In honor of Black History Month 2025, this collection spotlights individuals featured in the Queens Name Explorer whose names carry historical significance. From outspoken ministers to pioneering musicians to female leaders in public service, this small sampling provides a glimpse into the histories of Elmhurst, Corona, Flushing, St. Albans, Jamaica, Hollis, and Kew Garden Hills. This collection coincides with an exhibit running from January 30 to April 20, 2025 at [Culture Lab LIC](https://www.culturelablic.org/current-exhibitions), 5-25 46th Avenue, Queens, NY 11101.

Richard S. Newcombe (1880-1930) had a long and illustrious career in public service, including as the Queens County District Attorney in the 1920s, where he prosecuted several notable cases, including a scandalous murder trial that was dramatized as a famous Hollywood film. Newcombe was born in Manhattan on in 1880. His father, also named Richard, was a law partner to Albert Cardozo, whose son, Benjamin, also became a lawyer and then a judge who served on the New York Court of Appeals and as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. After attending public school, Newcombe went to Phillips Andover Academy, then to New York Law School, passing the bar in 1904. After working for a law firm and launching an unsuccessful bid for Justice of the Supreme Court, Newcombe began his career in public service when the corrupt Queens Borough President Maurice Connolly appointed him as Queens Public Works Commissioner. The two clashed and he didn't last long in the position, next running for Queens District Attorney in 1923, defeating the incumbent, and then winning reelection three years later by a substantial margin. One of the cases he pursued was a $16 million sewer contract scandal in Jamaica, which ultimately caused Connolly to resign. The most famous case he prosecuted, however, came in 1927. On March 20th of that year, Ruth Snyder and her lover, Henry Judd Gray, murdered Snyder’s husband, Albert, in the couple’s Queens Village home, staging it to appear as a robbery. Their sloppy alibi was further diminished by the discovery that Snyder and Gray had recently taken out a double indemnity insurance policy together, which, if Albert died accidentally, would pay twice as much. The trial was a sensation from the start, with a media circus that resulted in unprecedented news coverage, but it culminated in even more sensationalism. After being found guilty and sentenced to death by electrocution, a Daily News reporter snuck a camera into Snyder's execution room. The photograph that captured the moment of her electrocution was on the front page the next day, and the paper sold out in 15 minutes. The murder gained more notoriety following the release of James Cain’s 1943 novella Double Indemnity and its 1944 classic film adaptation, all based on this true-life story. Newcombe did not live to see these dramatizations, however. He was elected as Surrogate of Queens County in 1929, and May 7, 1930, was Newcombe's first day as a judge. He had a packed schedule, presiding over three jury trials and overseeing the installment of another jury. In addition, the city was in the middle of a heat wave. At the end of this exhausting workday, Newcombe, along with his wife, Rosena Reis Newcombe, and accompanied by his secretary, visited a heart specialist. He and his wife then joined his brother-in-law for dinner before returning home. Just after 10pm, Rosena contacted the secretary to notify him that Newcombe had died, having collapsed as he was dressing for bed. Though it was a modest ceremony, more than a thousand people gathered for his funeral, held at his home at 75 Greenway Terrace in Forest Hills. Newcombe had been a leader with the Boy Scouts for some time, and the only official ceremonial aspect to the funeral was led by them. Twenty Eagle Scouts served as a guard of honor at his home, and they played taps as Newcombe's casket was lowered in Woodlawn Cemetery. Newcombe had been a leader across many areas. In addition to serving as president of the Boy Scouts Sustaining Association of Queens, and having inspired the naming of Camp Newcombe in Wading River, Long Island, he had been a director of Flushing Bank, helped to organize the Boulevard National Bank in Forest Hills, and served on the board of the American Trust Company. By January 1937, friends and colleagues of Newcombe set out to petition the Board of Aldermen and the Transit Commission to rename this triangle and the nearby Kew Gardens subway station, which had just opened a week earlier, in his honor. On November 18, 1939, around 100 of those supporters gathered to unveil a granite block with a bronze plaque to designate the area as Newcombe Square.

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In his time on the City Council, he also advocated for the creation of animal shelters in every borough. The Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood, is the first public animal shelter in Queens, and a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 10, 2024, served as the official opening. The shelter is run by Animal Care Centers of NYC (ACC), a nonprofit that operates the city’s animal shelters on behalf of the Health Department. Vallone was a champion of ACC and its mission to end animal homelessness in New York City. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul Vallone Community Campus at 18-25 212th Street in Bay Terrace, an addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy.

In June, we celebrate African-American Music Appreciation Month by honoring the many notable Black musicians honored with place names in Queens.

Firefighter Steven Belson (1950-2001) was killed at the World Trade Center during fire and rescue operations following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Peter G. Van Alst (1828 – 1900) was a surveyor who helped to build the roads and infrastructure of western Queens. Van Alst was born in Dutch Kills on May 28, 1828, and was a member of the large extended Van Alst family, a prominent Dutch farming family who moved to the area in the early 1700s and resided there until the 1870s, when they spread out and moved elsewhere. Van Alst received his education at the District School and the Astoria Institute. He apprenticed as a surveyor for a few years, and worked independently until 1872, when the city legislature appointed him to serve as a commissioner, surveying and supervising the construction of several roads in Long Island City, Queens. In 1874, Van Alst and three fellow Long Island City citizens comprised the First Ward Improvement Commission, which was in charge of raising the grades of Jackson Avenue from Vernon Avenue to the courthouse from three to eight feet, which profoundly affected the daily life of the city. Van Alst’s job consisted primarily of constructing maps, which revealed detailed organizations of street lines, grades, and sewage lines of the Long Island City area.

Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan Jr. (1943-1969) was a Vietnam War Veteran born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1961 he attended Hunter College in the Bronx, graduating with a B.A. degree in Physical Education in 1966. Noonan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in Brooklyn at the end of 1967 and was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps early 1968. Noonan completed recruit training with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, and was promoted to private first class in spring 1968. Summer of 1968 Noonan was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam. He was first assigned duty as a mortar man with H&S Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Later Noonan was reassigned to the 3rd Marine Division as a rifleman, where he saw combat with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. Noonan was promoted to Lance Corporal January 1st, 1969. Lance Corporal Noonan was killed in action February 5th, 1969 while participating in action against the enemy during Operation Dewey Canyon south of Vandegrift Combat Base in Quang Tri Province. Noonan was awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Richard Nixon. As described in the citation, Noonan was awarded this medal for his indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and selfless devotion to duty. Noonan died attempting to bring wounded men away from enemy fire and back to safety. Noonan dashed across the hazardous terrain of the area and commenced dragging the most seriously wounded man. Although wounded and knocked to the ground by an enemy round, Lance Corporal Noonan recovered rapidly and resumed dragging the man toward the marginal security of a rock. He was however, mortally wounded before he could reach his destination. His actions inspired his fellow Marines to such passion that they initiated a spirited assault which forced the enemy soldiers to withdraw. In December 2004, Jack Lincks wrote: "You are gone from our presence, but never forgotten. You would be amazed that so many remember you, and that our childhood playground is now named for you. Till we meet again - Semper Fi !" The L/CPL Thomas P. Noonan Jr. Playground holds Noonan's memory, as well as those who knew him.

Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813-1891), for whom both the park and the adjacent Public School 94 are named, was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the United States Navy. During the Civil War, Porter served under Admiral Farragut during the capture of New Orleans. Later, as the commander of the Mississippi River Squadron, he joined General Ulysses S. Grant in the historic Vicksburg Campaign and was promoted to rear admiral, one rank below full admiral. In January 1865, Porter directed the bombardment of Fort Fisher in Wilmington, North Carolina. Porter was promoted to full admiral after Farragut’s death in 1870, and he remained the most senior officer in the Navy for the next 21 years. In 1951, the City of New York acquired the land adjacent to P.S. 94 and constructed a park for the school’s use. The City named the new park in honor of Sy Seplowe, a community activist and youth advocate who founded the Little Neck-Douglaston Youth Club and was a founding member of Community Board 11. In 1985, Parks renamed the property Admiral Park; however, the playground within the park continues to be known as Sy Seplowe Playground (see separate entry). The park’s nautical theme was inspired by Admiral Porter’s career in the U.S. Navy. The nautical motif is especially evident in the spray shower, a magnificent, 15-foot-tall sea serpent.

Paul A. Vallone (1967-2024) was an attorney and civic leader whose political career in the service of northeastern Queens and New York City was cut short when he died of a heart attack on January 28, 2024, at the age of 56. Part of a noted Queens political family, Vallone served as City Council member for District 19 from 2014 to 2021, and then as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the New York City Department of Veterans' Services from 2022 to 2024. His grandfather, Charles J. Vallone, was a judge in Queens County Civil Court. Both his father, Peter Vallone Sr., and his brother, Peter Vallone Jr., represented Astoria on the City Council, from 1974 to 2001 and 2002 to 2013 respectively, making for a 47-year run of City Council service by the Vallone family. Born on June 2, 1967, and raised in Astoria, Vallone attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School, graduated from Fordham University, and received his law degree from St. John's University. He was admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bar Associations in 1992. Prior to his political career, he was a managing partner at his family’s general practice law firm, Vallone and Vallone LLD, which was founded in 1932 by his grandfather. Vallone moved from Astoria to northeast Queens and, failing in a bid for City Council office in 2009, he followed in his family’s footsteps in 2014 when he won the District 19 seat. He was known as an advocate and champion for the Queens communities he served. During his tenure, he sponsored 800 pieces of legislation — 128 of which he was the first primary sponsor — and was credited with fundraising nearly $40 million in funding for his district. He was at the forefront of adopting participatory budgeting, which allows constituents the opportunity to vote for and prioritize the capital projects they want funded by their councilmember’s office. As Vallone shared with the Queens Daily Eagle in 2021, “It was a beautiful way to create community involvement in your own tax dollars.” Vallone was dedicated to supporting students and seniors in his district. While on the council, he helped expand school capacity by 4,500 seats and reinstated the New York City Council Merit Scholarship, known as the Peter F. Vallone Academic Scholarship, awarding high school graduates up to $350 per semester. He also helped to launch a free transit service for northeast Queens seniors. In addition, he spearheaded a project that brought $3.6 million in improvements to Flushing’s Bowne Park. The work was completed in the spring of 2023 and included upgrades to the playground, pond, plaza, and bocce court. In recognition of Vallone’s dedication to improving schools for his district, a 627-seat addition to P.S. 169 Bay Terrace School and Bell Academy in Bay Terrace was named in his honor. Located at 18-25 212th Street, the Paul Vallone Community Campus officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 17, 2024. The site serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade and includes 16 classrooms, five kindergarten rooms, and three special education rooms. As a strong advocate for veterans, Vallone voted as a city council member in favor of a measure that established the New York City Department of Veterans' Services in 2016, making it the first City agency in the country dedicated to serving veterans and their families. After his tenure on the city council ended due to term limits in 2021, Vallone lost a bid for a Civil Court seat in eastern Queens. But he continued his public service in 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams appointed him as deputy commissioner of external affairs for the new Department of Veterans' Services. Vallone held that role until his death in 2024. In addition to his government work, Vallone was active in his Flushing community as a soccer coach for St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, winning two championships for the school, and also coaching his two daughters, Lea and Catena, and his son Charlie (Charles J. Vallone III). Vallone was survived by his wife, Anna-Marie, and three children. Two other city locations are named in Vallone’s honor. They include Paul A. Vallone Way, at the intersection of 157th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing, and the Paul A. Vallone Queens Animal Care Center, located at 1906 Flushing Avenue in Ridgewood.

This obelisk also honors those who died in World War I. It was erected by the members of the Oxford Civic Association, Inc. and friends of the “Boys who made the Supreme Sacrifice” in The Great War 1917 – 1918, erected in 1929. The names on the Plaques: George J. Wellbrock Thomas Hurley James G. Gaffney Lawrence F. Condon Herman Selner Valentine E. Gross

Text courtesy of Susan Latham. This is a photo of my sister Beth and me sitting with my grandparents, Noni and B-Daddy. The second photo is a formal shot of my grandparents, Bill and Cecelia Latham. Latham Park is named after my grandfather, William Harris Latham, in recognition of his long association with Robert Moses, New York City’s master builder who was responsible for creating much of our city’s parks and transportation infrastructure. My grandfather died when I was in my early 20s, well before I fully understood who Robert Moses was and the significant impact of my grandfather’s work in New York City and New York State. My grandfather grew up in Norwich, CT, and like his father, Alan Latham, he was an avid beekeeper – which led to the name “B-Daddy,” as he was known by all of his grandchildren. The B-Daddy that I grew up with lived in Lewiston, NY, near Niagara Falls, where he worked with the New York Power Authority as the chief engineer of the Niagara Project; at the time, this was the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. I have a vague childhood memory of seeing B-Daddy on television when he gave Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin an impromptu tour of the power plant, and I remember that my grandmother was unhappy that he was in shirt sleeves instead of a suit. Most of my experience with B-Daddy was after he retired – although he still had a lot of clout and got us free tours of the power plant, as well as free rides on the Maid of the Mist and all the Niagara Falls attractions when we visited every summer. He was a tall, strong man who loved to fish and hunt, and he was very athletic – there was a photo of him with his rowing team at MIT at my grandparents’ home. He was also an avid gardener and beekeeper, which meant we enjoyed fresh-picked vegetables and all the honey, honeycomb and honey butter we could ever want when we visited. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches were common lunch fare. It was only after he died in 1987 that I learned more about his professional career, much of it from Robert Caro’s book "The Power Broker," and more recently, from Internet searches. B-Daddy graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1926 with a degree in civil engineering. In 1927 he began working with Robert Moses – or “RM,” as B-Daddy called him – at the Long Island State Park Commission. When Moses was named Commissioner of New York City Parks, B-Daddy followed him to New York City, where he became the Consulting Park Engineer. As the head of the Division of Design, he was responsible for the preparation of all plans and specifications within the Parks Department, and he played a major role in the design and installation of the 11 New York City public pools that opened in 1936, including Astoria, McCarren, Crotona and Jackie Robinson Pools. He also worked as general superintendent and director of maintenance and operations at the New York City Parks Department, and was heavily involved in the 1939 World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows Park (somewhere, there are home movies he filmed of King George and Queen Elizabeth visiting the Fair). In the 1950s, he moved upstate to engineer the St. Lawrence Power Project, the first active power plant of the New York Power Authority, which opened in 1958. He then moved to Lewiston to oversee the construction and opening of the Niagara Power Plant. In 1987, after his death, the New York Power Authority dedicated a new icebreaker (a ship designed to break through ice blocks and create a clear passage) on the Niagara River as the Latham in his honor, citing him as a “major figure in construction of the St. Lawrence and Niagara hydroelectric projects.” I got to see it in person in 2019. I should note that I grew up in New Jersey and moved to Queens in 1989. My apartment in Woodside on 51st Street, where I lived for 11 years, and my current home in Jackson Heights on 79th Street, where I’ve lived for 20+ years, are equidistant to the original site of Latham Park, which was on 69th Street and Broadway. In fact, I passed through it many times over the years without ever realizing that it was named after B-Daddy. And then one day, my brother – who is also named William Harris Latham – found it in a Google search of his name and sent me a link, asking if I had any idea where this park was. And of course I did! Honestly, what are the odds that a girl from New Jersey whose grandfather lived in upstate New York would end up living just blocks away from a park in New York City named after him!? Of course, Robert Moses is a controversial figure. His urban renewal and highway construction projects displaced thousands of people and destroyed neighborhoods, and my grandfather’s close association with him for so many years makes me more than slightly uncomfortable. But I can’t change who he was – and I do take some pride in the fact that my grandfather had a hand in so much of New York City’s infrastructure that we rely on today.

Mary D. Carter (1930-1988) was a community activist and longtime resident of the Boulevard Gardens apartment complex in Woodside. As Director of the Boulevard Gardens Tenants Association, she arranged entertainment for local children and trips for senior citizens living in the complex. Carter worked for Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and was involved with the Liberty Democratic Club, the Police Athletic League of the 114th Precinct, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Lexington School for the Deaf, and the Corpus Christi School and Church. She was also active in the Girl Scouts, where she served as both a Brownie and Girl Scout Leader. She was married to the late Charles Carter and had four children. The renaming of P.S. 151 in honor of Carter was recommended by the school's Parent Association, which described her as "a perfect role model" for the school community.

Thurgood Marshall was born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a railroad porter and steward and his mother a teacher. After graduating from Lincoln University, he was rejected from the all-white University of Maryland Law School, he attended Howard University Law School. He graduated at the top of his class in 1933, he went into private practice and worked on different civil rights suits. One successful suit was against the University of Maryland Law SchooL for denying a Black applicant solely based on race. Marshall worked for the NAACP first as a staff lawyer, then as a lead chair, and a few years later as the chief of the Legal Defense and Education Fund. He won 29 of the 32 cases the NAACP brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, which related to voting rights issues, segregation and more. His most famous case was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in which "separate but equal" as a justification for segregation was struck down. Marshall was later named U.S. solicitor general and nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here he continued to advocate for change and justice for marginalized peoples throughout the United States. He retired with the nickname "the Great Dissenter," indicative of his continued commitment to advocacy even in the midst of a conservative court.

Julio Rivera (1961 – 1990) was a Bronx born Puerto Rican, who lived in Jackson Heights and worked as a bartender. On July 2, 1990, Rivera was brutally murdered in the nearby schoolyard of PS 69, by three individuals who targeted him because he was gay. He was just 29 years old. Julio's death mobilized LGBTQ+ activism in Jackson Heights and all of Queens, candlelight vigils and protests were held by the community. As a result of grassroots organizing and media attention, the city eventually re-classified his death as a hate crime and put a reward out for the arrest of the killers. To commemorate Julio Rivera’s death and raise the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in Jackson Heights, the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee established the Queens Pride Parade in 1993, with a route that includes what is now known as Julio Rivera Corner. Julio Rivera’s death was a turning point for LGBTQ+ activism in Queens, and led to the formation of several important organizations, some of which include Queens Gays and Lesbians United (Q-GLU), the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, and Queens Pride House.

Christopher Racaniello (b. 1971) a Little Neck native, worked for Cantor Fitzegerald at the World Trade Center. He was killed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Nina Adams (1944-2015) was president of the Queensbridge Tenant Association and received many awards in recognition of her community work. She represented approximately 12,000 residents of the Queensbridge Houses, and lobbied city, state and federal officials for programs to benefit them. She started the Queensbridge Outreach program, which organizes after-school activities and field trips to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., for children from Queensbridge. During the 1980s, she took in many children under her own care to keep them from wandering dangerous streets after school.

In March, we celebrate Women's History Month by spotlighting the many female-identifying activists and organizers honored in the borough of Queens with place names.

Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870-1938), former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1932-1938). Justice Cardozo is notable for both his defense of the New Deal’s social programs during his six short years at the Supreme Court and his advocacy for the common-law approach throughout his judicial career.  Born in New York City to a Portuguese Sephardic Jewish family, Justice Cardozo was tutored by Horatio Alger and various home tutors as a youth, before being admitted into Columbia College at age fifteen. Cardozo had ambition to restore his family’s honor, after his father, Judge Albert Cardozo of the Supreme Court of New York, achieved notoriety for his involvement with the corrupt Tweed ring. The elder Cardozo resigned in 1872, just before he could be impeached. After the younger Cardozo’s graduation from Columbia College and a few years at Columbia Law School, he joined his father’s law practice and entered the bar. In 1914, Cardozo was appointed to the Court of Appeals, he would serve eighteen years at the court - five of which at the head. Following Oliver Wendell Holmes’s retirement from the United States Supreme Court in 1932, Justice Cardozo was named to the Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover. This appointment earned him the distinction of being the second Jewish judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court, after Justice Louis Brandeis. Despite later describing himself as an agnostic, Justice Cardozo volunteered within the Jewish community throughout his life. He was a member of the Judean Club, a board member of the American Jewish Committee, and a member of the Zionist Organization of America at various points. At the point of his appointment to the Supreme Court, he resigned from all offices except for his membership on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Welfare Board and on the Committee on the Advisor to the Jewish students at Columbia University. On the Supreme Court, he was one of the “Three Musketeers” - the nickname given to the three liberal members of the Court that supported the New Deal agenda, including Justice Brandeis and Justice Harlan Fiske Stone. He is noted for his defense of social security and old-age pensions in particular.  The City of New York acquired the land for this playground in April 1955, and it opened in August 1957 as J.H.S. 198 Playground. The playground contains benches and a softball field for the school and the community. Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern changed the name in 1985 to Benjamin Cardozo Playground, physically commemorating the life of a man who left an indelible mark on New York City.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist, best known for his invention of the pasteurization process. He attended the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, earning a master's degree in science and an advanced degree in physical sciences before going on to earn his doctorate. He later married Marie Laurent and they had five children together, but only two survived until adulthood. Throughout his career, Pasteur was an important figure in researching molecular asymmetry, and his works in fermentation supported the germ theory of disease. By 1863, Pasteur had developed the process which bears his name, reducing the amount of microorganisms in milk and other liquids. He also contributed to the principle of vaccination and successfully immunized a patient from rabies in 1885. In 1888, the Pasteur Institute was named for him in Paris.

Nepalese mountaineer Tenzing Norgay Sherpa (1914-1986) and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. In 1999, they were among TIME’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century. The neighborhood in which Norgay's honorary street is located is currently home to a large Nepali community.

Kathryn M. Phelan was the principal of P.S. 011 from 1974 to 1980. She was known to be fair to all and extraordinarily supportive of her students and staff. She was diagnosed with cancer while serving as principal of P.S. 11, and passed away shortly after. The Community School Board approved naming the school after her and P.S. 11 became the Kathryn M. Phelan School thereafter.

Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) was an Austrian Jewish journalist and playwright best known for role as founder of the political form of Zionism, a movement to establish an independent Jewish State. He was born in 1860 in Budapest, Hungary to Jakob and Jeanette Herzl, who were both wealthy German-speaking Jews. Though Herzl received his degree in law at the University of Vienna, he later focused on literature and was a successful journalist and playwright. He published a Zionist manifesto called “Der Judenstaat” in 1896. Subsequently, he put together the first Zionist Congress to take the steps to establish the Jewish State. He was the leader of the organization until his death at the age of forty-four in 1904. He was the only person mentioned by name in Israel’s Declaration of Independence and was known as the founder of the vision for the Jewish State. The Herzl’s monument was built a hundred years after his birth. It was designed by Joseph DiLorenzi and funded by the Kew Garden Zionist District. The Herzl monument is across the street from a Jewish high school and is regarded as a symbol of Jewish community strength. 

Héctor Figueroa (1962-2019) was president of 32BJ SEIU, a New York local of the Service Employees International Union representing more than 170,000 building cleaners, security guards, doormen and airport workers. Mr. Figueroa was also a leader in the Fight for 15, the grass-roots effort by fast-food workers in New York that grew into a nationwide campaign for a higher minimum wage. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Héctor J. Figueroa understood the importance of hope. As the visionary president of Service Employees International Union 32BJ from 2012 until his death in 2019, he empowered workers who toil in grueling service jobs – from fast-food workers to office cleaners – to demand respect, a living wage and better working conditions. Hector used his position as a union leader to fight not just for his members, but for all low-wage workers. He was ready to organize wherever working people were hurting. He had a profound sense of how all of us are connected and depend on one another, and he had a style of leadership that empowered those he led. Héctor inspired a whole generation of young leaders in the immigrant justice movement to come out of the shadows and take a stand. He fought to make sure immigrant families could drive safely in New York, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Maryland. He helped win the passage of TRUST acts up and down the east coast so undocumented immigrants need not fear local police.

Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE) lived in ancient Greece, and is known as one of the most highly regarded philosophers and scientists in human history. Though he was prolific in many fields, some of his most famous contributions include creating a discipline of formal logic, zoology, and his ethical and political theories. He studied under and with Plato in Athens, which is reflected in many of his writings. In his later years, Aristotle founded his own school called the Lyceum where he taught students and lectured to the larger public for free.

The following was written by Christopher's sister, Patricia Cardona: Christopher grew up always wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. He wanted to be a firefighter. While in school, he learned that to be a firefighter, you would need to take the test and then wait to be called. He was attending Queens College, and decided as a backup plan, he would get an education degree so he could teach. He had a passion for history and social studies. He favored the older kids. He graduated from Queens College with a teaching certificate in middle school social studies. He got his foot in the door as a substitute teacher in the middle schools of District 30. He worked at PS 2, IS 10 and IS 141. He was offered a permanent position teaching middle school social studies at IS 10, and he turned it down because he had gotten called to the academy of the FDNY. He was on his way to becoming a firefighter. He was technically on the job for eight months as a trainee.("probie"). He was then asked where he wanted to be stationed and was given a choice since his father had just retired as a Deputy Chief of the FDNY. He was well-respected and so they wanted to grant his son a choice. Christopher chose midtown Manhattan. He wanted action. This house [Engine 54] is known as one of the busiest firehouses in all the five boroughs. He had never been to a fire prior to 9/11. He was at that firehouse for only a couple of months. The morning of 9/11, he was expected to be off duty at 8:30 a.m. The bell rang, and he jumped on board, eager to go to his first big fire. He was excited (as told to us by his housemates). He re-suited up and jumped on board along with 14 other guys (between the two trucks). He never came home. Meanwhile my parents, who were at home in Long Island City (you could see the Twin Towers from their high rise), got a call from his fire station lieutenant, asking him to come to work. My father reported that he never came home. It was then that they realized that he had gone down to the site. My father, with all his experience, had looked out the window and knew that the towers would fall by the way that they were burning. My parents watched the burning buildings from their window, not knowing that their son was there and had perished. Meanwhile, I was teaching at a Jackson Heights school that morning (PS 149) and was watching the events on the TV. It was only that evening when he didn’t come home that we realized he was there. We called hospitals, put up signs and held out hope that he was trapped and would be found. Fifteen guys never came home from his house -- the biggest loss out of any firehouse in the five boroughs. My parents attended many funerals and memorials from his firehouse, as well as all the people my dad knew. A few days after 9/11, they recovered the body of a member of his firehouse, Jose Guadalupe. Jose was a 6-foot, dark-skinned Hispanic male. My parents attended his funeral. The next few months, they attended every funeral and memorial service. We still had not recovered Christopher. In December, a few weeks before Christmas, my parents were visited by the Coroner of the City of New York. They admitted to making a huge mistake. Jose was misidentified. The body that was buried as Jose Guadalupe was in fact Christopher Santora. (Christopher was 5’8", Caucasian with blue eyes.) According to them, they were unrecognizable. They were identifying them based only on a rare neck bone anomaly that coincidentally both had. The body had to be exhumed, and we finally had Christopher’s remains. We had a funeral for him, and he is buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Queens. Jose was never found. A few months later, Dr. Angelo Gimondo (former District 30 superintendent) reached out to my parents. D30 wanted to build a school and name it for a fallen firefighter of 9/11. When they learned that Christopher taught in D30, they knew they wanted to name it for him. My parents agreed. They began building the school, and it was scheduled to open in September of 2002. I put in an application to transfer. I was interviewed and released from my school, and I have been there ever since. The father of one of the newly hired teachers, Rani Skopelitis, was a carpenter for trade. He built the case in the lobby of the school which has Christopher’s firefighter uniform. They had a big dedication and opening ceremony, and we are still here today at the FF Christopher A. Santora School, PS 222.

Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto (1917-2007) was born in Brooklyn to Italian parents but moved with his family to Glendale, Queens, in his youth. He played baseball at P.S. 68 in Glendale and Richmond Hill High School, which he left before graduating to play in the major leagues. Although disregarded by some local teams because of his height (5’ 6”), he convinced the New York Yankees to sign him in 1937. After proving himself in the minor leagues, Rizzuto played shortstop for the Yankees starting in 1941 and, after serving in the Navy from 1943 to 1945, played the remainder of his career with the team from 1946 to 1956. His superb defense and offensive contributions helped the team win 10 American League pennants and eight World Series during his 13 years with the club. After finishing second in MVP voting in 1949, he followed with a career year in 1950 in which he achieved career highs in multiple categories, including hits (200), batting average (.324), on-base percentage (.418) and runs (125), while winning the AL MVP Award. As a shortstop, he led all AL shortstops in double plays three times, putouts twice and assists once. By the time he retired in 1956, he left the game with a batting average of .273, 1,588 hits, 149 stolen bases, 38 home runs, 563 RBI and five All-Star Game selections. Rizzuto was hired quickly afterward by the Yankees as a broadcaster in 1957 and would announce for the team for 40 years, retiring in 1996. He was beloved by new generations of fans who adored his style – his “Holy Cow!” signature line is recognizable to this day. The Yankees retired Rizzuto's uniform number 10 in 1985 and placed a plaque in his honor in their stadium's Monument Park. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, recognizing his career of more than 50 years in the game. The Glendale intersection co-named for Rizzuto is located in the neighborhood where he played ball in the street as a child.

Thomas Edmund Molloy (1885-1956) was born in Nashua, New Hampshire on September 4th, 1885. He attended Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. His Irish parents previously lived in Brooklyn, NY. In 1904, Molloy attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn. After attending school, he decided to study for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, in Brooklyn. He also attended North American College in Rome, to further his studies.  On September 19th, 1908, he was ordained as a priest in Rome. He also earned a doctorate in theology before returning to Brooklyn. When Molloy returned, he was assigned as a curate at St. John’s Chapel. Molloy held many positions in the Brooklyn diocese and rose up the ranks. He was a secretary to Cardinal George Mundelein , then Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and was also his secretary for a short period when the prelate moved to Chicago. After he returned to Brooklyn, he joined St. Joseph's College for Women as the spiritual director and professor of philosophy. He later became president of the institution.  Molloy was named Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn on July 28th, 1920. He was consecrated on October 3rd, 1920. The next year, he was named Bishop of Brooklyn following the death of Bishop Charles E. McDonnell. He was installed on February 15th, 1922. At the time, Molloy became the third Bishop of Brooklyn.  In 1930, Molloy created the Immaculate Conception Seminary, a labor school where working men could learn the Catholic principles that apply to trade unionism. He also ordered the diocesan clergy to learn about industrial issues to better serve their parishioners.  On April 7th, 1951, Molloy received the personal title of archbishop from Pope Pius XII.  On November 15th, 1956, Molloy experienced an attack of pneumonia and suffered a stroke. He passed away at his Brooklyn residence on November 30th, 1956.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Wilson Rantus Rock, October 27, 2022.

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (1943-1993) was born in Richmond, Virginia, and began playing tennis at the age of 10. In 1966 he graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he won the United States Intercollegiate Singles Championship and led his team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. At the 1968 U.S. Open, Ashe defeated several competitors to win the men’s singles title. By 1975, he was ranked the number-one tennis player in the U.S. After this string of athletic successes, he began suffering heart problems. Retiring from the sport, he underwent heart surgery in 1979 and again in 1983. During one of his hospital stays, Ashe was likely given an HIV-tainted blood transfusion and he soon contracted AIDS. Despite his illness, he remained involved in public life. His participation in many youth activities, such as the National Junior Tennis League and the ABC Cities Tennis Program, and his role in protests against South African apartheid earned Ashe recognition as 1992 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, long after his athletic career had ended. He died of pneumonia in New York at age 49.

In 1867 and 1869 Daniel Eldrige and his wife Abbie of Brooklyn purchased six lots from Charles and Libya Paulson in what was then the town of Clarencevill and is now Richmond Hill, Queens. The parcel on Greenwood Avenue (now 111th Street) was the main thoroughfare of the village. The Italianate-Style house was completed in 1870. Daniel Eldrige was a clerk in the city Water Department and alleged member of the Tweed Ring (aka Boss William Marcy Tweed).

Don Capalbi (d. 2018) was a civic leader and community activist in the Queensboro Hill neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. Capalbi was the son of an Italian immigrant mother and an American father, and he grew up in Astoria. He was also a businessman and owned the College Green Pub on Kissena Boulevard, which he sold in the early 2010s. Capalbi served as president of the Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic Association and was a member of many other community groups. He also served as a community liaison for Assemblywoman Grace Meng. In addition to his street co-naming he has been honored with an engraved bench at the Queens Botanical Garden.

Robert Tilitz (1909-1996) moved to Elmhurst in 1917. He served in World War II, and rose to the rank of Captain. After the war he attended the New School and went on to a career at the Veterans Administration - he taught social services at Columbia University after he retired. Tilitz was often referred to as the "Mayor of Elmhurst," where he was very active in the community. He volunteered at a mental health clinic, was president of the Newtown Civic Association and was the associate editor of The Newtown Crier. He also served on Community Board 4 and was a trustee of Queens Borough Public Library for 13 years. In addition, Olga Conway, Bob's sister, was a tireless advocate for gardens and green spaces. She and her crew could be found at the oasis which was the Elmhurst Library Garden, taking care of the wide, spacious, and diverse groups of flowers.

The following text was contributed by Det. Abear's widow, Catherine Abear: Ray Abear [1976-2020] was a Queens native and spent his entire life in this community – he was raised on this block and this is where he would start a family and raise his children as well. He attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine church, P.S. 131 and St. John’s University. His first job was at Mark’s Aquarium on Parsons Boulevard, which gave him his passion for sea life, something he shared with many communities he came into contact with. He even helped businesses, community members and members of the NYPD set up their own aquariums. There’s even a fish tank in his memory at the Queens Special Victims office.   Ray’s passion and commitment to the community was professional as well. His entire 20-year career in the NYPD was spent making the Queens community a better place – first in the 112th Precinct and then in the Queens Special Victims Squad. Local business owners, restaurants, community members – everyone knew Ray and his giant smile.   There are few more challenging tasks in law enforcement than Special Victims, and Ray was passionate about his work with the Queens Squad. Each of the letters from colleagues supporting this honor of a street co-naming highlighted the compassion, patience, sensitivity and skill Ray brought to this most difficult work and the commitment he brought to finding justice for these individuals. One letter even said, “No one performed this difficult work better than Detective Raymond Abear.”   This honor – having their dad’s name permanently affixed to this street corner – is a reminder to his children that their dad was a hero not only to his family but the entire community and he will never be forgotten. Ray’s legacy will live on forever thanks to everyone who helps keep his memory alive.

Text courtesy of Walter Mugdan, president of the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee. The name “Udalls Cove” is a bit of a misnomer. In 1833 Richard Udall bought from the Allen family a grist mill, located about a mile north of the Douglaston peninsula in a much smaller cove on the eastern shore of Little Neck Bay where a stream enters. The stream had been dammed up at its mouth to create a mill pond. When the tide was low, Udall let water flow from the pond to the bay to turn his mill wheel. When the pond was drained empty he would close the dam gate and wait for the tide to rise. When the tide was high he would open the gate and let the sea water from the bay flow into the pond. This would turn his mill wheel again, but in the opposite direction. Gears and belts inside enabled the mill machinery to run in the correct direction regardless of which way the mill wheel was turning. Udall’s mill, now a museum, still stands on the little cove in front of the mill pond. But his name was eventually assigned to the larger cove a mile south that lies between the Douglaston peninsula and the Village of Great Neck Estates. Strangely, the correct name of the cove is Udalls – without an apostrophe.

In February, we celebrate Black History Month by honoring the many Black activists and organizers honored by the borough of Queens with place names.

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a noted scientist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Maria Skolodowska-Curie moved to Paris in 1891 to study at the Sorbonne. Soon after, she joined a research laboratory and in 1898, she and her husband Pierre expanded on Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity, discovering two new elements, Polonium and Radium. This discovery earned Curie her first Nobel Prize, in Physics. She won a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911, becoming the first person to earn two such awards. Curie died in France in 1934 from leukemia, thought to be caused by exposure to radiation.

Peter G. Van Alst (1828 – 1900) was a surveyor who helped to build the roads and infrastructure of western Queens. Van Alst was born in Dutch Kills on May 28, 1828, and was a member of the large extended Van Alst family, a prominent Dutch farming family who moved to the area in the early 1700s and resided there until the 1870s, when they spread out and moved elsewhere. Van Alst received his education at the District School and the Astoria Institute. He apprenticed as a surveyor for a few years, and worked independently until 1872, when the city legislature appointed him to serve as a commissioner, surveying and supervising the construction of several roads in Long Island City, Queens. In 1874, Van Alst and three fellow Long Island City citizens comprised the First Ward Improvement Commission, which was in charge of raising the grades of Jackson Avenue from Vernon Avenue to the courthouse from three to eight feet, which profoundly affected the daily life of the city. Van Alst’s job consisted primarily of constructing maps, which revealed detailed organizations of street lines, grades, and sewage lines of the Long Island City area.

Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) was born to Scottish parents in Ireland in 1688, and raised in Duns, Scotland. In his early life, Colden trained to become a Presbyterian minister at the University of Edinburgh until transitioning to the sciences. Colden immigrated to the British colony of Pennsylvania in 1710 where he worked as a doctor and a merchant until moving to New York in 1718. As a scientist, Colden studied biology, botany, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, while pursuing research on cancer, yellow fever, smallpox, and climate-based diseases as a doctor. Some of Colden’s famous academic publications include The History of the Five Indian Nations Depending on the Province of New York (1727), a classification of local species in the Linnaean system (1749), and a critique of Sir Issac Newton’s work in The Principles of Action in Matter (1751). Colden also pursued roles in public service, holding the position of Master in Chancery and Surveyor General of New York, serving on the Governor's Council, and eventually as acting Governor up until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. Colden was not popular among American colonists due to his British-favoring policies on trade, as seen in incidents such as the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765. Forced out of office by the war, Colden died on his Long Island estate near Flushing, Spring Hill, in 1776. In addition to this school, a nearby playground is also named after him.

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Mary "Mae" Foley (1886-1967) shattered gender barriers within the NYPD, becoming one of its first female plainclothes detectives. Her pioneering work inspired over 2,000 women to join the force. She served from 1923 to 1945. Born in Manhattan's Lower East Side Gas House District to Irish and French immigrant parents, Mary Foley always aspired to a police career, even after marrying young and having children. As an adult, she resided at 30-16 82nd Street in Jackson Heights, Queens. Foley began her NYPD training in 1923 and joined the "Masher Squad," a unit dedicated to protecting women from predatory men. She was later assigned to detective work under Chief Inspector William Leahy, actively participating in raids with the Volstead Act enforcement squad (also known as the Bureau of Prohibition or Prohibition Unit). From 1925 to 1930, she was assigned to the 19th Precinct in Manhattan. In 1930, she transferred to the 108th Precinct in Queens, where she became a detective in the homicide division. During her career, Foley worked with Manhattan District Attorney Thomas Dewey, playing a crucial role in the successful conviction of Italian-born gangster Charles "Lucky" Luciano and exposing the pro-Nazi organization, the German American Bund. Foley also contributed to the war effort by helping to organize the Women's Volunteer Police Reserves during World War I, serving as its captain. Her legacy is documented in the book *The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country's First Female Investigator and Her Crime Fighting Squad* by Mari Eder. In 2024, a street was named "Det. Mary "Mae" Foley Way" in her honor, due to its proximity to the former site of the NYPD's 108th Precinct.

Joseph Imparato (1944-2005), a longtime resident of Long Island City, was a community leader dedicated to assisting the elderly, keeping his neighborhood clean and serving St. Mary’s Church. He owned and operated Joe Imp’s Restaurant in Long Island City for many years and was a fixture in the neighborhood. Prior to the opening of his restaurant, Imparato also served as a City sanitation worker and as a soldier in the U.S. Army. He passed unexpectedly following knee surgery at the age of 60.

Born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, George Washington was born into a prosperous family, and was privately educated. He gained early experience as a land surveyor, and then joined the militia, serving as an officer in the French and Indian Wars from 1755-1758. Rising to the rank of colonel, he resigned his post, married Martha Dandridge (1731-1802), and returned as a gentleman farmer to the family plantation at Mount Vernon, Virginia, where he resided with his wife, Martha. He soon reentered public life, and served in succession as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1759-1774), and as a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774-1775). Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Washington was made Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. His military prowess and inspirational leadership held the colonial armies together against overwhelming odds, and secured the evacuation and defeat of the British in 1783. Washington again retired to Mount Vernon, but his dissatisfaction with the new provisional government, caused him to resume an active role, and in 1787 he presided over the second federal constitutional convention in Philadelphia. He was then unanimously chosen first president of the United States, and was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City on April 30, 1789.  Washington was reelected to a second term in 1893, declined a third term, and retired from political life in 1797. Often referred to as “the father of our country,” Washington is universally regarded as having been instrumental in winning the American Revolution and in the establishment of the new nation.

John Roberts Pitkin (1794 - 1874) was a merchant, entrepreneur, and landowner whose foresight and vision led to the early development of areas in eastern Brooklyn. Beginning in 1835 with land he purchased in New Lots, he started to develop a town he called East New York. Though he lost much of his land in the Panic of 1837, his ambitions led to the founding of the Woodhaven, Queens. The son of a shoemaker and the third of six children, Pitkin was born on September 24, 1794, in Hartford, Connecticut, to John and Rebecca (Andrus) Pitkin. He began his career in the mercantile business in partnership with S. and L. Hulbert in Augusta, Georgia. In 1823, he married Sophia M. Thrall, and together they had seven children. By 1832, he had relocated to New York City to work in the dry goods business. After visiting the area of New Lots, at that time a largely rural region in the eastern part of Brooklyn, he was impressed by the vast expanses of land so close to New York City, and he made plans to develop it into a new city, the Village of East New York. On July 1, 1835, Pitkin bought his first piece of property on land that he called Woodville for the dense woods that covered the area. Together with his brother-in-law, George W. Thrall, they purchased land, had it surveyed, and began to lay out streets and building lots, which were sold for $10 to $25 each. To attract buyers, Pitkin began the area’s first newspaper, called The Mechanic. In addition, he opened a shoe factory, the East New York Boot and Shoe Manufactory Company of New York. Located on Liberty Avenue, the enterprise employed about 100 people. Pitkin’s dreams were dashed by the Panic of 1837, a major economic depression that lasted into the 1840s and forced him to sell much of his land. However, he retained the small section he called Woodville, and by 1853 it had grown considerably into a village. When the town applied for a post office, the request was rejected because there was already a Woodville in upstate New York. In the end, the inhabitants voted in favor of Pitkin’s top choice of name, and the town became Woodhaven. Pitkin’s first wife, Sophia, died in 1849, and he remarried on June 11, 1857, to Mary Allyn. Together, they had three children. Remaining in Woodhaven to raise his family, he later died on September 2, 1874, in Brattleboro, Vermont, at the age of 79. In May 1897, the street originally called Broadway was renamed in Pitkin’s honor by the New York City Council. Today, Pitkin Avenue runs from East New York Avenue in Brooklyn to just past Centerville Street / Hawtree Street in Ozone Park. Pitkin’s grave is located on a hilltop in Cypress Hill Cemetery and overlooks the communities he helped to establish.

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (1943-1993) was born in Richmond, Virginia, and began playing tennis at the age of 10. In 1966 he graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he won the United States Intercollegiate Singles Championship and led his team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. At the 1968 U.S. Open, Ashe defeated several competitors to win the men’s singles title. By 1975, he was ranked the number-one tennis player in the U.S. After this string of athletic successes, he began suffering heart problems. Retiring from the sport, he underwent heart surgery in 1979 and again in 1983. During one of his hospital stays, Ashe was likely given an HIV-tainted blood transfusion and he soon contracted AIDS. Despite his illness, he remained involved in public life. His participation in many youth activities, such as the National Junior Tennis League and the ABC Cities Tennis Program, and his role in protests against South African apartheid earned Ashe recognition as 1992 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, long after his athletic career had ended. He died of pneumonia in New York at age 49.

Saint Kevin of Glendalough (498-618) was a Celtic monastic and the founder and first abbot of the sixth-century monastery of Glendalough in modern-day County Wicklow, Ireland. Remembered for his ascetic, solitary life, he is traditionally revered for his love and kindness toward animals and nature. The story of his life is often described as one of a journey from solitude to community. He was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint by Pope Pius X on December 9, 1903. Saint Kevin’s life is not well documented by contemporaneous sources and is based largely on legend and tradition. He was born in the ancient kingdom of Leinster, near today’s Dublin, and given the name of “Coemgen” or “fair-begotten” in Gaelic, anglicized as “Kevin.” His parents, Coemlog and Coemell, were said to be of noble birth. From the age of 12, he studied under monks and was eventually ordained as a priest. As a young man, he chose to pursue a life of solitude and prayer, traveling to Glendalough, or “Valley of the Two Lakes,” located in a narrow valley in the Wicklow Mountains. He lived by the shore of the upper lake, reportedly led there by an angel to a man-made cave on the south side and still visible today from the lake’s north shore. Known as Saint Kevin’s Bed, it served as a space to sleep and meditate, and it was in this area that he lived a solitary life of contemplation for seven years. Known as a holy man, people increasingly sought him out for advice. By 540, a monastic community was formed that included a walled settlement known as Kevin’s Cell. After the community was firmly established, Kevin retired into solitude for another four years, eventually returning at the request of his monks and presiding as abbot until his death at Glendalough on June 3, 618. The community grew to become one of Ireland’s leading monastic centers and flourished for a thousand years after his death. Today, its ruins are among Ireland’s most famous and best preserved. The site is considered an important part of Irish history and heritage and is a popular tourist destination. Saint Kevin is known for his love, respect, and closeness with nature. Legends around his interaction with animals include stories of cows, sheep, otter, doe, wolves, geese, boars, hunting dogs, and various flocks of birds. One well-known legend illustrates Kevin’s harmony with nature. As he was praying with outstretched arms, a blackbird landed in Kevin’s hand, laying her eggs. Kevin remained still until the eggs were hatched, and the chicks were fledged. Nobel prizewinner Seamus Heaney popularized this story in his poem “St. Kevin and the Blackbird.” Saint Kevin continues to be revered as the patron saint of blackbirds, the archdiocese of Dublin, and Glendalough. Saint Kevin Catholic Academy is located at 45-50 195th Street in Flushing. The school was built in 1939, with two additions added in 1950 and 1965. The parish was originally established in 1926.

William M. Feehan (1929-2001) was First Deputy Commissioner of the NYFD and the first person to hold every rank in the fire department. Despite being a firefighter who rose to the highest level of service, including serving briefly as Acting Fire Commissioner in 1993, he nevertheless insisted on being called just “chief.” Recognized for his deep knowledge of the department (he was thought to know the location of every fire hydrant in the city) and his advocacy for policies that improved safety for firefighters, Feehan served the FDNY for 42 years. While helping to direct the fire and rescue operations from the West Street command center at the base of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, he was killed when the North Tower collapsed. At age 71, he was the FDNY’s oldest and highest-ranking firefighter killed on 9/11. Feehan was born on September 29, 1929, and grew up in Jackson Heights. The son of a firefighter, he was second in four generations of a family career tradition in the FDNY that includes his son, John Feehan, son-in-law, Brian Davan, and a grandson, Connor Davan. After graduating from St. John’s University with a degree in education, he served in combat in Korea. In 1956, he married Elizabeth Ann Keegan, and the couple lived in Flushing. Early in his career, he worked as a substitute teacher. First appointed to the FDNY as a Probationary Firefighter on October 10, 1959, he was eventually assigned to Ladder Company 3, then to Ladder Companies 18 and 6. His service in the department led to a promotion to Lieutenant in 1964, then to Chief of Department in 1991, and in 1992, to First Deputy Fire Commissioner, the second highest civilian position in the FDNY. In 1993, he was appointed as Fire Commissioner, the highest civilian position in the FDNY, and a role he acted in during the last months of Mayor David Dinkins’ administration. Following Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s appointment of Howard Safir as Fire Commissioner in 1994, Feehan returned to his position as First Deputy Commissioner, a role he held until his death in 2001. In 2002, the New York City Council passed legislation to honor Feehan with the naming of William M. Feehan Triangle, a public green space near his former home in Flushing. The Triangle is located at the intersection of 164th Street, 27th Avenue, and Bayside Lane.

Conrad Poppenhusen (1818-1883) was an early developer of College Point, Queens and a local entrepreneur and philanthropist.  Born in Hamburg, Germany on April 1, 1818, he emigrated to the United States in 1843. He started a whalebone processing plant in Brooklyn and then manufactured rubber goods, eventually moving his firm to Queens, then a farming village. Poppenhusen developed the Village of College Point, which was formed in 1870, to accommodate his factory workers. In 1868, he also opened the Flushing and North Side Railroad, connecting College Point to New York City. At the same time, he founded the Poppenhusen Institute, which was comprised of a vocational high school and the first free kindergarten in the United States. It is still in existence today.  After Poppenhusen retired in 1871, his family lost much of its fortune due to financial mismanagement by his three sons. He died in College Point on December 12, 1883. The bronze memorial was created by Henry Baerer (1837-1908). Baerer, born in Kirscheim, Germany, came to the United States in 1854. He created six sculptures in New York City Parks, including statues of Ludwig von Beethoven in Prospect and Central Parks. 

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Patrolman Joseph W. Norden (1916-1954), a Marine veteran who served in combat in the Pacific during World War II, was a five-year veteran of the New York Police Department when he was killed at the age of 38 in the line of duty on December 3, 1954. That night, Norden and his partner, who worked for the 104th Precinct, reported to a home where an ambulance required assistance removing a man in emotional distress. The man appeared calm, so the officers held him by the arms to descend the stairs, rather than restraining him any further. At the ground level, however, the man lunged at Norden, grabbing his revolver and firing three shots that killed Norden and the ambulance worker. Norden's partner then fired at the shooter, killing him. Norden was survived by his two daughters, then 7-year-old daughter Susan, 4-year-old daughter Mary, and his wife, Theresa, whom he had married in 1946. She was three months pregnant at the time of his death, and that daughter, Jody Norden Castro, grew up in a home that worked to ensure she always remembered her father. At the time of his death, Norden and his family lived at 62-15 Catalpa Avenue. The nearby intersection was co-named in his honor on Saturday, September 28, 2024 following a bill for the name change that was sponsored by Councilmember Robert F. Holden.