While out on my ride through Queens, I met 88 year old former Chief Petty Officer Joe, who was in the Navy during WWII and Korea. Joe enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17. He had to have his parents sign to approve his actions. Joe has patriotism in his blood.
Joe is my new Hero!
One of Joe’s many core values is humility. He says he isn’t a Hero, he was doing what was needed and what he believed in.
Joe is an example to all of us. Humility is a core value that would be refreshing to see much more of.
Thank you CPO Joe for your service to our country.

While on my stops at Firehouses across all of the five boroughs of New York City, I am always asked, can we get you anything? Food and coffee are offered when I arrive near mealtime. The crew at the Queens Boulevard Firehouse at 75th Avenue cooked up a great breakfast, I loaded up on coffee and eggs. The Firehouse on Metropolitan fed me an early lunch as we shared some nice stories.
I talked for quite some time to Squad 288, Haz Mat 1 unit in Maspeth the Firehouse that lost 19 men on 9/11, more men than any other. I received a huge thanks from all the men and an offer of a 2nd lunch.
Britany Robinson from Stars on the Ceiling wrote a very nice blog on her travel site about One Million Acts Of Kindness. It can be found at http://sotcblog.com/?p=1238
James and Brad, two men who work at Bergdorf Goodman, were all ears while listening to my pitch about The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. They were very generous in buying a late afternoon meal for me. Thank you to everyone.

If you could bottle days like today, you’d have customers lined up for a mile. It was as near as perfect a day as could be. It is such a blessing to be out all day in weather like this.
My first stop was the Firehouse on Rockaway Boulevard in Queens. The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes was met with great interest from the men at this Firehouse. They got rid of my initial grogginess with some double strength coffee that kept me going most of the morning.
The guys at Engine 311 Hook & Ladder 158 went out of their way to help me. They cooked up some breakfast treating me like one of their own. This is  the general rule with all the Firehouses. It’s amazing I’m not 30 pounds heavier.
At the 113th Precinct, I met with the Community Affairs Department. Officers Ferguson and Duhaney who are going to work to spread the word to the community.
Lieutenant Mark, who I met this weekend in the Rockaways was at the Hillside Firehouse along with  Firefighters Pat and Mike. We did a good deal of kidding around during my visit. What an enjoyable day.

The days just keep getting better on The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. The past couple of days, it felt more like a warm autumn day than a cool summer day. The seasons are slowly changing.
This morning I took the early morning ferry and the train to the southern tip of Staten Island. My day-long ride began at the 123rd Precinct in Tottenville. “This is really cool,” was the comment I was met with as I pulled up to their front door. “What a great way to promote Heroes,” was another. NYPD deserves good press and they can always get it here.
Engine 151 and Ladder 76 was my first stop of the five Firehouses I visited today. What a fun visit as we talked in the kitchen about lunch and what sort of momento of my visit they could give me. They insisted I take a lapel pin and a great looking “151” hat, which I wore in today’s photo.
My favorite story of the day was about Zio (Uncle) Angelo from Italy. When the Rossville Firefighter was a young boy, he went to Italy with his dad. His Zio Angelo would treat the children in his village to ice cream and other treats every day. It was guessed by the boy that Zio Angelo was a millionaire. When dad and son went to visit Zio Angelo at his house, the entire inside of the house was burned-out and there was only a mattress on the floor. Zio Angelo used all his resources to make the children in his village happy. It is what brought him joy. To me Zio Angelo was a millionaire, a kindness millionaire.
At day’s end in Manhattan, I had the pleasure to meet Angela G. Carr, Ph.D., NYC Department of Education Director of Division of Students with Disabilities & English Language Learners. She and I had a wonderful chat about The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes and the students in the NYC schools. With one stroke of the pen, 1.3 million children can learn about taking a lifetime pledge of One Million Acts Of Kindness. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one, big time!

On my many trips through Times Square in Manhattan, I stop and talk with officers who are on duty, keeping the peace. One of these men is Officer Reyes who has expressed his gratitude for what I am doing. Today I stopped when I saw Officer Reyes south of Times Square with Kojak, his trusted K-9 partner. They are certified in Patrol, Tracking, Evidence Recovery and Criminal Apprehension. I was happy I turned around and was able to get some great photos with this crime fighting team.
This morning was spent being interviewed by Britany Robinson who writes a wonderful travel blog. She loved hearing some of the adventures of The Kindness Bus Tour. I will provide a link in a future article. The rest of this remarkable day was spent visiting Firehouses and Police Precincts in Queens. This borough is family friendly and is a great place to ride The Kindness Bicycle.
I hope Bogart is not too jealous of today’s picture!

Rockaway is a section of Queens that is a narrow peninsula which jets out into the Atlantic Ocean. I conveniently arrived by subway and then rode The Kindness Bicycle to the five Firehouses and two Police Precincts along it’s length.
My first stop was to the Firehouse on Mott Avenue and the 101st Precinct around the corner. “How’d you get all the way out here,” I was asked at the Firehouse. To their amazement, I said I came via Santa Monica, California.
Lieutenant Pasquel at the 101st Precinct said today was the first “thank you” she has heard in 18 years. Sergeant Barry said she agreed that they don’t hear thank yous on the job. It is a sad state of affairs that the men and women who protect us aren’t greatly appreciated.
Mark, a Lieutenant, was filling in at the Rockaway Beach Boulevard Firehouse.
He talked with me at length about his years with the FDNY and wanted to know all about my ride.
The entire crew at the Cross Bay Boulevard Firehouse in Howard Beach were thrilled I stopped by and helped me with some direction changes to get me back to my “home base” before dark.

Queens has the largest land area of all five boroughs of New York City. Travel by The Kindness Bicycle is going to be supplemented, somewhat, by the subway during my visits here. I am going to surpass the 4,000 mile total for The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes by a projected 500 miles, so using the subway will become part of my travels for the next couple of weeks. Today’s subway ride from Brooklyn to Queens brought a full range of reactions, (apparently not many people take a Kindness Bike on the subway) from people asking if they could take photos with me, to people who wanted to know what was going on but didn’t ask.
My ride today took me to five Firehouses and one Police Precinct. Queens is a very friendly place, there was lots of foot traffic and car traffic with welcoming reactions. I am looking forward to my next two weeks here.