Battalion going about their main mission which is fighting the "red devil" in the war that never ends. Just about the same time that Ladder 28 was opened in 1905, Harlem took its first steps on the road to becoming known the Capital of Back America. Ladder 28's long and proud history is entwined with Harlem and the history of African- Americans in New York City. Around the same time that Ladder 28 was opened in 1905, African- Americans began to migrate north to Harlem from the Hell's Kitchen area of Midtown. 
By 1911, a Manhattan population survey showed significant numbers of Afro-Americans in Harlem and the vast majority was located in the West 140's by Ladder 28's quarters. By the 1930's, another population survey of Manhattan reveals that the majority of Harlem's residents were Afro-Americans and Harlem was becoming known as the Capital of Black America, known for nightclubs and up- scale restaurants. However, it was mainly a residential neighborhood, it is still today.  However, the Great Depression hit Harlem hard. Financial and economic downfalls caused a decline in social conditions that lead to a considerable fire problem amongst other negative aspects that affected Harlem for decades afterwards. In the Annual Report of 1937, released by the FDNY, the 16th Battalion was #6 out of the 49 Battalions then in the fire department for fires within their districts. By 1948, the 16th Battalion had risen to 2nd place out of the battalions in the FDNY. The members of the Harlem Hilton have done for many years a heavy fire duty workload. Members of Ladder 28 have been frequent visitors to the FDNY Board of Merit. Five times in the past 50 years members of Ladder 28 have been awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal. |
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