Traffic sped by the intersection of the Long Island Expressway, 174th Street and the Horace Harding Expressway as city officials, union leaders, coworkers and the family of the late Christopher Postiglione held a bittersweet reunion Nov. 22.

They gathered to rename the small triangle in honor of the young Construction Laborer from the Department of Environmental Protection who was killed in 1999 by a hit-and-run driver.

“The union members felt the family’s pain,” said Local 376 Deputy Administrator Bill Fenty. Community Board 8 submitted a bill to the City Council requesting that the triangle be renamed, and in October the Council passed the proposal. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and several City Council members joined Mr. and Mrs. Postiglione and Local 376 members at the Fresh Meadows, Queens, ceremony.

“The support that family and friends have shown us has been wonderful,” said Mrs. Postiglione in an interview. “Some days it seems like a bad dream, but this has helped us move toward closure.”

Two years ago, on Jan. 11, 1999, Christopher Postiglione was struck by a speeding car as he exited a DEP truck around 9:00 a.m. He died 10 days later of multiple injuries. Despite a $100,000 reward offer — $80,000 from his family and $10,000 each from Local 376 and the Mayor’s Office — the driver responsible was never caught.

The tragic accident has resulted in safety training for DEP employees who work in high traffic areas, said Ed Bennett, president of Local 376. The local also awards an academic scholarship in Christopher’s name.

The family sponsors a scholarship at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx and established a little league hockey award in the name of their only child. Mrs. Postiglione said it helps her to “have Chris in different areas of my life now.”