Engine Company 228
436 39th Street | Sunset Park | built 1891
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1891
Engine Company 28 moves into its new firehouse on 39th Street after a year in rented rooms
Fire Commissioner John Ennis organized Engine Company 28 in 1890 because the Sunset Park area was growing. For its first year the company rented space at 945 4th Avenue, until the new firehouse at 436 39th Street was finished. The company formally moved into the new house in December 1891.
- 1891
Builder William J. Moran gives the firehouse a row of arches in red brick and sandstone
William J. Moran, a Brooklyn builder who had apprenticed as a mason, erected the two-story Romanesque Revival firehouse for the city. Its ground story has three arches, the central one enlarged for the fire engine, built of alternating red brick and reddish-brown sandstone. Moran used the same design to win the contract for a firehouse for Hook and Ladder Company 2 on Bedford Avenue near Myrtle Avenue.
“William J. Moran successfully used the same design to outbid other builders for the contract for Hook and Ladder Company 2 new firehouse on Bedford Avenue…”
- 1899
The firehouse becomes Engine 128 after consolidation and Engine 228 in 1913
After Brooklyn's fire department was folded into New York City's in 1898, Engine Company 28 was renamed Engine 128 on October 1, 1899. A later reorganization made it Engine 228 on January 1, 1913, the name it still carries at this firehouse.
- 2013
The Landmarks Commission designates the working firehouse a landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the firehouse on February 12, 2013, after a December 2012 hearing at which one speaker, from the Historic Districts Council, supported designation and none opposed. The FDNY sent a letter in support. The Commission noted that the firehouse has operated continuously and has stayed relatively unaltered since the 1890s.
“There was one speaker in favor of designation, a representative of the Historic Districts Council. There were no speakers in opposition to designation.”
Nearby
- Sunset Park Court House4201 4th Avenue | 9 entries
- St. Michael's Church356 42nd Street | 4 entries
- 68th Precinct Station House and Stable4308 4th Avenue | 5 entries
- Sunset Park High School153 35th Street | 2 entries
- Sunset Play Center children's comfort station4200 7th Avenue | 3 entries
- Sunset Play Center bath house4200 7th Avenue | 7 entries