By: Jared Evan
The family of a 9/11 heroic police officer, who walked into the flames on the day of America’s worst terror attack and was never seen from again, is asking why the city never lived up to its pledge to honor the officer’s father, who was murdered by thugs while guarding a city owned golf course in 1975
The NY Post reported:
Three generations of Leahys have devoted their lives to New York City’s public service. But while the NYPD has honored James Leahy, a 9/11 hero in countless solemn observances, the Parks Department has neglected the memory of his father Arthur, a security guard murdered in the line of duty in 1975, NY Post reported.
Officer James Farley’s father was killed when he was a little boy, as local outlet Staten Island Live recounted:
Leahy, a 35-year-old father of five, was working an overnight security shift at LaTourette Golf Course on the night of April 6, 1975, when he was ambushed by a trio of robbers who had plans to break into a golf course safe. He was brutally beaten, disarmed and shot in the back of the neck by one of the robbers, according to archived reports.
Police Officer James Leahy, a 38-year-old father of three, was two miles away from the World Trade Center when he witnessed the first plane explode into the north tower, the Post reported. Leahy abandoned his normal post, with no protective gear, like a hero from, a action film, and walked into the flames, never to be seen from again.
The Leahy family is dedicated to the safety of NYC. The Post spoke to several family members about their heroic family.
“After my father was killed, that’s all me and my brother talked about, becoming police officers,” James’s kid brother Arthur III, now 54 and an NYPD detective, told The New York Post. “You wanted to be the good guy, the guy that stops it before it happens to somebody else.”
“My grandfather Arthur’s death was a steppingstone to my dad’s whole character,” said James’s son John, 27, a New York City firefighter. “He had so much responsibility at such a young age. He took care of everyone.”
The city had planned a memorial and dedication to the slain NYC security guard at the golf course he died protecting, but never finished the job
With the blessing of the Parks Department and American Golf, which operates the course, the traffic circle near the course’s entrance was to bear Arthur Leahy’s name and its landscaped center was eventually supposed to contain a memorial garden. The Post reported however, that the project was forgotten about:
Its intended site, a grassy traffic circle studded with goose droppings in front of the LaTourette clubhouse, contains only a crumbling flagpole and a listing signpost designating the space as “Arthur C. Leahy Circle,” unveiled in 2015 by then-Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver.
“They told us there was more to come,” said Arthur’s widow Jeannette Leahy, 81.
“He gave his life, and that was unheard of in the Parks Department,” said Denise Leahy Henick, 57. “We feel there should be proper recognition for that sacrifice, so that my father is not forgotten.”
The family’s attempts to get Parks to complete the memorial have been stuck between the department and American Golf, the California-based company that manages La Tourette and four other city-owned courses, the NY Post reported
