Dr. Deborah Hoyle (1960 – 2921) was an educator and environmentalist, and a staunch advocate for bettering the lives of those who live in the Rockaways. She served as the Director of the Ocean Bay Cornerstone Community Center where she created a host of programs that provided approximately two hundred children with academic support, enrichment activities–such as the hydroponics garden that she and the children nurtured–and a food bank that ensured people in Rockaway never went hungry. She worked through the pandemic, despite her illness (cancer), distributing free food each week to a thousand people who would line the outside of the center for two or three blocks. She even hired a DJ to entertain them while they waited. She was the first person to start a tenants’ association at the Ocean Village property in Arverne and was well known for writing and receiving grants that funded neighborhood needs. Her reputation for grass-roots activism prompted a rare visit to Rockaway in 2019 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who wanted to personally thank her for the work she was doing. Hoyle was also honored by Senator James Sanders Jr. for her leadership and community service.