Canarsie Digest

Thirty-three-year-old Joseph Graffagnino—who shares his dad's name—was one of the two firefighters killed in the August blaze at the Deutsche Bank building.

Now his parents are asking the city to rename a street in Dyker Heights after their heroic son.

"I want to thank you for even considering this," said Joseph Graffagnino, speaking before the Community Board 10 Traffic and Transportation Committee on October 4.

"Joey's been in the area forever," said the firefighter's proud father. "Everyone knows him and everyone loves him."

The Graffagnino's have nominated the southwest corner of 13th Avenue and 77th Street for the renaming, near the home Joseph shared with his wife Linda, daughter Mia, 4, and infant son Joseph.

The firefighter was well known and well loved in the neighborhood. He grew up only blocks away in a house on 78th Street.

"You can see he didn't travel too far away, that's for sure," joked Joseph Graffagnino, who later said that the street renaming would serve to honor his son's sacrifice and preserve his memory.

"It's something his children will always be able to look at," Graffagnino said.

Members of Community Board 10 didn't hesitate to endorse the renaming proposal, voting unanimously in support of the family's request.

The renaming must now be approved by the full board at their next meeting on October 15, before it goes before the city council.

"Of course it will be approved," said Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckman. "Council could approve it as early as November."

Firefighter Graffagnino was an eight-year veteran of the FDNY. When he joined the fire department in 1999 he began working at a firehouse behind his childhood home.

After 9/11 Graffagnino transferred to Ladder Company 5 in lower Manhattan. Between shifts dousing fires, Graffagnino tended bar at the FDNY-themed Salty Dog bar in Bay Ridge.

On August 18 Graffagnino and his crew were dispatched to help battle a raging seven-alarm high-rise fire near Ground Zero.

Graffagnino and fellow firefighter Robert Beddia, 53, became trapped in maze-like conditions on the 14th floor of the former Deutsche Bank at 130 Liberty Street.

The building was badly damaged on 9/11 and was in the process of being dismantled.

Fire officials later determined that the blaze was most likely started by a discarded cigarette, but multiple investigations are ongoing and many troubling questions remain.

Graffagnino and Beddia apparently ran out of oxygen while waiting for water. The standpipe system that should have pumped water to the upper floors was reportedly broken.

Investigations have already uncovered bureaucratic bungling at the FDNY. Three top fire officials have already been relieved of their commands for failing to perform regular inspections at the site and for neglecting to develop a plan to fight fires at the location.

A recent report in the New York Times said the contractor who was demolishing the building had devised an emergency escape plan, but that the fire department wasn't asked or even told about the plan.

This plan would have allowed emergency use of the building's sealed stairwells. These staircases had been boarded up with plywood and plastic to prevent toxic materials from escaping.

Amidst their grief, the family of firefighter Joseph Graffagnino is obviously anxious to answers.

"We're working on multiple fronts," the firefighter's father told this paper, who said he was closely following the investigations of several agencies including the District Attorney. "We're still looking to get to the bottom of this."