CITY COLLECTION: B is for BAYONNE

B IS FOR BAYONNE. In my collection of "City Badges," Bayonne is the third badge hanging under glass on my wall. I have Twenty "City" shields in my display including, eight of the top ten.

The City is home to approximately 60,000 people. It is located on both New York Bay and Newark Bay. That may sound inviting, but this is definitely not a "Shore" destination. Don't rush to book a room for a visit. If you do get one with a view of the Bayonne Bridge, taking traffic over the famous Kill Van Kull Waters, leading to beautiful Staten Island, N.Y. The bridge is lit up, at night in Red, White and Blue as a 9-11 memorial.

This is the City that Tommy Lee Jones proclaimed: "aliens had taken over." I guess they didn't have GPS. The Ninja's called the place the "Slime Capital of the World." I am just glad they have a great Police Department.

A friend, who served on the Bayonne Police force, lived under the bridge. He had a daily view of Staten Island. The guy was built like a linebacker, rode motorcycles, and thought like Arnie Schwartzneger. Over the years he was nagged to get me a badge for my collection. Failure must have been his middle name.

Some where in the late 1980's I did get a Bayonne Badge, but not from the friend on the force. The picture does it no justice. It is an old "Sunburst" design with reverse blue lettering. It reads: Bayonne City Police - Lieutenant.

In the center of this badge is the NJ State Seal. The seal is gold finished on a blue circle. It looks a little larger then usual, but is a fine looking piece.

I used this addition to my collection as a means to further nag my buddy to find something else for me. It took a while but the other badges featured here eventually made it to my wall. One is from Bayonne Civil Defense. The other is said to be from the Navy's Military Ocean Terminal. That was the site where Robert DeNiro made the film: "Men of Honor."

The Seal on the badge is multi color and in pristine condition. It is Red lettering (CD) in a White triangle over a Blue circle. The badge is New York styled and reads: Auxiliary Police, Bayonne, NJ # 244. The item is in excellent condition. It joins a couple of other Civil Defense Badges that I have.

On the "Navy" badge the seal is an eagle carrying an anchor. It is marked N.Y.N.S. and that is believed to be short for New York Naval Station. The item is pretty well beat up and somewhat of a mystery. The belief is it is from the World War Two era, and that it has roots in the Bayonne Navy Yard. The Navy Yard in Brooklyn is also a possibility, ,but I prefer to think this item comes from N.J. The area is now a cruise port. Things do change.

All three of these badges bring back some good memories. Bayonne isn't a bad place at all. I am glad to have these badges as reminders of that community.