John J. Harvey has spent her entire service life on the West Side of Manhattan at North River berths (as the lower Hudson is called). Commissioned in 1931 as Engine Co. 57, she was stationed at a unique house along the Battery Park seawall.   

In 1938 she was transferred to Engine Co. 86 at Pier 53 at Bloomfield Street, the home of John Harvey’s boat, Willett. In 1959 this Company was redesignated Marine Co. 2. The station closed in 1991 but Harvey continued in regular service a few more years. In 1992, the Fire Department reconsidered the need for a North River fireboat and reopened the Pier 53 station.  

It is most appropriate that Harvey is now berthed at Pier 66 Maritime, a stone's throw from where she performed most of her 64 years of service.