Anthony Aquaro, FDNY’s oldest retiree, dies at 103

January 14, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Anthony Aquaro and the squad from his firehouse were among those who aided in the search and recovery after two planes collided and crashed onto Seventh Ave. s in 1960. Photo courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York

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PARK SLOPE — THE OLDEST RETIREE in the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), Brooklyn native Anthony Aquaro, died in hospice last Friday, Jan. 10 at 103, according to a Dignity.com obituary and the New York Post. Aquaro, who was born in Borough Park on Feb. 27, 1921, was an alumnus of Textile High School and a World War II veteran who served in the Navy and was stationed in the North Atlantic. Joining the FDNY at age 31, he served at Engine Company 269 on Union Street in Park Slope for more than a quarter of a century. One of the most dramatic and tragic moments of service was the Dec. 17, 1960 mid-air plane collision and crash onto Seventh Avenue in Park Slope.

“The plane that crashed in Brooklyn flew right over their firehouse, and then it crashed,” his son told the New York Post. “He didn’t come home for three days … He was in rescue and recovery. He spent three days collecting body parts. It affected him somewhat, but it was all part of that job. You saw a lot of things that regular citizens didn’t.”

On a happier note, the senior Aquaro said during his February 2024 SI Live interview upon turning 103 that meeting his wife, Gloria, when they were both in his school, was “love at first sight.” After his baseball team won its first game in some time, he asked her for a kiss and she called him “fresh.” They were married for 81 years.

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