Anthony Catanzaro Square is located within a traffic triangle that is the result of three street grids that meet in the Bath Beach neighborhood of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. At this junction, West 16 Street meets its northern end at the same place where Avenue Y meets its western end, both of these roads meeting Bay 50th Street. In 1963, the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

designated this triangle as Anthony Catanzaro Square, in honor of Private First Class Anthony Catanzaro (1916-1943), who was killed in the service of the country during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. A son of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrants, Anthony Catanzaro lived across the street from the triangle. Fighting in the 322nd Fighter Control Squadron, his ship was on its way to the front in Italy when it was torpedoed on November 26, 1943 by German forces. Private First Class Catanzaro was posthumously awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

medal and buried at the nearby North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia. In this war, his younger brother Joseph (1919-2015) survived the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy and returned home vowing to honor Anthony. Through the efforts of Joseph, a flagpole was installed and shrubs planted at the site, lovingly cared by Joseph who raised the park’s flag each morning. Anthony Catanzaro Square is part of the Greenstreets program, a partnership between the

New York City Parks Department The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

and the city Department of Transportation that transforms unused traffic triangles and medians into green spaces.

References

External links

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Bath Beach Remnant
''Forgotten-NY'' March 2, 2017 {{Protected areas of New York City Parks in Brooklyn