Marine Park Memorial Dedicated To Fallen Canarsie Firefighter
By Charles Rogers

Comrades from Ladder Co. 170 and Engine Co. 257 show their respects at the dedication ceremony.

Mayor Giuliani, Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, Parks Commissioner Henry Stern and City Councilman Herb Berman joined hundreds of rank and file firefighters and members of the community on Tuesday, June 26th to dedicate an area in Marine Park to a hero firefighter.

The triangle area, located at Avenue S and East 32nd Street at the southeast entrance to Marine Park, was dedicated to Firefighter Christopher Bopp, who was killed along with Firefighter James Bohan and Lieutenant Joseph Cavaliere while they were trying to save an elderly woman believed to be trapped on the tenth floor of a building near Starrett City on December 18th, 1998. All were members of Canarsie’s Ladder Co. 170. Their comrades from the Rockaway Parkway firehouse, including those from Engine Co. 257, were on hand for the touching ceremony where, in a shaded section near the ball park where Bopp played as a child, a plaque was dedicated. Along with the plaque naming the section "Firefighter Christopher Bopp Triangle" is a brief biography and a story of how he and his comrades died trying to save a life.

In naming the area, Mayor Giuliani also noted the deaths of three firefighters last Father’s Day in Queens and noted the fact that since the Fire Department was established nearly 150 years ago there have been 777 firefighters lost on the job "attempting to valiantly protect the people of the city."

As she watered a small tree that had been planted in the center of the triangle in her husband’s memory Firefighter Bopp’s wife, Cori, said she was grateful to those who worked on it.

Dignitaries attending the dedication included, left to right, Mayor Giuliani, Fire Commissioner Von Essen, Parks Commissioner Stern and Councilman Berman. Charles Rogers

Link to Canarsie Courier Article

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