PHOTOS: Dedicated in 1975 and opened the following year, the New York City Fire Academy is a world-class training facility. Also known as “The Rock,” the fire academy is the hub of training for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). Indeed, every FDNY firefighter begins their career here in our probationary firefighter school. However, probationary firefighter school is only the beginning of a career-long learning experience. Most members typically attend one or more of our various classroom training programs at the fire academy each year. This is in addition to the daily training in our subway simulator, tactical live fire training, chauffeur training school, and a host of other hands-on scenarios that take place daily on our 27-acre campus.