Timothy Patrick “TK” Klein (1990-2022), a six-year veteran of the FDNY with Ladder 170, Engine Company 257 in Brooklyn, died at age 31 while battling a fire in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Born September 17, 1990, joining the FDNY had been Klein's dream. His father Patrick was an FDNY firefighter, as were many of his other extended family members. Known as “The Golden Boy,” and the “Canarsie Kid," he grew up on Beach 137th Street and graduated from St. Francis De Sales School on Beach 129th Street. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in 2008, where he had played on the basketball team, and then attended York College of Pennsylvania for a degree in sports management. Klein joined Ladder 170 FDNY on December 28, 2015. His fellow firefighters remembered him as someone who was constantly learning and always keeping himself busy, including, at the time of his passing, studying to take the lieutenant’s test. Outside of work, Klein volunteered with the nonprofit Fight for Firefighters, where he helped remodel homes to make them more accessible for first responders with disabilities. On April 24, 2022, Klein was critically injured in a Canarsie fire. As conditions worsened, a third alarm was called, and the order to evacuate came. Before exiting, Klein removed window bars, likely saving lives. Eight other firefighters were injured, and one resident died in the blaze. On August 23, 2023, a street renaming ceremony was held to honor John Klein. The initiative, spearheaded by City Councilmember Joann Ariola, renamed a street near Klein's first home on Beach 129th Street. His sister noted that Klein loved the area and spent significant time there. He was remembered as a quiet, yet charismatic individual who enjoyed sports, the beach, music, and spending time with loved ones. Klein continued to play basketball, participating in the annual St. Francis Summer Classic Men's Open Division basketball tournament, now named in his honor. The Timothy P. Klein Memorial Foundation, created in his honor, hosts an annual volleyball tournament and country fest. Klein's name is also inscribed on the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Maryland.

Officer Robert J. Rogerson (1920-1975), a 29-year veteran of the NYPD who worked as an inspector in the License Division at the 114th Precinct in Astoria, was struck by a car, ultimately succumbing to his injuries. On June 24, 1974, he was at the station, standing in the middle of 35th Street near Astoria Boulevard to direct a cab driver into a driveway for the car's inspection. The cab went out of control, hitting Rogerson and dragging him 20 feet, striking and pinning him against a utility pole. The crash left Rogerson with a fractured skull, two broken legs, and internal injuries. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition. Several of his fellow officers donated blood to assist with his internal hemorrhaging. Left in a coma, Rogerson tragically never recovered, and he passed away from his injuries on March 3, 1975. He was survived by his wife and two children, whom he lived with in Ridgewood, Queens, close to where this street was co-named in his honor. Inspection of the cab revealed no mechanical defects. The cab driver told police his foot had slipped from the brake pedal to the accelerator. He was given a summons for speeding.

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.

John McHugh Sr. (1924 - 2019) Of Whitestone, Queens, was a decorated American World War II veteran who participated in the D-Day invasion, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. Corporal John McHugh graduated from Morris Park High School in the Bronx in 1942 and enlisted in the army with his friends following Pearl Harbor. He was in the 1st Infantry Division, which arrived in landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the European Theater of Operations Ribbon, Two Presidential Unit Citations, and Combat Infantry Badge and the Fort Eger given by Belgium. The State of New York placed him in its Veterans Hall of Fame. After the war, McHugh came back to Whitestone, married his childhood sweetheart Rosie McGee, and worked as a Transit Authority conductor.

Henry Waichitis, undated photo

Program booklet for the dedication of the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower in 1989.

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. Armstrong and his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson, purchased their home in Corona in 1943, shortly after they were married, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. I.S. 227, a public middle school serving grades 5 through 8, is located approximately one mile from their home, which is now the Louis Armstrong House Museum, offering public tours, concerts and educational programs.

Ferdinand Foch (1851 – 1929), was a French general and the marshal of France and who served as Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. He is generally considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory. Foch was born in Tarbes, France, his father was a civil servant. When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the 17-year-old Foch enlisted in the French 4th Infantry Regiment in 1868. He entered the artillery corps in 1873 and from 1885 taught military strategy at the war college, becoming its commandant in 1908. After World War I broke out, he commanded an army detachment and planned the strategy that enabled Joseph-Jacques-Césaire Joffre to win the First Battle of the Marne. After commanding at the Battles of Ypres and the Somme, Foch was appointed chief of the general staff in 1917, adviser to the Allied armies, and then in 1918, commander in chief of all Allied armies, winning the battlefield against Erich Ludendorff. When Germany was forced to ask for an armistice, the conditions were dictated by the recently promoted Marshal Foch. Considered the leader most responsible for the Allied victory, he was showered with honors after the war and was buried near Napoleon in the Invalides.

Harriet (Zeamans) Kupferberg (1924–2008) and Kenneth Maurice Kupferberg (1919–1993) were dedicated philanthropists who were influential figures in their Flushing community. Kenneth was a businessman and research physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. government research program in World War II that led to the development of the atomic bomb. Harriet was an educator and community leader. Together, the couple were advocates for the preservation of Holocaust history, and Harriet’s gift of $1 million to Queensborough Community College in 2006, given in both their names, helped to endow the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center. Located on the Queensborough campus, the Center uses the lessons of the Holocaust to educate current and future generations about the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping. Kenneth was born to Romanian immigrant parents who came to the United States in 1919 and settled in Flushing in 1926. His father, Charles Kupferberg, was a cabinetmaker, and his mother, Anna (Weiss) Kupferberg, a homemaker. One of seven children, Kenneth graduated from Flushing High School in 1937 and was in the first graduating class of Queens College in 1941, majoring in physics. He attended Columbia University for a period until he was drafted. Later, he was assigned to the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he was joined on the top-secret work by his twin brother, Max, and another brother, Jesse. Eventually, Kenneth received a master’s and doctorate from New York University, where he taught physics while pursuing advanced degrees. In 1942, along with his brothers Max, Jesse, and Jack, he founded the Flushing-based Kepco, Inc., an electronics manufacturing business. Kenneth held 14 patents in the field of regulated power supplies, and he was serving as director at Kepco at the time of his death in 1993. A native of Queens, Harriet was the daughter of Flushing residents Harold Roscoe Zeamans and Lilly Silverstein Zeamans. She attended PS 20 and Bayside High School. Sixteen when World War II started, Harriet witnessed her father work to help extricate Jews from Eastern Europe in the years prior to the beginning of the conflict. Harriet received a degree in education from New York University and a master’s from Queens College. She went on to teach at Horace Mann Lincoln School in the Bronx and in the Great Neck Public School System. An active member of her community, she served as president of the Long Island Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Flushing Council Women’s Association, and as secretary to the Flushing Hospital’s community advisory board. For 36 years, Harriet was a member of the Queensborough Community College Fund Board. Harriet and Kenneth were founding members of the Temple Beth Sholom in Flushing, and Harriet also served as a board member. As a couple, they were also involved in the restoration of the John Bowne House in Flushing and served as trustees. Harriet died in 2008, and, at the time of her death, she was survived by children Anne, Sarah, and Mark, and eight grandchildren. The opening ceremony for the Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center took place on October 19, 2009, and the Center is located at 222-05 56th Avenue.

The Persia Campbell Dome, August 2022. The dome houses a lecture space for the Queens College community.

Claire Shulman, née Kantoff (1926-2020) was born February 23rd, 1926 in Brooklyn, NY, to a Jewish family. She attended Adelphi University and was one the first women in their nursing program, graduating in 1946. Shulman worked as a registered nurse at Queens Hospital, where she met and married Dr. Melvin Shulman. The couple had three children: Dr. Lawrence Shulman, Dr. Ellen Baker (née Shulman), and Kim Shulman. Claire Shulman started her political career as president of the Mothers Association of her local public school, P.S.41. She served on multiple non-partisan community boards before being appointed the director of Queen Community Boards in 1972 and was later appointed Deputy Borough President in 1980. She was initiated as the Seventeenth President of the Borough of Queens and the first woman to lead the Borough in 1986. As Borough President, Shulman went on to win four terms and participate in the revitalization of downtown Jamaica and Western Queens, as well as championing the development of cultural institutions, The Queens Museum of Art, The Hall of Science, Museum of the Moving Image, and Flushing Town Hall. Shulman also helped to secure funding for 30,000 new school seats in Queens and for the completion of the Queens Hospital Center. She also raised funding for infrastructure in senior living, public libraries, and cultural programming. Shulman left the Queens Borough Presidency in 2001 due to term limits but remained active in the Queens community until her death from cancer on August 16th, 2020.

William Spyropoulos was a Greek-American philanthropist who supported the opening of a Greek-American Day School for the children of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church in Flushing. The William Spyropoulos Greek-American Day School opened on September 12, 1977, initially serving 50 students from nursery school to second grade. The school now serves around 400 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. If you have information about William Spyropolous or any 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.

Christian Hoobs (1869 - 1917) served the Broad Channel community as a volunteer fire fighter as well as a civic-minded businessman. He helped build both the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department (BCVFD) and St. Virgilius Church buildings, both of which are still standing. In December 1912, Hoobs was elected the fourth Chief of the BCVFD, holding the office until his untimely death at age 47. On June 14 1917, while eating dinner at the dining pavilion he owned, Hoobs heard the fire bell ring. He hurried to lead his men into the fire, but experienced a fatal heart attack, becoming the first and only member of the department to suffer a Line of Duty death. The intersection that now bears Hoobs' name is adjacent to both the Fire Department and St. Virgilius Church.

Police Officer Paul Talty (1960-2001) worked as an electrician and carpenter before joining the New York City Police Department in 1993. Talty was a member of the New York City Police Department for nine years. He worked for the New York City Police Department’s emergency services unit based in Flushing. He was killed on September 11, 2001 during rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Officer. He is survived by his wife and three children. He was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department's Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. He was assigned to ESU Truck 10.

Malik Izaak Taylor (1970-2016), known professionally as Phife Dawg, was an American rapper raised in Saint Albans. Taylor co-founded the rap group A Tribe Called Quest in 1985 with his classmates Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Their biggest hit came in 1991, with the single “Can I Kick It?” The group went on to release five albums that sold millions of copies. Its album “Midnight Marauders” is often ranked as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time. Taylor also released a solo album in 2000 called “Ventilation: Da LP.” He died of complications from diabetes in 2016. Queens -- particularly the intersection of Linden Boulevard and 192nd Street -- was a fixture in A Tribe Called Quest’s rhymes, most notably on “Check The Rhime,” “Steve Biko (Stir It Up)” and “1nce Again.”

Edward Irving Koch (1924-2013) was born in Crotona Park East in the Bronx, NY. He was the second of three children to Louis and Joyce Silpe Koch, Polish Jewish immigrants. His family then moved to Newark, NJ, where he was raised. Koch worked at a hat-and-coat check concession when he was just 9 years old. Later, he worked as a delicatessen clerk and attended South Side High School in Newark. He was president of his school debating society and enjoyed stamp collecting and photography. He graduated from high school in 1941. After Koch’s graduation, the family moved to Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Koch attended City College of New York and worked as a shoe salesman. He was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and earned two battle stars in Europe as a combat infantryman in the 104th Infantry Division (1943-1946). After the war, Koch went to New York University Law School and graduated in 1948. He took the New York Bar, practiced law (1949-1968) and became a founding partner of Koch, Lankenau, Schwartz, and Kovner in 1963. Then Edward Koch made a significant impact on New York City politics. He joined the Democratic Party and defeated power broker Carmine DeSapio to become the Greenwich Village district leader (1963 and 1965). He served on the City Council from 1966 to 1968 and in the U.S House of Representatives from 1969 until December 1977. In 1978, Koch became the 105th mayor of New York City, serving three terms. He was known for his intelligence, strong opinions and colorful personality. He supported gay rights, addressed the AIDS epidemic, reduced crime in the city, and helped resolve the city’s financial crisis. In honor of Koch’s 86th birthday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to rename the Queensboro Bridge after him. It was officially renamed on March 23, 2011. Ed Koch passed away on February 1, 2013, at the age of 88. The bridge itself was designed by engineer Gustav Lindenthal and architect Henry Hornbosted. Construction began in 1901 and it eventually opened to traffic on March 30, 1909. The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge has upper- and lower-level roadways. Major renovations have been made over the years and in 1973 the bridge was designated as a national landmark.

Dr. Paul Klapper (1885-1952) was the first president and guiding force behind the establishment of Queens College. Born in Romania, Klapper came to the U.S. with his parents as a child and enrolled at City College at the age of 14. After receiving his A.B. degree, he taught in the New York City public schools and at City College, eventually earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. He became head of the education department at City College in 1917, and served as dean of the college from 1922 to 1937, when he was asked to lead the newly created Queens College. Klapper personally selected the college’s first faculty, as well as the 400 students who enrolled in that first year. He led the college through its first decade, retiring in 1948. He then served as acting dean of teacher education for CUNY's five four-year colleges, and was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago from 1949 to 1951. He passed away in 1952 at the age of 66. Over the course of his career, Klapper also was a member of the board of trustees for The State University of New York, Brandeis University and The New York State Commission Against Discrimination. He received various honorary degrees from institutions including Yeshiva University, Columbia University and Queens College. His papers are housed in Queens College's Department of Special Collections and Archives. Klapper Hall was built and dedicated in 1955 as the Paul Klapper Library, and served as the college's main library until the larger Rosenthal Library was constructed in 1988. In 1992, the building was renovated and renamed Klapper Hall; it now houses the school's art and English departments as well as the Godwin-Ternbach Museum.

Kalpana Chawla (1962 – 2003), was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who became the first Indian-born woman to go to space in 1997 on the Space Columbia Shuttle. She died on her second flight when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in 2003. Chawla was born on August 1, 1961 in Karnal, India. She graduated from Tangore School, India, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Punjab Engineering College, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado. Chawla began her career at NASA Ames Research Center in 1988. In December 1995, she was selected by NASA to be an astronaut candidate in the 15th Group of Astronauts. Her first flight was in November 1997. For her second Space Shuttle flight, she joined six other members of the crew on a 16-day flight on the Colombia Space Shuttle that departed Earth on January 17, 2003. Tragically, on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes before the scheduled landing, she and her crew perished. Kalpana Chawla remains the first person from India to go into space and a National hero.

Arthur Hammerstein (1872 - 1955) was an American producer, songwriter, dramatist, playwright and theater manager. Hammerstein was born in New York City to theater impresario and composer Oscar Hammerstein I. In 1908 Arthur started working on becoming a producer, and in 1910 embarked on his first production, the operetta “Naughty Marietta.”  Arthur's brother Willie Hammerstein died in June 1914, and Arthur took over management of the family's Victoria Theater; however, the theater was not financially viable and closed the next year. Hammerstein went on to produce almost 30 musicals in 40 years in show business including Rudolf Friml operettas, and collaborations with his nephew, Oscar Hammerstein II, who went on to fame as part of the team Rodgers and Hammerstein. Hammerstein built what is today the Ed Sullivan Theater, which he operated from 1927 to 1931. In 1924, Hammerstein built an expansive home for his bride, actress Dorothy Dalton in Beechhurst, a neighborhood in Whitestone, Queens - bordered by the East River and the Cross Island Parkway. During the era of silent movies, Beechurst was a go-to location for famous stars including actress Mary Pickford, nicknamed “America’s Sweetheart” during the silent film era, as well as the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields. He named the neo-Tudor home, designed by architect Dwight James Baum, “Wildflower Estate,” after his longest-running play. Hammerstein did not enjoy Wildflower long; in 1930 he had to sell it to support his theater operations. It became a yacht club and, and later a restaurant “Ripples on the Water,” which closed in the 1980s. The house was designated a landmark in 1982. The home was nearly destroyed by arson in 1994, then sat abandoned and empty for a number of years. The house was fully restored in 2000, and now is part of the Wildflower Estates condominiums. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ronald Spadafora (1954-2018) was a 40-year veteran of the FDNY who supervised rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero and was the chief of safety for the entire 9/11 recovery operation. He died of 9/11 related illnesses.

Pianist, band leader and composer Edward K. "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Washington, D.C., he studied piano as a child and began playing professionally at age 17. He moved to New York during the Jazz Age of the 1920s and, with his band, was a fixture at Harlem's Cotton Club. After gaining much wider popularity through radio broadcasts and recordings, Ellington and his band began touring the world in 1931, a model he followed for the rest of his life. After the popularity of big-band and swing music waned in the later 1940s and 1950s, Ellington began working with the younger generation of jazz musicians, including John Coltrane, Max Roach and Charles Mingus. He died in New York City in 1974. Ellington wrote more than 2,000 works throughout his career, and often worked closely with composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn. Among the jazz standards he composed are "Sophisticated Lady," "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." During his lifetime, Ellington won 11 Grammy awards, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and an honorary doctorate of music from Yale University, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, among many other honors.

Sir Richard Arkwright was born in 1732 in Lancashire, England. He worked first as a wig-maker before becoming an inventor during the Industrial Revolution. Though he patented some waterpower-based-machinery, his main contribution was through his factory system of production. Arkwright was so successful that by the end of his life he employed over 5,000 workers and was knighted.

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.

Kingsland Homestead is the former home of Captain Joseph King (1757-1843), a British sea merchant and commercial farmer who settled in Queens. Located in Flushing, the two-story home with attic was dubbed “Kingsland” by Captain King when he purchased the property in 1801 from his father-in-law. The Dutch Colonial style farmhouse consists of twelve rooms, and it is considered one of the earliest examples of the residential style of construction common in Long Island in the 18th and 19th centuries. Kingsland Homestead was designated as a historic landmark in 1965. The home was originally built around 1785 for Charles Doughty, himself the son of Benjamin Doughty, a wealthy Quaker who purchased the land in Flushing. King married Charles Doughty’s daughter and bought the farmhouse from him, settling there to raise livestock and to grow corn and wheat for sale. Together with his wife, the couple had two children, Mary Ann and Joseph. King’s family and his descendants continued to live in the farmhouse until the 1930s when hardships of the Great Depression forced them to sell. In 1965, the home was declared a New York City historic landmark, the first structure in Queens to receive this honor. Three years later, when plans for a shopping center put the home at risk of demolition, it was moved from its original site (at 40-25 155th Street near Northern Boulevard) to its current location about one mile west at Weeping Beech Park in Flushing (at 143-35 37th Avenue). The structure now serves as the home of the Queens Historical Society.

Joseph Lisa Sr. (1898-1977) was a Democratic leader in Queens. His 26 years of community and political service included seven years as a New York State Assemblyman, representing the 31st and 34th districts. Born on October 16, 1898, Lisa and his wife, Marion, lived in Corona and raised three children: James, Charles, and Joseph Jr. For a time, he worked as the proprietor of a bar and grill in Queens Village. Lisa served in the New York State Assembly from 1969 to 1976, retiring in 1977. His son, Joseph Lisa Jr., succeeded him as a district leader and was later appointed to the New York State Supreme Court. On August 31, 1981, a New York State blue spruce was planted in Lisa's memory during a dedication ceremony at William F. Moore Park in Corona. A commemorative stone tablet at the site reads: "THIS TREE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH LISA SR. DEMOCRATIC LEADER FROM 1950-1976."

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) was the first woman in the United States to graduate from medical school (1849) and obtain an MD degree.  Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 to Quaker parents in Bristol, England. Although education for women was generally discouraged at the time, Blackwell’s parents disagreed. Throughout Blackwell’s childhood, her parents were very supportive of her educational endeavors. By the age of 11, Blackwell and her family immigrated to the United States. During Blackwell’s mid-20s, she had experienced the passing of a close friend. Prior to death, her friend had told Blackwell that she would have experienced less suffering if she had a female doctor. This inspired Blackwell to pursue a career path in medicine. In 1847, multiple medical schools rejected her because she was a female applicant. Fortunately, Geneva Medical College accepted her application but for improper reasons. The college allowed the all-male student body to determine her acceptance through a vote. Many of the students voted “yes” as a joke since she was a female. Blackwell experienced an extremely difficult time in medical school, she was constantly harassed and excluded by classmates and faculty. Despite the hardships Blackwell had to endure, she graduated in 1849 and was ranked first in her class. In the mid 1850s, Dr. Blackwell returned to the United States and opened a clinic to treat poor women. In 1857 Dr. Blackwell opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with the help of her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell and colleague Dr. Marie Zakrzewska. This infirmary would be the nations first hospital that had an all-female staff. This hospital still stands and is currently known as the New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and is helping millions of people in New York to this date. Additionally, in 1868, Dr. Blackwell created a medical college devoted to providing education for future female physicians which is now apart of Weill Cornell Medicine. In 1869 Dr Blackwell returned to England where she continued to advocate for women in medicine until her death in 1910.

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Photos are of signs displayed on the front of the school building.

Lawrence Virgilio (1962-2001) was a New York City Firefighter who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Virgilio, a firefighter with the Greenwich Village-based Squad 18, used the playground as a youth growing up in this neighborhood. Virgilio served 12 years with the Fire Department, receiving two unit citations for bravery.

Paul Ferrara (1969-2014) joined the New York City Police Department in June 1992, and began his career on patrol in the 81st Precinct located in Brooklyn. Immediately after the tragedy on September 11, 2001, he was assigned to Ground Zero for the recovery efforts and spent many weeks thereafter assisting with public safety. After serving the Bedford Stuyvesant /Stuyvesant Heights communities for 14 years, he was promoted to Sergeant in February 2006, and was subsequently assigned to the 110th Precinct. On his days off, he would often be assigned to the elite Patrol Borough Queens North Counterterrorism Unit. This unit is responsible for patrolling “sensitive locations” such as stadiums, malls and other terrorist target locations. During his career he was recognized twice for Excellent Police Duty. Ferrara died on August 28, 2014, as a result of 9/11-related illness.

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.

In 1970, Iccey Elvalina Gibbs Newton (1939-1993) and her husband moved to Woodside where they raised four children. She helped form the Woodside Tenants Association and then worked for NYCHA for 20 years. She started tenant patrols in Woodside Houses and served as District Coordinator for the Girl Scouts of America. She served on Community Board 1 from 1991 until her death.

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.

Daniel Carter Beard (1850-1941) was a prominent Progressive-era reformer, outdoor enthusiast, illustrator, and author, and is considered one of the founders of American Scouting. His series of articles for St. Nicholas Magazine formed the basis for The American Boy's Handy Book (1882), a manual of outdoor sports, activities, and games that he wrote and illustrated. In addition, he authored more than 20 other books on various aspects of scouting. His work with author and wildlife artist Ernest Thompson Seton became the basis of the Traditional Scouting movement and led to the founding of the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. Beard was born on June 21, 1850, in Cincinnati, Ohio. When he was 11, his family moved across the Ohio River to Covington, Kentucky. The fourth of six children, he was the son of Mary Caroline (Carter) Beard and James Henry Beard, a celebrated portrait artist. In 1869, Beard earned a degree in civil engineering from Worrall's Academy in Covington and then worked as an engineer and surveyor in the Cincinnati area. In 1874, Beard was hired by the Sanborn Map and Publishing Company, and his surveying work led him to travel extensively over the eastern half of the United States. His family joined him in moving to New York City in 1878, and they settled in Flushing. From 1880 to 1884, Beard studied at the Art Students League, where he befriended fellow student Ernest Thompson Seton. Beard’s time there inspired him to work in illustration. His drawings appeared in dozens of newspapers and magazines, such as Harper's Weekly and The New York Herald, and he illustrated a number of well-known books, including Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889) and Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894). In 1894, he met and married Beatrice Alice Jackson, and together they had two children, Barbara and Daniel. His career led him into the magazine industry, and he became editor of the wildlife periodical Recreation in 1902. While at Recreation, he wrote a monthly youth column, and in 1905, he founded the Sons of Daniel Boone to promote outdoor recreation for boys. By 1906, he had moved on to Women’s Home Companion and then to Pictorial Review three years later. In 1909, he founded Boy Pioneers of America, which merged together a year later with similar scouting groups, including Seton’s Woodcraft Indians, to become the Boy Scouts of America. In 1910, Beard founded Troop 1 in Flushing, one of the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scout Troops in the United States. Beard was one of the Boy Scouts’ first National Commissioners, holding the position for more than 30 years until his death. Known to millions of Boy Scouts as “Uncle Dan,” he served as editor of Boys’ Life, the organization’s monthly magazine, and he became an Eagle Scout at age 64. In 1922, he received the gold Eagle Scout badge for distinguished service, the only time the badge was awarded. Through his work with his sisters, Lina and Adelia Beard, who together wrote The American Girls Handy Book (1887), Beard also encouraged girls to take up scouting. He helped in the organization of Camp Fire Girls and served as president of Camp Fire Club of America. His autobiography, Hardly a Man Is Now Alive, was published in 1939, and Beard died at home in Suffern, NY, on June 11, 1941. In 1965, his childhood home in Covington, Kentucky, became a National Historic Landmark. Daniel Carter Beard Memorial Square is located in Beard’s former neighborhood of Flushing at the intersection of Farrington Street and Northern Boulevard. A street co-naming ceremony in Beard’s honor was held on June 28, 2014. Other sites in Flushing named for Beard include Daniel Carter Beard Mall and J.H.S. 189 Daniel Carter Beard.

Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) was a Swedish botanist known as the father of modern taxonomy. "Linnaeus Park," New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, accessed February 3, 2023, https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/linnaeus-park Tom Garlinghouse, "Who was Carl Linnaeus?" LiveScience.com, updated February 02, 2022, https://www.livescience.com/carl-linnaeus.html

Stanley, Kathleen & Robert Rygor Way, is co-named in honor of a local Astoria family who were activists for LGBTQ rights. Stanley Rygor (1926 - 2019) Kathleen Rygor (1929 - 2021) and Robert Rygor (1953 - 1994) were all deeply involved in the LGBT community. Robert was a well-known LGBT community activist, prominent AIDS activist, and ACT UP spokesperson. In 1978, he became the first openly gay man to run for New York State Legislature. He was a member of Villagers Against Crime, advocating for safer neighborhoods, and in 1992, he testified at the Democratic Platform Committee Hearings to advocate for the inclusion of AIDS awareness and funding into their platform. Stanley, Robert’s father, served in the United States Navy and along with his wife Kathleen became a civil rights activist during the 1960’s, including hosting meetings for the Queens NAACP. The Queens LGBT community referred to the Rygors as outspoken allies and advocates for AIDS Outreach after their son contracted the virus and passed away. Stanley was a member of the Irish LGBT group Lavender and Green Alliance, which honored him and his wife Kathleen, in 1996. Stanley and Kathleen Rygor have been featured in several films regarding their son on the challenges of homophobia and AIDS.

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.

Frank Michael Carrado (1930-2019) was a lifelong resident of Long Island City and, from the age of 75, an amateur photographer who documented his changing neighborhood for nearly two decades, starting in 2005. He also served on the 108th Precinct Community Council. Many of his photographs are displayed in local building lobbies, restaurants, and bars. More than 200 of his images were featured in a 2007-2008 exhibition, "Hunters Point In The Eyes of Her Son: The Photography of Frank Carrado," hosted by the Greater Astoria Historical Society. The exhibition won an award from the Queens Council for the Arts.

Virgil I. Grissom (1926-1967), also known as Gus, had an experienced life as a combat flier, jet instructor, and NASA astronaut. Grissom knew his passion for aircraft from his young adult years and pursued it as an aviation cadet and through studying mechanical engineering at Purdue University. Shortly after graduating, he obtained his pilot wings and went straight to work with the United States Air Force. During his time in the Air Force, the US was involved in the Korean War; as a result, Grissom flew over 100 combat missions with the 334th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. He left Korea in 1952 but was distinguished for his work with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal Award. In 1959, Grissom was accepted to the original NASA Mercury Class of astronauts; only seven were let in. With his crew, Grissom worked tirelessly to make Mercury’s final test flights successful. He became the second American in outer space. From there, he served as Commander Pilot of the spacecraft Gemini III. After trials and tribulations, the Gemini crew was the first to accomplish orbital maneuvers around the world. Grissom was the backup pilot for Gemini 6 and commander for Apollo/Saturn 204, a three-man mission. During a launch pad test, Grissom and his team were killed in a flash fire. The mission was renamed Apollo 1 to honor those who were caught in the accident. His legacy lies with his family and the leadership he provided to everyone he worked with.

Jacob August Riis (1849-1914), best known as a groundbreaking journalist and photographer, was also an advocate for parks and playgrounds and a resident of nearby Richmond Hill. Riis was born on May 3, 1849, in Ribe, Denmark, and immigrated to New York in 1870. After working various jobs, he was hired by the New York Tribune as a police reporter in 1877. He began documenting poverty, especially in Manhattan's Lower East Side and Five Points areas. Starting around 1887, Riis brought along a camera, and in 1890, his book How the Other Half Lives was released. It contained dramatic photos illustrating the challenging lives of immigrants in the Lower East Side, alongside his written essays. The book had a significant impact across the country, especially in New York, where Theodore Roosevelt was the Police Commissioner at the time. Riis's work inspired Roosevelt to support legislation aimed at improving living conditions in the slums before he became president. While reporting on the struggles of New Yorkers, Riis came to believe that play had a therapeutic effect on people. As a result, he became a champion for small parks and playgrounds, particularly where little greenspace existed, and he served as secretary of the Small Parks Committee. Riis was also a leader in the fight against tuberculosis. In 1904, he helped create Christmas seal stamps, using the funds raised to develop a children’s tuberculosis hospital in Coney Island, Brooklyn. As a leader of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, this hospital provided a model he hoped to replicate in Queens. After some campaigning, the city approved the acquisition of the Rockaway property in 1911. While on a speaking tour in 1914, Riis fell ill at a stop in New Orleans and returned to his summer home in Massachusetts to attempt recovery. Not long before his death on May 26, 1914, Riis published an article that described the area—which would be named for him after his passing—as "a country of tumbled sand-hills overgrown with beach grass and fragrant bayweed that may easily be transformed into attractive parkland." Two other locations in Queens are also named for Riis: Jacob Riis Triangle in Richmond Hill and a community center (settlement house) in Queensbridge.

Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (1919-1972) will forever be remembered and honored as the first Black player in Major League Baseball. Born in Georgia, he was raised by a single mother along with his four siblings. His early success as a student athlete led him to UCLA, where he became the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports (baseball, football. basketball and track). After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues in 1944 and was selected by Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey as a player who could start the integration of the white major leagues. Robinson was recognized not only for his baseball talents, but because he was thought to have had the right demeanor for the challenges he would ultimately face. Robinson made his National League debut on April 15, 1947, as Brooklyn's first baseman. In spite of the abuse of the crowds and some fellow baseball players, he endured and succeeded in the sport. He won the Rookie of the Year Award that year. Two years later, he was named the National League MVP, when he led the league with a .342 batting average, 37 steals and 124 RBI. A few select players, like Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese, were particularly supportive of Robinson in spite of the taunting and jeers and helped him excel. In Robinson’s 10 seasons with the Dodgers, the team won six pennants and ultimately captured the 1955 World Series title. Robinson’s struggles and achievements paved the way for Black players in baseball and other sports. When he retired after the 1956 season, he left the game with a .313 batting average, 972 runs scored, 1,563 hits and 200 stolen bases. After baseball, Robinson operated a chain of restaurants and coffee shops but continued to advocate for social change, serving on the board of the NAACP. He died of a heart attack in 1972. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as its first Black player in 1962. On April 15, 1997, 50 years after his major league debut, his uniform number 42 was retired from all teams of Major League Baseball, a unique honor to this day. Ten years later in 2007, April 15 was declared to be Jackie Robinson Day. In Robinson's honor, all major league players, coaches and managers wear the number 42 on that day.

Paul Raimonda (1922 – 1988) was a community leader and life-long resident in Long Island City and head of the Astoria Heights Homeowners and Tenants Association. Raimonda attended P.S. 126 and William C. Bryant High School and served for four years in the Army Air Corps during World War II.  He was an active member in the Long Island Seneca Club, but his most notable contribution was the creation of the Astoria Heights Homeowners and Tenants Association in 1971. Through the Tenants Association, Raimonda and community members sought to give a unified voice to residents. He was an instrumental leader in a successful campaign to block a state takeover and expansion of Rikers Island in 1980. In addition, Raimonda was a member of Community Board 1 and of the Liberty Regular Democratic Club. In April 1987, the Italian American Regular Democratic Association of Queens named him Man of the Year, and he received the good wishes of Governor Mario Cuomo.

Firefighter John Heffernan (1964-2001) was killed on September 11, 2001 during firefighting and rescue operations following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Heffernan grew up on Beach 114 Street in Rockaway.

Edward Fisher (1904-1970) was an active member of his East Elmhurst community. He is remembered for his dedicated leadership in numerous local initiatives, including working to improve public education, fighting for alternative parking in his neighborhood, and playing a key role in halting the proposed Highway 678 project, which would have uprooted residents and profoundly changed the character of the community. He is perhaps most notably remembered for his instrumental role in the creation of the community pool in East Elmhurst named in his honor. Fisher was born in Byronville, Georgia, and lived for a time on West 121st Street in Harlem with his wife, Carmilla. He moved to East Elmhurst in 1945, where he lived for a period at 32-50 95th Street with Carmilla and his mother, Addie, and his mother-in-law, Marie Cantey. In addition to working as a truck driver for Solomon Brothers, he also drove for a trucking company in the 1940s and for a chain of grocery stores in the 1950s. Fisher held numerous leadership roles, reflecting his commitment to civic and spiritual life. He served his community as president of the 16 Square Block Civic Association of East Elmhurst and was a member of Community Board 3. In 1969, he served as the East Elmhurst/Corona chairman for the Independent Citizens Committee for the Reelection of Mayor Lindsay and was a member of the Mayor’s Urban Action Task Force and the Coordinating Council of East Elmhurst. He was also engaged with the Jamaica chapter of the Keystone Lodge of Masons. For the East Elmhurst Church, he offered service as president of the Ushers Board, vice-chair of the board of trustees, and as a deacon. Fisher also championed the naming of a park in East Elmhurst for William E. Gray, a soldier who was severely wounded in combat in Gia Dinh, South Vietnam, in February 1967 and who died from his injuries soon after. A neighbor, friend, and mentor to Gray, Fisher spearheaded the effort to name the park after Private Gray. Mayor John V. Lindsay and Parks Commissioner August Heckscher attended the dedication ceremony for the Private William Gray Playground in the summer of 1968. In January 1970, the City acquired the property for the pool in response to lobbying efforts that were led by Fisher. Located on 32nd Avenue between 99th and 100th Streets, Fisher Pool is in the heart of the East Elmhurst community where Fisher lived and served.

Carlos Lillo (1963-2001), a paramedic, was killed while assisting in rescue operations on September 11, 2001, following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Frank P. LoCicero (1918-1997) lived in Bellerose, Queens from 1950 until his death. LoCicero was an active member and later president of the Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, which fought to maintain the suburban character of the neighborhood. LoCicero was born in Manhattan and studied art at Haaren High School. At age 17 he became the youngest person to have a sculpture exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Following graduation from college, he was hired by Norcross Greeting Cards as its graphic designer. During World War II, LoCicero enlisted in the U.S. Army, spending five years in Hawaii drawing aerial maps for the Army before resuming work at Norcross. He married his wife Marie in 1946 and they had two sons, Ronnie and Ricky. In 1950, the family purchased a home in Bellerose, New York, and soon after arriving, Frank became active at St. Gregory the Great Church, joining the Holy Name Society and Nocturnal Adoration Association. He also became a member of the Bellerose Hillside Civic Association, and was later voted its president. During his tenure as president, Frank led successful campaigns against undesirable projects that were proposed to be situated at the Creedmore Psychiatric Center, such as a prison and a sanitation garage. He also was responsible for editing and distributing a monthly newsletter.

Horace Greeley (1811–1872), the founder and editor of the New York Tribune, was born in New Hampshire and apprenticed to a printer. When his master closed his business in 1831, Greeley set off, with $25 and his possessions in a handkerchief, for New York City. He worked a succession of jobs there, edited several publications, and in 1841, founded the New York Tribune, which he edited for the rest of his life. Widely known for his ideals and moral fervor, Greeley advocated many causes, including workers’ rights, women’s rights (though not woman suffrage), scientific farming, free distribution of government lands, and the abolition of slavery and capital punishment. By the late 1850’s, the Tribune had a national influence as great as any other newspaper in the country, particularly in the rural North. Greeley always wanted very much to be a statesman. He served in Congress as a Whig for three months from 1848 to 1849, but ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in 1850, 1868, and 1870, and for the U.S. Senate in 1861 and 1863. \[His] political career ended tragically with his campaign for President as the Democratic and Liberal Republican candidate in 1872. In that campaign, Greeley urged leniency for the South, equal rights for white and blacks, and thrift and honesty in government. For these positions, he was attacked as a traitor, fool, and crank, and was derisively referred to by noted cartoonist Thomas Nast as “Horrors Greeley.” Greeley’s wife of thirty-six years died two weeks before the election, he was soundly defeated by Grant at the polls, and he returned to his beloved Tribune only to discover that its control had passed to Whitelaw Reid. Greeley’s funeral, held on December 4, 1872, was attended by President Grant, cabinet members, governors of three States, and an outpouring of mourners who remembered him as a beloved public figure.

The Fitzgerald/Ginsberg Mansion is one of the last great Tudor Revival mansions of the 1920s still standing in Flushing. It was built in 1924 for Charles and Florence Fitzgerald, two affluent New Yorkers, who then sold it to Ethel (Rossin) Ginsberg (b. 1905) and Morris Ginsberg (1902-1947) in 1926. While less is known about the Fitzgeralds, the Ginsbergs were a prominent family that made its fortune manufacturing materials for builders. The residence was owned by the Ginsberg family for more than seventy years. Designated as a historic landmark in 2005, it is considered a picturesque example of the Tudor Revival style once prevalent in the wealthy outer neighborhoods of New York City. In 1924, Charles and Florence Fitzgerald engaged the architect John Oakman (1878-1963) to build the mansion. Oakman had designed civic works, including hospitals, power stations, and college buildings, but he specialized in picturesque single-family homes. For the Fitzgeralds, he designed a Tudor-style mansion, also known as the “Stockbroker’s Tudor,” which was particularly popular in the early twentieth century. The two-story dwelling was built on a plot of land purchased by Florence Fitzgerald. At the time, it sat adjacent to Flushing’s Old Country Club (which has since been demolished) and was set back from the street on a winding drive. The Fitzgeralds moved from their residence on Malba Drive in northern Queens to their new home, located about two miles south in the Broadway Flushing neighborhood. Two years later, the Fitzgeralds sold the home to Ethel and Morris Ginsberg. Morris was one of seven children born to Russian-immigrant parents Hyman and Dora (Greenwald) Ginsberg. His father was the owner of D. Ginsberg and Sons, a prominent Queens manufacturer of sash, door, and trim. In charge of the business side of the firm, Morris began work for his father at a young age, and he went on to serve as vice president for 20 years before becoming chairman of the board in 1946. By that time, the company was known as the Empire Millwork Corporation. Morris was active in community and philanthropic activities in and around Flushing, including serving as chairman of the Queens division of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies and the United Jewish Appeal, as well as a Vice President of the Woodside National Bank. Ethel and Morris had two children, William and Alane, and Morris died in 1947 at the age of 45. In 2003, the Ginsberg family sold the home, and it now houses the Assembly of God Jesus Grace Church. The site was declared a New York City landmark on September 20, 2005. It stands in its original location at 145-15 Bayside Avenue in Flushing.

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.

James 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 Boulevard 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.