A Staten Island road was renamed Sunday in honor of a parks employee who was killed 50 years in the past throughout a botched golf-course housebreaking – and by no means bought to see his two sons develop as much as be hero NYPD cops.
Arthur Leahy was the primary metropolis parks employee to die on the job when he was killed April 6, 1975, as three assailants tried to interrupt into the LaTourette Park golf course clubhouse in a single day, in response to Metropolis Councilman David Carr (R-Staten Island).
“Arthur C. Leahy Manner” now faces the doorway to the park on the nook of Richmond Hill and Forest Hill roads — after what the tragic employee’s household says was a long-fought battle to get him recognition.
“It’s so applicable that we honor our native hometown heroes on this manner, who, for probably the most half, are on a regular basis, extraordinary people, frequent individuals, rendering unusual service, and that’s no exception on this case,” Carr advised the group of dozens gathered for Sunday’s commemoration.
Leahy, a Mariners Harbor resident and Marine veteran, was married with 5 youngsters when he was overwhelmed, shot within the neck and again and left to die within the inexperienced area whereas working safety on the park.
His children ranged from a 3-year-old daughter on the time to a 12-year-old son, James, who later joined the NYPD and was killed on 9/11 when he bumped into the North Tower to attempt to save individuals earlier than it collapsed.
One other son, Arthur Leahy III, is an NYPD detective who helped take out a maniac who killed two unarmed auxiliary cops in Greenwich Village in 2007.
Denise Henick, one other youngster of the slain parks employee, stated that the night time their dad was killed in 1975, “The Leahy household and the Staten Island neighborhood misplaced a hero.
“We by no means wished my dad to be forgotten, and that was a worry that we carried inside us,” she stated. “The importance of getting this road co-named on the fiftieth anniversary of his homicide is momentous to us. We will confidently say that Arthur C. Leahy’s title shall be seen each day by lots of of individuals and his title will reside on.”
Their mom, Arthur’s widow Jeanette Leahy, stated, “Once we come over, we’ll all the time see his title, he’ll all the time be right here.
“It means a lot.”
However Arthur III additionally expressed his frustration for what he stated was an absence of recognition of his father from the Parks Division.
“How the Police Division handled the household is wonderful, whereas the Parks Division is slacking,” the son stated. “It has by no means finished something. We’re ashamed that they weren’t even right here in the present day.”
A Publish request for remark from Parks was not returned, however a metropolis supply advised The Publish that the division possible wasn’t conscious of the ceremony as a result of the trouble — helmed by the Division of Transportation — was solely put collectively inside a matter of days.
The murdered parks employee was honored in 2015 with a site visitors circle named in his honor close to the golf course’s clubhouse and the promise of a memorial backyard, though solely after years of lobbying, in response to Staten Island Advance.
Years later, the backyard remained incomplete, The Publish reported in 2022. The household was reportedly advised that if a backyard was created, Leahy’s youngsters would bizarrely should water it themselves, because the circle doesn’t have a sprinkler system.
The makeshift backyard is slated to obtain some much-needed TLC after its shrubbery fell into disrepair, the town supply promised.
As for the road naming, Leahy III stated, “Fifty years it took to do that.
“They might’ve named one thing else after him, a park or a clubhouse, no matter they wished. … However now his title is up there lastly.”
The slain dad’s daughter Michelle stated, “It’s well-deserved.
“Although our hearts don’t heal, time permits us to go on, and we will see this. Our grandkids and future generations will know that my father was honored, lastly.”
Supply hyperlink
