The New York roof hook (or halligan hook) is a firefighting tool used mostly for rooftop operations including vertical and horizontal ventilation,[1] pulling and prying.
Developed in the 1940s by FDNY Deputy Chief Hugh Halligan, a prolific firefighting inventor who also designed the Halligan bar, the tool is composed of a 6feet long shaft with two triangular-shaped ends jutting in opposite directions. One is angled at 45 degrees, the other at 90 degrees.[2]