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Harvey Professionals
Al Trojanowicz - Bob Lenney - Tim Ivory
Those involved in New York's waterfront are as quixotic, engaging and obsessive a group as any in the City. This club is small and growing smaller, as the City steadfastly eliminates vestiges of its working waterfront. As we lose this vital connection to the City's very raison d'être, the club becomes ever more important to our civic memory. We rescued John J. Harvey from the scrap-yard, but are with one or two exceptions, made up of land-side types, with regular, workaday lives, unrelated to the harbor. A large part of our reward for tackling Harvey is being allowed to hang around the fringes of the Club -- not as members, but as tolerated hangers-on.
Historian, Al Trojanowicz
As interesting a full-fledged member of the club as any is Al Trojanowicz. Superficially, Al recently retired as Supervising Dispatcher for FDNY. In reality, he is the unquestioned authority on the history of New York City's fireboats. He characterizes the real meaning of "amateur" -- one who truly loves his subject, and is therefore more expert than any mere professional could ever be. Having worked with him, we know his standards and his meticulous approach to his work are on a par with the finest academia has to offer. He has enlivened the boat for us, transforming her from a collection of motors, engines and pumps into a living story, part of New York's past and, we hope, of its future.
The history section of this site, our brochures, the historical photos and the successful nomination of John J. Harvey to the The National Register of Historic Places are all from Al's hand. Without his generous donation of much time and knowledge, John J. Harvey would be a much impoverished experience for us all.
Pilot Bob Lenney
In 1930, John J. Harvey was designed by Henry Gielow, a famous firm of yacht designers, presumably short on orders for yachts during the Great Depression. Like a yacht, she has a graceful elliptical counter stern and (for speed) one rudder between two propellers. This arrangement makes her a very difficult boat to land, as her rudder has no effect when not moving through the water. Many FDNY Pilots were afraid of embarrassment at her helm as a result. Not FDNY Pilot Bob Lenney, who was for some 16 years at the helm of Harvey when she was a working boat, and is now once again at the helm in their respective retirements.
For lack of knowledge, before we met Bob in the fall of 1999, we were regularly banging Harvey against her pier when landing; we were doing water displays which were clumsy and ill conceived; we lived in ignorance of much of her recent history and tradition.
Now that Bob seems to have gotten over his suspicion of us, a bunch of amateurs owning his boat, he has become not only an invaluable inspiration, but (even better) a great friend.
Chief Engineer, Tim Ivory
Emergency service vessels are inherently complex, as redundancy is important to insure reliability. Even among these high-bred vessels, the engine room on John J. Harvey is notable for its complexity. As if that were not enough, the bulk of its machinery dates to 1931, largely unaltered except for Diesels installed in 1957.
Most engineers faced with Harvey's enormous array of seven engines, six main generators, several generator-sets, four main fire pumps, countless other (and sometimes mysterious) pumps, auxiliary power, baffling switchboards, two mammoth propulsion motors and a host of classic controls designed seven decades ago, are in awe and doubt. You can imagine our joy then to have found Tim Ivory, born when Harvey was already within a decade of retirement. Despite his relative youth, Tim is undaunted by his lair. He rejoices in deciphering its mysteries, and exults in repairing rather than replacing. Tim has been in charge of the restoration almost since inception. Under his stewardship, Harvey is once again the fastest large fireboat in existence. His ingenuity with this complex machines is well known in New York harbor, and he is in much demand. Thank the powers that be that his first love is John J. Harvey - let the other vessels wait!
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