This interactive map explores the individuals whose names grace public spaces across the borough of Queens.
The People Behind the Names: Black History in Queens icon

The People Behind the Names: Black History in Queens icon The People Behind the Names: Black History in Queens

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 March 2, 2025 at [Culture Lab LIC](https://www.culturelablic.org/current-exhibitions), 5-25 46th Avenue, Queens, NY 11101.
Langston Hughes Walk icon

Langston Hughes Walk icon Langston Hughes Walk

Poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes (1901-1967) grew up in the Midwest and moved to New York City to attend Columbia University. Hughes is known as a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural mecca for Black intellectuals and artists in the early 20th century. He wrote about African American life between the 1920s and 1960s, including "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Montage of A Dream Deferred," and "Not Without Laughter," which won the Harmon Gold Medal for Literature. His ashes are interred beneath a mosaic in the NYPL's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem.
P.S. 171 Peter G. Van Alst icon

P.S. 171 Peter G. Van Alst icon P.S. 171 Peter G. Van Alst

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.
"Uncle" Vito F. Maranzano Glendale Playground icon

"Uncle" Vito F. Maranzano Glendale Playground icon "Uncle" Vito F. Maranzano Glendale Playground

Vito Frank Maranzano (1923 - 2006), also known as “Uncle Vito, was a longtime Glendale resident and neighborhood activist. Born in Italy, Maranzano immigrated with his family to Bushwick, Brooklyn. He served in the Navy during World War II and moved to Glendale afterward. He was a member of multiple organizations in the neighborhood, including as president of Glendale Property Owners Association, Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation, and the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation. He was also active in the Kiwanis Group of Glendale, the Glendale/104th Precinct Civilian Observation Patrol (GCOP), UNICO International and had served as chairman of the Community Board 5 Public Safety Services Committee.
Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House icon

Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House icon Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!
Henry Waichaitis Road icon

Henry Waichaitis Road icon Henry Waichaitis Road

Henry Waichitis, undated photo
Sy Seplowe Playground icon

Sy Seplowe Playground icon Sy Seplowe Playground

Seymour “Sy” Seplowe was a community activist and youth advocate. He was born in the Bronx, served in World War II, then settled in northeastern Queens during the early 1950s. Seplowe organized the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade and, in 1953, founded the Little Neck-Douglaston Youth Club, an organization of 1,200 members dedicated to providing community youth with athletic opportunities. Seplowe was also a founding member of Community Board 11 and the president of the Little Neck-Douglaston Community Council. Throughout his life, Seplowe worked to promote baseball, and served as the Little League administrator for School District 26 for 35 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 Seplowe. In 1985, Parks renamed the property Admiral Park; however, the playground within the park continues to be known as Sy Seplowe Playground.
Albert Shanker School for Visual & Performing Arts icon

Albert Shanker School for Visual & Performing Arts icon Albert Shanker School for Visual & Performing Arts

Russell Sage Playground icon

Russell Sage Playground icon Russell Sage Playground

Russell Risley Sage (1816 – 1906) Was a financier and President of the Chicago, St. Paul & Milwaukee Railroad, he played a large part in organizing the railroad and telegraph systems in the United States. He also served as a delegate to the Whig Convention of 1848, where he supported Henry Clay. Sage served two consecutive terms in the U.S. Congress (1853–57). Sage was born in Oneida County New York, his first job was as an errand boy in his brother's Troy, NY grocery store, very motivated he soon opened his own wholesale grocery business. He was elected as an alderman in Troy, while also serving as a treasurer in Rensselaer County from 1844 to 1851, 1852 he was elected to Congress on the Whig ticket and served for five years until he took over as vice president of the La Crosse Railroad in Wisconsin, a company he had invested in. He also had money invested in Western Union Telegraph. He relocated to New York City in 1863 where he engaged in the business of selling puts and calls, as well as short-term options known as privileges. He has been credited with developing the market for stock options in the United States and inventing the "spread" and "straddle" option strategies, for which he was dubbed "Old Straddle" and the "Father of Puts and Calls."  In 1891, a man entered Sage’s office and demanded $1.2 million, threatening Sage with dynamite. When Sage refused, the man unleashed an explosion that left him dead, but Sage was mostly unharmed. The event was in all the newspapers. By the time of Sage’s death in 1906, he had amassed a large amount of money which he left to his wife Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828 - 1918), and it is largely due to her efforts that so many institutions in New York benefitted from his fortune. Olivia donated large sums to the YMCA, the YWCA, the Women’s Hospital, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a memorial to her husband, she had built the First Presbyterian Church of Far Rockaway, at 1324 Beach 12th Street, where they used to vacation. Olivia also founded the Russell Sage Foundation in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States,” and helped to sponsor the Regional Plan Association’s (‘RPA’) project to develop a regional plan for New York City in 1929, which would provide Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) with many of the basic ideas that shaped his career.
P.S. 35Q Nathaniel Woodhull School icon

P.S. 35Q Nathaniel Woodhull School icon P.S. 35Q Nathaniel Woodhull School

Nathaniel Woodhull (1722-1776) was born on Long Island in 1722 and became a distinguished soldier after fighting in the French and Indian War. He served as a representative for Suffolk County in the Province of New Yok Assembly before becoming the president of the New York Provincial Congress in 1775. Woodhull was an American General during the Revolutionary War, and was captured along with 1,000 others during the Battle of Brooklyn which the British won summarily. He was injured sometime during this fraught time and succumbed to his wounds on September 20, 1776.
Women's History Spotlight On: Scientists icon

Women's History Spotlight On: Scientists icon Women's History Spotlight On: Scientists

Rachel Carson Playground icon

Rachel Carson Playground icon Rachel Carson Playground

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a marine biologist who worked for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (later the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) while developing a career as a nature writer. She published her first book, Under the Sea-Wind, in 1941. After the success of her second book, The Sea Around Us, which won the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal in 1951, she resigned from government service to focus on her writing. Her third book, The Edge of the Sea, was published in 1957. Carson is best remembered for her groundbreaking 1962 book Silent Spring, which examined the detrimental effects of the insecticide DDT on wildlife. Despite opposition from the chemical industry, an investigation was ordered by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1962), and in 1963 Carson testified before Congress. She died of breast cancer the following year. DDT was banned with the passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972. A 1978 renovation to make this playground accessible led to the alternate name of Playground for All Children. A 1999 renovation included the addition of a flagpole with a yardarm and depictions of sea creatures and the titles of Carson's three books preceding Silent Spring. The adjacent Silent Springs playground is a tribute to her most influential work.
P.S. 118 Lorraine Hansberry icon

P.S. 118 Lorraine Hansberry icon P.S. 118 Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 – 1965) was a playwright, writer, and activist. Her play, “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959), was the first drama by an African American woman produced on Broadway. Hansberry was born in Chicago in 1930, the youngest of four children to a real estate entrepreneur and a schoolteacher. Her parents were members of the NAACP and the Urban League. She was the niece of Pan-Africanist scholar and college professor Leo Hansberry. In 1938 her family moved to a white neighborhood where they were attacked by neighbors. The Hansberry’s refused to move until a court ordered them to do so, and the case made it to the Supreme Court as Hansberry v. Lee, ruling restrictive covenants illegal. The case was the inspiration for her Broadway play, A Raisin in the Sun, which also became a movie starring Sidney Poitier. Hansberry attended the University of Wisconsin but left after two years and moved to New York to work as a writer and editor of Paul Robeson’s newspaper Freedom. She was a Communist and committed civil rights activist. She met her husband and closest friend, Robert Nemiroff, at a civil rights demonstration. Despite her marriage to a man, Hansberry identified as a lesbian, but she was not “out,” though it seems like she was on the path to a more open life before her death, having built a circle of gay and lesbian friends. In 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced but continued to work together, and he was the executor of her estate when she died of cancer in 1965. Nemiroff donated all of Hansberry's personal and professional effects to the New York Public Library but blocked access to all materials related to Hansberry's lesbianism for 50 years. Nemiroff passed away in 1991, and in 2013, Nemiroff's daughter released the restricted materials for research.
Bohack Square icon

Bohack Square icon Bohack Square

Henry Bohack (1865-1931) was born in Oster-Wanna, Hanover, Germany. He came to the United States at age 17, in 1882. He began clerking in a grocery store in Lower Manhattan and three years later opened his own store in Brooklyn with his future brother-in-law. His business expanded in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island to 740 stores and 8,000 employees. Bohack served on the boards of many businesses and organizations. He participated in the Queens and Long Island Chambers of Congress and the Kew Gardens County Club. He resided in Kew Gardens at the time of his death. The operations for the supermarkets was located at the intersection of Metropolitan and Flushing Avenues. The supermarket chain faltered after Bohack’s death, struggling to survive through a succession of management teams. In 1972, the supermarkets were permanently closed. According to the Bohack Square website, "The complex went through many tenants... Bohack’s industrial, manufacturing warehouses have been converted into a mixed-use commercial complex consisting of class “A” creative office and retail space. Bohack Square offers retail opportunities to Brooklyn focused food and retail, as well as loft-style office space geared towards creative professionals and teams".
John Bowne High School icon

John Bowne High School icon John Bowne High School

John Bowne (1627-1695) was an English emigrant who arrived in in New Netherland, or Vlissingen (now Flushing) in 1649. He fought against Governor Pieter Stuyvesant's edict to restrict religious freedom by allowing Quakers to meet in his home. Bowne was arrested, fined and imprisoned for months by Gov. Stuyvesant and even deported due to his religious activities, though he was later set free by the Directors of the West India Company. He returned to his home later and acquired more land, including that designated for the Flushing Quaker Meeting House and a burial ground, where he was buried upon his death in 1695. Flushing had the previous name of Flushing Creeke by the original inhabitants who lived there, the Matinecock people, part of the larger Algonquin nation. While the Matinecock people are said to have sold land to the Dutch, and possibly to Bowne as well, there was also documented violence against them prior to this, as well as a smallpox epidemic that devastated the community years later in 1652. Members of the Matinecock tribe remain in Queens today.
Carlos R. Lillo Park icon

Carlos R. Lillo Park icon Carlos R. Lillo Park

Carlos R. Lillo (1963-2001), was a paramedic for the New York City Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Division who died while on duty on September 11, 2001.  Raised in Astoria, Queens, Lillo began his career in emergency medicine as a volunteer with the Astoria Volunteer Ambulance Corps. As an emergency medical technician (EMT), Lillo joined the city’s Emergency Medical Services in 1984. He worked on a tactical unit in some of the roughest neighborhoods in the Bronx during one of the most active times in EMS history. Pursuing his dream career, Lillo attained advanced lifesaving skills and became a paramedic in 1990. Lillo demonstrated his dedication and commitment to the citizens of the city, state and country as he performed his duties on September 11, 2001. Carlos Lillo Park serves as a touchstone for the many families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and provides the neighborhood with a place for solace and reflection
Guillermo Vasquez Corner icon

Guillermo Vasquez Corner icon Guillermo Vasquez Corner

Guillermo Vasquez (1953-1996) was a leading gay rights, AIDS, and Latino community activist in Queens who emigrated from Colombia in 1972. A member of Queens Gays and Lesbians United, Vasquez would go on to serve on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a statewide organization that advocated for LGBT rights. In 1993, he helped organize the first Queens Pride Parade as a member of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee and served as a translator for Spanish-speaking participants. Vasquez passed away due to AIDS-related complications in 1996. The corner of 77th Street and Broadway was co-named “Guillermo Vasquez Corner” next to the site of the Love Boat, a former gay Latino bar where he educated the community about HIV/AIDS.
Milt Hinton Place icon

Milt Hinton Place icon Milt Hinton Place

Milton “Milt” Hinton (1910 - 2000), a long-time resident of Addisleigh Park, was a legendary bass player who played with many of the greats of jazz and pop. He was also a skilled photographer who took nearly 60,000 negatives of performers on the road or in the studio, which have been exhibited around the world. Milton John Hinton was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and grew up in Chicago. With his mother’s encouragement, he began studying the violin, but pivoted to string bass because opportunities for Black violinists were limited. After working for several years with a jazz band in the Chicago area, Hinton was hired by the Cab Calloway Band in 1936. With the Calloway band, he became one of the first jazz bassists to be featured on records as a soloist. During his 60-year career, Hinton, nicknamed the “The Judge,” performed and recorded with many legendary musicians including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Erskine Tate, Art Tatum, Jabbo Smith, Eddie South, Zutty Singleton, Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake, John Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Paul McCartney, Andre Kostelanetz, Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Billy Holiday and Barbara Streisand. He was one of the most recorded artists in history, as estimates of the records and albums he recorded range from 600 to well over 1,000. At the height of his popularity, Hinton entertained presidents and dignitaries at the White House; served as chairman of the International Society of Bassists, The National Association of Jazz Educators and the Jazz Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts; and held charter memberships in the Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale University and the Newport Jazz Festival Hall of Fame. As a photographer, he published two lavishly illustrated volumes of memoirs ("OverTime: the jazz photographs of Milt Hinton," 1991, and "Bass line: the stories and photographs of Milt Hinton," 1988), and his still photography and home movies were featured prominently in Jean Bach's 1995 jazz documentary, "A Great Day in Harlem." Hinton's approximately 60,000 photographs now comprise the Milton J. Hinton Photographic Collection. Hinton died on December 19, 2000, in Queens, where he had been a pillar of the St. Albans community for many years.
Horace Harding Expressway icon

Horace Harding Expressway icon Horace Harding Expressway

Horace Harding (1863-1929) was born to an influential publishing family. He entered the banking world and moved up through connections on his wife's side. Harding served as a director for multiple entities including American Express and numerous railway trusts. Harding enjoyed art collecting and spent time cultivating the Frick collection. Harding was extremely influential in Long Island and supported Robert Moses' "Great Parkway Plan" to build a highway from Queens Blvd. to Shelter Rock in Nassau County. He also supported the Northern State Parkway and construction of the Long Island Expressway. His support of new roads happened to coincide with his desire for an easier pathway to his country club. Harding died at 65 from influenza and blood poisoning.
James A. Bland Playground icon

James A. Bland Playground icon James A. Bland Playground

James Alan Bland (1854-1911) was an African American musician and composer of popular songs, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," formerly the official state song of Virginia. Bland was born in Flushing to educated, free African American parents. While attending Howard University he became enthralled with the banjo and learned to play it. In the late 1870s, Bland began his professional career as a member of the first successful all-Black minstrel company, the Georgia Minstrels. Later he worked in minstrel shows throughout Europe and the United States, becoming the highest-paid minstrel singer in the country. He performed for Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace and President Grover Cleveland and Gen. Robert E. Lee in Washington. After living for 20 years in Europe, Bland returned to the U.S. in 1901. His fortunes declined as minstrel shows were replaced by vaudeville, and he died alone of tuberculosis in Philadelphia in 1911. Though Bland was buried there in an unmarked grave, a memorial was later erected by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. This playground is located adjacent to the James A. Bland public housing complex.
Allama Iqbal Avenue icon

Allama Iqbal Avenue icon Allama Iqbal Avenue

Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) was a writer, philosopher, and politician who is widely revered in the Asian subcontinent. He was also a scholar, lawyer, and well-known poet whose Urdu poetry is world-renowned. Muhammad Iqbal is commonly referred to as the honorific Allama, meaning “very knowing and most learned.” He was born in Punjab on November 9, 1877, which was under the jurisdiction of the British Raj (1858-1947) at the time. Before Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, established the new state in 1947, Allama Iqbal envisioned its creation. He had a vision of a culturally and politically independent Muslim state that promoted Islamic ideals and combatted the oppression and discrimination Muslims experienced living in India. Influenced by the democratic principles held in the United States Constitution, Allama Iqbal advocated for a Muslim state that promoted the ideals of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” As such, Allama Iqbal revived the two-nation theory, which inspired Muhammad Ali Jinnah to create an exclusively Muslim state. The American Pakistani Advocacy Group (APAG), the organization responsible for initiating this street co-naming in honor of Allama Iqbal, chose this location in the South Richmond Hill area to mark it as the epicenter of APAG’s community service work for the Pakistani diasporic communities residing in Queens and beyond.
Cornelius Van Wyck House icon

Cornelius Van Wyck House icon Cornelius Van Wyck House

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!
Shri Guru Ravidass Marg icon

Shri Guru Ravidass Marg icon Shri Guru Ravidass Marg

Shri Guru Ravidass was a great Indian thinker, reformist, traveler, spiritual leader, and mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement in Hinduism, which emphasized love and devotion to god and preached against the caste system. Active during the 15th or 16th century CE, he attained recognition as a most learned Guru and was venerated as a teacher in the regions of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. The devotional songs of Ravidass have had a lasting impact on the Bhakti movement, and 41 poems attributed to him were included in the Adi Granth, the sacred scripture of Sikhism. A great social reformer, he fought the caste system in India with great courage when the system was at its peak, and upper caste kings became his followers. He was born in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh in the Chamar caste. The Chamars are a Dalit (formerly "untouchable") caste group numerically prevalent across North India, and traditionally associated with leatherwork and animal carcass disposal, connoting ritual impurity according to the Hindu religious system of caste hierarchy. In the face of enduring discrimination by wider Indian society, a sense of collective identity and solidarity remains strong amongst Chamars. The Ravidassi movement promised a collective religious identity for Chamars outside the existing socio-religious order, and Ravidas’s teachings focused on equality, social justice, and the unity of all humanity. Centered around the Punjabi city of Jalandhar, this movement has seen temples constructed across North India, including in the sacred Hindu city of Varanasi. Through these temples, religious leaders and reformers have promoted a separatist religious identity for Ravidassia, or those who follow the spiritual teachings of Guru Ravidas, one that rejects the ritually impure status afforded to Chamars as leatherworkers by Hindu cosmology. The Shri Guru Ravidass Temple was established in Woodside in 1987. It is the only known Ravidassia temple in New York City and the East Coast as a whole. On September 15, 2024, in a dedication ceremony held just outside the Temple, the intersection of 61st Street and Broadway was officially co-named Shri Guru Ravidass Marg in honor of the great poet and social reformer. The event was presided over by New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, the first Indian-American ever elected to the New York City Council.
Louis Armstrong Place icon

Louis Armstrong Place icon Louis Armstrong Place

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential figures in jazz, known for both his trumpet improvisations and his distinctive singing voice. He also broke down numerous racial divides in the music and entertainment worlds, becoming the first Black performer to get featured billing in a major Hollywood film ("Pennies From Heaven," 1936) and the first Black host of a national radio show (Fleischmann's Yeast Show, 1937). Born in New Orleans in 1901, Armstrong grew up impoverished in a racially segregated city. He dropped out of school in fifth grade to work, and developed a close relationship with a local Jewish family that gave him odd jobs and nurtured his love of music. By the age of 11, Armstrong wound up in the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys, where he joined the band and studied the cornet in earnest. Upon his release from the home in 1914, he began working as a musician on Mississippi riverboats and other local venues. His reputation skyrocketed, and by the early 1920s he moved north, performing and recording with jazz bands in Chicago and New York. Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Armstrong made dozens of records with his own and many other ensembles, toured extensively, and began performing in Broadway productions and movies. After some business and health setbacks, and in response to changing musical tastes, Armstrong scaled his group down to a six-piece combo in the 1940s and resumed touring internationally, recording albums and appearing in movies. Some of his biggest popular hits came in the later years of his career, including "Hello Dolly" (1964) and "What A Wonderful World" (1967). His grueling schedule took its toll on his heart and kidneys and in 1968 he was forced to take time off to recuperate, but he began performing again in 1970. Armstrong died in his sleep in July 1971, just a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. This honorary street naming identifies this block of 107th Street as the location of the Louis Armstrong House Museum, formerly the home of Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson. After Lucille’s passing in 1983, she willed the home and its contents to the city of New York, which designated the City University of New York, Queens College to administer it. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 and a New York City Landmark in 1988. The archives became accessible in the 1990s, and the historic house opened for public tours in 2003. It also now serves as a venue for concerts and educational programs.
Mauro Playground icon

Mauro Playground icon Mauro Playground

Albert Mauro (1911 - 1982), a Kew Gardens Hills environmentalist, civil rights and community activist, and WW II veteran. After returning from military service and while working as an insurance adjuster, Mauro became involved with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He demonstrated throughout the South and attended the 1963 March on Washington. Mauro also joined the Sierra Club and Audubon Society, and took on many local environmental issues, including those involving his community and parks. He exposed the sludge problem in the Flushing Bay with organized walking tours and fought against the 1972 plan for installation of a nuclear reactor in the World’s Fair Science Building. His advocacy work included lobbying the state to preserve Willow Lake in Flushing Meadows, according to the Parks Department. The body of water would end up being classified as a protected wetland in 1976, six years before Mauro passed away in 1982.
Judge Hockert Triangle icon

Judge Hockert Triangle icon Judge Hockert Triangle

Justice Jenkin Hockert (1894-1990) was a long-time resident of Jamaica Estates. A graduate of Valparaiso University and Columbia Law School, he served in World War I as a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. He was Queens County Clerk, City Magistrate, and Judge of the Civil Court before becoming a judge of the New York State Supreme Court. Hockert was a founding member and President of the Jamaica Estates Association.
Julio Rivera Corner icon

Julio Rivera Corner icon Julio Rivera Corner

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.
SFC Luis M. Gonzalez Street icon

SFC Luis M. Gonzalez Street icon SFC Luis M. Gonzalez Street

Luis Manuel Gonzalez (1982-2009) was a Queens native who went to Flushing High School. He had dreamed for years of joining the Army and enlisted after graduating from high school in 2002, he had a commanding presence that made him a good fit for the Army. Assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, he was killed in combat in Afghanistan, along with six other soldiers, when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Sargent First Class Gonzalez grew up in the Corona area of Queens, but later moved to the South Ozone Park neighborhood. Gonzalez, an avid New York Yankees fan, had a wife, Jessica, and son. He distinguished himself by earning more than twenty-three medals, including the Bronze Star. Gonzalez served twice in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan.
Howard Von Dohlen Playground icon

Howard Von Dohlen Playground icon Howard Von Dohlen Playground

Howard Ames Von Dohlen (1895-1918) Died in battle in France during WWI. Von Dohlen grew up in Ozone Park, Queens, and attended a local public high before working for the brokerage firm V.C. Brown. He was a member of the Men’s Club Epiphany Church of Ozone Park and was also Superintendent of the Sunday School Epiphany P.E. Church. In June 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry and was assigned to Troop D, Squadron A of the New York National Guard. Von Dohlen was promoted to corporal while stationed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and then again to sergeant shortly before his unit sailed for France in May 1918. Sergeant Von Dohlen assumed a leadership role during every engagement and battle in which the 27th Division fought. On three separate occasions he volunteered to carry wounded men to the dressing station through a heavy counter barrage of enemy artillery and machine gun fire. On the morning of October 17, 1918, Von Dohlen was killed in action while commanding a machine gun section in the Battle of La Salle River in St. Supplet, France. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.
Paul Russo Way icon

Paul Russo Way icon Paul Russo Way

Paul Russo (1986 – 2018) was a lifelong resident of Ozone Park and is remembered as a young man of deep faith who dedicated much of his life to helping others. He attended local schools and was involved with local sports and Little League associations. He was also a member of the Frassati Fellowship of NYC, a Catholic group of young people dedicated to prayer and charity work. He worked as a real estate agent, and participated in volunteer-led efforts to build homes for the homeless in the United States as well as Central and South America,. Paul’s zeal for helping the poor was an inspiration to many others in the community. Paul passed away in 2018 at 33 after a long and courageous battle with cancer, and was survived by his mother, Antha, and father George Russo, owner of the Villa Russo in Richmond Hill, and president of the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Queens. He also left behind four siblings and many, many friends.
Joe Imp's Way icon

Joe Imp's Way icon Joe Imp's Way

My husband, Joseph Imparato, better known in Long Island City as Joe Imp, was a native of LIC, and he set an example for everyone to follow. He helped the elderly, whether it was bringing them shopping, taking them to the doctors or shoveling snow. He did this for them on his day off. His life was dedicated to helping his community. He opened his restaurant on Jackson Avenue, Joe Imp's, which introduced many people to the area. Saint Mary’s Church was an extremely important part of Joe’s life. His dedication to the people in his community was evident by his dedication to the church. If there were those who couldn’t afford a tree for Christmas and he found out about it, he would buy a tree for them and decorate it, put presents under the tree and would never take credit for doing it. Joe wasn’t only a gem to me, he was a LIC gem. That’s why my husband Joe deserved the honor of having a street named after him.
Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park icon

Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park icon Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park

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. Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Park opened in 1938 as Smokey Oval Park, a reference to the Long Island Railroad terminus, which was a landing area of soot and ash from the railway smoke. The park was renamed in 2008 to honor Rizzuto.
Brendan Byrne Plaza icon

Brendan Byrne Plaza icon Brendan Byrne Plaza

Brendan Byrne (1908 – 1987) was a former member of the New York City Board of Education and a public-relations consultant who helped revitalize Richmond Hill, Queens A high school teacher for 10 years and the author of several history books, he was appointed to the Board of Education by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in 1961. Earlier in his career Mr. Byrne was an editor of Facts magazine and other publications. During the 1960s he was executive director of the American Heritage Foundation, a nonpartisan philanthropy that encouraged voter registration, and a vice president of the Valley Forge Foundation. He also was a consultant on philanthropy. In later years he worked with Queens merchants to improve the economic well-being of the area and served as president of the Richmond Hill Development Corporation. Among his published books is a How-to marketing guide for Richmond Hill that is in the Queens Public Library catalog. 
Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (I.S. 419) icon

Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (I.S. 419) icon Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (I.S. 419)

Tommie Lee Agee (1942-2001) helped the New York Mets win the World Series in 1969 and was a resident of Queens for much of his life. Born in Alabama, Agee initially signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1961 but mostly played in the minor leagues for them. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1965 and won the AL Rookie of the Year in his first full year of play. Agee was traded to the Mets in 1968 and played a large role in their successful season of 1969, leading the team in home runs (26), RBIs (76) and runs scored (97). The Mets had 100 winning games in 1969 and won the World Series, thanks in part to two amazing catches by Agee in Game 3 that are remembered to this day. Agee was the first African American player to win a Gold Glove award in both the American League and National League. He is also credited with the longest home run in Shea Stadium at 505 feet on April 10, 1969. Injuries shortened Agee's career, and he retired after the 1973 season in which he played for both the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. But he would remain in the New York area, living and working in East Elmhurst for more than 30 years. He died of a heart attack in January 2001. Agee was posthumously inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2002, the last Met so honored at Shea Stadium. The naming and location of the Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus (I.S. 419) is particularly significant because it is the former site of The Outfielder's Lounge, a bar that Agee owned with fellow Met Cleon Jones; it was also where he met his wife Maxcine. At the naming ceremony, New York City Mayor Eric Adams concluded his speech by proclaiming Aug. 26, 2022, “Tommie Lee Agee Day.”
Cunningham Park icon

Cunningham Park icon Cunningham Park

W. Arthur Cunningham (1894 – May 5, 1934) was Irish American lawyer, war hero, and NYC comptroller. Cunningham was born in Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn, and received his law degree from Fordham University in 1915. Cunningham served in the United States Army during World War I and rose to the rank of major, he fought the Germans in Lunéville, France, and received the Croix de Guerre with Palm for conspicuous bravery and the Purple Heart decoration for military merit. After the war he went into banking, and was an officer in the Textile Banking Corporation, first as counsel and later as vice president, until 1933. He lived with his wife and two sons in Forest Hills, Queens. Cunningham, an independent Democrat, and successfully ran for the position of New York City Comptroller in 1933 on Mayor LaGuardia's Fusion ticket, he served for four months before suffering a heart attack at age 39 in May 1934.
P.S. 64 - The Joseph P. Addabbo School icon

P.S. 64 - The Joseph P. Addabbo School icon P.S. 64 - The Joseph P. Addabbo School

In the course of his 25 years in politics, Joseph Addabbo (1925-1986) won much respect from his colleagues, constituents and community for his ability to be just, compassionate and effective. A lifelong resident of Ozone Park, he was educated at City College and St. John’s University, where he received his law degree in 1946. Addabbo began his career as a lawyer. First elected to represent the 6th District in Queens in 1960, Addabbo, a Democrat, was re-elected to Congress 12 times. He supported legislation to benefit the elderly, education, small businesses, veterans benefits, and appropriation of funds for economically depressed areas. As Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (1979-1986), Addabbo played a powerful role in both shaping and challenging national defense policy. He worked to curb defense spending, sponsored legislation to halt the Vietnam War, and advocated a nuclear freeze while at the same time bolstering defense contracts for New York. Addabbo served in Congress until he died on April 10, 1986.
Kingsland Homestead icon

Kingsland Homestead icon Kingsland Homestead

More info coming soon. If you have information about a named place currently missing from our map, please click on "Add/Edit" and fill out the form. This will help us fill in the blanks and complete the map!
Catharine Turner Richardson Park icon

Catharine Turner Richardson Park icon Catharine Turner Richardson Park

Catharine Turner Richardson (1903-1988), a local civic activist, was a former president of the Douglaston Garden Club. She moved to Douglaston in 1932 and worked to preserve the residential nature of the community, as well as its wetlands. The park was named for her in 1991.
Theodor Herzl Memorial icon

Theodor Herzl Memorial icon Theodor Herzl Memorial

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. 
Roy Wilkins Recreation Center icon

Roy Wilkins Recreation Center icon Roy Wilkins Recreation Center

Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) was a Black American civil-rights leader who served as the executive director (1955–77) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 
Gorman Playground icon

Gorman Playground icon Gorman Playground

Denis P. Gorman (1903-1963) was a civic leader devoted to providing recreational facilities for the youth of Queens. Through Gorman’s efforts, the City acquired this parkland, and today the playground honors his memory. Gorman also helped to bring franchised bus service to Jackson Heights in 1932. As the Chairman of the Youth Activities Committee he helped to build 20 Little League baseball fields in five months. He was head of the Elmjack Little League for ten years and was a founding member of local youth councils. Gorman also served as the Democratic District Leader of Jackson Heights. After a lifetime spent serving his city, Gorman died in August, 1963.
Paul Russo Way icon

Paul Russo Way icon Paul Russo Way

The following text was written by Paul Russo's brother George: Paul was a humble and devout Christian young man. Passing at the age of 33, his life was short but meaningful. He was a person of integrity who devoted his later life to the ministry of the less fortunate. Tending to the homeless, building shelter for the poor in Third World countries and bringing the spiritually disenfranchised to the Lord became his mission. He was also entrepreneurial and business-savvy, always giving back to others whatever success he earned through his hard work. The last months of his life were an inspiration to those who witnessed the selfless acceptance of his medical diagnosis offered for the healing of others. Paul was a heroic saint to those who knew him best.
Hallets Cove Playground icon

Hallets Cove Playground icon Hallets Cove Playground

William Hallett (1616 – 1706), an early English colonizer in America, was born in 1616 in Dorsetshire, England. Hallett's arrival in America is not definitively documented, but by 1647 in Connecticut, he married his second wife, Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett. Elizabeth was the niece of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her first husband died by drowning, and she divorced her second husband due to mental illness. When Elizabeth married William while pregnant with their first child, it caused a scandal in the Puritan colony. The Puritan church didn't recognize mental illness as grounds for divorce, and the townspeople of Connecticut, upon learning they were considered "living in sin," demanded Elizabeth be hanged. John Winthrop Jr., Elizabeth's uncle and the governor of Connecticut, intervened. He struck a deal with Peter Stuyvesant, allowing the Halletts to flee to New Amsterdam. Under the cover of darkness, Elizabeth left behind all her property, and they sailed to Hell Gate in Newtown, present-day Hallets Cove. Stuyvesant appointed Hallett Sheriff of Flushing around 1650. However, he later imprisoned Hallett for hosting an Episcopalian minister. Hallett was eventually forgiven. In 1652, William Hallett purchased 160 acres of land, which became known as Hallett's Cove. Twelve years later, his holdings expanded to include all of present-day Astoria, encompassing roughly 2,200 acres. The area remained largely rural and used as a ship landing until 1839 when fur merchant Stephen A. Halsey officially founded Hallets Cove. A steamboat and ferry line were then established, connecting the area to 86th Street in Manhattan. The original farmhouse at Hallett's Cove was burned down by indigenous people, forcing the Hallett family to flee to Flushing. Despite this setback, they persevered and built a life in the new world, becoming part of early American history. Elizabeth's actions in Connecticut helped establish women's property rights, while William's banishment and reinstatement played a role in setting the stage for future protests like the Flushing Remonstrance. The couple eventually left the Anglican church and converted to Quakerism. William Hallett died in April 1706 in the area now known as Hallets Cove in Newtown, Queens, New York Colony, British Colonial America. A fictionalized account of their marriage appears in the book The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton.
Carnegie Reading Room icon

Carnegie Reading Room icon Carnegie Reading Room

The Carnegie Reading Room at Elmhurst Library is named after businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919). The name honors the original Elmhurst Library building, which was a “Carnegie Library”, built with money donated by Carnegie. Over 2,500 Carnegie libraries were built across the world, between 1883 and 1929. In 1907, funds totaling $240,000 donated by Andrew Carnegie were used for the construction of seven new libraries in Queens, including the old Elmhurst Library. The one-story structure served the community for 110 years, but more space was needed, and in 2011 the building was demolished. The new four-story library opened in 2016. The only artifact saved was the edifice of the old fireplace, which is now in the 3rd floor room of the children's section. Four Carnegie Library buildings (Astoria, Poppenhusen, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven) are still in use in Queens at this time.
Latimer Place icon

Latimer Place icon Latimer Place

Lewis Howard Latimer was an African American inventor and humanist. Born free in Massachusetts, Latimer was the son of fugitive slaves George Latimer and Rebecca Smith, who escaped from Virginia to Boston in 1842. Upon arrival, George Latimer was captured and imprisoned, which became a pivotal case for the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts. His arrest and the ensuing court hearings spurred multiple meetings and a publication, “The Latimer Journal and the North Star,” involving abolitionists like Frederick Douglass. The large collective effort eventually gained George his freedom by November 1842. Against this backdrop, Lewis Latimer was born in 1848. Latimer’s young life was full of upheaval as his family moved from town to town while tensions in the country continued to mount before the Civil War broke out in 1861. In 1864, Latimer joined the Union Navy at age 16. After the conclusion of the war, Latimer was determined to overcome his lack of formal education; he taught himself mechanical drawing and became an expert draftsman while working at a patent law office. He went on to work with three of the greatest scientific inventors in American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas Alva Edison. Latimer played a critical role in the development of the telephone and, as Edison’s chief draftsman, he invented and patented the carbon filament, a significant improvement in the production of the incandescent light bulb. As an expert, Latimer was also called to testify on a number of patent infringement cases. Outside of his professional life, Latimer wrote and published poems, painted and played the violin. He was one of the founders of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens and was among the first Civil War veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic fraternal organization. He also taught English to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement.
Cav. Vincent Iannece Corner icon

Cav. Vincent Iannece Corner icon Cav. Vincent Iannece Corner

Cavaliere Vincent Iannece (1925-2005) served the community for many years and in many ways. He was the founder of the Federation of the Italian American Organization of Queens, and was instrumental in organizing and hosting the Queens Columbus Day Parade for more than four decades. Iannece was also the founder of the St. Michael’s Society and an active member of the Astoria Civic Association; he was appointed as a member of Community Board 1 in 1993.
P.S. 89Q The Jose Peralta School of Dreamers icon

P.S. 89Q The Jose Peralta School of Dreamers icon P.S. 89Q The Jose Peralta School of Dreamers

State Senator José R. Peralta (1971-2018) made history by becoming the first Dominican American elected to the New York State Senate when he assumed office in District 13. He served from 2010 until his death in 2018. His tenure was marked by a focus on immigration justice, support for working-class families, access to quality education for all children and advocacy for LGBT rights. He was most notable as his chamber's leading champion for undocumented young people whom he believed deserved equal opportunity to achieve the American Dream. He introduced the New York DREAM Act in 2013 and increased its support over the following years. Prior to his election to the State Senate, he served in the New York State Assembly from 2002 to 2010, representing the 39th Assembly District. He was a member of the New York State Senate Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucuses, and of the Puerto Rican Hispanic Task Force. As a state legislator, his sponsorship of gun-control legislation and a bill requiring microstamping on bullet-casings has drawn the ire of the National Rifle Association. He was a champion of economic development and job creation, and was a fighter for immigrants’ rights. He worked to heighten awareness of domestic violence and protect battered spouses from further abuse.
Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Corner icon

Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Corner icon Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Corner

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.
George Washington Carver Botanical Garden icon

George Washington Carver Botanical Garden icon George Washington Carver Botanical Garden

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) was well-known for being ahead of his time in the world of natural science. He sought to find cash crop alternatives to discourage straining labor of cotton picking. In addition, he invented tools and methods to make agriculture more efficient. As a Black man born in the early 1860s, Carver faced significant barriers to obtaining his education and pursuing his research interests. He developed his understanding of agricultural labor for three years on his own plot of land before becoming the first Black student at Iowa State University. After graduating Iowa State in 1896 with a Master of Science Degree, he went on to teach agriculture at Tuskegee Institute. Carver taught for 47 years passing down lessons such as crop rotation and other farmer techniques. Carver was a prodigy in learning, specifically curious as to the different uses of produce like peanuts, and the invention of new products. His many contributions include glue, the Jesup Wagon, a vehicle to carry agricultural exhibits to town, instant coffee, shaving cream, and 325 uses for peanuts. George Washington Carver High School for the Sciences in particular was established after the closing of Springfield High School by the NYC school board in 2007. Springfield High School became an educational campus housing George Washington Carver, as well as Excelsior Preparatory High School, and Queens Preparatory Academy. G.W.C. High School is most known for maintaining Springfield’s veterinary program.
RUN-DMC JMJ Way icon

RUN-DMC JMJ Way icon RUN-DMC JMJ Way

Jason Mizell (1965-2002) who went by the stage name Jam Master Jay, was born in Brooklyn, NY, on January 21, 1965. As a child, he was musically inclined, picking up the drumsticks and learning to play bass. As a teen Mizell’s family moved to Hollis, Queens. From this neighborhood he began to change the music industry. He teamed with Joseph Simmons (stage name Run) and Darryl McDaniels (stage name DMC) to form the group Run-DMC in the early 1980s. Known as pioneers of rap, the group helped bring hip hop to the mainstream and were the first rap artists to broadcast on MTV. Run-DMC were the first rappers to have a gold album (Run-D.M.C., 1984), as well as the first to go platinum (Raising Hell, 1986) and multiplatinum (Raising Hell, 1987). Aside from Run-DMC, in 1989, Mizell launched JMJ Records, a successful record label that signed famous artists like 50 Cent and Onyx. Additionally, he starred in films such as Die Hard (1988), The Bounty Hunter (2010), and Friday Night Lights (2004). Mizell was murdered in his recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002. Although the case lay unsolved for many years, in February 2024, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington were convicted of his murder. The sign at the corner of 205th Street and Hollis Avenue honors Jam Master Jay in his former neighborhood of Hollis. A nearby mural created by Art1airbrush reinforces Run-DMC’s ties to the neighborhood.