Battalion 9 is HQ’d with Engine 54 and Ladder 4 (“The Pride of Midtown”) at 48th and 8th in Manhattan, on the west edge of Times Square. Battalion Chief Edward Geraghty oversaw 5 firehouses on the West Side from this base. All responded to 9/11. Earlier in his career BC Geraghty ran the FDNY training academy on Randall’s Island. On his first day he gave the new recruits a pep talk. When finished, the other instructors behind him were somewhat stunned. “You’re not supposed to be nice,” they said. “You’re supposed to scare the hell out of them.” That wasn’t his way. His wife of 17 years said she only saw him in a bad mood twice. “Life doesn’t get any better than this” was a favorite line.