William M. Feehan Triangle is a public green space in the Broadway-Flushing neighborhood of

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. It is bound by Bayside Lane, 164th Street, and 27th Avenue. The triangle's shape is the result of the street grid imposed on the once-rural landscape of Flushing in the 1920s. Bayside Lane predates the grid, cutting across its numbered streets and avenues in a diagonal path. The park is landscaped with trees and shrubs. In 2002, the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

passed legislation to name the triangle for William M. Feehan. This triangle honors William M. Feehan (1929–2001) who once lived near this triangle. Feehan was the First Deputy Commissioner of the

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...

(FDNY) at the time of the

September 11, 2001, attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...

on the World Trade Center. A son of a firefighter, Feehan was born in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

and graduated from Saint John's University in 1952. His studies were interrupted for military service during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In 1959, he was accepted into the Fire Department for what became his career, and rose through every rank of FDNY over the course of nearly four decades. On September 11, 2001, Feehan was the oldest among the 343 FDNY personnel who died.

References

{{Coord, 40, 46, 20.6, N, 73, 48, 1.23, W, display=title Flushing, Queens Parks in Queens, New York Memorials for the September 11 attacks