QUEENS, N.Y. - It has been almost a year since former FDNY Chief of Fire Prevention Ronald Spadafora was laid to rest.
Now the corner of 90th Street and Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park, down the block from he grew up, will bare his name.
"He loved this department, he gave everything he had to it and that is why we remember him today with a street renaming. Not for the way he died but for the truly inspiring way in which he lived," said John Sudnik, Chief of Department at the FDNY.
Spadafora was the highest-ranking active duty firefighter to die from a 9/11-related illness. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015 and lost his battle to the cancer last year. It's a disease he developed after leading the fire department's rescue and recovery efforts amid the toxic debris and air at the World Trade Center site.
"Ronnie never left the site for a year. He gave all he had in hi m to help us out of this tragedy,"added his brother, Nicholas Spadafora.
The honor is especially meaningful for the Spadafora family. Ozone Park was where their grandparents settled after immigrating from Italy. Their family home once stood down the block from the intersection and their grandparents deli across the street.
"I know that my whole family who has passed and Ronnie are so happy that his name is on this street," said Spadafora's brother.
Spadafora was the 178th member of the FDNY to die from a 9/11 related illness, a number the department says has climbed to 193 just in the last year.
More than 150 other first responders who died when the Twin Towers collapsed or passed away years later from 9/11-related illnesses have been honored with street co-namings. And with others sick or falling ill, that number is going to grow. But this day was about honoring Ronald Spadafora's sacrifice.
"We should all be very proud of Ronnie, because Ronnie is a true national hero," said Spadafora's brother.
A national hero, whose sacrifice is permanently recognized at 90th Street and Rockaway Boulevard, is now known as Chief Ronald Spadafora Way.