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9/11 victim remembered in Bowne Pk. street sign

By Alexander Dworkowitz

Timothy Welty, a firefighter who grew up next to Bowne Park and died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, was memorialized last Thursday with a sign bearing his name in his old neighborhood.

Friends, family and his comrades at Queens’ Squad 288 gathered at the southeast corner of Bowne Park at 159th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing where a sign reading “Firefighter Timothy M. Welty Street” was unveiled.

Welty’s company, based in Maspeth along with HazMat 1, lost 19 of its members on Sept. 11, more than any other firehouse in the city.

A memorial for those lost firefighters was installed at the Maspeth firehouse, but signs bearing the names of the individual firemen have also sprung up across the borough.

“He was a great guy. A great fireman,” said Lt. Tony Bellisari of Squad 288. “He was a really fun guy to be around. He really loved life.”

Bellisari said Welty had finished his shift when the call to respond to the World Trade Center came in, bug the fireman hopped on the truck anyway.

Welty lived with his wife and two young children in Yonkers. Last week’s ceremony was held on what would have been his 36th birthday.

Chris Welty remembered when Timothy, his younger brother, would play with a BB-gun in Bowne Park as a child and speculated about the future of the sign.

“Maybe there will be a few BB pellets in it,” he joked. “Then it would really be a memorial to Timothy.”

Timothy’s mother, Adele, who still lives across from Bowne Park, was happy to see the sign go up, but was also saddened.

“It’s going to be painful,” she said. “It’s part of the realization that he’s gone.”

Adele Welty said she hoped her son’s death would not be used as a rationale for more killing. She is a member of Peaceful Tomorrows, a coalition of families of the victims of Sept. 11 who have spoken out against U.S. military intervention in Iraq and traveled to Afghanistan to visit relatives of those killed in the bombing of the country.

His mother remembered her son’s skills at both volleyball and carpentry.

“He was a master carpenter,” she said. “He renovated my whole house.”

Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) said the sign would remind passersby of Timothy Welty’s bravery.

“It is just a small token,” said Avella. “But everyday we’ll see that sign and remember his commitment to democracy.”

Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718 229-0300 Ext. 141.