So, before my father was in FDNY, he was in the New York City Water Department Police. Primary duty - guard the Kensico Reservoir in Valhalla, NY. Life was pretty quiet on the dam, so him and his buddy would party in town at night, often with the mayor. One time in particular, they stayed out too late, probably imbibed a bit too much and were pretty tired for work. The dam had a road that went across the top and of course the dam walls extended up along side the roadway. The water was at least 100' down on one side. So my father decided to take a nap on the top of the wall. During his snooze, he rolled over...and fell into the road. If he'd rolled the other way, it probably would have been curtains.
Another quiet day, he decided to clean his revolver and laid the parts on the top of the wall. His friend came along and in the process of chatting, probably used some extra emphasis or was handling the gun parts. In any event, somehow the cylinder got bumped and rolled off the side into the reservoir.
They also had a couple of Indian motorcycles to patrol the reservoir. Have/had a great photo of my Dad in a Marlon Brando pose on it. They used to help out the city cops when things got dull or the cops needed backup. He recalled parties that got out of hand where the cops would bust in with nightsticks in hand and just start swinging and bustin heads. Didn't care who they hit, just as long as they broke it up. I'm pretty sure the black's parties got the worst of it.
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