Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
FDNY Bar Brawl Sparked By Civilian's FDNY T-Shirt
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 9, 2008
Modified Dec 9, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 9, 2008
Modified Dec 9, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
It took officers from four precincts and the elite Emergency Services Unit over a quarter of an hour to break up a massive bar brawl at McFadden's on 42nd Street and Second Avenue around 10:30 on Saturday night. Police say a crowd of about 20 people were involved in the melee when it erupted out onto the street. Five people were finally arrested, including two firefighters, and another two firefighters were given summons for disorderly conduct after they went to the stationhouse and harassed cops about the arrests.
The Times reports that John Tew, 37, of Rescue 4 in Queens, and Matthew Veitch, 27, of Ladder 173 in Queens, (both from Long Island) were drinking at the bar with friends for several hours before the group spotted 22-year-old Christopher DiForte of Staten Island wearing a T-shirt with the department's logo. An NYPD source tells the Daily News, "It was a run-of-the-mill T-shirt. The real firefighters took umbrage that he wore it." One firefighter asked DiForte which unit he was in, and when he replied that he was not in the FDNY, they started harassing him.
They NYPD source added that in the ensuing scuffle DiForte began "swinging his pint glass wildly... and shattered the glass on the head of 25-year-old Matias Acevedo, a friend of the firefighters, who suffered a nasty gash." DiForte and two other men were also charged with assault; all five of the arrested men were released Sunday. As for the T-shirt, you can buy yours at the FDNY Fire Zone, "a not-for-profit corporation established to fund Fire Safety in New York City and the professional development, training and education of members of the FDNY."
Tagged
arrested
bar
brawl
fdny
fight
fire department
manhattan
mcfadden's
new york
nyc
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .