Turns out all I have to do is hop aboard the C Train here ( minutes from my door) and be five miles downtown in pretty rapid time, to the FDNY Fire Museum at 278 Spring Street Street between Varick and Hudson Streets in Soho .
I had imagined the place would be great, and great fun, but did not realize how just how much so !
Admission is negligible and the staff ( including the warm and knowledgeable retired FF's) as welcoming as could be on a really cold late Winter day.
Retired FF John talked to me about his career in the Fire Service and its "Probie" tradition...
Also, Museum memberships are available and you can make arrangements to bring groups of kids ( the smaller or larger variety)...
Boys and girls there were having the time of their lives, trying on FF gear and going through fire survival simulation, urged on by a big FF with a booming voice.
Only drawback is kids ( and one "adult" I can think of, ahem) cannot clamber aboard all the rigs from different eras of Firefighting History. ( They had their eye on me getting near the old rigs, I supect...)
And the range of exhibits for what is not a huge museum! Great! Just a photo or two here...you have to see the video to get an idea of just how inspiring this place is...You CAN do it all in one day, too, but if you do prepared to be a little overwhelmed...especially because the Sept 11 room is so moving on its own.
The Memorial to Sept. 11 is as good as anything I have seen.
And I thought the NY Historical Society was a gem of a place!
If you want to give a kid ( or yourself) a real lift, get down to this place!
Oh Yeah, Video:
http://youtu.be/-hwoNFoOLNQ
We invite you to experience one of the nation's most prominent collections of fire related art, artifacts, gear, and apparatus from the late 18th century to the present. Learn more about us
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SPRING 2015 LECTURE SERIES
The first presenter of our five-part series is retired Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano, speaking on the FDNY's evolution post-9/11. For more information and to purchase your ticket CLICK HERE.
The FDNY celebrates its 150th Anniversary!
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