Feb 16, 2024 - Lieutenant Robert Walsh, an EMT/paramedic with the FDNY since 2000 and a member of the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums Band, decided to learn the bagpipes in 2020 and now practices them outside when he has downtime on the job.
You can find him in Central Park playing his pipes toward the west side of the 102nd Street Transverse, as well as Inwood Hill Park and Grant's Tomb in Riverside Park.
Walsh, 55, originally came to NYC after going to film school to study animation, and even worked on the first season of Law and Order: SVU before joining the FDNY. He now does calls on both the Upper West and East Sides and also manages a fleet of first responders and ambulances.
He says that practicing outside in the cold helps to prepare him for when he needs to perform outside with the band, and it also provides relief from the job.
Read more about Walsh's story from the original article here.