Morton Greenbaum[/ezcol_1third]
Morton Greenbaum
Morton Greenbaum Mort Greenbaum was born in a private sanitarium Harlem on August 21, 1917 as the third child of Alexander and Edna Greenbaum. A reformed, middle-class Jewish family, The Greenbaums first migrated from Frankfurt on the Mien, Germany in the early 1800’s. They strongly believed in education and being good American citizens.
At the age of nine, Mort’s brother Arthur exposed him to his first fire alarm. He would never rid himself of his fascination with firemen and the fire engines; from that day on he was in love.
Mort nurtured his deep love and admiration for firefighters with the passing years, watching them run into burning buildings while the roaches ran out. He wanted to help those he watched saving people from fire. And he did. Through the next sixty years of his busy life, Mort would dedicate hours and hours without ever asking for thanks.
He never believed in paying for an honorary upgrade in the department. Instead he donated his love and time to the men, silently, with great dedication and without fanfare. At one point he came to be the only person ever accepted as a member of all three fire clubs: The Cycle Club, The Bell Club, and The Third Alarmers. He also cultivated a special friendship with Father Michael, who at the time was the head priest of the fire department. The author Michael Daly even gave Morton a place in his story in his book The Surprising Life and Historic Death of Father Michael Judge. But the greatest achievement his dedication yielded was the title of Honorary Assistant chief, awarded to him by the fire department as a surprise at the end of his life.
Buffing was Mort’s favorite sport. Now the love lives on through our oldest son, Gary Greenbaum, who has been employed with the department for about 38 years. He presently serves as a head dispatcher in the Bronx.
[/ezcol_2third_end]Morton Greenbaum
An absorbing look at an unusual and fascinating subject, this documental book relates stories of the twenty greatest fires in New York City from 1900 to 1965. FDNY Honorary Deputy Chief Morton Greenbaum (1917-1994) writes vividly and dramatically of the great fires that rampaged through the five boroughs of New York City from the General Slocum Disaster of 1904 to the conflagration on Staten Island in April of 1963. This authentic and heartfelt historical legacy is dedicated to firefighters and their friends.
Read more about Twenty Greatest New York City Fires of the Twentieth Century…
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