Bronx Street Renamed To Honor Navy Veteran Killed Along With 4 Daughters In Tragic Wrong Way Crash
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A community in the Bronx is honoring a Navy veteran who was killed, along with his daughters, in a tragic crash in 2018.
A shiny new street sign in Daniel Trinidad's hands matched one just unveiled at 188th Street in Fordham the Bronx.
It bears the name of his brother, Audie, whose life – and the lives of his four daughters – were cut short on July 6, 2018 in a crash on a Delaware highway.
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They were returning home to New Jersey from a family vacation when their minivan collided with a pickup truck, driven by a man who crossed onto the wrong side of the road.
The street renaming honors the U.S. Navy officer who became a long-time letter carrier.
"Now I know that he will be forever remembered," Daniel Trinidad said.
The sign was placed outside the post office where Trinidad worked and a crowd of former colleagues cheered as it was revealed.
They called him Trini, recalling his smile and the bragging he'd do about the athletic and academic accomplishments of his exceptional daughters – Kaitlyn, Danna, Melissa, and Allison.
"A family man he was and dedicated to his four beautiful daughters," fellow letter carrier Edgar Rodriguez said.
"If you asked him for anything he was always there and would never say no to anybody."
The crash killed everyone in the immediate family except his widow, Mary Rose. Still recovering physically and emotionally, Trinidad's wife he stayed home.
"She said she's just going to spoil the event because she would be crying the whole time," the late veteran's brother explained.
"My broken bones will heal but not the pain in my heart," Mary Rose Ballocanag said last year after the deadly accident.
The organizers who pushed for the street re-naming and won city council approval told family members the sign is permanent and constant – like the community's support for the Trinidad family.