Gene Kelty, FDNY and CB 7 fixture, dies at 70

Gene Kelty never stopped fighting for the city and the borough he loved. 

Kelty, who served 39 years in the FDNY and on Community Board 7 for 40, died Sunday after fighting cancer he contracted in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack.

The lifelong Whitestone resident was 70.

Visitation hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, and Thursday, March 20, at the Martin A. Gleason Funeral Home at 10-25 150 St. in Whitestone.

The funeral is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Friday, March 21, at St. Mel's Roman Catholic Church at 26-15 154 St. in Flushing. Burial will follow at Mount St. Mary's Cemetery at 172-00 Booth Memorial Ave. in Flushing.

Kelty retired as a Manhattan battalion chief in 2018, He also spent 29 of his 40 years on Board 7 as its chairman, relinquishing the post to his friend and longtime CB 7 fixture Chuck Apelian in January to deal with his heath issues. 

Leaders on Board 7 and in Northern Queens were mourning him Monday.

“We knew, but we didn’t expect it,” Apelian told the Chronicle.

Marilyn McAndrews has been the district manager in District 7 since 2016, and has worked for the community board since 2010.

“What he was was a generous, thoughtful, compassionate man who cared about his community,” McAndrews said in a telephone interview.

It was a common theme of those paying tribute to Kelty personally and on social media.

Warren Schreiber has been on the board for 26 years.

“And I knew him a few years before that, just by being involved with the community,” Schreiber said. “Gene could be very aggressive. He could be abrasive. But once you got to know Gene, you learned he is truly a good man. He cared about people, and he was loyal to the people who worked for him. He was funny. He was smart. He knew everything about the community. He knew every street in Board 7. He cared about North Queens and the people who live there.”

Apelian, Kelty’s longtime first vice chairman, said he knew him for 37 years.

“For about 35 we were close, and I would say for the last 25 we were joined at the hip,” he said, adding that their combined knowledge of the community and its issues, along with Kelty’s grasp of government and Apelian’s knowledge of politics, made for a good pairing.

“You couldn’t have a better friend,” Apelian said. “If he took to you — and by the way, you had to earn it; you had to earn his respect and trust — if you did, that was it.”

“And remember something — he was a fireman. And the psychology of a fireman is to fix things and to rescue things. They go into burning buildings when everyone else is running away. That’s the guy I want having my back.”

Schreiber said Kelty had one way as chairman to address an obnoxious speaker or a land use attorney who had not done his or her homework.

“He would absolutely tell them off,” Schreiber said. “He would let them know the history of what was being discussed and he wouldn’t hold back. Not to go after that person. He did it because he cared about the community.”

Apelian said Kelty had absolutely no pretensions.

“What you see is what you get,” he said. He added that Kelty never would try to play ethnic groups or opposing community factions off against each other. Schreiber said not enough people know of Kelty’s efforts to advance issues in minority communities.

And what would happen when Kelty and Apelian, two knowledgeable men with strong opinions, disagreed on an important issue?

“We’d go to a bar,” Apelian said of a post-board meeting tradition dating back to before his service.

He remembers the night of Sept. 10, 2001, well.

“The board met that night, and we were talking about, ‘Who’s running?’ ‘What’s going to happen here?’ We were solving the world’s problems.”

Kelty, with Tuesday off, and his brother, James, a fellow firefighter, were playing golf in Queens the next morning. The Facebook page for NYC Fire Wire, on the occasion of Kelty’s retirement in 2018, said Kelty was assigned as captain at Engine 10, which is on Liberty Street just across the street from the World Trade Center.

“They got the call and they flew to the World Trade Center,” Apelian said. “And he stayed there for the rest of the week ...”

McAndrews and Schreiber both talked about Kelty’s trip to Washington, DC, in 2015 to support comedian Jon Stewart, who went to Capitol Hill to excoriate Congress for delays in renewing the Zadroga Law to provide medical care for city first responders who subsequently became ill.

“Gene was a hero,” Schreiber said. “I don’t know how long he worked the pile. And he didn’t do it for himself. He did it for others.”

Kelty also received praise on social media.

Two posts on Fire Wire back in 2018 were typical of those from firefighters who worked under Kelty.

“Chief Kelty was my first captain in E-10 right after 9/11,” posted Luis Briceno. “I feel great respect for him and I learned a lot from him.

“Chief, it was always a pleasure to ride along with you in the 10th battalion. I’ll never forget it,” said Christopher Bubba Kalisak.

Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone) said Kelty’s contributions to the community were immeasurable.

“Today our Community lost a shining light,” Paladino said on Facebook. “His family lost a loving, trusting, selfless man. I lost a great friend ... Vibrant wonderful Gene, you never minced words. That’s one of the things I loved most about you. Now it’s time for you to rest. This battle was tough you loved life. You wanted to live. God wanted you home. So home you went. Thanks for always believing, thanks for always being there.”

Responding to Paladino, resident Joe Lex said, “He was my neighbor. A great man. He will be missed very much.”

“If you knew Gene Kelty — a longtime @fdny firefighter and Community Board 7 chairman — you knew he would leave no stone unturned as he fought to make North Queens a better place,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on X. “I’m sad to say that we lost Gene this weekend after a long illness. My thoughts are with his family.

“It’s been an honor to work with Gene the last few years on projects from Willets Point to infrastructure upgrades in College Point and beyond. And I know his legacy will live on across North Queens, both in the projects he pushed and the people he cherished. 

“Rest in peace, Gene.”

 

UPDATE

This story has been edited to include visitation hours and funeral arrangements.