Sunday, April 6, 2014

Retiring firefighter was father figure in B’klyn neighborhood


NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpiAaron Showalter/New York Daily News Craig Goldsberry (left), who grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, credits FDNY Capt. Robert Higgins (right) with helping set him on the right course when he was a kid in the neighborhood.

Ever since Craig Goldsberry wandered into a Brooklyn firehouse as a curious child 22 years ago and met Robert Higgins, it’s been hard for him to leave.


Higgins, an FDNY captain at Engine Co. 231/Ladder Co. 120 in Brownsville, immediately took the 8-year-old boy under his wing.


He’s the proud father of NYPD Officer Kevin Higgins and NHL hockey player Chris Higgins, but he saw something different in Goldsberry.


“I could see right away that this kid was special,” Higgins recalled.




They say it takes a village to raise children, and that’s what it was.




Now, after nearly four decades as a smokeater, Higgins is retiring next week from his beloved firehouse on Watkins St.


Goldsberry, 30, who grew up in the Howard Houses and attended Thomas Jefferson High School in East New York, Brooklyn, would often go to the firehouse with his cousins, offering to wash trucks. But to keep coming back, they had to maintain good grades.


Under the watchful eyes of Higgins, the firefighters would help Goldsberry and his cousins with homework. Higgins also kept his young charge in shape by having him run up and down the block.


Craig Goldsberry, of Brownsville, credits Capt Robert Higgins (pictured), of Engine Co. 231 with helping set him on the right course as he grew up in the nieghborhood. Goldsberry would hang out at the firehouse with Higgins and the others there, but only as long as he maintained good grades in school and stayed out of trouble. Goldberry largely credits Higgins with the success he has had so far in life. Capt. Higgins is retiring from the FDNY April 15. Aaron Showalter/New York Daily News

Higgins is retiring after nearly four decades with the FDNY.


Enlarge NYPD Officer Kevin (l.), his brother Chris, who plays for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, and their dad, retiring FDNY Capt. Robert Higgins. David Pokress for new york daily news


Higgins is the father of NYPD Officer Kevin Higgins (left) and NHL hockey player Chris Higgins (center).


Enlarge



“They say it takes a village to raise children, and that’s what it was,” said Goldsberry, who now lives in Flatbush but stops by frequently to visit. “I had my dad and my brothers, but this helped me.


“Over here, it can go either way,” he added of the hardscrabble neighborhood.


Now, Goldsberry works for the Department of Education’s office of safety and youth development. But his dream remains the same: to follow in Higgins’ footsteps.


NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpiAaron Showalter/New York Daily News ‘I was so proud to be part of this department, this firehouse,’ Higgins says.

One spot will surely open up when Higgins leaves.


“I was so proud to be part of this department, this firehouse,” said Higgins. “For me, it was my dream come true. I had a very good run.”





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