Two groups of FDNY firefighters were involved in an ugly brawl in early June that included one department member being held down by two others and getting repeatedly kicked by a third.
The New York Post reports that more than a dozen firefighters at Rescue 3—not all of whom were assigned there—ganged up on three firefighters who arrived to discuss an earlier incident on the evening of June 6.
The earlier fracas happened at a Bronx bar near Yankee Stadium following an awards ceremony when members of different engine and ladder companies tussled and hurled expletives at each other, including one who allegedly yelled a racial slur.
Following that confrontation, which was captured on cell phone video and posted to social media, Adam Soler of Engine 68 arrived at Rescue 3 with two other firefighters to complain about being disrespected at the Bronx bar.
Words were exchanged and over a dozen members who were at Rescue 3 began to beat those three firefighters, including two of them holding Soler down while a third repeatedly kicked him.
"It was one of the most severe beatings they’ve seen on tape," an FDNY source told the Post about how department brass reacted to video footage of the beating. "They can’t believe one of the guys wasn’t killed."
According to the Post's source, Capt. Michael Nigro of Engine 68 became so upset watching the clip of his firefighters being beaten that he ordered staffers to briefly pause it.
"He went outside to compose himself before coming back in to watch the rest of it," the source said.
Two months after the ugly incident, no one has been arrested or fired, although an internal department order identified six participants in the beating who received one-month suspensions and are now all back on the job.
"If they assaulted anyone, they shouldn't be getting a paycheck," the source said, blaming FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro for failing to take strong action. "They should be getting a prison cell."
FDNY spokesman Jim Long refused to answer any questions from the Post, citing an "active investigation."
The incident calls to mind a 2003 New Year's Eve altercation at a Staten Island firehouse when a firefighter was badly beaten by a chair-wielding colleague during an alcohol-filled celebration.
