FDNY Band Founder To Get His Own Bayside Block

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — A longtime firefighter who co-founded the FDNY band will soon have a street in Bayside named in his honor.

Jim Corcoran, affectionately known as "Big Jim," will be the new namesake of Corbett Road and 217th Street, near where he reportedly lived for years.

To be known as "James "Big Jim" Corcoran Way," the street is one of more than 70 ceremonial "co-namings" across the five boroughs approved by the City Council last week.

Corcoran, who died in 1995, was a 36-year FDNY veteran who founded the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums in 1961.

What started as a small group of pipers and drummers performing at FDNY events, grew into a full-blown band in the wake of the 9/11 attacks when the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums performed at over 500 first responder funerals and memorials.

Corcoran was often at the front of these services, serving as a drum major in the band.

He also helped lead the group through the NYC Saint Patrick's Day Parade for decades and was well-known in the Bayside community where he lived.

Now, about 100 firefighters in the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums band perform at over 100 events per year.

A petition to rename a street in Bayside in Corcoran's honor was brought to Bayside's community board earlier this year, The Queens Chronicle reported, and passed the board nearly unanimously.

The bill to co-name the corner of Corbett Road and 217th Street was introduced by Bayside Council Member Vickie Paladino.

A date for unveiling the block's new street sign has not yet been announced.