Henry Waichaitis Road

Henry Waichaitis (1919 – 1982) was a community leader in Broad Channel, who lived on West 20th Road.

Born in Maspeth, Waichaitis was a veteran of World War II and a United States Merchant Marine. After the war, he moved to Broad Channel where he met and married Helen Hutchinson, and started a career as a civil servant in the Department of Sanitation. His love of the Broad Channel community prompted him to become involved with the local Democratic Club, of which he would later serve as president. He joined and revitalized the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department, where he worked his way up the ranks to Chief and was responsible for the acquisition of the first volunteer ambulance on the Island. He was Chief of the department from 1960 to 1963. He also served as President of the Civic Association, and became the first Chairman of Community Board 14.

Sources:

Gil Tauber, "NYC Honorary Street Names," accessed June 15, 2022, http://www.nycstreets.info/honorStreet.asp?b=Q&letter=H

Additional information courtesy of Ed Wilmarth III, historian of the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department.