The Mark

Why for a phasing, Sergeant Waters? All right, get on over to second avenue. The third alarm on that fire just hit. Sergeant Penney's on the job there. He'll put you to work on traffic. Yeah, that's right.

You are in the must of room at the 21st Precinct, the nerve center. A call is coming through. You will follow the action taken for two into that call from this minute until the final report is written in the 124 rooms after 24th Precinct.

Okay, you're gone. Bring in when you get back on your post. Yeah, all right. 21st Precinct is just lined on a map of the city of New York. Most of the 173,000 people wedged into the 9th 10th to the square mile between Fifth Avenue and the East River wouldn't know if you asked them

that they lived or worked in the 21st. But that they know it enough, the security of their homes, their persons, and their property is the job of the men of the 21st Precinct. The 21st, 160 patrolman, 11 sergeants, and four lieutenants of whom I am the boss.

My name is Connelly, Frank Connelly. I am Captain Incommen of the 21st. I was working my day tour, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It was raining hard when I came on the job, and the 63 men who would patrol the precinct on foot and infect the cars for the next eight hours turned out wearing rubber coats, boots, and cap covers.

At 10 minutes after 9, Lieutenant Gorman, the desk officer, rang in the by-office and informed me of a two-alarmed fire in a loft building on 2nd Avenue. By the time a car came by the station house to take me to the scene of the fire, the third alarm had hit.