The first thing that hits you about the New York is the enclosed masts that form twin towers stretching skyward over 1,300 workers toiling to finish the massive warship dedicated to the victims of 9/11...

In all his years with the Fire Department, Dennis O'Connell never made a daring rescue, didn't go into burning buildings, or cut people out of mangled cars.

But as a cool, steady voice, and with encyclopedic knowledge of the city, he sent firefighters where they had to go, juggling ladder and engine companies to save minutes, seconds, blocks - and lives...

Fire Lt. John Eccleston was in Mississippi for a week last month, after Hurricane Gustav hit, as a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster Assistance Response Team...

Alexa Smagala never met her father.

That didn't stop the 6-year-old from scrawling, "I love my Daddy" on the soon-to-be-retired Brooklyn fire truck Stanley Smagala rode to his death on 9/11.

Alexa visited Engine Co. 226, in Boerum Hill, yesterday with the families of other fallen firemen to say farewell to the truck. It is expected to be retired by the end of the year...