by JONATHAN LEMIRE and ADAM LISBERG
To little Joseph Graffagnino, not quite 2, his firefighting daddy is only a photo on the mantle and a story from his mom.
The boy and his 5-year-old sister Mia lost their father, also named Joseph, a year ago Monday when he and Robert Beddia died in the toxic blaze in the Deutsche Bank building, which still looms darkly above Ground Zero.
"I have pictures everywhere, and we talk about my husband all day," said Linda Graffagnino from the Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, home that her husband renovated room by room.
"[Mia] talks about him, and I try to get my son to see pictures of him and see him as daddy," said the new widow, her voice halting. "He sort of does that."
Trapped with no water and their exits blocked, Graffagnino and Beddia died 14 stories above the site where so many other firefighters perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Heartbroken Linda Graffagnino said she fears the city has done little to prevent other firefighting families from suffering their own devastating losses.
"I can't honestly say that the city learned much," she said. "I can't truthfully say from my heart that this will never happen again."
Her father-in-law, channeling his grief into action, is trying to prevent similar tragedies. An engineer-turned-activist, Joseph Graffagnino Sr. led a march last month to call for improved construction safety in the city.
"He shouldn't have died in that fire," he said. "No one should have died in that fire."
Graffagnino Sr., who works for the federal government setting up communication systems, is pushing to improve FDNY communications and create stricter building and fire codes.
United in tragedy, the Graffagninos have become close to the family of Beddia, the senior man at the Engine 24/Ladder 5 house who was known as "the mayor of Greenwich Village" for his love of his adopted neighborhood.
"It's heart-wrenching, and every day hurts," said Barbara Beddia Crocco, the fallen firefighter's sister. "Time is not making it easier. ... Every day I think of him."
"Everyone who knew Bobby, loved Bobby," she said.
Both families have filed suits against the city that are on hold until the Manhattan district attorney's office finishes its investigation next month.
"I'm so angry that this was allowed to happen, [and] we want justice," said Beddia Crocco. "I want them more than embarrassed - I want them hurt."
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