Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

First Black FDNY Commissioner to be Honored with Street Co-Naming

By Gustavo Solis | August 7, 2015 6:08pm | Updated on August 9, 2015 10:45pm
 The first African American to serve as the fire commissioner of any major city in the country will have a street named after him. 
Robert Lowery
View Full Caption

HAMILTON HEIGHTS — The family of New York City’s first African-American FDNY Commissioner never got to publicly celebrate his life when he passed away in 2001.

“We were planning a celebration of his life at the Fire Museum in October and of course we had the invitations printed out, we had made all of the arrangements with the Fireman’s Union and the Vulcan Society, and then 9/11 happened and everything changed,” said Robert Lowery’s daughter Gertrude Erwin.

Lowery, who became the first black fire commissioner of any major city in 1966 after an appointment from Mayor John Lindsay, passed away when he was 85.

Instead of the large celebration, the family held a small, intimate service at Trinity Cemetery, across the street from the River Terrace Co-op, where Lowery lived with his wife and two daughters.  

Now his daughters are ready to give their father, who was one of only 50 African Americans when the joined the FDNY in the 1940's, the memorial he never had.

On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is scheduled to sign the co-naming of 155th Street and Riverside West Drive Robert Lowery Way.

"As a Firefighter and a Fire Marshal, Robert Lowery bravely served New York City for decades," said Commissioner Daniel Nigro.

"Later, as the first ever African-American Fire Commissioner, he led the FDNY during one of the busiest and most difficult periods in the Department’s history. This street renaming is an important way to honor his legacy and ensure his memory will inspire future generations of Firefighters."

Erwin, 67, who has been fighting for the renaming for more than a year, wants to have the celebration that never happened when the street is officially renamed, she said.

“We don’t have a date set yet,” she said. “But my sister and I were thinking April 20, what would’ve been his 100th birthday. That would be a great way to celebrate his life.”

Erwin and her sister collected hundreds of signatures of support for the renaming last year. Although they received a lot of support, there was some opposition. Some members of the community wanted to rename the street after another famous resident of River Terrace Co-op.

“There were people from my building who felt there were a number of significant people who lived in River Terrace including Mayor [David] Dinkins so I had some push back,” she said.

In May, Community Board 12 voted to renamed Riverside Drive West after the former mayor, despite a city rule stating the people had to be dead to be memorialized through a renaming.

The city council did not move forward with that recommendation, a city council spokesman said.

Lowery has been an inspirational figure to many African-American members of the fire department, said FDNY captain and member of the Vulcan Society Paul Washington.

“He was certainly one of the most important people in our organization,” Washington said. “He was the first black fire commissioner of any major city in the country.”

His influence transcended the FDNY. In a 2001 obituary in the New York Times, Mayor David Dinkins said, “He opened doors for all of us.”

Lowery’s family and members of the FDNY are expected to attend the signing ceremony Monday morning, Erwin said.