By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — The FDNY hit 12 of its members in the wallet as punishment for getting into a bare-knuckled Bronx beatdown in the Bronx after a Medal Day ceremony last summer, officials said Friday.
The punishment was meted out to firefighters and officers alike -- and a 13th member of the Bravest was transferred, the Daily News has learned.
The brawling Bravest were all docked between 30 and 60 days, meaning that they will have to give up thousands of dollars in pay, officials said.
Depending on their rank and seniority, the financial hit could be between $8,500 and $20,000 a source with knowledge of the case said.
Seven out of the 12 firefighters were also reassigned to other commands, including five FDNY members from the elite Rescue 3 in the Bronx’s Claremont section, officials said.
Sources said the transferred Rescue 3 members would be hit the hardest because their regular pay will be docked and they’re losing a coveted 12% pay differential for being a part of the Special Operations Command.
The disciplinary findings came at the end of a year-long probe into the June 6, 2018, slugfest that started inside Billy’s Bar near Yankee Stadium and spilled out onto the street.
The ugly interaction — which took place just hours after the mayor and fire commissioner honored some of them for heroics on the job — involved firefighters from Rescue 3, as well as Ladder 49 and Ladder 44.
A racial slur thrown at a black firefighter sparked the fight, sources with knowledge of the case said at the time. Many of the firefighters had been drinking since 11 a.m. that day.
Fists began flying after Rescue 3 member called a firefighter from the other house a “n----r,” according to sources.
The brawl got so out of control that bouncers sprayed at least one firefighter with pepper spray as they broke up the fisticuffs, sources said.
NYPD cops were also called, but no report was ever filed.
A video of the aftermath shows a pack of firefighters in their dress blues — with their shirttails hanging out and their sleeves rolled up — still arguing and being restrained by police.
One firefighter can be seen in the recording shoving a cop who was trying to calm the fracas.
A short time later, three drunken members of Ladder 49/Engine 68 went to Rescue 3 on Washington Ave. in Claremont to continue the fight and got a vicious smackdown by the sober firefighters on duty. The beating was so extreme, at least one member had to seek medical treatment at a hospital.
———
©2019 New York Daily News