Fireboats of the FDNY

Join us for a presentation of the history of the Fireboats of the FDNY from 1862 through 2019. The FDNY fireboat unit is considered the premier fireboat division in the world. When the City of Greater New York was created in 1898, the FDNY was then responsible for over five hundred miles of waterfront throughout the five boroughs. This vast shoreline is more than the combined waterfronts of Miami, Boston and San Francisco combined. NYC’s coastline includes beaches, public parks and industrial areas.

About the Presenter:

David A. Rocco has been involved as a volunteer for many cultural and environmental initiatives in the Hudson Valley and NYC. He is presently the Vice President on the Board of Directors for the historic Fireboat McKean Preservation Project. In 2023 David helped to get the retired FDNY Fireboat John D. McKean on the State and National Register of Historic Places. David co-authored a book, The Indestructible Man, about Navy legend Dixie Kiefer who was killed in a plane crash in the Hudson Valley in 1945. David has recently written a new book, Fireboats of the FDNY that is scheduled to be released in late August.

Scenic photography of the Hudson Valley and beyond has been a passion of David’s for many years. David’s photos were selected for Arts Westchester’s 2013 “Damage and Destruction” by Hurricane Sandy and Arts Westchester’s 2015 “50th Years Through the Decades” Anniversary celebration. In 2019, he was awarded the Lawrence (Larry) Salley Photography Award by Arts Westchester for his eight year body of work documenting the Tappan Zee Bridge/Gov. Cuomo Bridge project. His photos were included in Arts Westchester 2020 Covid Virus Pandemic Exhibition and his photos of the 2016 Tappan Zee Bridge crane collapse incident were featured in an episode on the Science Channel’s Engineering Catastrophes program.