Commack, NY - November 28, 2018 - At its November 20 meeting, the Huntington Town Board dedicated a street in Commack to honor a local 9/11 hero.
The Town Board dedicated Calvert Avenue in Commack as FDNY Lieutenant Walter F. Malone Way. FDNY Lieutenant Walter F. Malone lost his long battle with 9/11-related respiratory illness on August 31st, 2017.
Prior to joining the FDNY, Walter Malone served as a Corporal in the United States Army serving from 1952 to 1956 during the Korean War. Malone began his firefighting career in 1960 when he joined FDNY Rescue Company 2 in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn as a Firefighter. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1978, with Engine Company 214, Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Malone served for 34 years with the Department, retiring at the age of 57 in 1991.
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Lieutenant Malone’s longtime friend, FDNY Captain John Vigiano, Sr., lost 2 sons; one, a member of the FDNY and the other, a member of the NYPD. At the age of 67, Lt. Walter F. Malone returned to his fire department family. Every day for two months, he joined his friend in the pile, searching for his dear friend’s lost sons, fallen brethren and civilian casualties of the 9/11 World Trade Center Attacks.
On September 11th of this year, Lt. Malone’s grandson, Sean Malone, requested a street to be renamed to honor his grandfather. Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci received a letter in support of the resolution to rename Calvert Avenue in memory of Lt. Malone by the New York City Fire Museum.
“After his retirement, Lt. Malone traveled from his home in Commack every Wednesday to be a docent at the New York City Fire Museum in Manhattan from 2002 until his health took a turn for the worse. “Wally Wednesdays" became legendary. People from all over the world kept in touch with Wally via the Museum. In September 2017, just weeks after Wally's passing, Scottish artist Alexander Millar offered to create a special New York fire-themed series of paintings to raise money for the Museum. The artist’s portrait of Lt. Malone hangs prominently at the Museum today,” said Supervisor Lupinacci, prior to the unveiling of the dedicated street sign to Lt. Malone’s family.
Councilman Ed Smyth co-sponsored the resolution with the Supervisor and stated: “I was honored to co-sponsor the dedication of Calvert Avenue at FDNY Lt. Walter F. Malone along with Supervisor Lupinacci. Lieutenant Malone was a fallen hero and the Town of Huntington is proud to dedicate Calvert Avenue so his memory will live on.”