Long-Awaited Dermody Triangle Renovation Is Back On Track

BAYSIDE HILLS, QUEENS — A long-awaited renovation of Captain Dermody Triangle in Bayside Hills is back on track after five years of red tape, officials said Monday.

State Sen. John Liu's office expects to finalize a contract within the next few weeks that will pave the way for the state to release the project funds to the city's parks department, staffers said.

Once the parks department gets the funds, the agency can begin outlining its plan for the $500,000 overhaul and start a public input process.

"People shouldn't be waiting on something that they were expecting several years ago," Akshar Patel, Liu's deputy chief of staff, said by phone. "This is a priority for Senator Liu."

The historic war memorial and green space at 48th Avenue and 216th Street has been due for repairs since at least 2014, when then-State Sen. Tony Avella set aside $275,000 for the project.

Issues included crumbling sidewalks, broken benches and dead trees and stumps.

"It is really a shame that the city allowed the conditions of this park to become so poor by failing to maintain the site over the years," Avella said at the time.

The park is named for Captain William C. Dermody, an abolitionist who was mortally wounded in the Civil War battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia in 1864. He volunteered with the 67th New York Infantry and served in Company K, according to the Bayside Hills Civic Association.

He ran a stage coach line in Bayside, the Queens Chronicle reported.

The civic association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.