Firefighter Seated Chauffeur Neil “Frankie” Franklyn Hall Jr. was born in East Patchogue, New York and raised in Mastic, New York to his parents, along with his two younger sisters. His childhood was fun and surrounded by a lot of family and friends. Having grown up on the water on Long Island, New York, he and his family loved to boat, jet ski, clam, crab, and fish. Hall’s hobbies as a child included boating, fixing anything mechanical, such as cars and boats, and helping with his father’s snow blowing business during the winter months, which he eventually took over later in life. Hall and his future wife, Stacey, met in March of 2005 while at a restaurant with mutual friends. In 2008, they were married.
When Hall was 22 years old, he became a lifetime member of the Mastic Volunteer Fire Department. Following the footsteps of many family members and friends and enjoying helping others in need, Hall decided to dedicate himself to a Life of Service and joined the NYPD on July 18, 1996. He then transferred to Ladder 15 FDNY in Lower Manhattan on February 1, 2000. He took great pride in helping his community and loved every second of his career, especially the brotherhood he was surrounded by. Hall’s main goals were to help his community and comfort those in their time of need. He strived to be the best, most honorable, dedicated, knowledgeable firefighter and certified first responder that he could be. If anything, he hopes the community felt safer when he was on duty. On September 11, 2001, Hall’s firehouse lost 14 members. He takes immense pride in his work on the search and rescue team during the months following that horrific day, as well as taking the time to help the families of the 14 heroes lost. His relationship with the families has been an honor and he would do it all over again if the time arose.
On June 16, 2022, after being more than halfway through a 24 hour tour, Hall’s firehouse had just completed a drill. Upon putting equipment away in the loft area of the firehouse, some chairs on the floor fell against the ladder that Hall was balancing on, causing it to move. He could not regain his balance and unfortunately fell from more than 10 feet high, his head taking the brunt of the fall. He sustained a severe traumatic brain injury, short term memory loss, aphasia, convergence insufficiency, left optic nerve neuropathy, hypotension, and a partially torn right rotator cuff. Having spent a total of eight weeks between the hospital and rehab, and now maintaining outpatient rehab a few times per week, Hall’s recovery has been tough thus far. It will be a slow, long process. He would like to thank his wife, Stacey, and his daughters, Jennifer and Rachel, who moved into Manhattan for the eight weeks to support him until he could return home.
Currently, Hall loves to spend time with his family, friends, and his dog, Sapphire. In the future, he is excited to continue recovering, as well as watching his girls grow up. Tunnel to Towers has provided Hall with the conversion of his home into a mortgage-free Smart Home, which the Hall family is eternally grateful for. Having accessible features, such as the bedroom, main floor bathroom, entrance door, ramp, driveway, and deck, among others will be of great help to Hall. In addition, the Foundation has offered mental health counseling for Hall and his family members as they recover from the trauma of Hall’s accident and navigate a new life ahead of them. Firefighter Seated Chauffeur Neil “Frankie” Franklyn Hall Jr. would like others to know that he had the best job in the world; he truly loved wearing his FDNY uniform and he would go back in a second if he could. His career has been enjoyable and honorable. His family is immensely proud of him.