Helen Marshall (1929-2017) was the first African American Queens Borough President from 2002 – 2013. Marshall was born in Manhattan to immigrant parents of African descent from Guyana. The family moved to Queens in 1949, settling first in Corona and then in East Elmhurst. Marshall graduated with a B.A. in education from Queens College. After teaching for eight years, she left to help found the Langston Hughes Library in 1969, where she was the first Director. She served in the State Assembly for 8 years and then served on the City Council for 10 years, before becoming the first African American and the second woman to serve as the Queens Borough President. She supported job training programs and economic development and was a devoted supporter of the Queens Public Library.

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.

Doris “Dorie” Miller (1919 – 1943), was a World War II hero who shot down several enemy planes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the first African American recipient of the Navy Cross for valor. Miller joined the US Navy on September 19, 1939, at age 19 and was assigned to the Messman Branch. At the time, African Americans were limited to positions on supply ships. The easy-going serviceman was described as an impressive 200 lbs., and over 6 feet tall. On December 7, 1941, he was assigned as a Mess Attendant aboard the ammunition supply ship Pyro anchored in Pearl Harbor. In the Japanese attack that day, the Pyro was struck by at least six torpedoes and two bombs. Miller, leaving his post, raced to his ship commander Captain Mervyn Bennion, who was mortally wounded. After helping move the captain to a safer place, Miller, in the midst of bombing and a flame-swept deck, proceeded to help pass ammunition to two machine gun positions. When one of the gunners was killed, Miller took over his position and he downed at least two Japanese planes and as many as six. Shortly after, he was ordered to leave the bridge as bombing and danger increased. Dorie Miler was awarded the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nmitz to become the first US Hero of WW II and the first African American to receive the Navy's highest award. Two years later, on November 24, 1943, Miller was among more than seven hundred crew members who died in the sinking of the USS Liscombe Bay, torpedoed by an enemy submarine. In his honor, the Navy named a Knox class frigate ship the USS Miller. In December 1953, the first of three hundred families moved into the six buildings of the Dorie Miller Housing Cooperative. 34th Avenue between 112th and 114th is known as Dorie Miller Place.

Thomas J. Manton was born in Manhattan and attended private Catholic schools in Queens and Brooklyn before becoming a flight navigator in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1951 to 1953. He graduated from St. John’s University in 1958 and was a member of the New York City Police Department from 1955 to 1960. He was admitted to the bar in 1963 and became a practicing attorney. In 1970, Manton was elected to the New York City Council, where he served from 1970 until 1984; he was then elected as a Democratic representative to Congress from 1985 until 1998. As co-chairman of the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Irish Affairs, Manton helped persuade President Bill Clinton to meet with Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, in 1995. Manton also was the chairman of the Queens Democratic Organization for 20 years.

Ortner Vernon Murray (1938-2020), affectionately known as "Von" was born in Manzanilla, Trinidad. After marrying Jocelyn Verspry the young couple started a life together leaving Trinidad for the United States to pursue the "American Dream" like so many others. Originally moving to Brooklyn, he found the neighborhood of Corona and decided to make it his family's home. Shortly after, he opened a shoe repair business with his brother where he taught himself to makeand repair women's shoes and bags. The early 1970's were especially difficult, however, he felt it was his duty as a business owner and a member of Corona to invest in his community by becoming a voice and a role model. Known as "Uncle Von" or "Mr. Von" by many who called upon him, he was a spirited local entrepreneur who built a business one brick at a time. Those that knew him well named him "Mayor" of Northern Blvd. He was responsible for the formation of the Northern Blvd Merchants Association and was an excellent strategist and negotiator when it came to protecting the rights of fellow business owners. He negotiated deals with various Queens Borough Presidents' for the betterment of the Northern Blvd strip by having street meters removed and improvements made to the roadway and sidewalks. In the 1980s, Von was a huge advocate for the neighborhood children and elderly who required additional services from the City of New York. He served as chairman of the board of ELMCOR and VON’s Inc. became the first Black owned business in the United States to secure a NIKE account as a distributor. The inspiration of who Von was and grew to be as a community leader was shown as he was recognized by the Queens Borough President's Office on two separate occasions by receiving Letters of Proclamation. Mr. Von operated his business with great pride and passion for over 40 years in the same location in Corona. His blood sweat and tears went not only into the business but to the people and community. Even though he retired in 2010 and sold the business and buildings, he remained a fixture and leader of Corona/East Elmhurst.

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.

Walter Bowne (1770-1846), served as a State Senator and as New York City Mayor. As Mayor (1828-1832), Bowne is remembered for his strict policies aimed at preventing cholera epidemics. Following reports of an outbreak in a neighboring town during the summer of 1832, Bowne established a stringent quarantine policy regulating travel in and out of the metropolitan area. Bowne, like others of his time period, believed that cholera was spread through direct human contact. He required that all ships maintain a distance of at least 300 yards from municipal ports and that carriages remain at least 1.5 miles from the city limits. Bowne's well-meaning attempts to prevent a cholera outbreak failed, and hundreds of New Yorkers died of the disease. It was not until 1883 that the German physician Robert Koch discovered that cholera spreads through contaminated water or food. By that time, cholera epidemics had been largely contained by the construction of the Croton Aqueduct and the provision of clean water for consumption and bathing.

Sean McDonald (1968-1994) was a rookie police officer killed in the line of duty at the age of 26 when he interrupted the armed robbery of a Bronx tailor shop. Officer McDonald grew up in Astoria, after coming from Dublin as an infant. He had attended Most Precious Blood Grammar School, located next door to the church.

Tom Seaver (1944-2020), also known as “The Franchise” and "Tom Terrific," signed with the New York Mets in 1966 and pitched for the team from 1967 to 1977. He won the National League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and Cy Young Award in 1969. During his time with the team, he was selected to ten All-Star teams, led the league in strikeouts five times, and had five one-hitters and five 20-win seasons. He also led the "Miracle Mets” to win the World Series in 1969 and appeared again in the 1973 World Series. Fans were heartbroken when Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in June 1977, where he continued to dominate. He finally pitched a no-hitter in 1978 and recorded his 3,000th strikeout in 1981. He found himself back on the Mets in 1983 and finished his career with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox from 1984 to 1986. When he retired in 1987, he had a record of 311-205, with a 2.86 ERA and 3,640 strikeouts. Seaver was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 1992 and wears the New York Mets cap on his plaque in the Hall. After retiring from playing, Seaver continued with baseball as an announcer, working for both the New York Yankees (1989-1993) and New York Mets (1999-2005) before retiring again to run Seaver Vineyards in California. The Mets retired Seaver's uniform number, 41, in 1988. Shortly before his death in 2020, the New York Mets changed their address to 41 Seaver Way, naming the part of 126th street outside the ballpark in his honor. On April 15, 2022, a statue of Seaver created by sculptor William Behrends was unveiled in front of the stadium. The bronze and stainless steel work, which stands 10 feet high and weighs more than 33,000 pounds, depicts Seaver in his trademark pitching stance.

Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser (1907 - 1984) was a leading figure in Conservative Judaism, a scholar, and the spiritual leader of the Forest Hills Jewish Center in Queens for 50 years. Rabbi Bokser was born in Liuboml, which was then a part of Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and received his PhD in 1935 from Columbia University. He taught for many years as an adjunct professor of political science at Queens College, City University of New York. Bokser served as the rabbi of Forest Hills Jewish Center starting in 1933 and remained in that position for more than fifty years. He served for a two-year period as a United States Army chaplain during World War II and organized aid for Jewish soldiers. Bokser was an advocate for social justice and took a position in favor of the construction of a housing project for the poor during the Forest Hills housing controversy of 1966-1972. He fought against the death penalty in New York state. He served as a program editor for the Eternal Light, the Jewish Theological Seminary's radio program, was a professor of homiletics at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and  participated in the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion and the Institute for Religious and Social Studies, both seminary-run programs. He was chair of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly from 1959–1960, 1963–1965, and 1980-1984. Among the books he wrote were ''Judaism and the Christian Predicament,'' a study of Jewish-Christian relations; ''Judaism: Profile of a Faith'' and ''Jews, Judaism and the State of Israel.''

John Michael Moran (b. 1959) was a 22-year FDNY veteran with a law degree from Fordham University. The chief of New York City Fire Department Battalion 49, he had finished his shift at the Special Operations command on Roosevelt Island when the World Trade Center call came and he went to help; he entered the inferno of the World Trade Center’s South Tower on September 11, 2001. Moran’s last known words, transmitted over a two-way radio, were “We’re going up there to see if we can do some good,” Then the tower collapsed. Moran was the third child and first son of Walter and Margaret “Peggy” (Murphy) Moran of Rockaway Beach. Walter, a Navy veteran, was a New York City firefighter, and Peggy was vice president of the local bank. In 1980, John passed his fire academy exam and was the class valedictorian. He became a rookie firefighter the same year his father died, and at 21, assumed responsibility for being “the man of the house” and a surrogate father for his 16-year-old brother, Michael‚ who later became FDNY firefighter as well. He rose through the FDNY ranks: lieutenant at 32, captain at 36 and battalion chief at an almost unheard of 38-year-old. John met his airline attendant wife in front of the mid-town Engine 54 firehouse, and they married in 1990. Shortly after that, he enrolled at Fordham for a law degree, while remaining a firefighter. Moran played the piano and guitar, and loved to sing Irish songs; he also enjoyed kayaking and bicycling.

Walter A. Garlinge (1887-1918), was the first resident of Maspeth who died in the World War I. Private Garlinge was killed in action on September 2, 1918, just nine weeks before the end of the War. The memorial in the park commemorates all the soldiers from the Maspeth area of Queens who gave their lives in World War I.

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."

Remsen Hall on the campus of Queens College

Robert R. Pellicane (1924-1950) was a pilot from Hollis and a first lieutenant in the 137th Squadron of the 52nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard in White Plains. On May 3, 1950, Pellicane died in a plane crash when he missed the field as he was landing his F47 Thunderbolt fighter following a routine flight at the Westchester County Airport. He was 26 years old, and it was the first recorded fatality at the airport since its opening in 1943. Pellicane was the third of four children of Italian-immigrant parents Joseph and Catherine C. Pellicane. His father worked as a life insurance agent, and in the early 1930s, the family lived in Woodhaven. At the time of the accident, Pellicane was studying law at St. John’s University in Brooklyn and would have graduated in June. A veteran of the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II, Pellicane received the Distinguished Flying Cross and two other battle decorations for his wartime service. He is buried in St. John Roman Catholic Cemetery in Middle Village, and a plaque in his memory is located at 193rd Street and Hillside Avenue in Hollis, about half a mile from where his parents lived at the time of his death. The plaque was dedicated in 1957 and is attached to a flagpole in the traffic median. It reads: “IN MEMORY OF/ ROBERT R. PELLICANE/ BORN APRIL 10, 1924/ DIED MAY 3, 1950/ 1ST LIEUTENANT/ 52ND FIGHTER WING/ 1957.”

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

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.

Edward F. Guida(1924-2014), nicknamed Eddie by those who knew him, was born and raised in Corona, Queens. He was a City Marshal for 29 years and owned a family-run funeral home, the Guida Funeral Home, opened in 1909 by his Grandfather. The Corona community loved and respected him for his compassion and ethics in both jobs. He was sympathetic to all the families that mourned the deaths of their loved ones in his funeral home. His wife, Mary Guida, remembers him as "generous, loving, caring, and respectful." As Guida ran his funeral home, he was highly involved in the community of Corona, working with the Corona Lion's Club, The Latino Lawyers Association, The Italian Heritage Foundation, The American Diabetes Association, The Golden Age, and the local Precinct Council. The funeral home was also involved with the Northside Democratic Club, St. Leo's Church, and St. Leos School. He assisted in creating St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital's Queens Chapter in 1991, earning him the title of "Man of the Year." As a City Marshal, Guida would show compassion to those he needed to evict as it was part of his job. He would try to assist the people he was evicting by giving them information and showing a kind heart. Although kind, he was still "tough when he had to be," according to his wife. When Guida passed, his wife, Mary and their son, Edward Guida Jr., continued to run the funeral home. Eddie Jr. would also continue his father's City Marshal business, even taking up his badge number, #14. The intersection of 104th Street and 48th Avenue was named after him, Edward F. Guida Sr. Way, this same intersection being the location of the Guida Funeral Home.

William Sidney Mount (1807-1868) was an American painter from Setauket, New York. Although not the first artist to use this style, Mount was the foremost "American genre painter" of the 19th century. American genre painting focused on scenes of everyday life. He produced naturalistic portraits and narrative scenes that documented the daily life of the common man. Mount began painting as an apprentice at his brother, Henry Mount's (1804-1841) sign shop in 1825, spending his free time drawing and painting primarily portraits. Wanting to learn more, Mount enrolled in drawing classes at the newly established National Academy of Design in New York. In 1830 Mount displayed his first successful genre painting entitled, "Rustic Dance After a Sleigh Ride" at the National Academy exhibition. Within two years of this piece, Mount secured full membership to the National Academy of Design and was quickly hailed a pioneer of American art. Mount lived and worked in Long Island, often depicting the yeomen of the area. Mount was one of the first artists to specialize in the American rural scene. Previously, there was a belief that the American daily life of rural areas was not worth depicting. Mount's refreshing and down-to-earth style contradicted this notion and became widely popular. Music also played a large role in Mount's life. Mount grew up surrounded by music. He maintained this passion not only through his depictions of music and dance in his paintings, but also as a fiddler, fife player, collector of folk songs, and a violin designer. He designed the "Hollow Back" violin and displayed this instrument in the 1853 New York World’s Fair, Crystal Palace, where the violin received praise by contemporary musicians. The violin was designed in a concave shape and a short sound-post to create a fuller, richer, more powerful tone. Some of Mount's most prominent works featured music and dance. Mount loved to capture his subjects in spontaneous moments of dancing, farming, fiddling, reading, conversing, or playing. When painting musicians, he would often ask them to play while he was sketching because it "enlivens the subject’s face." Two such examples of this liveliness is "The Banjo Player" (1856) and "The Bone Player" (1856), two of Mount's more famous works. "The Banjo Player" is a portrait of a young Black musician smiling while in the midst of playing a banjo. "The Bone Player" similarly depicts a Black musician playing two sets of bones, an instrument connected with African-American minstrels. Because Mount sought to portray real people from his area, his work is much more inclusive than other artists' of the time. Mount used his art to show Black men in a more sensitive and dignified light. He was the first painter to give Black Americans a prominent, non-stereotypical place in his paintings. This aligned with his egalitarian belief that individuals must be accepted for their own worth. Mount himself was an interesting figure. Along with his egalitarian beliefs, Mount had an interest in Spiritualism. Spiritualism follows the belief that spirits of the dead exist and can be communicated with. Mount became invested in this belief in the 1850s and even reported that he was able to contact the spirits of his deceased relatives. He wrote his experience in his journal, dubbed "The Spirit Journal." Mount fell sick after dealing with the affairs of his recently diseased brother Shepard Alonzo Mount (1804-1868). Shepard Alonzo Mount was also a well renowned artist who studied under the National Academy of Design. William Sidney Mount contracted pneumonia and died only a couple months after his brother. Mount never married or had any children. In 1965, his family home, surrounding property, and various outbuildings in Stony Brook, became a National Historic Landmark named the William Sidney Mount House. Mounts artwork can be found in various museums across the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The New-York Historical Society, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages owns the largest repository of Mount artwork and archival material

William D. Modell Way at Queens Plaza.

Billie Jean King, (b. 1943) Regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis players of all time and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient for her advocacy for women in sports and LGBTQ+ rights, Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slam titles in her tennis career and led the fight for equal pay in tennis. Known for beating Bobby Riggs in 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes,” at age 29. She pushed relentlessly for the rights of women players and helped establish the Women’s Tennis Association, and the Women's Sports Foundation. Billie Jean King was born Billie Jean Moffitt on November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California. Her father, Bill, was a fire fighter and her mother, Betty, was a homemaker. An athlete from a young age, King played basketball and softball as a child. In her career she won 39 major titles, competing in both singles and doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, she was the U.S. captain in the Federation Cup. King and her husband, Larry King (married 1965–87), were part of a group that founded World Team Tennis (WTT) in 1974. She came out as a lesbian in 1981, and after her divorce from Larry King, she publicly embraced her homosexuality and became an advocate for gay rights. King retired from competitive tennis in 1984 and the same year became the first woman commissioner in professional sports in her position with the World Team Tennis League. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. The Fed Cup Award of Excellence was bestowed on her in 2010. In 1972, she was the joint winner, with John Wooden, of the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award and was one of the Time Persons of the Year in 1975. She has also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year lifetime achievement award. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1990.\*\* In 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.\*\* In 2018, she won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, the Federation Cup was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in her honor. In 2022, she was awarded the French Legion of Honor.

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

Bishop James Ferguson (1925 – 2018) Began working with the community organization Elmcor Youth and Adult Center in the East Elmhurst/Corona neighborhood, starting with the Junior Choir caroling in front of Elmcor during the Christmas of 1982. The then “Rev” James Ferguson began an outreach ministry consisting of twice weekly bible study and monthly outreach every fourth Sunday, which helped many local residents deal with issues such as drug addiction and instability. He also initiated and sponsored the Corona East Elmhurst Clergy Association (CEECA). CEECA is a monthly meeting that addresses troublesome activity within the Corona, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights communities that were brought to the attention of the clergy by the local police precinct. Bishop James is credited with implementing the Gospel Explosion, which is an outdoor event where various churches worship in front of their church conveying the same message to the community at a set time during the month of July. He is also responsible for implementation of the Gospel Crusade which is an event held during the month of August near or on Junction Boulevard with a Health Fair component to meet the needs of the community.

Police Officer Anthony F. Mosomillo (1962-1998) served the NYPD for more than 14 years, and was killed in the line of duty while attempting to serve a bench warrant on a parolee who had failed to appear in court. Born in Brooklyn on January 30, 1962, Mosomillo graduated from Lafayette High School in 1981, then joined the NYPD in 1984. He met his second wife, Margaret, on a blind date in 1988, and the couple married four years later. Their family moved to Glendale in 1996, though he continued to work for precincts in Brooklyn, and is said to have returned to Bensonhurst for haircuts and bagels. Mosomillo was a warrants officer at Brooklyn's 67th Precinct on May 26, 1998, when he and his partner, Officer Miriam Sanchez-Torres, went to arrest Jose Serrano at his East Flatbush apartment, because Serrano had missed a court date following an arrest on a minor drug charge, violating the terms of his parole. When the officers arrived and found Serrano, a gunfight ensued, Serrano having reportedly gotten a hold of Sanchez-Torres' gun, and Mosomillo and Serrano fatally shot one another. Officer Sanchez-Torres carried Officer Mosomillo out of the apartment and drove him to the hospital. More than 14,000 police officers and state troopers attended Mosomillo's funeral, which was held at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Ridgewood—the same church where he had married Margaret six years before. In addition to his wife, Mosomillo left behind two daughters, Marie and Francesca, and his brother, Salvatore. Francesca followed in her father's footsteps, joining the NYPD in 2019, gaining the rank of detective in 2024. She was issued her father’s old police officer’s shield number, 20316, on her badge. An area of basketball and handball courts in Dyker Beach Park in Brooklyn are also named for Mosomillo. Then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani dedicated the Anthony Mosomillo Memorial Courts on Bay Eighth Street and Cropsey Avenue in 1999, not long after the Mayor and the Police Commissioner honored Mosomillo by presenting his family with the Medal of Honor, the highest honor bestowed by the Police Department. City Councilmember Joann Ariola proposed this street co-naming in 2024. It was dedicated on November 22, 2024.

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.

Father John J. Gribbon (1925-2005) was a priest with the Church of St. Anastasia in Douglaston for 39 years. He also served as chaplain for the Little Neck-Douglaston Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Saint Michael, also known as Saint Michael the Archangel or Archangel Michael, is the only angel mentioned in all three sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is considered the leader of all angels who fights evil with the power of good. Never formally canonized as a saint, he has historically been assigned important religious significance as a protector and a defender. His earliest appearance can be traced to Jewish writings dating from the third and second centuries BCE, where he is depicted as a guardian and caretaker of Israel. Biblical passages that mention Michael include the Books of Daniel, Jude, and Revelation. Based on these passages, Michael is traditionally assigned four main roles: head of the army of God, a champion of God’s people, an angel of death who accompanies souls to heaven, and a weigher of souls in their final judgment. Michael is considered the saint of police officers and military personnel, as well as bankers and grocers (because of the association with the weighing of money or goods). According to Roman Catholic tradition, Michael is commonly cited as the chief or principal angel, or the “archangel,” and among the guardians or attendants at God’s throne. Artists’ depictions of Michael over the ages often reference the Book of Revelation, which tells of a war in heaven. In the conflict, Saint Michael leads angelic forces against Satan, eventually casting him out. Michael is often shown as a warrior with a helmet and sword, standing triumphant over a dragon or demon-like figure and yielding a shield inscribed with the Latin phrase “Quis ut Deus,” a translation of Michael in Hebrew, meaning “Who is like God?”, with the phrase serving as the war cry of the angels in their battle with Satan. Michael often holds a scale as well, representing his role in divine judgment. Over history, many sanctuaries and churches have been dedicated to Michael. One of the earliest was Michaelion, which was built in the fourth century under Constantine the Great in modern-day Turkey on the site of a pagan temple. Among the many sites that followed are the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo in Italy and Skellig Michael off the coast of southern Ireland, both around the sixth century, and Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France, in the eighth century. In August 1853, Father John McMahon of St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church in Flushing dedicated St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, making it the first Catholic parochial school in Queens. The school is located at 136-58 41st Avenue in Flushing.

Samuel Coles Jackson (1827-1890) was an entrepreneur and landowner who was a member of the prominent Jackson family of Newtown in the present-day Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst areas of Queens. Jackson was the final owner of Jackson Mill, which was located at what is now the entrance to LaGuardia Airport where 94th Street crosses the Grand Central Parkway. First built in the mid-1650s by Dutch settlers, the mill was in operation until 1870. Jackson was one of three sons born to Thomas Birdsall Jackson and Martha (Coles) Jackson. Thomas was a lawyer, judge, and politician who served in the United States Congress from 1837 to 1841. In 1835, the family moved to Newtown to an area called Fish’s Point near Flushing Bay. The mill on their property, which was used to grind wheat and corn, was known by three names over the course of its more than 200 years in operation, including Kip’s Mill, Fish’s Mill, and finally, Jackson Mill. Once known as Trolley Triangle for the trolley that ran through the area, Jackson Mill Green is located at the intersection of 94th Street and Jackson Mill Road, between 23rd and 24th Avenues. Originally opened in 1950, the park was renamed as Jackson Mill Green in honor of Samuel Coles Jackson in 1997.

Samuel Jayson LeFrak (1918-2003) was a major real estate developer of middle-income housing in the post-World War II era. He led the LeFrak Organization (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced le-FRAK) for more than four decades in building apartments and homes both in and around the New York City area, while later leading successful ventures in other businesses, including oil and gas exploration, and entertainment. Among his most iconic ventures was LeFrak City, an apartment development in southeastern Corona that was built from 1962 to 1971. The community offers 4,600 units and is home to about 15,000 New Yorkers. LeFrak was born on February 12, 1918, in Manhattan to Harry LeFrak, who migrated from France, and Sarah (Schwartz) LeFrak, originally of Belarus. He grew up in Brooklyn, attending Erasmus High School in Flatbush, and he graduated from the University of Maryland in 1940. That same year, he began working full time in his family’s business, and he later studied finance at Columbia University and the Harvard Business School. In 1941, he married Ethel Stone, who attended Barnard College. Harry LeFrak launched the LeFrak Organization as a construction company in 1905 and was joined a few years later in running the business by his father, Aaron, who had been an architect and builder in France. Samuel LeFrak took over as president of the company in 1948, eventually ceding that role to his son, Richard, in 1975, while retaining the title of chairman. Recognizing the growing need for affordable middle-income housing in New York City after World War II, LeFrak devoted his life and career to meeting that demand. Under his leadership, the LeFrak Organization specialized in building six-story apartment buildings featuring two-bedroom and two-bathroom apartments. He used what he called the “Four S Principles” when designing and building—that properties should be safe, and close to subways, shopping, and schools. During his lifetime, his company built nearly 200,000 rental units in New York’s five boroughs and the greater metropolitan area. He was knowledgeable in housing and energy technology, serving in an advisory role to New York City mayors, New York governors, and U.S. presidents. He served on key national and state councils and also represented the U.S. internationally, advising various countries on land development. LeFrak later ventured into the music business, co-founding a recording label called The Entertainment Company, and working with artists such as Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and Glen Campbell, before that business broke up in 1984. A philanthropist of considerable means, he left a lasting mark on the cultural and educational landscape, with numerous buildings and spaces bearing his and his wife’s names. Among these many sites are the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Concert Hall, located at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, and the Queens Public Library at Lefrak City. He received numerous honorary doctorates, including recognition from Pratt Institute, New York Law School, Colgate University, Michigan State University, Queens College, St. John’s University, and the University of Maryland. LeFrak died from complications of a stroke on April 16, 2003, at his home in Manhattan. He was survived at the time by his wife, Ethel (who died in 2013), their children, Denise, Richard, Francine, and Jacqueline, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. A part of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, the 489-seat Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Concert Hall is located at 153-49 Reeves Avenue in Flushing.

Justice Patricia P. Satterfield (1942-2023) made history as the first Black woman to be elected judge in Queens County. Satterfield was born on July 10, 1942. A native of Christchurch, Virginia, she studied music before she studied law. She learned from cellist Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico, and completed her Bachelor of Music Degree at Howard University. She next pursued a master's degree in opera at Indiana University School of Music, and then earned her her J.D. at St. John’s University School of Law in 1977. She was a junior high school choral director and music teacher at Alva T. Stanford Junior High School in Elmont, NY, before she began her legal career. She held positions in New York’s Unified Court System before making history as the first Black woman to be elected as a judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York in 1990. Later, she was an Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, 11th Judicial District, and was Justice of the Supreme Court, Queens County. But she served her community in many more ways. She established an internship program in her chambers, mentored through local law schools and the National Association of Women Judges’ Color of Justice Program, and developed a program to introduce law to middle school students. To name just a few of the additional ways Satterfield committed to service in the profession, she also served as a faculty member at her alma mater St. John's for Continuing Legal Education programs, and as faculty at the Practicing Law Institute. She chaired the Judicial Hearing Officer Selection Advisory Committee for the Second Department. She presented at various seminars and at programs for newly-elected judges and justices. She was affiliated with the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the City of New York National Association of Women Judges, the Judicial Friends of the State of New York, the New York State Bar Association, the Queens County Bar Association, the Queens County Women’s Bar Association, and the Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association. Satterfield also continued to sing as a professional operatic Soprano. She retired from the bench in January 2011. To honor her lifetime achievements, Satterfield received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2022. Satterfield passed away from cancer at the age of 81 on September 6, 2023. Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers proposed this street co-naming, which was unveiled in a ceremony on July 10, 2024. Satterfield raised her family on this block from 1980, where her daughter, Dr. Danielle N. Williams, still lived at the time of the co-naming, now raising her own children. “My mother was an amazing trailblazer in the Southeast Queens community,” Dr. Williams told Caribbean Life at the co-naming ceremony. “It was important \[that] I cement her legacy, so that future generations know her name."

Reverend Edward Eugene Jarvis (1904-1996) was the pastor of the Mt. Horeb Baptist Church in Flushing. After one year under his leadership, the congregation had grown so much that it had to seek larger quarters, moving to its present site at 109-20 34th Avenue in Corona.

Cathay Williams (1844-1893) was born in Independence, Missouri. Her mother was a slave and her father was free. She worked as a house slave on the Johnson plantation on the outskirts of Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1861, Union forces occupied Jefferson City during the early stages of the Civil War. Like other captured slaves, she was designated as contraband and served as an Army cook and washerwoman. In this role, she accompanied the infantry all over the country. Williams served under the service of General Philip Sheridan and witnessed the Red River Campaign and the Battle of Pea Ridge. She enlisted voluntarily when she was 17 in 1866. Because of the prohibition against women serving in the military, she enlisted as a man, under the name of "William Cathay". Williams was assigned to the 38th U.S. Infantry Regiment for three years. Due to health issues, a surgeon finally discovered she was a woman and informed the post commander. She was honorably discharged by her commanding officer, Captain Charles E. Clarke, on October 14, 1868. She then signed up with an emerging all-black regiment that would eventually become part of the legendary Buffalo Soldiers. Following her discharge, Williams worked as a cook and seamstress. She had a troubled marriage and had her husband arrested after he stole her money and a team of horses. It was during this time that her story first became public. A reporter from St. Louis heard rumors of a female African-American who had served in the army and came to interview her. Her life and military service narrative was published in the St. Louis Daily Times on January 2, 1876. Suffering from neuralgia and diabetes, she was denied a military pension in 1893. The exact date of her death is unknown, but it is believed she died shortly after she was denied.

Arthur O’Meally (1935-2022) dedicated over 40 years to volunteering and service in his community. He was an active member of the North Flushing Civic Association and the Flushing chapter of the NAACP. He was deeply committed to preserving historical sites and green spaces in New York. As a trustee of the Queens Historical Society, he served as vice president of operations. He was a certified Citizen Pruner for the NYC Parks Department and helped care for the Wyckoff-Snediker and Moore-Jackson cemeteries, two of the oldest burial sites in Queens. For his preservation work, he was honored with a Declaration of Honor from then-Queens Borough President Claire Shulman in 1999 and a Civic Achievement Award in 2005 during Black History Month. O’Meally was born in New York. His father, Vernon Edward O'Meally, was born in the British West Indies and worked as a porter after coming to the city. Arthur served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Mainz, Germany, in the 1950s. He married Millicent O’Meally in 1961, and they remained married for over 55 years. Millicent also has a long history of devoted community service, having served as a member of Queens Community Board 7 for 36 years before retiring in 2024, and as a member of the Flushing NAACP.

William M. Wheeler (1923-2011) volunteered as a United States Army Air Corps pilot and was inducted into the service in 1943. He was transferred to the Tuskegee Institute, earned his wings as a Tuskegee Airman fighter pilot a year later, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He was assigned to the 302nd Fighter Squadron in Ramitelli, Italy, and carried out bomber escort missions over Europe. His combat career was cut short on his sixth mission when a respiratory ailment caused him to black out at 36,000 feet. Luckily, he regained consciousness at 8,000 feet and returned safely to his home base. He was honorably discharged in 1945. In 2007, Wheeler and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Medal of Honor presented by then-President George W. Bush. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Wheeler was the second of four children of Ada and Leon “Toy” Wheeler, who was the director of Detroit’s Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center. William graduated from Northwestern High School before going on to study at Howard University in the early 1940s. As a sophomore in 1943, he left school to enlist and attended basic training at Keesler Field, Mississippi, then transferring to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama for flight training. After his return from Europe in 1945, he met and married Minnie Jenkens, and the couple raised three children together. Wheeler's career included positions in the publishing and aircraft industries, and ultimately in banking as vice president of National Bank of North America and its successor, National Westminster Bank. Following his retirement in 1991, he traveled nationally and internationally to speak with civic groups about the history of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Tuskegee University in 2006, and from Lehman College in 2009, and he was the recipient of many combat awards and decorations, including the Air Medal, European/African/Middle Eastern Theater Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal. A longtime resident of Hempstead, New York, Wheeler died of heart failure on February 19, 2011. In 2014, 2nd Lt. William M. "Wild Bill" Wheeler Way, located at the southeast corner of Tuskegee Airmen Way and 153rd Street in South Jamaica, was named in his honor.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District of England. He was one of the founders of English Romanticism and one its most central figures and important intellects. Wordsworth's collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge led to one of the most famous collections of poetry, entitled "Lyrical Ballads." Wordsworth was Britain's poet laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, being deeply concerned with the human relationship to nature and for his fierce advocacy of using the vocabulary and speech patterns of common people in poetry.

Gwen Ifill (1955-2016) was a trailblazing journalist who covered the White House, Congress and national election campaigns. She was the first Black woman to anchor a national TV public affairs show, Washington Week. Though she held positions with The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC, she spent most of her career at PBS. She worked at PBS NewsHour for 17 years, and along with Judy Woodruff, was on the first all-woman anchor team on network nightly news. Ifill was born in Jamaica, Queens, and lived in several different cities throughout New England, Pennsylvania and New York, due to her father’s work as a minister. She attended Simmons College in Boston and majored in communications. Her first journalism experience was as an intern at the Boston Herald newspaper in her senior year of college, and she subsequently began working at the newspaper full-time in 1977. Until her untimely death from cancer at the age of 61, Ifill had a prolific career as a journalist for more than 30 years. The former Railroad Park was renamed Gwen Ifill Park on June 16, 2021.

Francis de Sales (1567-1622) is a saint in the Catholic Church well known for two books, Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, and he wrote countless letters. Because of this voluminous writing, he's the patron of journalists. And because of his writings, teachings, and gentle approach to spirituality, there are many schools and parishes named in his honor, including this one, which was founded in 1913. De Sales was born on August 21, 1567 at Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy. While studying to be a lawyer at the college of Clermont in Paris, he took a theology course that led to him making a vow of chastity. To avoid his father's plans for his marriage, he accepted a position working for the pope, the highest office in the diocese, and received Holy Orders in 1593. As provost of the Diocese of Geneva, where Calvinists had a stronghold, he began conversions through preaching and sharing his Catholic writings. He continued this work after being named Bishop of Geneva in 1602, including developing Catholic instruction for young and old believers. With Jane Frances de Chantal, another saint, de Sales helped establish a new religious order known as the Sisters of the Visitation. He died on December 28, 1622 at 56 years old. He was beatified in 1661 and canonized by Alexander VII in 1665. In 1877 Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Doctor of the Universal Church.

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

Helen Marshall (1929-2017) was the first African American Queens Borough President from 2002 – 2013. Marshall was born in Manhattan to immigrant parents of African descent from Guyana. The family moved to Queens in 1949, settling first in Corona and then in East Elmhurst. Marshall graduated with a B.A. in education from Queens College. After teaching for eight years, she left to help found the Langston Hughes Library in 1969, where she was the first Director. She served in the State Assembly for 8 years and then served on the City Council for 10 years, before becoming the first African American and the second woman to serve as the Queens Borough President. She supported job training programs and economic development and was a devoted supporter of the Queens Public Library. The Helen M. Marshall School was founded in 2010 and moved to it's current building on Northern Boulevard between 110th and 111th streets in 2013. It serves students in Kindergarten through Grade 5.

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. P.S./M.S. 219, named in Dr. Klapper's honor, is a public school serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

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.

Mollie A. Gustine (1930?-2020) was a pioneer of the NYPD and one of the first Black female detectives on the New York City Police force. She joined the force in 1963 in what was then the Police Women’s Division. In 1974, she was promoted to detective and was one of the first three women to join the Queens Sex Crimes Unit, where she often worked undercover. She served as an officer for 20 years, and she was also among the first women on the force to serve as a union delegate for the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the first Black female delegate to the Detectives' Endowment Association. Gustine was working for the Federal Reserve in the early 1960s when her cousin suggested she join the police force. She made the transition, and over the course of her career, taught ethical awareness to police department personnel. She also lectured on rape, sexual abuse, and personal safety to a variety of women’s groups and often represented her department in media efforts to warn the public about scams and con games which she understood firsthand from her undercover work. On February 26, 1982, Gustine was shot in the chest and arm during an attempted robbery as she was returning to her home in Queens after a late-night tour of duty. She fired back and was able to help stop her attackers. Three men were arrested for the crime. However, the shooting led to her retirement in 1983. In 2023, she was posthumously awarded the Police Combat Cross, the department’s second-highest honor, for engaging an armed adversary under imminent threat to life. After leaving the force, Gustine worked with the homeless and Christian fellowship through various church affiliations. A pianist who played by ear, she loved music and also enjoyed watching classic films on television. On April 3, 2020, she died of COVID-19 at the age of 90. The corner of 192nd Street and 117th Road in St. Albans was co-named in her honor on August 20, 2022, as Detective Mollie A. Gustine Way.

Police Officer George Scheu (d. 1987) was a resident of Flushing, Queens. He served in the Navy for three and a half years before joining the New York City Police Department, where he served for over 19 years and received 14 medals for outstanding work as a police officer. An active member of the Naval Reserve since 1967, he was named the 1985 Sailor of the Year for New York State. Scheu was also vice president of the East Flushing Civic Association. On July 16, 1987, he was shot while attempting to stop an armed robbery while en route to a meeting of his Naval Reserve unit. Found on Murray Street in Flushing, Scheu died from his wounds five days later at the age of 41.

Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882–1947) was born in New York City to immigrant parents, attended public schools and graduated from New York University Law School in 1910. After practicing law for several years, he was elected as the nation’s first Italian American member of Congress in 1916. He served as a U.S. Representative until 1919, when he resigned to join the Army Air Service and serve in World War I. Upon his return, he was president of the New York City Board of Aldermen in 1920 and 1921, and was re-elected to Congress from 1923 to 1933. LaGuardia then served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Among LaGuardia's many achievements as mayor, he is credited with unifying and modernizing New York City's public transit system, consolidating much of the city government, cracking down on illegal gambling, and beginning transportation projects that created many of the city’s bridges, tunnels, parkways and airports. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Queens College. In September 1937, Mayor LaGuardia broke ground on this airport's site. Its construction was funded through a $45 million Federal Works Progress Administration grant. More than half of the 558 acres on which the airport was built was man-made, filled in with more than 17 million cubic yards of cinders, ashes and trash. The new airport opened in 1939 as New York City Municipal Airport. In August 1940, the Board of Estimates renamed the facility for LaGuardia, who considered the project one of his greatest achievements. Today it is the third largest airport in the New York metropolitan area.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States and an American Founding Father. He was born on April 14, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia, and quickly became a key figure in the American struggle for independence. A fierce advocate for liberty, Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence at 33 as a member of the Second Continental Congress. He held many political offices throughout his life, serving as Governor of Virginia (1779 -81), U.S. Minister to France (1784-90), and Secretary of State to George Washington (1790-97). Jefferson often famously came into conflict with Alexander Hamilton, especially when Jefferson was Secretary of State and Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury. Jefferson consistently advocated for a limited federal government and for states’ rights throughout his political career, while Hamilton advocated for the opposite. Jefferson was also Vice President during John Adams’ term as President, and was himself elected President in 1800, completing his second term in 1809. As President, one of his biggest achievements was the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, and reducing the national debt significantly. Jefferson also established the University of Virginia at the age of 76 in his retirement, which he largely spent at Monticello, the plantation he inherited from his father. Jefferson also inherited slaves from his father and his father-in-law, most of whom were enslaved at Monticello. Many of those enslaved who worked in the house were of the Hemings family, including Sally Hemings. Jefferson was the father of at least six of Hemings’ children, and the first was born when Hemings was only 16. He was, however, conflicted about the moral implications regarding slavery, and eventually freed all of Hemings' children. Jefferson died in Monticello on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence.

Dr. Marie Maynard Daly (1921 - 2003) was a groundbreaking American biochemist who shattered barriers in science. Born in Corona, Queens, Daly's father immigrated from the West Indies and began studying chemistry at Cornell. However, he faced financial hardship and had to leave his studies to become a postal clerk. Daly's mother, a Washington D.C. native, fostered her daughter's love of learning by reading to her extensively. This instilled a strong value in education and inspired Daly to pursue her own passion for chemistry. Daly earned her B.S. from Queens College and her M.S. from New York University, both in chemistry. She then went on to complete her Ph.D. at Columbia University, becoming the first African-American woman in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry. Daly went on to a distinguished career as a professor and researcher, primarily at Yeshiva University. Her research delved into crucial topics like protein synthesis, heart disease, and the circulatory system. Beyond her impactful research, Daly was a champion for diversity and representation in science. Recognizing the challenges faced by minority students, she established a scholarship fund at Queens College to support aspiring chemists and physicists from underrepresented communities. Daly's dedication to science and advocacy was widely recognized. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and honored by the National Technical Association as one of the Top 50 Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology in 1999.

The legendary punk rock group The Ramones formed in 1974. The original lineup consisted of John Cummings (Johnny Ramone), Jeffrey Hyman (Joey Ramone), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone) and Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone) all attended and met at Forest Hills High School. The Ramones are often cited as one of the original pioneers of the punk rock sound and was a major influence on the 1970’s punk movement in the United States and United Kingdom. The band was recognized in Rolling Stone’s, 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and was ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine. In 2002, the original members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903 - 1971) was an African-American political scientist, diplomat, scholar, civil rights activist, and Nobel Prize winner. Bunche is most celebrated for his accomplishments while working at the United Nations, which he helped found. While at the U.N., Bunche was a leading figure in the decolonization movement and the Arab-Israeli conflict in Palestine. His mediation efforts during the conflict in Palestine earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, making Bunche the first African-American to earn the award. Upon his return following the armistice, he received a hero’s welcome in New York, where a ticker-tape parade was held in his honor.  Bunche was born in Detroit, Michigan, to parents Fred Bunche and Olive (Johnson) Bunche, as the oldest of two siblings. His father was a barber in a whites-only shop, while his mother was an amateur musician. He also had a younger sister, Grace, born in 1915. Little is known about Bunche’s childhood in Detroit; he had a modest upbringing, although his family struggled with finances. When Bunche was about ten years old, his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after his mother developed rheumatic fever upon the birth of his younger sister, Grace. Despite hopes that the arid New Mexico climate would help his mother’s ailing health, she died shortly after the move. Shortly after, Bunche’s father died for unknown reasons, leaving Bunche and his sister orphans.  After the death of his parents, he moved in with his maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson, in Los Angeles, California. Bunche’s grandmother lived in a bungalow in a primarily white neighborhood, where Bunche would be subjected to racism. Recognizing Bunche’s potential and sage-like wisdom, his grandmother enrolled him and his sister at a local public school and encouraged him to aspire to a college education. Despite some school officials wanting to enroll Bunche in a vocational program, his grandmother insisted that her grandson receive a college preparatory education. Bunche maintained strong ties to education throughout his life. In high school, Bunche excelled intellectually and graduated as valedictorian of Jefferson High School. With the encouragement and support of his grandmother, Bunche accepted a scholarship from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied international relations. At UCLA, Bunche was an active student; he played on the school’s basketball and football teams, participated in debate and journalism clubs, served as a Phi Beta Kappa honor society member, and worked multiple jobs to support his education. In 1927, Bunche graduated with his Bachelor of Arts at the top of his class. Later, Bunche continued his studies, earning his master's and doctorate from Harvard University in 1934, becoming the first African American to earn a doctorate in political science. While earning his doctorate, Bunche worked as a political science professor at Howard University. Following his time at the United Nations, Bunche served as a New York City Board of Education member from 1958 to 1964 and was a trustee for the New Lincoln School in New York City. Bunche fiercely advocated for the desegregation of New York City Schools.  Outside of his diplomatic career, Bunche was heavily involved with the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He frequently criticized America’s social systems, specifically segregation and racial oppression, arguing they were incompatible with democracy. Bunche participated in several marches led by Martin Luther King Jr., most notably the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 Selma March. Moreover, he actively served on the board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1949 until his death. Bunche’s support of the Civil Rights Movement demonstrated his commitment to racial justice and equality.  Ralph Bunche died in New York at the age of sixty-seven due to complications with kidney and heart-related diseases. Many regarded him as one of the most accomplished and brilliant figures of his time, including President John F. Kennedy, who bestowed him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. Over the course of his career, he earned several doctorates, honors, and accolades, overcoming racial and systemic barriers. Bunche’s accomplishments and support for human rights, education, racial justice, and decolonization cemented him as an influential figure in Black History for decades to come.

Fiorello H. LaGuardia (1882–1947) was born in New York City to immigrant parents, attended public schools and graduated from New York University Law School in 1910. After practicing law for several years, he was elected as the nation’s first Italian American member of Congress in 1916. He served as a U.S. Representative until 1919, when he resigned to join the Army Air Service and serve in World War I. Upon his return, he was president of the New York City Board of Aldermen in 1920 and 1921, and was re-elected to Congress from 1923 to 1933. LaGuardia then served as mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Among LaGuardia's many achievements as mayor, he is credited with unifying and modernizing New York City's public transit system, consolidating much of the city government, cracking down on illegal gambling, and beginning transportation projects that created many of the city’s bridges, tunnels, parkways and airports. He was also instrumental in the establishment of Queens College. In September 1937, Mayor LaGuardia broke ground on this airport's site. Its construction was funded through a $45 million Federal Works Progress Administration grant. More than half of the 558 acres on which the airport was built was man-made, filled in with more than 17 million cubic yards of cinders, ashes and trash. The new airport opened in 1939 as New York City Municipal Airport. In August 1940, the Board of Estimates renamed the facility for LaGuardia, who considered the project one of his greatest achievements. Today it is the third largest airport in the New York metropolitan area.