The+Woodhaven+Exempt+Volunteer+Firemen's+Association



The Woodhaven Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association (95-11 101st Ave) was an organization that provided health and death benefits to its members; any honorably discharged fireman in New York City was eligible for membership. The word "exempt" indicated that due to their volunteer work with the fire department, they were exempt from certain things, like jury duty or the military draft. Volunteer Fire Departments began to die out with the advent of the Fire Department of New York and the employ of paid firefighters.

At the time it was in operation, the headquarters of the Woodhaven Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association were considered to be the finest house owned by any organization of firemen in the entire country. On the ground floor was a spacious hall in which meetings were held; the hall was also available to the general public for balls and parties. In the basement, besides an up-to-date kitchen was a battery of bowling alleys. And on the upper floor, there was an extensive reading room and library as well as a billiard room.

In 1912, the daughter of the legendary Florian Grosjean donated all of the exercise equipment from her late father's gymnasium. She had just sold the house and the property and wanted to make sure that the equipment went to a good cause. Mr. Grosjean was very generous to all local volunteer fire companies - and there were 9 in the vicinity of his factory, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 1876.

Over time, membership began to dwindle as the only firemen who qualified for membership were the old volunteers, and many of them had started to pass away. Since there was less need for a physical headquarters, the building became the home of the Ozone Park Library in 1935. The organization continued to exist on paper for many years, still providing benefits for the surviving volunteers. Though no exact date of its closure is known (probably sometime in the early 1970s), it is believed that it was the last surviving exempt organization in New York City.

If you look a top of the building today, you will see a statue peeking over the roof, one that bears a remarkable resemblance to the statue that was atop the Woodhaven Exempt Volunteer Firemen's Association. Whether or not it is the same statue is not known.



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