A View From the Backstep: To the Heights

Mike Finer called us, “The last American cowboys.” He didn't mean range riders, but instead, the last group to do this job in our aggressive, freelancing style. The last in an era when, “Safety first,” meant civilian life and property first.

This is one account of that lost era. The FDNY in the South Bronx of the late 1980s The FDNY’s “War Years” were over and the AIDS and Crack epidemics were hitting urban areas like Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston and New York City very hard. Vacant buildings were transformed into crack dens and both crime and fire proliferated.

These are the times and conditions that led us to where we are today. These accounts are of the FDNY of the 19th Battalion, in the University & Morris Heights sections of the South Bronx. These were great Companies, with exceptional guys, working in a transitional, but bygone era.

This is a glimpse into the history and reality of those times.