This .197 acre triangle honors William F. Moore, a Marine private killed in battle during World War I. A graduate of PS 17, Moore grew up nearby on the corner of 103rd Street and Corona Avenue. Moore enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 1917 and was killed in 1918 while serving with the 47th Company, Fifth Regiment at Belleau Wood in France, in one of the bloodiest engagements fought by the United States during the war. A flagstaff base marking a recent renovation commemorates Moore and his valiant sacrifice.
This triangle, on the corner of 108th Street and 51st Avenue, was mapped as parkland in 1922 and acquired by the City by condemnation in 1924. Originally known as Corona Heights Triangle, in October 1929 it was renamed to commemorate Moore, reported to be the first neighborhood soldier killed in the war. After 1929 a 40-foot strip of land along 51st Avenue was pared down as part of the widening of the street.
A tablet by sculptor James S.J. Novelli, dedicated in 1929, commemorates 49 local residents who died in World War I. Another tablet commemorates the 241 US marines, sailors and soldiers who lost their lives on October 23, 1983 during a suicide bombing of the USMC Barracks in Beirut Lebanon. And yet another memorializes those who lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. The southern tip of the park commemorates Joseph Lisa, Sr., a Democratic District Leader from Corona from 1950 to 1976, who died in 1977. A tree and tablet were placed in the park to honor his work in the community. In 1980 the park was renovated and lights were added, which helped reestablish the birch- and maple-filled park as the nerve center for the neighborhood. Today visitors to the park play bocce, cards, and enjoy Italian ices from the nearby renowned Lemon Ice King of Corona
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