Last week, the United States Postal Service joined local delegates and community leaders to honor a fallen FDNY hero in a virtual dedication ceremony.
On Dec. 3, 2020, legislation to designate the Floral Park Post Office building located at 35 Tulip Ave., in Floral Park, as the “Lieutenant Michael R. Davidson Post Office Building” was signed into law by President Trump. This legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by New York Congresswoman Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City).
Davidson, who was a Floral Park resident, was killed after responding to a five-alarm fire in a Harlem building that was being used as a movie set for an upcoming Ed Norton and Bruce Willis film Motherless Brooklyn.
Davidson joined the FDNY in May of 2003 and was assigned to Engine Company 69 in Harlem. On the night of his death on March 22, 2018, he responded to a blaze in a basement of a five-story building on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 149th Street. According to fire officials at the time, Davidson was assigned to the nozzle and became separated from his group inside the building. He was later found unconscious from severe smoke inhalation and was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries leaving, behind his wife and four young children.
The virtual dedication ceremony took place on the third anniversary of Davidson’s death. In attendance at the ceremony were Congresswoman Rice, former Floral Park Mayor Dominick Longobardi, Monsignor John Delendick, Archbishop Molloy High School President Richard Karsten and Archbishop Molloy High School Chorus Director Jim Sheenan, Long Island Postal District Manager Frank Calabrese, Floral Park Postmaster Harold Bonilla, and members of Davidson’s family.
“My district on Long Island has a long and proud tradition of service in the New York City Fire Department,” Rice said back in 2019 when she first introduced the legislation. “For generations, young men and women from New York’s Fourth Congressional District have joined the FDNY following in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents. They choose a life of service and sacrifice, and dedicate their lives to protect others. Lieutenant Michael Davidson was a part of that tradition.”
Rice added that every time people pass the Lieutenant Michael R. Davidson Post Office in Floral Park, people will remember the way Davidson lived his life: with honor, love for his family, and service to his community.
